Garo 2: SHADE

There are demonic beasts known as "Horrors" lurking in the darkness of the world. This is the story of a Makai Knight who hunts the Horrors. Do not avert your eyes from it.

Episode 2: SHADE

Out in a secluded junkyard a businessman is talking to a sharply dressed woman about financial dealings. Before they had broken up he had given her 2 million Yen. She says not to worry because she can return twenty times that amount in a year. He is dubious and tells her he has researched the company that she works for and that it doesn't exist. He demands his money back or he'll contact the police. She says to be man and give it up and starts to walk away when shadows seep out of the ground and ensnare her legs. The shadows become chains and a Horror rises out of the ground to "eat" her. The businessman misses this because he has fallen. When he gets back up his Ex is standing there. She says she is hungry. He asks "for what?". And she says "YOU". Chains shoot out of her mouth and pierce the man as he screams into the night.

Mitsuki wakes up with a start from a bad dream. A man is banging on her door demanding money that she owes him. She jumps up and leaves on her bicycle. Later she is working at a "Melon Bread" stand when she sees Kouga walking by on the street. She follows after him just in time to see him disappear into a solid brick wall.

Inside Kouga faces another butler who stands silently watching him. He takes out his sword and inserts it into the mouth of a statue of a howling wolves head. Three glowing girls drift down out of the darkness. As Kouga withdraws his sword a small ornate dagger-looking device appears which the butler takes to the girls. "This is the twelfth one. Twelve is a number that can command demons. They will be sealed in Hell." Kouga turns to go. A girl says a new horror has appeared and the butler hands him an envelope, which Kouga burns with the green flame. The runic symbols form a message in the air" "A HORROR CREATED BY ATTACHMENT TO WEALTH. USES CHAINS AS ITS GATE" As Kouga leaves they ask why he did not kill the girl bathed in the blood of the Horror. He responds that she is now bait to lure the other Horrors. They approve of his intentions but remind him that he will have to kill her eventually and to not get too involved with her. "Be careful or you will die like your father did."

Mitsuki runs into Kouga on the street. He puts a ring on her finger, it is a present. He walks away while she reminds him to pay for her painting. "I will pay for it eventually".

The sharp-dressed woman from earlier is out in a remote area with a young woman. The girl wants to start a company and build a fortune just like Ms. Kujou has. Kujou says it looks like that dream will not come true. "Dreams should just die as dreams," she says as she throws money into the air. Her face shows the girl the Horror that she is and in utter terror the girl tries to run away. The Horror's chains shoot out to grab the girl and "eat" her as she dissolves into rivulets of streaming flesh.

Kujou stops abruptly as she senses something and bounds away with superhuman jumps. Just as she disappears Kouga shows up and inspects the area. There is money lying on the ground. He talks to Salva about using money to lure humans to their doom. He figures that losing one's life over money, the person would have gotten eaten anyway. "You have no interest in money? Since ages past, money has been the worst drug for mankind." Kouga says no, not interested. Salva retorts "So it's that woman rather than money, huh?"

Mitsuki is talking to a friend who is looking at her paintings. She says they are very good and will pay her at the end of the month. Mitsuki dreamily wonders to herself if there's an easy way to make lots of money. The woman tells her about an IT company that is looking for investors. "Supposedly she'll pay you back twenty time the same amount in a year!" Mitsuki thinks it sounds too good to be true and is suspicious. But her friend insists it's true.

Later at a seminar Ms. Kujou is describing how investors will make money from her company. Mitsuki is there and asks what the lowest amount to invest is. Kujou says 100,000 at which Mitsuki is taken aback. Kujou senses the Horror blood on Mistuki and her hunger is evident in her twisted, scheming smile. Outside of the seminar Ms. Kujou offers to give Mitsuki an opt-in at only 50,000, which she jumps at. They will meet later that night to exchange the money.

That night after Mitsuki has gotten an advance payment from her friend, we see Kouga at the seminar building. Salva is surprised to not only sense the Horror there but also Mitsuki. Inside Mitsuki hands 25,000 over to Ms. Kujou saying she'll have the rest later. She talks of her dreams to open a personal art exhibition. As Mitsuki heads into an elevator Kujou steps hungrily after but then stops when she feels a presence nearby.

