Corruption looms over the prosperous Russell City, where manifestations of negative emotions called Horrors cause chaos and mayhem. The Makai Order is the last bastion of hope against these unholy creatures. Using several small businesses as fronts, they deploy powerful Makai Knights and magical Makai Alchemists to combat the Horror threat.
Within this secretive order, the highest rank of Golden Knight has been bestowed upon a large, powerful man named Sword, granting him use of the Garo armor and blade. He alone knows of a plot that threatens the entire Makai Order, with his only hint being the phrase “El Dorado." While fighting a Horror, he encounters Sophia "Sophie" Hennis, a teenage girl whose brother's disappearance years ago is also linked to the same phrase. The two agree to work together to uncover the truth behind "El Dorado" and the disappearance of Sophie's brother.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Stark700
Sometimes, old ideas never die and Garo is an example that feels timeless regardless what setting it takes in. Upon being announced for a new anime series, I was rather ecstatic upon realizing the setting this show would take place. Contrary to some of the past series that took place in dark fantasy world, we got a modern Garo. That’s right, a series that takes place in modern times with politics, technology, and new dangers lurking in the shadows. Confession time. I’m actually not a huge Garo fan. In fact, my first exposure to the franchise is from 2014 when Garo: The Animation aired. Basically, Imissed out on the original series that aired over a decade ago and only understand the anime side of the franchise. That’s no problem though as it seems that any new viewer can jump into this anime right away without a big question mark. You can basically watch Garo Vanishing Lines even if this is your very first Garo series as a whole. The real question is whether you can accept and enjoy this series for what it is.
Taking place in a modern setting, Garo Vanishing Line breaks the traditional norm. Because of this, the mood of the show at first feels different. Upon watching the first few episodes, I had a sensational feel about how the series would be presented down the line. The roadmap seems to follow a format that people may feel familiar though. The typical monster-of-the week starts the adventure for our main characters. The rogue gallery consists of Horrors that gets more twisted and twisted each week. It shouldn’t take long for viewers to get comfortable to watching this series once you realize what you’re in for. That being said, Garo Vanishing Line offers a peculiar character cast consisting of Sword, Sophie, Gina, and Luke. All of them have distinctive backgrounds, personalities, and motivations in this series but it’s easy to see how they connect. The most prominent relationship is between Sword and Sophie. From strangers to becoming close friends, they grow close during their time together. It’s also important to note that after being exposed to the existence of Horrors, Sophie’s character begins to grow more confident and sets a promise to find her lost brother.
Sword (known as Garo the Golden Knight) plays the role of a badass protagonist with the motivation to find “El Dorado”. Throughout the series, we can see that he is similar to some of the other Garo characters from previous franchises. He reminds me of German Luis the most as both of them are known for their lustful personalities yet are also very courageous in the face of danger. On the other hand, there’s Luke. As a Makai Alchemist, he is a lonewolf type of character and seeks vengeance for the murder of his mother. Throughout the series, we learn more about his own story and it’s easy to understand his personality. Finally, Gina enters this series as a professional thief. Also known for her skills as a Makai Alchemist, she is what I initially see as a femme fatale. She’s the type of woman known for her dangerous charms and can be quite manipulative. However, her more delicate personality is shown through interacting with Sophie. Throughout the series, she almost seems like a mother figure to her and it’s not hard to see why once you see their character chemistry. Her interaction with Sword plays on a lot of flirtatious moments although her feelings also seem genuine in later episodes. So there you have it, the diverse main cast of the series. Whether you like them or not isn’t the point but rather how these characters all build on one another to make this story.
