Ga-Rei Zero episode 3 ~ Sisterly love = Yomi love

Not a bad starting point for a relationship, huh?

Three years ago on that day…three years ago…actually, I was rather surprised that the flashback in this episode was only three years back. I was naturally expecting the time gap to be a bit more but this isn’t really a big problem. All that it means is that the transformation from the lovely onee sama Yomi we see in the past to her killing psychotic self at present time happened quite suddenly. No wonder why kagura was still gobsmacked when she first saw her back in episode 2.

Thoughts: Whaaaaa…I still want my Natsuki-chan back…the world is so cruel to fanboys ;______;
*Shakes head*

Well, finally it seems like this series is becoming more stable and we (okay not me but the manga readers) are beginning to have a general idea of what will be turning out to be. I think with all the killings that has happened since the first two episode, no one was sure whether this was going to be an alternate reality or a prologue to the manga. Well, it seems like this episode pretty much confirmed that the “original cast” all died for nothing if they are going to follow the manga from now on, with lots of extra scenes for manga readers of course. So in a sense you could call the original cast (this includes Natsuki!!! ;____; ) a throw away where they were just designed for the purpose of being killed off.

Okay enough of my rant, back onto the episode.

So this was a flashback episode to show the beginning (and probably the end) of Yomi and Kagura’s sisterly relationship. This also probably means that Kagura from the present won’t be dying anytimes soon if they are going for a “predictable” path. Hopefully that it isn’t something cheesy like “a human shield” from one of her friends but a part of me really wants her to die JUST because it will give yet another unpredictable twist to the series, as if we haven’t had enough of them already.

This flashback scene sets up for events to unfold in the future pretty nicely. One thing that I liked about this episode was that it felt relaxed and “my-paced” unlike the previous two. Even with such vastly contrasting themes with the series, it felt surprisingly natural and for the meantime, interesting at least. Yet again, I have to praise the quality of the artwork as it is one of the best (visually and consistently) seen this season. Yomi is just a beautiful growing woman in my opinion! It will probably hurt to see her transform into the demon that we see now but I also love that side of her (yea! Psycho types FTW!).

Kagura has still failed to impress me even with her “sad” past so I think it is safe to say that it will remain that way for the rest of the series. A person’s past is very important for me to form an opinion of their character and frankly, she isn’t all that exciting and doesn’t push my buttons. What was lovely to see though, was how caring Yomi was to Kagura and how it proves that “love” can sometimes solve problems, but I don’t dare say all considering how Kagura “killed” ferret boy. But this was a major, touching point of this episode. Yomi’s caring personality towards Kagura has allowed her to open up more than anyone can help her to which is why the change to the present Yomi is so destructive.

Looking back now, who would have guessed that Yomi turned into such a cold blooded killing machine? Just what caused her to go mad? Will she ever come back? And so on…
This is a great glimpse into Yomi’s complex character which so far has been shown two sides. This side of her in the episode I absolutely love but the same goes for her “psycho” self. Pretty much a win-win situation for me 🙂

Funnily enough, it is revealed that she doesn’t have real parents that are still alive so that might be another hint into why she changed? We also find out that the sword given to her is a family heirloom “blah blah”. I was surprised that she summoned those beasts from her sword as I thought she gained the ability to control monsters through becoming a yokai herself.

Kagura has also changed in the timeskip from the flashback near the end. She has completely opened up to her true self like what we see in episode two which still is generic and bland. I don’t hate her but she isn’t one I could easily put on my like list. Neutral I guess? Oh and we also get informed of the dragon sealed within her.

It is still unclear where this series is going besides following more of the manga now (something which I still need to read up on) so I suspect the prologue will last for a few more episodes until it catches up with present events, they have already skipped a bit forward so the fighting between the two sisters should be happening quite soon.

Screen caps and “wise guy” comments:

Kagura’s mother who died during a daily exorcizing routine

The pressures pushed onto young Kagura

And the sisterly figure, Yomi

“This is all I need” ~ Kagura can’t get more depressed than that, it hurts my feelings just to hear that O.o

Yomi’s inner thoughts: “what the heck?”

I love her expression though XD

For her age, she is quite skilled

But clearly not up to Yomi’s standards…though one reason why Yomi hates Kagura was because of her fighting skills later on (or so she claims)

Ouch…harsh

Yomi is awesome XD

Whow…I haven’t seen a Dreamcast in such a long time

Ah, here is a scene where we get more of the bigger picture, but what does it all mean?

Remember this guy? ;p

That is one BIG head O.o

Kagura’s sob story was surprisingly touching given her character

*Sobs*

“Yoshi yoshi, onee sama is here”

LOL WAKAMOTO!! “ALL HAIL…”

Ah ferret boy…you are alive

This was a surprise to me…

But if he says so…

*Nosebleeds* I kind of envy the size of bathtubs in Japan, you sure don’t have them large enough here for two people

Perhaps some foreshadowing?

Flashback forward!

Pocky is overrated

And a nice final shot to conclude 🙂