She turns to see Kouga. "What do we have here? Who are you?" she asks haughtily. Kouga steps towards her stating "Your natural enemy." With that Ms. Kujou shoots chains out of her mouth at Kouga, which he easily avoids. Realizing this is not a regular human she runs. A running fight through the building ensues as she repeatedly tries to strike Kouga down with her chains.

As Ms. Kujou escapes, Salva says that the human the Horror has taken over is very athletic and that Kouga better get serious. He agrees and follows her to a parking garage where he demands Mitsuki's money back. Not because he cares about money, but it's for her future. "If you want it, then come and take it." Kouga draws his sword.

The fight starts in earnest with both opponents throwing punches and kicks, hurtling through the garage and landing on top of a car. Still they fight until Kouga jumps away from the car as Ms. Kujou changes into her true form.

The Horror sends out a barrage of barb tipped chains to attack Kouga, who can barely hold them back with his sword. She pushes forward bearing down on him with a combination of chain attacks and high-flying kicks.

Kouga knows it is time to ramp things up, spinning his sword in the air he opens the dimensional gate, creating the GARO armor around him. He has 99.9 seconds to fight in this form. He tells her "I will cut down your Shade for trampling on her dreams!"

Instead of waiting for GARO to take advantage she attacks first by snaring a car in her chains and throwing it him. GARO bursts through the car, shattering it as he slams into Kujou.

As they grapple she surrounds them both in chains and Salva warns that she is trying to take him with it.

With a burst of flexing strength he breaks free of the chains, leaping backwards into an attack stance. Instantly GARO leaps forward in a corkscrew dive, his sword flashing a red glow as it cuts through the Horror. Kujou explodes into shreds of shadow goo and broken chain. As he watches, the fragments of chain disintegrate into wisps of black smoke.

The next day Mitsuki is sitting on a bench outside, reading about the disappearance of Ms. Kujou when Kouga walks up. He hands her the money she had given to the Horror. She asks what happened to Ms. Kujou and he answers straightforward that a Horror had possessed her. "A Horror?" she asks. "A demonic beast that eats humans. It's my job to hunt them." She asks why monsters like that exist. "Since ancient times they've appeared through the evil and foolishness in human's hearts." Mitsuki is disheartened, "So I was targeted because of my heart is impure?". "No," he says, "You wish your dream to come true, your heart is pure." He turns to walk away. Mitsuki calls after him "What is this ring?" Kouga tells her it is a charm of protection and to take good care of it.

"As long as human's evil corrupts this world Horrors will keep appearing. So since ancient times the Makai Knights have been fighting them in secret. Saejima Kouga. I wonder why he saved me."

GARO 1: Picture Book

There are demonic beasts known as "Horrors" lurking in the darkness of the world. This is the story of a Makai Knight who hunts the Horrors. Do not avert your eyes from it.Episode One: PICTURE BOOK

At an art gallery the proprietor is unpacking boxes when he hears a woman's laugh coming from within his warehouse. Looking around the laugh leads him to a box containing a painting of a beautiful nude woman. He is lustfully taken with her image. Then literally he is taken as the image comes to life and grabs him from the canvas. "Do you like young ones? Young women?" she asks. "Then you're the same as me," she says as she disintegrates into ribbons of black plasma and solid shadow. It invades the proprietor's body, taking possession of him.Somewhere in a darkened castle room we see Kouga fighting off giant swinging blades.

Lost in a dream, Mitsuki thinks back to her earliest memories as a child, which are of looking through a picture book about a knight in golden armor striking down terrifying monsters one after the other. But when she turns to the last page of the book, it is blank. Suddenly her vision turns dark as monsters of shadow crawl out of the ground. As they are about to engulf her they are struck down by a glowing figure.

Mitsuki wakes up in her apartment. She is an artist with her paintings hanging around and paint tools everywhere. Rapidly she starts sketching on a piece of paper. These sketches turn up at the art gallery as posters. She tells the possessed proprietor that she is in his debt for letting her hang them. He suddenly grabs her arm dragging her towards the warehouse, saying he has forgotten to clean back there. She breaks free of him because of a sudden vision of her childhood shadow monsters. She runs out of the building, visibly shaken.

Back at Kouga's "danger room" he staves off all manner of swinging blades.

