Ga-Rei -Zero- - Episode 8

Well, this series really has no qualms about upping its body count of major characters does it? After showing us the death of Yomi's adopted father last episode, the fallout from this shock brings us some further casualties this time around.

However, before all that the massive shake-up to Yomi's family's affairs sees things predictability turned around by Mei and her father, leaving them to head up the family and forcing Kagura out of the house while Yomi (who should have been the heir to the family's powers) is even stripped of her sword Shishiou.


Of course, what Yomi doesn't realise at this point is that Mei is still being controlled by the mastermind of all the recent chaos, and even when Mei's true mind tries to fight against this controlling force she simply can't break free (it must be kind of tricky when you're dead anyway, I suppose). However, this comes to light soon enough, treating to an epico battle between Mei and Yomi which leads to more shocks, and brings us closer to the situation we were greeted with at the start of this series.

While the layout of this series' scripting made it somewhat obvious where this particular episode was going to head, it still did a good enough job of showing it to us, and indeed no matter how many times major characters get subjected to a bit of the old ultra-violence it somehow never fails to shock and leave you open-mouthed. This episode managed to do this on two occasions in quick succession, with some great, stylish fighting sequences once again to make up for that slower (if equally brutal in a more psychological fashion) paced opening half to the episode. When all is said and done then, Ga-Rei -Zero- remains a winner in my book, continuing to ooze a certain cool factor while still delivering an interesting storyline.