By: Robert Murphy
The Japanese Ministry of Defense has an anti-paranormal
special forces group called the Paranormal Disaster Countermeasure Headquarters
(PDCH). They are the ones responsible for protecting Japan and its people from
supernatural events and monsters, however, things don't go so well on one of
their missions, which leads to intervention by the Ministry of Environment's
Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Division (SDCD) after the PDCH had
sustained large numbers of casualties battling demons. The SDCD being a small
group of individuals who have special abilities to fight supernatural monsters,
these select few people belong to exorcist families who have spent years
battling these paranormal entities and have had countless generations trained
to do so. This is where our two main characters come in; Yomi and Kagura are two
daughters of two of the more prominent exorcist families and are both exorcists
as parts of the SDCD. The two build a bond of sisterhood that is key in the
story and in the single night where everything ends the question is asked;
would you kill someone you love because of that love?
Kagura on the left and Yomi on the right
“Ga-Rei Zero” starts out a little confusing as the beginning
is essentially the end of the show itself and leaves you with so many questions
right from the get go, questions that I found myself needed some answering.
Initially the first characters you meet are a little uninspired and don’t have
you on the edge of your seat but don’t worry they die……no joke; the first
characters you meet are killed after taking down some paranormal entities and
leaving you saying, “Uh what the fuck just happened?” As it turns out the anime
isn’t even about these characters and the entire first episode turns into
pretty much a giant mind screw to the audience as it reveals the story is about
their killer, Yomi. The story is all about what happened leading up to this
unfortunate night, as Yomi betrays her closest friends in the name of revenge
and the bond she shares with Kagura, her sister, her friend and the person most
precious to her.
Tsuchimiya family’s ancient spirit beast that aids them in their battles
After the first two episodes, we flashback to Yomi Isayama,
who by day is your average high school student but by night she is probably the
most prominent member of the Paranormal Disaster Countermeasure force. She is
coming from a long line of Isayama’s who have been guardians of Japan from the
evil spirits for years and she wields their most valuable treasure, a katana
that houses the spirit of a giant beast. And then there is Kagura Tsuchimiya who
is essentially a younger version of Yomi, she comes from a long line
Tsuchimiya’s who have defended Japan and they also have a great spirit which
they have used to help them in their fight against the evil spirits of Japan.
She is the epitome of what a younger sister would be to Yomi in every sense and
when her mother dies, her father sends her to his trusted friends, the
Isayama’s, for more training and that’s where these two meet. And as the two
fight alongside one another, Kagura and Yomi become very close and work
together with a team of crackpot guardians under the supervision of the
government to protect Japan.
But as you can already guess, the good times wouldn’t last
forever, as corruption among the Isayama family and Japan’s government would
quickly change everything. The story reveals that like Kagura, Yomi is an
adopted part of the Isayama’s family and even though she is an extraordinarily
gifted guardian, she has no true rights to her sword or to become head of the
Isayama family, when the time comes. When Yomi’s uncle discovers this fact, he
pushes her father to remove her from the Isayama’s inheritance in favor of his
daughter, Mei, who is also a gifted guardian and acts incredibly cool and
confident towards her adopted cousin but underneath the surface she is
incredibly jealous of her and all that she will inherit. With all this bubbling
under the surface, it would only take a small push in the wrong direction for
everything to go wrong fast and that’s just what happens when the malevolent,
power hungry spirit named Kazuhiro happily comes in to tear it all down around
Kagura and Yomi.
Kazurhiro, our main enemy in the story and his
pretty butterflies
Now I apologize right here and now for going into such deep
explanation of the story; but once, or if, you watch “Ga-Rei Zero,” you will
understand why the show needed so much explanation. Despite the initial start
to the series leaving you with so many questions you quickly get wrapped up
into the show when you want to know just what the hell is going on in the
story. Now this is also a bad part to the show because even after the show is
over there are many more questions you are left with and you feel the show
either needs another season or should of done a better job of explaining a few
things. For example even though the characters you meet at the beginning are
immediately killed, you wonder about them because they appear in the story,
very briefly but it leaves you with questions….or maybe not if you can just
dismiss them after they are killed. The questions you ask yourself about the
series aside, “Ga-Rei Zero” is an excellent show as it grabs you with its
“good” questions of what is happening in the story. It is a very dark show, no
doubt about that and even though the good guys win in the end it comes at a
grave cost as all that Kagura and Yomi have is taken away from them and therein
lies what makes the shows crucial impact, when you see all that these two had
torn away from them.
Good:
-Great plot that hooks you with the massive twist
-Interesting story telling of end to beginning
-The bond between Kagura and Yomi’s bond are what make the
story impact viewers
Bad:
-There are many questions left unanswered in the story that are
simply overlooked and ignored
-The unanswered questions leave some plot holes
Scully Rating: 8.0 out of 10