Mitsuki is at Dr Ryuuzaki's house talking about her dreams of the monsters and the golden knight. It was her father who made the book. She wonders why he made it and why the last page is blank. Dr Ryuuzaki asks if she still has the book, thinking it is the key to solving the puzzle to her dreams. She doesn't have the book and he wonders if it was just an illusion in her mind. She says that she is nervous about how her new artwork is being received at the gallery. He says she is being "tormented by a monster called 'anxiety'".

At the art gallery a young woman asks indignantly about the weird paintings by Mitsuki. "You've laid your hands on her too, haven't you?" she accuses him. He smiles back, "If you want to go that far, then perhaps we should talk about this... over dinner". He grabs her by the wrists and starts to drag her towards the warehouse. She resists and he turns towards her. His face flashes, showing the Horror within him. "I've grown hungry" he says and grabs her as she starts to "unravel" ... her body becomes liquid and streams into his mouth.

Kouga ends his training session as his "butler" arrives. He says there is a new assignment. He hands Kouga an envelope, which he burns with a special lighter with a green flame. The envelope burst into flame and becomes a type of runic symbols floating in the air. The message reads: SIGNS OF CALAMITY ABOUND. A HORROR CREATED BY MAN'S INSOLENCE. SHOULD BE CUT DOWN AT ONCE.

Kouga stands outside of the art gallery, talking to his ring, Salva. It tells Kouga that they are close as it senses a strong aura of evil. Kouga steps confidently forward into the gallery.

Inside the gallery Mitsuki has also just shown up. She looks around for the proprietor but instead encounters Kouga. He roughly grabs her by the throat and braces her against a column as he brings out his lighter. He scans her with its green flame, finding nothing but a human girl. Just then the proprietor shows up, calling to her. She runs frightened from Kouga's grasp, hiding behind the proprietor.

"Do you need something, sir?" the owner asks. Kouga says he's looking for someone, but it looks like he mistook her for somebody else. The proprietor asks him to leave but Kouga says he is thinking of buying a painting. Excited by the prospect of selling her work Mitsuki hopes the owner will go ahead and sell now instead of waiting until tomorrow when the exhibit is to open.

Kouga steps up to a painting and says he wants this one. He wants to hang it in his house tonight and asks if she can deliver it right now. Then Kouga turns his attention to the proprietor stating it seems he has more interesting paintings. The proprietor leads him to the warehouse. Kouga asks about the box which had contained the painting of the nude. The proprietor says there's nothing in it. Kouga states, "you ate it... or, it ate you".

Surprised, the proprietor turns to face the green flame of Kouga's lighter. He is the one. The proprietor leaps away in a flash as a barrier goes up around the gallery.

Mitsuki tries to take the painting off of the wall but it wont budge. She tries the exit but the door won't budge either.

Kouga's ring Salva tells him that this is the Horror known as "Anglais". "The woman-eating type I hate..." he replies. There are paintings in this room, all of which are red figures, looking almost like different Kanji. Suddenly two of the paintings spring to life and a fight ensues between Kouga and these two red demonoids. He dispatches both with his sword and they explode like a water-splash.

Mitsuki is waiting in the main gallery when the owner shows up. He says Kouga is a degenerate and he has called the police. He says he'll take her home and then grabs Mitsuki and starts to walk away with her. They are stopped by Kouga who says he enjoyed the trap.

The Horror/proprietor finally realizes who Kouga is... "You're a Makai Knight, aren't you?" He grabs Mitsuki by the neck as a shield and then shoots green/black goo out of his mouth at Kouga. He easily dodges it, running for the Horror. The proprietor throws Mitsuki at him and she glances off of him, hitting the wall, knocked unconscious.

A viscous fight erupts as Kouga and the proprietor go hand to hand, hitting and kicking each other across the gallery. It ends with a hard strike of Kougas sword hilt in the owner's neck. He goes down. But suddenly he is jerked up as if a marionette on strings. His back expands like a balloon and then he bursts, showing the true form of "Anglais".

The demon jumps around the room and then becomes shadow, sliding around at super speed across the floor in order to lose Kouga's tracking of him. Then the shadow disappears into a painting, successfully losing Kouga's notice.

