Garo: The Fanged Wolf

[D-Man]

You know, a guilty pleasure of mine has always been to watch episodes from the genre of "Tokusatsu", live action Japanese hero series, such as the Sentai or Kamen Rider franchises.  I mostly tend to stay quiet about it here in the States, because people take one look at it, think "Power Rangers" and can fathom nothing else about it, which is a shame...because these shows are finally starting to grow up, as evidenced from the subject of this thread. 

I was floored from the moment I watched the first episode of "Garo"...the tone is much darker, and even a bit more gruesome and gothic than most shows of this genre...the main character is the mysterious Sajeima Kouga, who hails from a line of warriors called Makai Knights, entrusted with ridding the world of demons called "Horrors"...there is no expositional leader for these things, there are no henchmen, and there are no clear tactics...these things solely exist to kill, eat, and posess humans.  We witness much of this through another main character, a painter named Kaoru, who is by chance caught up in the middle of this strange world. 

This clip is a sample I present to you, from the end of episode 1...you can easily find other clips on Youtube...if anyone is interested in finding episodes, let me know.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXpv3Z2EXvY

Hmmmm...maybe one more sample for you    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0ml775x960&NR

[Shadow]

I would really love for some of these shows to get some kind of release in the States.

[D-Man]

Well, Garo was successful enough in Japan among young adults and teenagers apparently, and I know a couple of people on this side of the pacific who don't like power ranger-ish stuff, but loved this series when I introduced it to them...so I think it could definitely have a chance over here in the states, with the right amount of promotion. 

The thing is, if this were an anime, instead of live action, we'd be seeing it right now on Cartoon Network's late night line-up. 

[Dennis]

I don't see this as "power ranger-ish"  I see this as something I would enjoy and watch, even with sub-titles. I have always felt that the Power Rangers were really awful, but this looks more grown up, it's something the inner teenager in me could really enjoy.

[CoreyHeldpen]

Now that was pretty damn cool.

[D-Man]

Yeah...before this series even came along, I realized that if you want a show like this to work, among other things, you have to  give the hero's costume a very imposing and memorable look.  It has to look like he can really do some damage in that suit.

This series ran for only 25 episodes, which was all they were probably budgeted for.  But it's a very memorable 25 episodes, with quality CGI work (Considering this is a TV show, that is) and a compelling story that left room for very little filler episodes. 

The Garo saga was recently concluded with the 2-part TV movie "Garo: Demon Beast of The White Night", and in that one, you get to see our hero in his armor in one scene, but without the helmet.  That was pretty cool too.