GARO: The Makai Flower

GARO: Makai no Hana (aka The Makai Flower) is the fourth season of the Garo series; it is the sequel to Flash Knight and continues after the movie, Demon Dragon of the Blue Cries.

Story

The story continues after the events of Demon Dragon of the Blue Cries. The Makai Flower follows the adventures of Raiga Saezima, the son of Kouga Saezima and Kaoru Mitsuki. When Raiga was six, Kaoru was taken away by a mysterious dimensional portal and Kouga decided follow through the portal to save his beloved wife. Unfortunately, that was the last Raiga saw of his parents and was raised by Gonza in the Saezima estate. Raiga decided to carry on the legacy of the Saezima bloodline by becoming the next Golden Knight Garo. However, he had no master and trained on his own. By age 10, Silver Knight Zero became his master and privately trained him to become a full fledged knight.

After much difficult trials, Raiga entered the Hall of Heroes, where the spirits of the previous knights safeguard the armor until the next worthy candidate comes forth. When asking the spirits to succeed his birthright, Raiga was surprised that the spirits denied him; Raiga had to asked for an explanation. It was then the spirits explained there was another person still holding the title go Garo, Kouga. To Raiga's joy, he learned his father is still alive, surviving in another realm. However, Kouga relinquished his title to Raiga, making him the new Garo. In between, a great evil had been awakened.

Long ago, there was once a flower of destruction, Demon Beast Eyrith (aka The Tears of Messiah). To make the evil more manageable, Makai Priests had divided Eyrith into nine smaller Horrors and sealed them into a stone slab. The slab was secretly buried without humanity's knowledge for generations, unfortunately, the slab was discovered by humanity in modern times. Believed nothing more than an ancient relic, it was unearthed and brought to a museum for display, not once knowing the great evil that lies within.

In between events, Eiji Busujima (Snake Bone Knight Gill, Senatorial Knight, and platoon leader of the Phantom Knights) lost his lover, Priestess Akari. She was terminally ill, but he was determined to save her. He knew of the legend of Eyrith's abilities to bring back the dead and concocted an ambitious plan to save her. Knowing a spirit can't survive without a body, he thought he saved her by storing Akari's soul into a sleeping magical human tool, Mayuri. With Akari's soul contained, he did the unthinkable: releasing Eyrith's seal. With Eyrith freed along with the Slab Horrors, he intends to capture Eyrith and use Akari's genetic material to help recreate her body. Once Akari's body is remade, he'll use Mayuri to re-attach Akari's soul into her new body and resurrect her.

The broken seal of Eyrith awakened Mayuri. It is her mission to recollect all the missing fragments of the slab and seal them to prevent the Horrors from re-awakening in their dormant state. However, the other reason is that one of the nine Horrors carries the seed of Eyrith. Mayuri has the special ability to seal Horrors in ways not even a knight could; it is her mission to prevent Eyrith from rising. The Makai Senate assigned Raiga to partner with Mayuri in this quest and she has been staying within the Saezima estate to learn more about humanity and help Raiga on his missions. However, the senate added an additional knight to help Raiga, Phantom Knight Crow. Together, the trio hunts down Horrors and help Mayuri prevent the rise of Eyrith.

As the trio hunts the Eyrith, they actually encountered the seedling in their earlier hunts; Eyrith escaped every time. The seedling has the ability to jump from one Slab Horror to the next, forcing the three to hunt down every Slab Horror until Eyrith has nowhere to go. It was near the end of their hunt that Eiji appeared before them. Crow realized the person who unleashed Eyrith was his own master and he tried to reason with him to turn back; Eiji was not swayed as he's close to bringing back Akari and the two fought as enemies. Unfortunately, Eiji had the advantage as he trained Crow and escaped capture.

Eiji's plan was almost complete, he kidnapped Mayuri and also caught the last Slab Horror. He exposed Eyrith and gave the seedling a locket of her hair, giving Eyrith the ability to clone a new body. The only step left was to help resurrect Eyrith's body to bloom. However, Raiga and Crow wouldn't allow it. Raiga fought against Eiji while Crow worked to free Mayuri. Unfortunately, Mayuri was held within a magical barrier with Eyrith. The seedling was about to take cover Mayuri, but Crow offered his body and the seedling accepted his offer as Crow can fly.

During the battle, Raigai's battle helped me regained his senses. It was then Crow appeared before them, possessed by Eyrith. Realizing the damaged he has caused was too late. While Raigai gave chase to Crow, Eiji spent time with Mayuri as he recovered from his injuries. It was while talking to Mayuri that he found out all his actions were for nothing. Akari's soul never transferred over to Mayuri's spiritual container; all of Eiji's efforts was in vain. Now fully awakened, Eiji wishes to atone for his wrongdoings as his disciple is possessed.

Episodes

• 1: Fossil
• 2: Dangerous Bug
• 3: Greenhouse
• 4: Movie
• 5: Star Chart
• 6: Wind Chime
• 7: Mythology
• 8: Family
• 9: Raising
• 10: Dinner Table
• 11: Comics
• 12: The Power of Words
• 13: Rabid
• 14: Tranformation
• 15: Black Tea
• 16: Scream
• 17: Boy
• 18: Crimson
• 19: Musical Suite
• 20: Iron Man
• 21: Afterimage
• 22: Watchdog
• 23: Reminiscence
• 24:
• 25:

Cast & Characters

• Masei Nakayama as Raiga Saejima
• Natsumi Ishibashi as Mayuri
• Atom Mizuishi as Crow
• Yukijiro Hotaru as Gonza Kurahashi
• Sayaka Akimoto as Bikuu
• Sho Aikawa as Dokujima Eiji
• Ren Osugi as Shido
• Asana Mamoru as Makai Priest Jill
• Hironobu Kageyama as Voice of Zaruba
• Oozeki Eri as Voice of Madou Tool Olva 

Theme song

• Opening Theme
  • Garo -Makai no Hana- (牙狼〈GARO〉 -魔戒ノ花-)
    • Composer: Terada Shiho, Kuriyama Yoshichika, Matsuo Yoichi
    • Singer: Endoh Masaaki, Okui Masami, Kitadani Hiroshi
  • Raiga ~Tusk of thunder~ (雷牙～Tusk of thunder～)
    • Lyrics, Composer: Kageyama Hironobu
    • Arranger: Sudou Kenichi
    • Singer: JAM Project

• Closing Theme
  • Yasashisa no Tsubomi (Bud of Kindness (優しさの蕾))
    • Lyrics, Singer: Faylan
    • Composer: Agematsu Noriyasu (Elements Garden)
    • Arranger: Evan Call (Elements Garden)
  • my memory, your memory
    • Lyrics, Composer: Okui Masami
    • Arranger: Terada Shiho
    • Singer: JAM Project

Notes & Trivia

• This sequel marks the return of creator Keita Amemiya as the director and writer of this series, after being hiatus for over 2 years since the finale of Garo: Makai Senki.
  • Apparently, this sequel also marks the return of Makoto Ito as the suit actor for Golden Knight Garo. He was a suit actor for several Horrors in Garo: Yami o Terasu Mono last year.

Articles & References

• TV-Nihon's GARO: Makai no Hana wiki

External Links

• GARO: Makai no Hana on Tokunation
• Garo Project
• TV Tokyo site