GARO

For anyone who heard me talking about knights and stuff, well this is the title of that particular show.

First, let us start with the Graphics, designs and visual effects, it's simply amazing for a 2005 series. The designs are perfect. There's nothing I don't love, from the costume of the protagonists to the antagonists, the design of the monster suits are also perfect. Suuuure, call it a kid's show for it's a series about knights slaying demons that eat humans at night, but read on, skip the nudity, gigantic nude fanservices, matured themes, gory graphics, and violent fights. Weaponry looks real and metal-like, the armor the protagonists wears to slay demons from hell called Horrors looks realistic, like really made of metal, it was a very nice touch for them to actually make it look like they were wearing heavy suits of metal that restrain movements a bit. You can get the illusion of that the armors are really heavy.

Secondly the Acting, top notch beside a few here and there. I really like the facial expressions that the main cast of characters manages to do, they look genuine and very believable, big props to Kaoru too, her crying and laughing looked and sounded very real. Even the supporting character, Gonza the butler to Kouga(the main protagonist)had more than just a few lines. He actually was a pillar of the cast as well. I'm not sure of his age, but he pulls off the tone changing very well. Him acting goofy doesn't feel out of place in this very serious series, but when he's pissed, he manages to make people take him seriously instead of remembering him as the "goof-ball" of Garo. The antagonist also composed all the opening and ending songs, and sung every one of those songs too. Kinda shows how they are dedicated to this.

You can get very attached to the characters, the show actually spends time building up the characters and making you feel for them instead of just feeling like you're a third party dude watching the whole thing happen.

Pacing and the balance between the drama and the action levels of the series is also very well thought out. It has some really inspiration and innovative way of filming. Everything fits into place very well, and there aren't any plotholes. The story ties to the epilogue of the series very well, the epilogue is a movie called Garo Beast Of The White Night, and I haven't seen any movie that had such a perfect blend of action and drama in a long while. The fight choreography is also top notch, they don't abuse their armors, and there's a time limit to their usage of the armor as well, and this end up with majority of the fight scenes being the actors themselves(or stuntmen) doing it. I never really thought a story like this could work out so wonderfully. Definitely a very emotional, inspiring and good series and movie.

I could only wish I could write something like this or be one of the protagonist actors in a show like this. This show has just made it to the top of my list along with a few shows.