Garo Movie: Divine Flame

As the description says this is a continuation of Garo: Honoo no Kokuin and basically the finisher of it. However, I see this more as a filler for the end. The way "the animation" ended, they really didn't have to make a sequel because not much was really left as a cliff hanger so they didn't have much to write on, in fact I was surprised when they announced this movie. nonetheless, it makes sense and I'm glad they did it. By the ending of this movie though...I'd put my money on another movie coming, because if you think about it, there was a bit of unfinished stuff. What's odd is, why they made a continuation of the original series after they made Crimson Moon, I think they should've finished this series and then made crimson moon a continuation rather than alternate timeline. I hope there's more Garo in the works...assuming it makes sense to have more. Aside from theory talk, this was a really well done movie, gorgeous art as usual in fact I think the art in this movie is even better than the series, really awesome music throughout too and really epic battles. Expect goosebumps. All in all it's exactly what you'd expect. I also don't wanna give away the ending in any sort of way, but I have to point this out. OMG that armor in the end is so sick looking. You'll get what I mean when you watch it. Editx2: I got a little excited and gave it a solid 10/10, to be fair it's a great anime, but it's not without flaw, the one flaw this movie had was some light inconstancy. After one of the fights they wind up leaving the area and go to a house to recoup, the enemy wasn't killed. They later return to finish the battle. I think the people working on the movie were just aiming for a really long epic battle, which they did achieve, but It just seemed odd that they could leave without any interference. That and there's one small scene at the end that could've been done a little better, but we're talking like a couple frames that don't add up to how something happened, it's kind of like if you were watching a movie and it skipped like 2 second ahead...anyway, not to be overly critical, but when you have a good anime not much else you can pick on other than the small flaws. Edit: Some spoilers read with caution as it would turn out there is in fact another anime addition to Garo in the works right now that I guess continues Honoo no Kokuin even further. Can't find any info other than it's being worked on. I have the feeling it'll continue on with Germán's son. I'm kind of hoping they get creative and choose a new threat that isn't solely based on another forbidden Madōgu. However, I don't believe Zirkel's Ring was ever destroyed either, but it could've been insinuated after Mendoza was killed? It's gotta be destroyed eventually, but then the statues at the lake didn't get destroyed either...I don't know, guess I'm being too picky, but I think if they're no longer gonna be used there should be consistency and they should be destroyed, but most anime will leave some stuff out in the event they run into a plot issue and can use it as an excuse to bring something back. We'll see though, can't wait for the new series. Kinda as I mentioned above this anime needs to overall have its small inconsistencies fixed, it's not a huge deal, but not much else you can call it out on.

As usual Garo manages to deliver a fairly entertaining show to its audience. This movie takes off 4 years after the end of the previous series. The art and sound quality is consistent with the original so if you liked that you are probably going to like this. The story is nothing special though it does feature a little bit of Leon once again questioning himself which is always good, and if you look at the characters bit you will see an old favourite we thought had gone. But anyways a good movie to watch if you are a fan of the franchise and hopefully something that this leads on to in the near future.

This is a cheap cash grab that ignores most of what made the original series good and can't even follow the basic rules set by it's own universe. Anything goes, with plot armor, deus ex machina, and other lame plot devices detracting from all credibility. From attacking non-makai beings, deceiving the makai council, instant teleportation of characters, time freezes, random 100x powerups, and endless clashes that show no combat skill or strategy, the list just goes on. Let's not even talk about the threadbare plot and villain characters, who are just window dressing and something to hit. It's so bad that, there's a point where they are supposed to save someone who is being sacrificed, but then they RUN AWAY, heal up in a different location, take their time, throw in a cheap piece of comedy, and then resume fighting from where they left off. I also absolutely hate when a character who is supposed to be blind can somehow see 100x more than anyone else, which is a common and terrible character trope. And the worst part is they ruined the armor transformations. They are hideously bland and flat looking now. Coupled with the poor one frame per second animation, they just look like jerky abstract representations of things fighting. You will also be staring at a whole lot of small characters and empty space, because the movie is in a forced ultra-widescreen cinemascope format. I call it forced because they never utilize any of it, hence all that wasted empty space.