While this series follows a monster-of-the week format at first, later episodes focuses on a more complicated storyline. It gets thrilling, emotional, and some scenes are very impactful on the characters’ state of being. The most prominent example is Sophie as she discovers revelations beyond her imaginations. I think for most parts, this show adheres to psychological horror with a sense of dark comedy. For me, the series can be both heartwarming and depressive to watch. The storytelling’s pacing catches up after building up events and hits its climax in some ways that you may be unprepared for. On the other hand, the series’ flaws can be looked at for some of the inbalanced storytelling in its first half. A few of those episodes can be quite forgettable as there’s little value that comes out of it. In essence, “filler episodes” can really be either memorable or forgettable depending on your perspective. The main plot carries some of these problems too if you’re not invested into the main cast. And trust me, I wasn’t really sold into the main cast until after I watched a good amount into this show. Personally, I wasn’t invested in Sword’s role in this series much as he feels like a one dimensional character and receives little development. However, this series did make me realize how sad some of the characters’ background stories are. In particular, I feel like Sophie is the most tragic characters in this series after seeing what she’s been through. Poor girl.
Adapted by studio MAPPA, Garo Vanishing Line presents the mature vibe that is very suitable for this anime. The graphic violence is carried by the action scenes with the fighting involving Horrors. It isn’t shy to throw in violence whenever it finds a situation suitable. As such, expect limbs to be blown off, blood to be spilled, and bodies hit the floor in stomach-inducing ways. The Horrors also gives off a Lovecraftian horror vibe with the way they’re designed. There seems to be a larger variety of them too ranging from shapeshifting types to even Horrors that can control people and technology. Also, be prepared for fan service. Gina is the main culprit of this as the series makes her look as sexy as possible with her outfit, curves, and alluring face. As this show also contains heavy action, expect the choreography and battle scenes to have a fast pace. Sometimes, it feels like it’s hard to keep up but once you get used to it, it’s very electrifying. Finally, I want to say the series’ creative team did a wonderful job at crafting the setting for this show. Russel City (based on New York) not only shows the concept of the modern era but also carries a dark metropolis feel. It has a very different style compared to the previous animated Garo series but works creatively well.
To me, Garo Vanishing Line’s main voice cast did a pretty decent job at their roles in particular for characters such as Gina and Luke. The way they speak reaffirms their personalities while showing how they can react differently under certain circumstances. The battle OST and music molds a variety of style to present this action thriller. Some of the emotional scenes in this series also look impactful with the moody soundtrack. The theme songs are also made with care with its thrilling details.
Even as a new series introduced to the Garo franchise, it feels that the show always fit right alongside with the others. With a new group of characters, it will take some time to grow and accept them. In fact, you may end up not liking any of them in the end. That’s okay as Garo isn’t a show that is suitable for everyone. This isn’t one of those series that feeds you along the way with every episode. Honestly, I think Garo Vanishing Line stood out with how it was able to take its new ideas and makes an identity for itself. And that’s a thumb up in my book.
KANLen09
Garo: Vanishing Line, the 3rd installment of the Garo series, which *SPOLIER TIME* if you don't know, here's a trait of these types: 1) Every Garo story takes place in a different city (Spain, Japan, US) 2) Whatever the story is, the good vs. evil divergence story setting is STILL the same with Makai Knights vs. Horrors and the masterminds behind each series 3) Expect intense action with good yet improving CGI since all of the Garo anime series are done by the one and only MAPPA. ...except, when you realize who's directing this series, and it's a Korean! This is Park Sunghoo's 1st role as director, and whilesome (or most) of us don't quite agree that Koreans should take helm at Japanese anime, I definitely feel that regardless of origin, they can still make wonders and it shines here.
Personally, this is my 1st ever exposure into the Garo series, since my niche wasn't action-based and while I wasn't looking forward to watching the others before it (but luckily they weren't related to each other), I gave this a shot, and it holds out pretty well.
Story (in a nutshell coz it's too long):
There exists Russell City (in the setting of the US), a prospective city in New York, with Garo now being brandished under a very muscular man named Sword who for most intentions, is a lustful oppai worshipper *pun intended* other than his Garo self. His intentions of smirking around the city comes in a form of a passphrase "El Dorado", a sinister plot by the Horrors to use the people in gain for their purposes. An encounter with a girl named Sophia Hennes and her near-encounter death when the Horrors strike down on her from her missing brother's request to bring her into "El Dorado" caught the sight of Sword, and both people (along with Gina and Luke who joined hands later) decided to vain in search only from the lead that is the world of "El Dorado".
