Ga-Rei Zero

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Kagura"

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Will you kill someone you love, because of love? —The show's Arc Words

This anime series serves as a Prequel to the manga, Ga-Rei. It depicts the life of Yomi before her fall to evil, and her strong sisterly bond to Kagura. The two girls' relationship is the central focus of the story, emphasizing why Kagura's heart often wavers while fighting Yomi throughout the course of the original manga. Its tone is considerably different from that of the manga, making the anime more Seinen than Shonen. The show is probably most notable for throwing off viewers with its first two episodes by killing everyone off. The focus is instead on Yomi, making a character who was originally a rather average villain into a highly sympathetic, tragic heroine.

Licensed by Funimation in August 2010 and released to DVD and Blu-Ray in April 2011.

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Tropes employed by this series are:

• Absurdly Sharp Blade
• Absurdly Spacious Sewer: True, it's called Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel, a.k.a. G-cans project. Its main function is to keep Tokyo metropolitan area's sewage system from overflowing during rainy season, by storing excessive rainwater in those giant underground chambers.
• Action Girl: Yomi and Kagura
• And I Must Scream: Yomi's vocal chords were destroyed by Mitogawa in episode 9, and she can't defend herself against accusations of Mei's death.
  • Not that she could have otherwise, since she did indeed kill her. Although she could have legitimately argued for extenuating circumstances, what with the whole murder, fraud, and Slave To Evil thing that her enemy had going on.
• Anyone Can Die: SWEET JESUS!
  • The squad in the promotional posters are dead by the end of the first episode.
  • Mei, first thought to be a major rival to Yomi, gets killed 2 episodes after being properly introduced... then she is revived as a puppet of evil, only to get Killed Off for Real another 2 episodes later. That spot in the opening was justified, yeah...
  • Kazuki... couldn't even properly show off his briefcases in an important fight.
  • Ah heck, almost every supporting character with a cool weapon or fighting style gets killed off in his or her first big battle.
• Arranged Marriage: Yomi and Noriyuki.
  • Slap Slap Kiss: Yomi and Noriyuki.
• Artifact of Death: The only way for its wielder to part with Byakuei is through death. And they don't live long either, because Byakuei constantly saps its master's physical and spiritual strength. This doesn't seem to be the case with Ranguren.
• Asshole Victim: Yomi's uncle
• BFG: The Nabuu brothers.
• Back From the Dead: Yomi returns as an evil spirit in the Ga-Rei manga.
  • Even more than that; look on the Ga-Rei page under Split Personality.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: Yomi and Kagura.
• Barbie Doll Anatomy: Averted in that one bath scene.
• Because Destiny Says So: Kagura can't escape inheriting Byakuei.
• Benevolent Boss: Ayame Zinguji.
  • Office dynamics exist.
• Berserker Tears: Kagura letting rip with Byakuei at the climax to episode 12.
• Big Damn Hero: Kagura's father. Twice.
• Bittersweet Ending: So bitter, it borders on Downer Ending
• Body Horror/Personal Space Invader: The head-grabbing variety.
• Brainwashed and Crazy
  • More Than Mind Control
  • As Long As There Is Evil: Vital to the Big Bad's schemes.
  • An Aesop
• Brand X: Yomi plays on a "Dreambox" (Sega Dreamcast).
• Breakout Character: Yomi. Went from a minor villain killed off early in manga to no consequence to the star of the vastly more popular prequel anime so much so that she was resurrected in the manga. Kagura also received more prominence afterward.
• Breather Episode: Arguably Episode 5, which solely concerns Kagura's plan to get engaged couple Yomi and Nori to like each other. It is nearly all comedic in nature. Also, the relaxing moments where everything seems to be going well for the main characters before the murder of Yomi's father, the point where everything in the series gets worse.
• Bunny Ears Lawyer: Master Michael.
• Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: They're obviously evil.
• Calling Your Attacks: "Devour them, Byakuei."
  • "Ranguren, Houkouha!" or "Ranguren, Roar Wave!" in the English dub.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Noriyuki was banned from seeing Yomi after the latter is crippled.
• Car Fu: Motorcycle with holy treads, anyone?
