Snapshot: GA-REI -zero- - 01 October 6
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「葵上 －あおいのうえー」 (Aoi Ue -Aoi no Ue-)
“Aoi Above”
First Glance:
Sharing in the same premise as the GA-REI manga, GA-REI -zero- brings us supernatural action of a different flavor with a completely new cast of characters. Produced by AIC Spirits and asread, the series should benefit from the former’s previous work on another supernatural anime—Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuchou.
Aside from the existence of evil spirits that can’t normally be seen by the naked eye, it’s a bit difficult to assess where this rendition is headed; however, the first episode did an awesome job in grabbing my interest with scene after scene that could only be described as “intense”. I mainly attribute this to the excellent use of music throughout, which had me looking up who actually composed it. As it turns out, the music is done by Agematsu Noriyasu, whose only other work I’ve heard something from was in Girls Bravo (barring opening/ending themes). I can’t say the music in Girls Bravo was very memorable, but the usage of Noriyasu’s work here really establishes the tone in GA-REI -zero-. There’s also a lot of foreshadowing via a recurring flashback thus far, so my interest is piqued enough to want to see how things turn out. What throws me in for a whirl though is that all of the main characters were killed at the end of this episode (with plenty of censoring), leaving me wondering where the next episode will proceed from since there was no preview. There’s always the possibility that this first episode is actually the last in the series chronologically, but I seriously hope it’s not as I’m not a huge fan of this storytelling approach. (Omni mentioned that this was used in Touka Gettan.)
From what I’ve seen so far, I have no complaints about the production quality since it looked consistently good. What caught my interest the most though were the characters. In particular, the heroine of the series, Kasuga Natsuki, whose ability to fight evil spirits with a sport bike is as unbelievable as it is amazing to watch. Played by Kitamura Eri (Otonashi Saya in BLOOD+), Natsuki has this cool-calm exterior that I want to see a lot more of. It doesn’t hurt that she’s easy on the eyes either. The main protagonist, Kanze Tooru, on the other hand is played by Maeno Tomoaki, who’s still relatively new but starred in Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto ~Natsu no Sora~ last season, plus Toshokan Sensou the season before that. He does a really good job portraying a Tooru here, so I’d actually like to see more shows he’s involved with down the road. Support cast also features a nice assortment of seiyuus, with the likes of Koyama Rikiya, Yahagi Sayuri (who took over as Mami for Fukuen Misato), and Kakihara Tetsuya (who’s actually not annoying when he’s not playing anyone named “Kazuki” or “Kouichi”).
Supernatural horror action has never been a genre that I really look forward to, but GA-REI -zero- has started off with a very strong first showing that will surely keep me around for at least another episode or two. In fact, I somehow get the feeling I’m going to end up watching this one all the way through just to have something different from all the other series this season. Anyone else ready for episode two already?
Notable Cast:
- Kanze Tooru (観世 トオル) : Maeno Tomoaki (前野 智昭)
- Kasuga Natsuki (春日 ナツキ) : Kitamura Eri (喜多村 英梨)
- Shindou Masaki (進藤 マサキ) : Kakihara Tetsuya (柿原 徹也)
- Kusuno Kudou (葛野 クドウ) : Koyama Rikiya (小山 力也)
- Konparu Kiriya (金春 キリヤ) : Miyamoto Mitsuru (宮本 充)
- Izumi Mami (和泉 マミ) : Yahagi Sayuri (矢作 紗友里)
- Isayama Kousen (諫山 黄泉) : Mizuhara Kaoru (水原 薫)
foosh at 1:59 am on October 6th, 2008
this show looks really cool. im going to have to check it out
Exia at 2:01 am on October 6th, 2008
ill give it a try
Putang at 2:01 am on October 6th, 2008
hmm o_o I wonder if this has any relation to the manga Ga Rei… I remember reading the first chapter only and it started out way different… but then again it does have “-zero-” in it…
Smerpy at 2:06 am on October 6th, 2008
Started out completely different from the manga.
The animation looks good though
Alyssa at 2:06 am on October 6th, 2008
It has absolutely no relation to the manga…the anime has a totally diff storyline…
Omni at 2:08 am on October 6th, 2008
This first episode blew my mind. I’m still trying to get over what happens at the end, and the kicker is that the villains look somewhat like the manga villains.