From the outset, as mentioned in point no.1, every Garo story is set of from a city universe. Along the way, the story did get interesting with the CGI-supported action that really sometimes feel like a letdown, but yet feeling accomplished after all that is said and done, and when it came down to the ending, I was feeling nothing but pure satisfaction that arose from the interest from the very beginning, and I really have to say that this is the pinnacle of the Garo series.
Characters:
Sword for one, he's strong, robust and doesn't give second thoughts when it comes to exterminating evil as the Makai Golden Knight Garo. Other from his worshipping oppai lustfulness that sometimes rack my funny bones out, I've gotta say that Sword is a full-on-experience person. But all this could not be said without some tragedies, which he lost his sister in the past, and strives to take upon himself to find out what's going on and eradicate it. Most importantly, with his trusty motorbike aid Zaruba who serves as an advisor and a Horror detector, Sword is a character that though can fight like his determination will go, but too has a heart of gold for the other characters, especially for Sophie (as like a father to a daughter).
Sophia Hennes is the oddball BUT plot-moving pointer in the series. Her search for her missing brother Martin Hennes come forth in a password that is "El Dorado" a city of people used by Horrors to power their existence (which he was proclaimed the King of El Dorado, but only as a tool). Once an orphan, took into a home to be taken care of until the Horrors searched for her with the unknown purpose of the Horror masters. Her character might be whining from the start as her pursuing of her brother who's a genius hacker and had outstanding IT skills, and as a brother who cared for her in many ways, sets up the mood for how Sophia journeys with Sword, Gina and Luke into discovering the same purposes and fighting off against the same type of evil they were searching for.
Gina, another Makai Alchemist, and probably the character we adore the most in this series, as her flirtatious but manipulative self serves as the supporting role to help Sword and Luke fight off the Horrors. When it comes to Gina, her actions light up the overall supporting action that was once great, but her appearance made it better tenfold. Though a woman in heart, when it comes to her sensitivity, there's nothing else that could beat her likeness as her closeness with Sophia re-enacts her decision to protect her ultimate goal (as like a mother to daughter).
Luke, yet another Makai Alchemist, and one that might be the most stubborn in the crew, but yet has a life mission in his hands: to overcome his past of a family conflict when he was trained to be a Makai Knight by his father, Knight (now the Dark Knight which serves El Dorado) until the gruesome murder of his mother became the source of hate for him against Knight which he swore his revenge on, improving his skills and awaiting the days where he could take down the Dark Knight, eliminating the hate of years gone by. The gun-welding person in the crew, with bullets targeted to manipulate and eradicate Horrors, he sometimes cannot be empathized for his behavior against the others, but at times the figure of understanding his past gives light to who he is in training towards the fights that he encounters, that solidifies him as the support character in the most sensical way.
The Horrors, Bishop, Knight and Queen, did their job at stopping the Makai Knights from realizing their goals, and I'd bet that they truly evoke the "pure evil" tried-and-true villain requirements, that was handsomely put down by the thought of the Makai Knights whose goals have been to eradicate Horrors from the get=go.
Overall, a wide range of the cast of characters, but the good kind of showy action.
Art/Animation:
I'm a huge fan of MAPPA's works, so to see that their expertise from the very get-go doesn't draw any cutback and instead let us right through into the scenes...with intensive action that's led by the CGI effects. Here's the caveat though: Often outlandish action doesn't mean the action lines up with whatever the storytelling is, but whatever Garo: Vanishing Line does, it strikes the chord of well-balanced heavy action with the storytelling, with switching from light-hearted to dark, depressing moments. Props to MAPPA for a series that has consistently improved ever since the 1st installment (since I've heard that the preceding ones didn't do as well of a job as this one does).