  • And then there's that spectacularly awesome wheelchair...
• Casting Gag: Funimation cast many of their most popular voice actors to play the five Agency squad members in Episode 01 only. Why Episode 01 only? ....because they all get killed off! Could be a bit of dark humor on Funimation's part.
• Censor Steam: In the Japanese broadcast, this was done ridiculously with Kazuki's death at Yomi's hands. Averted in the DVD version.
• Cliff Hanger
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Kagura and the rest of the squad use Kiri to seduce Nori in order to get Yomi jealous and the two spend more time together. It works, but not the way Kagura had intended.
• Cool Big Sis: Yomi, and also Mei.
• Cool Sword: Swords made by Master Michael, but especially Michael 13. It uses shotgun shells to increase the power of its swing.
• Darkest Hour
• Dead Star Walking: The squad from episode 1
• Deal With the Devil
• Decoy Protagonist: Interestingly enough, the apparent villain becomes the actual protagonist after killing the decoys in the first episode.
  • To put it more accurately, there is not just a Decoy Protagonist, there is a Decoy Cast.
• Despair Event Horizon: Led to Yomi's Face Heel Turn.
• Diabolus Ex Machina: This series can be called Diabolus Ex Machina: The Anime.
• Disturbed Doves: In the opening.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: During final episode, when Yomi stabs Kagura.
  • Not to mention Mitogawa's scene with Yomi in the hospital in episode 9, which totally doesn't look like rape whatsoever.
• Doomed By Canon: Since this is a prequel, there's quite a high body count.
• Dude, Where's My Reward?: Evil Yomi. They're good reasons for her Face Heel Turn.
• Episode Zero the Beginning
• Everybody's Dead, Dave
• Expy "Natsuki Kasuga", a badass, black haired biker girl. Certainly doesn't sound like a character from Mai-HiME at all...
  • Don't forget that she's paired with a guy who wields duel pistols.:P
  • Slightly more tenuous are the similarities between Yomi and Arashi from X 1999 or more a fusion of her and Fuuma, especially when later developments in Ga-Rei are taken into account.
• Eyes Always Shut: Kagura's father.
• Eye Scream: Episode 09. Just... episode 09.
• Evolving Credits: An extremely symbolic one starting episode 9. Kagura doesn't catch up with Yomi. Yomi doesn't look back; she keeps walking.
• Fan Service
• Fan Disservice: The fanservice in episode 9 can be pretty squicky due to the context.
• Face Heel Turn: Yomi, and since this a prequel, we get to witness her fall.
• Faux Symbolism: "Paradise Lost" as the opening theme.
• Fearful Symmetry/Mirror Match: Also Monster Clown.
• First Kiss: Averted hilariously when Kagura tells Nori and Yomi to make up by kissing. Nori agrees to it, but Yomi responds by throwing him instead.
• Five-Man Band: The squad from episode 1.
  • The Hero: Toru
  • The Lancer: Natsuki
  • The Smart Guy: Masaki
  • The Big Guy: Kudo
  • The Chick: Mami
• Another Five-Man Band: The earliest composition for Agency.
  • The Hero: Noriyuki
  • The Lancer: Kazuki
  • The Smart Guy: Iwahata (also double as The Big Guy)
  • The Big Guy: The two Nabuus.
  • The Chick: Yomi
    • Yomi, The Chick? Surely you jest.
    • Also Subverted: Noriyuki is The Chick.
  • Tagalong Kid: Kagura.
• Flash Back
• Four Is Death: First episode: 4th Squadron all killed off.
• Full Frontal Assault Evil Yomi in episode 10
• Furo Scene
• Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: Kind of. Kagura does sport some noticeable Tareme Eyes, while Yomi has distinctive Tsurime Eyes
• Go Out With a Smile: Yomi
• Gory Discretion Shot: Misuzu-sensei's death.
  • Also, Yomi stabbing Mei in the face, but just barely.
• Handicapped Badass: Being confined to a wheelchair doesn't prevent Ayame from putting up a good fight against Yomi.
• Heroic BSOD: Kagura got lite-version of this after she's forced to kill the school nurse, whom she's fond of. Toru never recovers fully from this and this eventually led to his demise, as nightmarish flashbacks come haunting him at the most unfortunate moment.
• Hero Killer/Kill'Em All: The show might as well be called Ga-Rei: Yomi Kills Everyone.
• How We Got Here: Whole series variation after the first two episodes.
• Hot Chick With a Sword: Embodied most strongly in Yomi, even if Kagura also wields a sword.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Most of the squad members are this way, with various levels of determination.
• I Have the High Ground
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Kagura laments at Yomi how they couldn't be just like normal sisters. Repeated in the final battle when Kagura has to kill Yomi.
