Garo -Versus Road- Series discussion and poll

[takenoko]

Wiki
Images
Master Poll List

So what did you guys think of Garo -Versus Road-? A fitting series in the Garo series?

[Kurokage X]

I think this series is decent if not maybe good.

The plot. While I'm not too familiar with the battle royale genre, I think it's ok. It being VR is something but it feels rather standard I would assume.

I like some of the contenders for the game like Amou, Kuon and Nagumo. Amou I think might be the favorite of all of them next to Nagumo. Amou, while a tough guy does have some sense of honor and Nagumo is the youtuber that went from just thinking it's a game to wanting to know the truth behind it. He got his wish, too bad he had to die. Kuon, I don't mind. Sure he's the general morally white protag, but it's sorta nice how he's start breaking down from that and question what justice really means in this world.

The villains though, I feel nothing towards them. Hagiri, I know I'm suppose to feel some sympathy for the guy over being rejected but we weren't shown much on him. why is he so desperate for being a powerful protector? If they were trying to set up a mystery on why else he wanted to be a powerful protector, then I think it fails. Barago you are not. Azami, some part of me wants to understand why the order didn't just smothered her to death when she was a kid because she can control darkness. But since she's evil incarnate since birth, I think it was foolish of them to not kill her when they had all that time to do so. As for the announcer, forgettable. So forgettable I don't remember her name but I think her simply being an announcer and nothing more is suppose to be the idea but she was starting to develop something until poof she's killed, even though she's an AI?

Action? It's Garo, it doesn't disappoint otherwise I'd be watching something else for my fight scenes. I like how this time it's primarily martial art fighting, gives it its own unique flavor I think.

In the end, I would say 3.5 out of 5, 4 if I was generous

[Catastrophe]

It was pretty good, even if it wasn't exactly what I wanted out of a GARO series. The fight choreography was pretty decent.

[Lunagel]

If it hadn't had GARO in the title I wouldn't have watched it. The story isn't original or unique enough on its own and frankly the Garo mythos seems kinda slapped on. It's basically the Hibiki of Garo.

On the other hand, two new kickass JAM Project songs~

[Catastrophe]

The ending theme was pretty rad.

[Dengar]

I'm not that big of a Garo buff. And I enjoyed this all of the way. Amazing action, decent character writing, and the occasional bout of feels. It doesn't take much to amuse me I admit, but still, good show.

[KRDangerousZombie]

It's basically the Hibiki of Garo.

I think that's actually one of the best comparisons you could make.

As someone who really enjoys Garo as a mythos... this is a mostly good show let down by the ending. I'd be fine with this show being so unlike other Garo shows if the ending wasn't so weak. It shits all over Jinga as a show, that show is still the worst thing tied to the Garo mythos (which breaks my heart because i fucking love masahiro inoue), but they both have similar "so what was the point" endings. If the journey wasn't so great, this destination wouldn't bother me as much because i could just dumpster the whole show and have it be the 2nd worst thing in the mythos. but it's not. it had so much promise to be way more than that. Still rated it 4* overall because i literally couldn't wait to watch it each week and there was some outstanding moments. Like if your show has me refreshing the homepage multiple times an hour every day after it's aired you must be doing something right.

[Ashki]

I'm a little torn on why they chose this for the story. Were they out of ideas for the (still debatably) two main timelines? Were there budget issues? Or were they just up against a really tight deadline and threw it together in the last moment to fill an airing timeslot?

Despite how that sounds, I actually quite enjoyed the series. It took two rehashed-to-death concepts and blended them well enough it wasn't the same old story. Battle Royale's "fight until one's left or you all die" concept inspired Hunger Games and other US knock-off successes. Meanwhile, .Hack's idea of video games where you can physically die has led to a whole slew of knock-off anime that are big hits in the US (my wife's obsessed with Sword Art Online, for example). Alone, both concepts are done to death, but when put together, it was actually quite refreshing to watch.

And I think maybe that's the real reason they made this series. Garo isn't something you can easily bring over for mainstream audiences. The amount of nudity and heavy moral themes make Garo generally too extreme for many big networks or streaming services to take a risk on. But this show had plenty of gratuitous violence, massive blood sprays coming from wounds that look like scratches (Amo, I'm looking at you and your completely intact severed throat here), just enough sex appeal to hold the "average American viewer" without pushing the US ratings, and a very toned down morality message that can be pretty much ignored if you don't know about the franchise.