Sound:
With cool, good-looking action, comes some crazy-intense BGM, and it's finger lickin' good (and yes I know it's a pun, but it really supports the action VERY outstandingly well, and always gets me pumped for whatever's to come). But the OPs and EDs...while they're OK, nothing to scorn yet say of its achievements. At first I really thought that people will praise the soundtrack, but that totally backfired. For my preference, I do like JAM Project's songs, and while most people hate the 1st OP, I actually do love the intensity that it gives and it never disappoints. (Rant at me all you want you haters). Same as with the ED, the 2nd one is a vast improvement over the mellow 1st (since the story hasn't yet fleshed out by that point). Overall an OK OST by all terms.
Overall:
Garo: Vanishing Line, a series that I didn't thought would sell my soul into, became one of the (only few) action anime that I would eventually come to love and set as one of the recent favorites. For all its intensity though, setting this at a 2-cour, 24 episodes setting is really putting a lot of strain on the storyline because thought it might feel that some episodes are canon to the series, it did help set the future stories in motion for their effort.
All in all, if you're someone who loves heavy action, try this new installment of the Garo series. You can choose to watch the ones before, but serves no point since they're NOT related to one another, so better off watch this one instead. It's for all intentions, a story that will grip you from start to end.
Raggadish
As a MAPPA fan, I almost never deny their shows a try, with Garo: Vanishing Line being no exception. And it was actually a quite nice watch. Nothing mind-blowing or world-changing, but a comfortable and colourful watch. This is my first entry to the Garo-franchise, so I will have no comparisons with the other series in the Garo-universe in my review. The story is a bit slow paced, taking its time to its finishing line (yes, pun intended). As gathered from the synopsis, the main story is about the girl Sophie Hennes and the Makai knight Sword, and their common goal to find thismystery Eldorado. Its about more than that though. The story takes place in a more or less post-apocalyptic US-like country, with isolated cities scattered throughout. Horrors (demon-like creatures) is rooming the landscape and infiltrating the cities, hunting for human flesh and souls. Humans are usually not aware about the existence of these creatures, and it happens quite frequently that they get possessed by one when their emotions get dark and the horrors get attracted by those emotions. Once possessed, the person can never get human again and the only way to salvation is to get killed along with the horror. Against this threat, a secret group of people exist, the Makai Knights. Their sole purpose is to defeat horrors and protect people from them at all costs. There are different types of Makai Knight´s, like the gunslinger, heavy-sword fighter, or the alchemist, but all have in common that they can use magic of some sort. Sophie is an orphan and are looking for her older brother, and Sword is trying to make up with his with his past.
The basic idea isn´t overly original, deep or thought provoking. But as a mentioned before, it has a nice vibe, sometimes cosy and sometimes right out horrifying (yes, pun intended again). It has classic cool elements, like, a young girl looking for her brother, monster that needs to be slain, and personal problems that need to be solved. The main story is built on progressively throughout an otherwise episodic pattern which ebbs out towards the end by getting more coherent. The episodes of episodic nature often have common themes though, like searching for a clue about Eldorado, fighting horrors and other enemies, and eating delicious meals. And some are used to get to know the key characters and their pasts, or current paths. I think it was a nice touch.
Is this MAPPA´s most dazzling creation? No, it gets quite obvious that Garo: VL wasn´t their top priority. It looks very good in the beginning, but slowly drops in quality to hit a low somewhere half-way, to get a bit better towards the end again. Especially the art. I like the fact that they used a very strong and distinct colour palette, with vibrant red, purple, yellow, pink, brown, blue and green. I think that drew home the atmosphere of the show. The action scenes can be a “wow” or “whaat?!” experience. They often have neck breaking speed, but if you force yourself to really watch, the movements make sense. Watched like that, they actually became kind of cool, but it demands effort. Character designs are good and original enough, with distinguishing traits.
