Wednesday 8 October 2008

Ga-Rei -Zero- - Episode 1

Last season gave us Ryoko's Supernatural Case File, and now this season has dragged us into another world of the supernatural, this time courtesy of Ga-Rei -Zero- and it's Supernatural Disaster Prevention Agency. Although to be honest, judging by this episode they seem to be entirely rubbish at actually preventing supernatural disasters, only turning up after said disasters have occurred.

I'd normally delve a little deeper into the series' premise and plot at this point, but a. I really don't have much of a clue what's going on and b. It doesn't really matter anyway. Never mind the subtleties of human emotion or any of that nonsense, the focus of this first episode is clear - Fire, guns, floods, bikes, big explosions, and blood and guts aplenty (when the censors haven't gotten their filthy mitts on it that is). Hell, there isn't even any point discussing the merits of the main characters, because they all die at the end anyway. Yes, that's right, everybody dies in the first episode, which is either going to make episode two a work of genius or very, very boring.


There are some anime series that you can discuss on a cerebral level, but with others you just have to go with your gut instinct, and Ga-Rei -Zero-'s opening instalment is just such an occasion - There really isn't a lot to think about here, you either think it's a great, action-packed episode or you don't like it. Personally, my opinion sits in the former camp - Yes, it's daft beyond belief, but that's kind of the point, and once you've realised that this isn't a show to take too seriously you can just sit back and enjoy the ride. What a ride it is too, with a maelstrom of death and destruction that seems to have no interest in sparing anybody, such is its brutality.

It's rather hard to make any judgement on this series considering the entire cast of main characters got killed in two minutes flat, so I can only assume that episode two will somehow bring us something totally different. As long as it isn't some kind of deus ex machina regarding immortality, then I'm hooked already, and quite frankly I can't wait to see where this series is going.

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