As amazing as it is, apparently there are still some people who watch tokusatsu, but haven't seen any of the Garo series. That seems a bit mind boggling to me, since Garo is some of the finest examples of the craft. Plus, as a part of Hyper Midnight Action aimed at adults, it's one of the few tokusatsu series that makes no attempt to pander to kids.
Of course, I'm not unsympathetic with the climate of modern life. We're being bombarded by a million things we need to see and that list just grows exponentially everyday.
But still, it does puzzle me to see the consistently low number of Garo downloads in comparison to Sentai or Kamen Rider. Going back to my previous statement, I guess it's only natural to grow up on Power Rangers, then maybe expand to Sentai. And from those numbers, a few will break off and try Kamen Rider. It's a Venn Diagram of increasingly small circles.
Maybe some people watched the original series, and found it boring. I know I did. But looking back, there's something about the series as a whole that transcends the individual episodes. I think the sum is greater than its parts here.
It probably helps that I feel the Garo Special: Beast of the White Night is one of the greatest examples of a toku movie that there is. The action is amazing. And at its heart, there's a real relatable human drama that everyone can connect with.
I mean, take any Garo series that exists. They always do something interesting and never seen before with their action. I've just got to respect their handiwork.
But on the flip side, there's just something likable about the characters. Stoic Kouga. Cheeky Rei. Silly Kaoru. There are a ton of characters in the Garo series that I just like, and would love to see more stories about. If we can claim Garo is a successful series, then maybe that's its biggest secret.
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