Speaking of the characters, they were actually pretty good. Once again, not ground breaking, but good. Sophie is stubborn, naïve but brave in her own way. Sword is the classic brawny explosive character with a huge fancy for the opposite sex. At first, he has no intentions to team up with Sophie, but she´s quite persistent, and together with some unavoidable events, starts to warm up to her. I digged their dynamic. Tina and Luke are also pretty interesting in their own way. Luke is your quiet and brooding type of guy, which has roots in his past. Tina is your typical femme fatale, but with a pretty heavy arsenal up her sleeve. I liked their individual journey´s and chapters. The rest varied in quality and appeal, but many filled out the story well.
The sound and soundtrack are decent enough, but nothing overly exiting either. The VA´s (Japanese) were all more than ok, and well matched with their character.
So, to summon things up, I liked Garo: VL quite a lot. Not an 8 maybe, but a solid 7. I will probably re-watch it to get a better all over flow and feeling of it, I have a suspicion that Garo: VL is better watched that way. Sadly, this show seems to have been put in the shadows these past two seasons, and probably never will have a larger audience. Which is a shame, because Garo: VL probably has better qualities than more than half what’s been airing at the same time. I can warmly recommend you Garo: VL if you are into classic action-hero stories, don´t have a problem with slower paced episodic narrative and can accept some quality fluxes in the art and animation.
dadnaya
Would you like to get HYPED? Are you looking for some action? Here is the place! Garo:Vanishing line is a standalone anime, so you don't need to watch the older Garos in order to watch this one. What is this about? Well the sypnosis probably tells it better but in summary: Knights and Alchemists fighting Horrors, making their way to uncover the mysteries of El Dorado. Why did I like it so much? Because it was great. It did exactly what I was looking for. Sometimes it feels like shows try to make action anime epic yet fail with some underhanded tactics. Either fights ending too soon, orjust not being hype enough. But... Garo did it right.
The combination of the music, art and animation, and the fight scenes in general were well done.
What about the story? There was a general story line about going to El Dorado. But... It was a bit lacking. Since it was a 2 cour, they had a lot of time to... strech? Some episodes didn't really contribute to the general story line and just showed some cool fights. So basically the story picks up its pace only later on.
While it didn't feel the most original story ever, it was pretty unique. And you don't really need to reinvent the wheel in order for a story to be great.
Sound was amazing, it made every fight scene make me hyped. Also, OP/ED were fine, nothing too impressive but not bad either.
As for characters... There was some fine development. Some getting stronger, or for some we can see the relationships grow stronger.
None of the characters really fall to "cliches" so that was pretty nice.
Overall enjoyment- I didn't watch it weekly. I watched a bunch of episodes every month or two, and this week I binged the last 8 episodes. Binging it all together is a lot more fun than weekly in my opinion. Generally, I enjoyed that.
Do I recommend it? YES I do! If you're an action lover, you'll probably like this.
Bottom Score: 8/10
Bonus part: Since I watched the very first Garo anime, I might want to compare it a little.
Garo:Vanishing Line and the first Garo are pretty different because of the eras. (This one is modern, older one is in the middle ages). Vanishing Line was better.
I felt like the older Garo was nice to watch as well but I don't remember it being as hype as Vanishing line. And I also don't recall it having action fights as great as Vanishing Line.
Zarnaav
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS Garo: Vanishing Line is the third Garo TV series, with a modern setting with action happening in Russell City, it follows the story of Sword, a makai knight who dons the golden armor to protect human from the eternal threat called horror which comes to this world from Makai Realm using humans negative emotions, Gina, a makai priest who uses spells to destroy horrors, Luke, who uses guns to hunt horrors and Sophie, a girl who is searching for her brother. Great unique story, well paced episodes having well choreographed battles, characters which whom you will instantly love and a ride thatwill make you beg for more is what Vanishing Line lacks.
Story 5/10
Let's talk about the story.
