Fantasia XXIX Review: In GARO: TAIGA, The Continuing Saga Of A Tokusatsu Crowdpleaser
Martial arts, magic and majesty are on the menu if you’re a Garo fan. I’ve all but missed out on a chunk of this franchise having only been able to spy a few episodes of the original series, but the fact that it’s lasted twenty years says plenty about the brainchild of creator Keita Amemiya’s lasting legacy with fans.
Amemiya’s Garo: Taiga marks the latest, anniversarial chapter of the hit metaseries, bringing the titular hero, Taiga Saejima (Kitada Shoichiro) into focus, from his childhood training to his tenure years later as a Makai Knight donning the Garo armor, and battling malevolent demons known as Horrors with the aid of his trusty Mado Ring, Zaruba. When an evil entity named Jado (Toshiki Seto) steals a compass containing the talismans of four sacred beasts, Taiga, with the help of envoy, Fuki (Rika Kashima), quests to recover the compass at any cost.
As the film progresses, Taiga’s mission soon reunites him with an old friend named Byakko (Kazuki Namioka), with whom he shares a past. Meanwhile, Jado’s evil and deceptive presence continues to linger in the background. With Jado intent on consuming the four beasts to gain ultimate power to loom over mankind, Taiga’s going to need all the help he can get.
I think about Garo a lot, having missed out on so much of it over the years and its influence among Tokusatsu fans. Amemiya has had his hands on other IP as well, partly including Mechanical Violator Hakaider and various Kamen Rider projects as well, which makes Garo all the more essential as a show I hope becomes more accessible at some point, present physical media availability notwithstanding that is.
As for Garo: Taiga, fans of the franchise know what to expect for the most part: Whirlwind action adventure for targeted at kids and teen audiences, palpable characters and storylines and some of the coolest costumes you’ll ever see, including the gold-armored “Fanged Wolf” himself. Featuring sequences coordinated by Masaki Suzumura, you’ll see plenty of Shoichiro in action with the actor prominently visible for his scenes, only summoning Garo’s incarnation for crucial moments, either to match the threat level of his foes or to finish them off.
We get to see some more exploration with Byakko through several flashbacks in addition to the film’s prologue, and we also get to learn more about Fuki, whose own involvement in the story presents a greater twist that the film initially lets on. It’s a terrific setup for the film’s climatic battle as the nefarious Jado peaks in his abilities, and with a spectacular finale that lays all the cards on the table.
I can’t speak much on whether or not there might have been other easter eggs or details familiar to the Garo fanbase. What I can say is that with the little bit of Garo that I have seen in the past leading up to my viewing of Garo: Taiga, and judging by its trailer, the film certainly delivers on its promises.
Garo Taiga enjoyed its World Premiere at the 29th Fantasia International Film Festival. The movie opens in Japan on October 17.
