Garo: Honoo no Kokuin: ANIME REVIEW

I don't know how familiar you are with the history of medieval Europe, but the happenings in this anime probably don't reflect the whole truth about witch hunt, curses, demons etc. Still you can't deny that this anime has one of the best stories I've ever seen. May I represent a rather new anime that finished airing in 2015, Garo: Honoo no Kokuin. 

Plot and Storyline:

This is an anime where you really have to say "Nice Job"! The storyline is smooth, no plot holes, no complications and the end is not a mix of unfinished background stories and unrelated events. It is a story about a self-contained character development that gets trough some immense setbacks and obstacles. Furthermore the main character's imperfection results in a dramatic story that truly deserves a rating of 9/10. 

Everything begins with the birth of Leon Lewis, son of a Makai Knight and Makai Priest. His mother, the priest ho was told to be a witch, gave birth to Leon during her execution at the stake. His father German the knight saves his son and raises him also as the Golden Makai Knight whose power he had inherited from his mother. Also very important is the side story of Prince Alfonso. While Leon tries to bear the power of a knight the king's adviser has taken over the country as the king has become ill and Prince Alfonso has been driven out with his mother. He comes seeking the legendary Gold Knight in hopes of retaking his kingdom. Huge plot twists occur in the middle of the story, and I have to say they certainly took me over. 

I gave the show a story rating of 9/10. The 1 that lacks for a 10/10 is taken because of the unfinished background story of how Leon's mother got captured. And not knowing that made me very sad. 

Characters:

The characters in this anime are better than expected. We have a mix of some imperfect personalities with some perfect ones, and the contrast between those is enormous. As always, let's begin with the main:

The imperfect personality I talked about in the beginning is definitely the one of Leon Lewis. He is a self-contained, strong acting but weak, young man whose main goal always was revenge. By the time he finds out that that shouldn't be his drive, he gets into a crisis of self-lose and confusion. As a main character he actually did a great job and made the story so unique. I like him.

In contrast to his son, German Lewis

is an open, determine, optimistic and funny person. He is a bit of a pervert and womanizer but I still can't get mad at him. He really made me laugh in a couple of scenes and that's what a good anime should have. The relationship between son and dad in this case is surely a different one, but I loved it. 

I don't know why, but I didn't like Alfonso at all. One of the reasons is his perfection. He is kinda the son everybody would like to have. Nice, talented, handsome...His character was boring and seemed to me just as a wannabe that came out of nowhere. Sorry Alfonso. 

Animation:

The animation of this anime is different from the others. The character looks were alright but the visual effects and the demons were somehow crummy. For the year 2014 this surely could have been done better. The thing I personally liked was the opening. Very interesting (to make sure I am just talking about the visuals, not the music). 

Conclusion:

This certainly is Hell of a good anime. The storyline is perfect, awesome and interesting plot, amusing characters and some scenes were so emotional that I nearly started to cry. The anime took me away to the medieval time where I could feel the atmosphere of history being told partially right. Besides I always loved the stories about witches and how they have been hunted. That's why I am sad about not knowing more about Leon's mother Anna. 

 To sum up everything, definitely not a waste of time. I strongly recommend you to watch this anime. It is one of my favorites, I hope it will become yours too!

Your AnimeGirl <3