The story starts good, looking promising. After few episodes I found myself wanting more, after half of this aired I started to feel something was lacking, what this lacks is a good arc, with few exceptions this show follows the episodic rule meaning you won't find longer arcs, the episode starts and by the end the conflict is over, of course there is the long arc which is the sole purpose of this anime who in the end fails to deliver and it brings the old twist that even a 5 year old kid might've guessed.
Art 6/10
The animation here is better that it's predecessor which completely failed it. The 3DCG animation blends well with 2D .
The character design here is good, showing masculine males when it needs and normal looking females. A good depiction of reality with various types of the human body.
What I dislike here is the fact they didn't put enough effort in showing golden armor at it's full potential, the battles where short, you would catch a glimpse of the armor and everything is over in the next second.
Sound 6/10
The sound was okay, the voice acting was good and the songs where catchy. Nothing too memorable here.
Character 3/10
This is another bad thing about Vanishing Line. The characters are developed, but only in the case of good guys in the case of villains, the creator must thought something among these lines: "I want some villain who is strong and also some drama." "How about some one sided character, a traitor who is obsessed with power for no apparent reason?" "Great! Let's do that!". While others are just there with some brief explanations thrown in haste.
While the characters are developed up to some point they stop growing in more directions and when they grow unidirectional the attachment towards them won't change. In my case I was neutral to all because they lacked solid backstories. Heck, I might be attached more to a random character who appears for 2 minutes just to be killed for the sake of story, than the main characters.
Enjoyment 3/10 and Overall 4/10
A story that tries to be different but falls in the cliché category too many times, lack of solid twists, predicable developments, although I wasn't particularity displeased in every episode, there are several good episodes in this, I was left hoping for more and it seems it was just another Garo anime made to milk the original series with no intention of surpassing it.
This was too long for it's own sake, this could've ended in 12-13 episodes without significant content loss, this fails to bring out the full potential of Garo, the spotlight is more on horrors than the Golden Knight. As a movie this could've been much better,great even, but as a 24 episodes run this stretched for too long, leaving much potential unused and failing to bring in light what could've made this a better anime.
As a verdict and also a summary of everything above all I will say is: You might enjoy this if you are not looking for something outstanding, you don't look for too much in your characters, you are happy with action anime that shows little action. Or you are looking for a normal anime, not a part of Garo series, this is okay but as a Garo anime this is a disappointment.
For those who want to get into Garo series I'd recommend to watch the original anime or the live action, just stay away from this and the other Garo anime.
miyo__
[Some considerations: 1. I haven't watched the previous Garo series so I'll write this based just on Vanishing Line. 2. I don't pretend to go deep. 3. No spoilers.] I got hyped by Garo: Vanishing Line trailer, I think the promotional video is great. The first episode is really catching: animation, art, soundtrack and fight scenes are outstanding. No doubt that the strong points of Vanishing Line are the same of the debut episode: Soundtrack, fights and art/animation. I'm amazed by their OST and how they managed to fit the animation (fights, calm scenes, dramatic scenes, etc). I would recommend Garo: Vanishing Line for anyone who enjoys greatsync between music and animation.
The character design is great too, the characters are very unique and has their personality well built in mostly times. The artwork is beautiful and they made an effort to create awesome illlustrations along the episodes.
But now talking about the weak points: Plot holes. Some things "just happen", without any explanation or suggestion how it happened (mostly on the final arc). Some events feels very improbable but so convenient to the main characters get out well from a bad situation. I know convenience is common to main shonen characters but in this case you can really feel missing something, like it SHOULD have more about it to be more interesting and logical. At least to feel they fought for it, not they luckly and magically got something solved by ???.