Alice at 2:16 am on October 6th, 2008
It’s completely different, I was hoping for something with more relation to the manga. Guess I’m quite dissapointed, but I’ll give it a try.
Chimasternmay at 2:19 am on October 6th, 2008
Ya this episode was mind blowing for me to, i mean come on first episode and that stuff happens… also we already have a cliffhanger. that was awesome. ya i only read like 3 chapters of this but i already saw dif’s, but who cares right now (thats what im thinking) and Alyss maybe right that the anime is a totally dif story, i mean first of all the names were not the same for the main’s got to checkout next episode… hum maybe this was like the a near last episode that they just showed first. whatever… i think im gonna read the manga and watch this. and if they are different then that just means 2 new things for me to watch and read lol
Chimasternmay at 2:26 am on October 6th, 2008
“There’s always the possibility that this first episode is actually the last in the series chronologically, but I seriously hope it’s not as I’m not a huge fan of this storytelling approach. (Omni mentioned that this was used in Touka Gettan.)”
ya i don’t like too, cause it gives me the feeling “of ah wtf i just watched the last episode and this happened wtf is their a point for me to watch the prequel episodes, i don’t care when i already know this is going to happen.”
However, i don’t stuff like Rental Magica or Haruhi…
lets hope its not reverse chronological… or else ill wait till they finish the series and watch it from the last ep to first…
Chimasternmay at 2:28 am on October 6th, 2008
up there its i dont *hate* stuff
Ryvius at 2:37 am on October 6th, 2008
Holy shit, this looks really good!
Check out my anime music blog: http://worldofanimemusic.blogspot.com
AznCoffee at 2:40 am on October 6th, 2008
jesus, you people comment fast… >.>
and aww… censors?
*sigh* when will they learn?
divine at 2:41 am on October 6th, 2008
While I didn’t clearly state it in my post, I’m under the firm belief that this is a completely different story from the manga, but may end up being a prequel to it.
Random muser at 3:00 am on October 6th, 2008
This certainly looks interesting. It looks as if its been airing for a wile now and is already half way through its run. Might follow you on this one.
dementedchris at 3:11 am on October 6th, 2008
Read a few volumes of the manga and liked it enough that I ended up looking forward to the anime. I was a bit disappointed when I first heard that it wasn’t going to cover the manga, but reading this and seeing the caps made me feel much more hopeful. Will be keeping tabs. Thanks for the recap, Divine!
lucky_huh? at 3:52 am on October 6th, 2008
well that’s xtrange they change the cast, to one that does not have anyting to do with the manga but they very well keep the villans from the manga, 100% sure that girl with the katana is yomi and the dude is a prominent figure in the manga on the bad guys side. but more then foreshadowing i got the impresion of a flashback on those parts though, Mmmmmmmmm i am not a big fan of dead sweethearts >:/, somehow i feel gonzo-ed with this but hey expect the worst and hope for the best as a manga fan, it work for me after the disaster of linebarriel.
keralie at 3:52 am on October 6th, 2008
I don’t get where you guys are saying it doesn’t relate to the manga when two of the manga’s characters already showed up. It might not have the exact same storyline, but there’s nothing preventing it from being somewhat of a prequel to the manga (yet). For those of you who do remember, the fact that ’she’ killed all of the characters corresponds with what happened in the manga, albeit the lack of mentioning of such divisions as in the anime.
Vendetta at 5:38 am on October 6th, 2008
1st episode looks good though I haven’t read the manga version. Anyways, the show’s concept of “evil spiritual beings” seems somewhat similiar to that of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within although this being just the first episode & i’m sure more will be revealed as to the background of these “beings”. >.< But i don’t fully understand japanese…is there a fan-subbed version of the show? Would really appreciate if someone could provide a torrent or link.
Levy at 6:38 am on October 6th, 2008
Aw Sh*t, it’s ALMA!
linkinstreet at 9:09 am on October 6th, 2008
@keralie: yes. It was never shown the massacre in the manga, but was just a fleeting mention as it does not really fit the lighthearted theme of it. And the title “Zero” itself does tend to suggest it’s a sequel.