In other words, Versus Road seems like it was designed to introduce more mainstream American audiences to the franchise by taking notes from popular US media and knockoffs of Japanese franchises. With Ultraman and Super Sentai both finally getting some official attention in the US, bringing a less-known, more adult toku to American audiences is a bold but smart move.


I thought the series was done great overall, and loved that one of the characters I rooted hardest for in the first episodes quickly became the one I hated most. His pitiful death at the end was obviously geared for American audiences, who feel all monsters must first be victims (often true, but far from always and far from excusable). Having the big villain simply walk away is also a pretty American trope (but I do like how the actress at least made it look like she had some serious thinking to do after Kuon's refusal of power). Even Kuon walking away from the sword is something American's can appreciate, although the "walking off into the sunset" trope has a different meaning in the US than it does in Japan.

I'm still hoping this will somehow tie into the larger uni/duoverse, and the only thing that really dragged it down for me was the horrible CGI final battle, which made the CGI battles in Kamen Rider look like works of art. That battle was certainly not worthy of being part of a Garo series. Everything else, though, was well-done for (what I presume is) its intended audience and holds up well to the Garo aesthetic and franchise overall. Not the best, but far better than a lot of stuff out there these days and worth rewatching.

Overall series score: 4.5/5

[takenoko]

Hmm, I don't know if I buy this is a series done to shop it to Americans. That feels weirdly conspiratorial. I mean they already tried bringing the first couple series to America, so it's here already?

But I do like that they went in this direction. It feels like the Garo staff have felt out of ideas for a traditional Garo show for a while now. Good or bad, this series did feel like a breath of fresh air.

Despite how basic it is, I did find myself enjoying this series more than not. It was different, and I didn't know what to expect. And having Hoshiai, a character that would otherwise have lived till the end of the series in another show, die halfway through really pulled the rug out from under me.

But to have a truly great series, you need to characterize both the good guys and bad guys, and you can't just cram Shuka, Azami, and Hagiri (is that his name, does anyone know it without looking it up?) till the end just prevents it from reaching the heights it could have had. What even is Shuka? I guess she's an AI, but she knows the truth about Garo, but none of it matters because she got killed by Hagiri? Why'd Hagiri kill her, besides to show he's a bad guy? Azami is the son of Satan daughter of Garo? Oh she's just a one-sided villain with no depth. Cool cool cool.

I like Amou and Nagumo, but maybe combine those characters, cut Kanata Dai and just spend more time developing the villains, their backgrounds and their motivations earlier in the series. Maybe even cut some of Kouzuki's scenes, and just save the most crazy, unhinged stuff since he had some of the best acting in this show. That'd be how I'd script doctor this series.

Good series, not great, but a real good time in general. 4 / 5 stars

[FishFaceL]

I really liked this show. I'm usually not the biggest Garo fan so I tend to enjoy the seasons that don't actually feel like Garo all that much the most. The main thing that puts this show above most other seasons for me is that it was very plot driven and actually felt like it was about the story and the main characters instead of mostly focusing on one shot plots like most Garo seasons do. I always looked forward to the next episode because I wanted to know what happens next which is something I barely ever feel with Garo.

[Kurow]

3/5 for me... great cast but low budget show.

It add interesting things to the universe for sure. Who was the previous Garo? and it leaves the door open to a sequel for sure.

Another forum member said that Azami is probably Raiga's daughter.

[takenoko]

Another forum member said that Azami is probably Raiga's daughter.

I don't think so, they implied that Raiga was having a son. Also the creators of Garo don't seem very keen on making explicit connection between universes. We still don't know how stuff from Kouga's stories connect to Ryuuga's if at all. These could all be parallel universe stories for all we know

[Kurokage X]

That's gonna stay a debate I can imagine until Amemiya clarifies it

[Doublesteel]

A picture is worth a thousand words

[takenoko]

Tsk, not a lot of votes, but 4 / 5 stars from 13 votes