Well, to conclude I really enjoyed the anime and I would recommend it for any shonen fan. Even with plot holes the story is enjoyable and the OST and fight scenes are really worth to watch. Extra points for Luke's development too.
tobioiisms
Story 8 / 10: For me the story really kept my attention from beginning to end. I was interested in it even with some of the "filler" episodes with side stories for some of the main characters. I think it was a very engaging story up until the very end and while I predicted a few of the plot points along the way, most of the reveals were surprising to me and that kept the story even more interesting. While it didn't move me to tears myself, there were also plenty of moments that struck my heart and I think that's effective. Art 7 / 10: The artwasn't overly outstanding to me, yet good enough to see some moments and go "oh, that's nice." Like I said, it wasn't anything higher than a 7 by any means, but I definitely think it would be doing it a great shame to rate it any lower than good. There are some moments where the art and animation really do stand out and others where it isn't as interesting, so that's something one has to consider.
Sound 6 / 10
The soundtrack was alright to me. There were some good ones in there (the first op being one of those for me), but the music didn't particularly do anything for me worth mentioning otherwise.
Character 9 / 10
The characters were EXTREMELY enjoyable for me the entire time I was watching the series. Luke was my favorite from the beginning (as predictable as I am with my character favorite types), but the rest of the characters were just as appealing to me! Even the antagonists interested me even if we didn't get to know them on the same personal level as the main characters (unless you count Luke's father, I suppose). All of their backstories and how they acted and interacted with one another made them extremely likable in every way.
Enjoyment 9 / 10
I really enjoyed Garo: Vanishing Line from beginning to end. While I may have mentioned that Garo didn't make me cry earlier on, I must say that it ALMOST made me cry a few times because I was touched. It also made me smile and laugh and I was excited for a new episode every week. It is definitely a show I feel sadness about it's ending and feel as if I'm missing a little piece of Friday now that it's all over.
Overall 8 / 10
I give this show an 8 at the end of the day because while there are some portions of it that are considered average, at the end of the day Garo: Vanishing Line was a very entertaining show that kept my attention and excitement every week for the past 24 episodes. I would definitely recommend it to anyone and would rewatch it at any given chance.
CarelessForce
Garo: Vanishing Line is a fun anime with fantastic style that unfortunately just lasts too long. The visuals are great, the concept entertaining and the soundtrack is so good, it's the best part of many scenes. However, the many episodic side stories mean it's all repeated too often, allowing it to go stale before the end. Once the show starts to get boring, it's a lot easier to notice the poor writing and inconsistencies, as well as more difficult to forgive them. There's a lot of fanservice in this but it's all western-friendly, only adult characters. The humour isn't great but it does keep the show from gettingtoo heavy, it also has quite a lot of flashbacks.
This would be a brilliant show if it hadn't been drawn out into 24 episodes, I recommend watching at least the 1st one, but due to the series' length, it does get tedious in places.
Lazaros742
So i have never seen any other anime in this family... but it was very interesting to watch. There is a lot about the nature of the Horrors that i did not understand from the anime as a stand alone, maybe they were answered in the previous animes. The setting is very interesting and takes you to a bunch of different places, giving you a bit of variety. The story is probably its weakest point but it had a lot of potential. The battle scenes were fun and cool but at some point they started to feel flashy for flashinesses sake. The characters were allpretty fun and i liked how the main character developed by the end.
Overall its a fun anime to watch but I genuinely wish they developed the story just a little more and gave more information on the Horrors, the alchemists, and the knights. I dont really understand where they came from or how they became what they are. Anyhow, i give it an 8 overall.
ktulu007
Garo is a franchise I've talked about once with Honoo no Kokuin. It was a sub-par, tryhard dark series where every "twist" was painfully obvious. Maybe this one is less profoundly stupid and manages to be a sentai show for adults that actually respects its audience's intelligence. Story: Sophia Hennes is an orphan who just wants to find her brother. He disappeared one day with the words "El Dorad" left on his computer screen. Sophia goes to a famous psychic hoping for a clue but, like all psychics, he's fake. He's also a monstrous horror who tries to kill her. Which is almost as bad. Fortunately for her, she's rescuedby the mysterious Sword who transforms into a golden knight on his motorcycle and slays the horror. He also happens to be looking for the secret behind El Dorado. Which sets the pair on the same path.
