Ga-Rei Zero

[Yukimura]

Her sword has a GUN in it!

Anyway, I too found this anime to be quite excellent. Kagura x Yomi showed us a great relationship with a brutal but ultimately positive conclusion. Buffalobiian said everything I would have said except I didn't care about Noriyuki enough to bother forming an opinion about his character. But I'm strongly tempted to read the manga now since I'm quite curious to see how it is Kagura behaves which this prequel (I assume) was meant to reveal those familiar with the Kagura we saw in the last scene. If they end up just animating the manga though I would definitely check it out.

[shinta|hikari]

Don't expect too much from the manga. While it is a decent series, it is not nearly as gory or emotionally powerful as Ga-Rei zero. It is made for a more shounen-loving audience and is quite similar to Bleach, especially the premise.

But Kagura is much, much hotter in the manga.

[Idealistic]

^^ Kagura is hot with that long hair at the end. Is this how she looks like in the manga? Or she just looks better overall? Anyways, I decided to catch up to the series after I was thinking of dropping it and I guess it is only 12 episodes. Glad I picked it back up though, it's a pretty good series.

So I guess it's safe to say episode 1 was just one big troll? They could have done it without the intro of that group in the beginning. How can you design a character like Natsuki(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q...de3ea9fbbb.jpg) and just let her die off like that!?!?

And what's with the flashbacks we see with them/Yomi/boy with death stone? Are they from the manga because the anime didn't explain them. Unless I missed it.

[Ryllharu]

So I guess it's safe to say episode 1 was just one big troll? They could have done it without the intro of that group in the beginning. How can you design a character like Natsuki and just let her die off like that!?!?

And what's with the flashbacks we see with them/Yomi/boy with death stone? Are they from the manga because the anime didn't explain them. Unless I missed it.

Natsuki (honestly didn't bother remembering her name) if you look at her close was more or less just a copy of Natsuki from Mai-Hime, and a generic stereotype of shonen series as a whole, which was pretty much the idea when they trolled all the fans of the Ga-Rei manga with the promotional material for this series (or so I have read).

You didn't miss anything. They never explained any of it for that scene. Yomi being an exorcist, came across that guy and his semi-deceased love, and it was a trauma all around, except for the fucking Brat (who of course loved it).

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As for the series, what hit me the most was actually what happened to Kiri. Yomi hurt her so badly that she mentally reverted to a child, and the president appears to have left out of guilt.

I think Bill covered the majority of the rest of the comments I would have made, well done Bill. A very thorough analysis, couldn't have said it better.

I only would like to expand on one thing. Nori. I don't think he is pitiful or even pitiable at all. While the rest is all good, Nori has been thoroughly broken by the experience. He's still a coward, but now he's a fortune teller and potentially a "wandering exorcist"? He has been utterly disgraced, which frankly is a lot more than he deserves. Cowards don't survive, cowards die on the knees with their backs to their killers.

EDIT:
Kagura also lost the only two friends she could talk to. Well, she ran away from them. That was a minor little tragedy itself.

Guess I'll go download the manga now. I know it's more standard fare, but I needed something to read, and I didn't pick up Ga-Rei at the time because they announced this prequel.

[shinta|hikari]

Here is the manga Kagura.

Slight spoilers if you plan to read the manga.














Yes, much, much hotter.

[Ryllharu]

I read the first volume of the manga already between my last post and this one, and it helped clarify the ending for me a little bit.

- Kagura's cheerful tone at the end of the series is actually really reminiscent of Yomi's. She has become the big sister of sorts. The same cheerful, cute, playful and a little bit mischevious sides that Yomi always showed around her. Despite the horrible things that happened to Kagura and Yomi, she has decided she will live her life as Yomi did.

- 2 years make a lot of difference. Kagura is a lot cuter. From expressions to clothing to her attitude.

That is all. I will now continue reading the manga.

[Nadouku]

Looks like Kiri and the director survived, but with drastic results.

I somehow don't think that this is the end for Yomi. But, the episode was great, an exceptional ending to a prequel of a manga. Hope they animate Ga-rei some time soon!

[Everon]

If they could make it less shounen-like that would be awesome.

AniYoshi also has just released a DVD version of the first two episodes. So for anyone looking for an uncensored version, you can pick those up here