Kouga brings out his lighter and scans the room through its green flame. As it crosses one painting the flame flares up. This is the one. He blows the flame at the painting and on impact it starts to morph into the shape of the Horror Anglais. Kouga tells Mitsuki to run, but the doors still won't budge, so she hides behind a column. Kouga pulls his sword and whirls it above his head creating a dimensional rift from which his GARO armor forms around him.

Anglais tries to charge Kouga as the armor forms, but is blocked by GARO's sword. Anglais flies backwards across the room in a mess of tar-like shadow material. When GARO's transformation is complete Mitsuki has a flashback to the golden warrior of her picture book.

Anglais shoots stream after stream of tar-like material at GARO with no effect at all, the black goo vaporizing on contact. Anglais tries another attack by growing wings, but as he flies up in the air GARO jumps at him and uses his finishing blow to cut the Horror in half. Anglais explodes. The tarry shadow substance hits Mitsuki.

Mitsuki asks who GARO is. But instead of answering he raises his sword to her, asking why she didn't escape. "Those who touch the blood of Horrors shall be killed. That is the law." As he raises his sword to strike her down Mitsuki faints, the world goes dark.

Salva asks why he hesitates, the smell of blood on her will attract more Horrors. Kouga answers that the Horrors will appear close to her. If she lives the hunt will be easier. She is now bait.

Mitsuki wakes up in her apartment, thinking it was a dream. But Kouga is there, he tells her it's not a dream, but he will not kill her. She asks again who he is. He says he saved her and that's all the thanks he gets? "You carried me" she asks. "You are heavier than I thought" he responds. As she gets up in anger he says "You seem to be alright" and turns to leave. She is angry because she was about to have her first exhibit but now it's ruined. How can he just mess up people's lives and then leave?

He says he's sorry for deceiving her but he really does like the painting. He says it reminds him of his hometown. He will still buy it. Kouga walks off with it and Mitsuki suddenly realizes he didn't pay her.

"The Golden Knight that was painted in a picture book in my memories had suddenly appeared before me. But it was just the beginning to a new legend about to start."

GOLDEN KNIGHT GARO

From ancient times the MAJU (Evil Beast) “Horror” have plagued mankind. There are those who have continued to protect mankind from the MAJU secretly. It is the single bloodline of the MAKAI Knights who have the power to defeat MAJU. A mysterious young man living in an old castle, Koga Saejima, has the proof of the highest ranked MAKAI Knight, the golden armor inherited by the Golden Knight GARO. The holy blade of the Golden Knight hunting down evil MAJU tears apart the nightside of the city... Koga transforms via a dimensional gateway opening to the MAKAI Realm of Spirits. As GARO, Koga has a time limit of 99.9 seconds. When the time limit is nears its end, his armor begins to change. When transforming, the sword Koga normally carries, the MAKAI Blade changes to GARO Blade. GARO was created by famed experimental director Keita Amemiya. His sometimes controversial productions include the brilliant Iron Armor Mikazuki, Zeiram I & II, Moon Over Tao, Hakaider, Mirai Ninja (known in the states as Cyber Ninja or Future Ninja) and the currently running anime series Tweeny Witches. Amemiya first came to my attention because of his extensive use of stop motion animation for his monsters in such productions as Kamen Rider ZO and Hakaider.

CREW:

Production and Story: Garo Production Committee

Project Supervision:Amemiya Keita

Script: Kaji Ken Ware; Kobayashi Yuuji; Taguchi Megumi

Action / Stunt Supervisor: Yokoyama Makoto

SFX Supervisor: Kosaka Ichi Jun (Omnibus Japan)

Executive Producers: Ninomiya Kiyotaka (Northeast New Corporation);Kubo Satoshi (Bandai Visual); Shiraishi Makoto (TV Tokyo Channel 12, Ltd)

Producers: Hattori Hiroyuki (Northeast New Corporation); Koichi Ishida (Broad Max); Nakagawa Junpei (TV Tokyo Channel 12, LTd)

CAST:

Kouga Saejima /Golden Knight Garo: Hiroki Konishi

Kaoru Mitsuki: Mika Hijii

Rei Suzumura / Silver Fang Knight Zero: Rei Fujita

Gonza Kurahashi: Yukijirou Hotaru

Kodama: Mark Musashi

Koichi Kato: Yu Tokui

Asami Shinohara: Mina Fukui

Kuon Ryuuzaki: Masaki Kyomoto