This has the exact same fundamental flaw as the other Garo series. It wants to have a lot of excessive violence and some sexual content thereby making it for older teenagers or adults but it's written at the level of a children's series. Every single twist is exceedingly obvious far before it happens, but the series always acts as though it's doing something shocking. We all knew who King was the moment he sent his people to bring Sophia unharmed to El Dorado. We also knew who was using Sword's name the moment you talked about the corporation responsible in connection to his back story.
I don't know whether the writers are inept imbeciles who think they're being clever because they couldn't figure out the obvious twists or they just have very low opinions of their own audience.
Vanishing Line also has the other hallmarks of very childish writing with monsters of the week, one dimensional antagonists and being adverse to taking any real risks. Which also results in it having a kind of shit ending. Seriously, the most surprising thing to happen in the series is when we see the three identical chefs take off their hats and glasses and they look different. Which doesn't matter since they have so little personality that they could be one character any way. Plus it happens at the very end, so we never even get to see anyone else react to it.
I also want to briefly mention the "noble sacrifice" scene. Because it's pretty bad. See, there's a point where one character is forced to sacrifice himself to protect Sophia. Which is really obviously going to happen because they give a speech that's a really clear flag for it, but that's not the issue with it. The issue is that about ten seconds after it happens, reinforcements show up and the writers act like it was a noble, necessary move even though they could have literally not done anything and the reinforcements would have gotten there in time. Also, the reinforcements approach Sophia from behind even though they clearly establish that there's a sheer cliff directly behind her. Because of course no one was editing this shit.
Characters:
So, all our characters are one note clichés. The one thing that separates this cast from the cast of that other Garo series is that two of them are really obnoxious clichés. Mainly, Sword and Sophia. Sword is that type of protagonist who loves to party and have a good time but he comes through in the end. Which is always an obnoxious archetype just because every character like that acts really annoying in any situation where their life isn't directly in danger.
Sophia is one of those optimistic child hang on characters. They don't do much on their own, but they're always by the protagonist's side and providing motivation for them. And those characters are annoying unless they're well developed and given depth. But depth is a fully foreign concept to this series, so that's never going to happen.
Art:
MAPPA's artwork is mostly pretty decent. The biggest issue is that some of the action sequences are over the top to the point of being incoherent. Just a bunch of blur-lines clashing against each other. But the monster designs, character designs and backgrounds are all pretty nicely done. And most of the action sequences are basically acceptable.
Sound:
The acting is passable. Vanishing Line is one of those anime where the complete lack of character depth results in performances that are a bit mundane but where you can still tell that the actors are better than this. Kugimiya Rie, Shimazaki Nobunaga, Koshimizu Ami & Seki Tomokazu are all skilled professionals who occasionally take roles in rubbish because they have to make a living. The music is a bit shit. Maybe not inaudibly horrendous but it's certainly the worst I've heard from MONACA.
Ho-yay:
The closest we get is Sophia's friend hanging onto her a bit. Which she does while talking about boys so either she's trying to get a sense of whether Sophia is into boys or she's just at that age where boys temporarily don't seem gross. It's hard to tell with a generic friend character who happens to be shallower than a spilled thimble of water on an unseasonably warm day.
Areas of Improvement:
Know your audience. If you want to write for adults, you can't make all your twists this obvious. You can't make your characters this trite. Well, you technically can but it'll be a shit product.
Develop your characters. Honestly, even a good children's series will have better characterisation than this.
If you're going to have a noble sacrifice, make it matter. Don't cheapen it by having reinforcements show up so quickly that it renders the act pointless.
Final Thoughts:
In many ways, this has the same problems that plagued the other Garo series I reviewed. Same childish writing. Same shallow, trite characters. What makes this one a bit worse are that it has annoying generic characters, its music isn't anywhere near as good and the action sequences aren't as strong. Which is why I'm giving Vanishing Line a 3/10. And I'm honestly tempted to go lower. But I don't think I can quite justify it.