• Immune to Bullets: Category-B and above. Even if the bullets are spiritually-powered.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Kagura's plan to make Yomi closer to Noriyuki. It didn't exactly work.
  • What Yomi realized in her final moment in life is that she only wishes to protect Kagura. Also a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
• Impaled With Extreme Prejudice: Kazuhiro, Mei, Yomi, Kiri...
• Improbable Weapon User:
  • When Yomi's spirit katana is out of order she has to choose a replacement weapon among: A spirit iron (as in, ironing your clothes), a spirit chainsaw, a spirit jackhammer and a spirit boiler. She decides to use the iron -- although the chainsaw would have been much more awesome, she didn't think it was practical.
  • A sword that can launch from its sheathe at the press of a trigger. Can also be linked to its sheathe via chain so it can swing through enemies and come back to the user. Has the slightly more mundane use of making its cutting force even higher at the press of a button due to pressurized air in the sheathe. Gets upgraded to be able to increase its cutting force with shotgun shells
  • Briefcase. Dual-Wielding Briefcases.
    • Machine-gun Briefcases...
    • ...with CD Players for sacred mantras!
  • Bike that engraves sacred runes on the street with its wheels.
  • This Is a Drill. Or rather two drills dual-wielded. Two Rocket Punch drills.
  • A combat wheelchair with miniguns, blades and sacred wheels, which can engrave sacred runes on the street.
  • You forgot a minigun prosthetic leg.
• Instant Runes
• Invisible to Normals: The reason why Seekers technology had to be developed.
• It Got Worse: Practically everything, and for everyone.
• Just Eat Him: Byakuei's primary attack.
• I Cannot Self-Terminate: Yomi in Episode 11.
• Kamehame Hadoken: Ranguren's primary attack.
• Karma Houdini: Pretty much the opposite of Doomed By Canon. Mitagawa being a character in the manga means he gets off scot free until then. Fortunately, his warranty expires in the manga proper.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Only the sword users have been seen to OHKO Category Bs...
• Kick Them While They Are Down: When it seems like the worst things imaginable are happening to Yomi, even worse things happen just an episode later.
  • One scene in Episode 9 in particular stands out as a nasty example of this. Yomi has been left crippled and mute by the injuries she suffered confronting Mitogawa, and Noriyuki's father decides to break off his son's arranged marriage with her because of this. So he visits Yomi in hospital to tell her that. To his credit, he doesn't seem completely ignorant of her distress, and even more or less tells her that she can blame him, but one still gets the impression the task was made much easier by the fact she couldn't say anything.
• Life Energy: Bane Stones provide its users with power to defy death for some time. However, its Japanese name Sesshouseki means "Death Stone" and will eventually sap the users of their life force, turning them into phantoms.
• Like a Badass Out of Hell: Evil Yomi.
• Ludicrous Gibs
• Love Triangle: A rather odd one. Yomi and Kagura like each other. Kagura also sees Noriyuki as a big brother. He cares for Kagura (probably not romantically). Yomi and Noriyuki aren't exactly getting along with each other but are engaged and do seem to show some interest in each other. Kagura wants them to make the engagement work, because she's idealistic.
• Macho Camp: Master Michael, or at least he acts it. Iwahata is open about it.
• Magic From Technology: Generating holy water by filtering sewage through special resonance devices. Also the mass-produced Seeker technology of the Defense Ministry.
  • Don't forget the briefcases, which destroy demons via implanted CD players which recite holy mantras.
• Magic Skirt
• Marshmallow Hell: Yomi greets Kagura once with this
• The Men in Black: Practically everyone who fights the evil spirits. Subverted in that most people understand what they're doing and just accept who they are.
• Mineral MacGuffin/Power Crystal/Aesoptinum: The Bane Stones.
• Mirror Match: Echoer type spirits.
• Mission Control
• Mons: The titular Ga-Reis.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Shissouseiki victims do this when they regain control temporarily. Mitogawa either did it willingly or has been overridden too long for this to happen to him
• Naughty Tentacles
• Night of the Living Mooks: Category Ds.
• Not Using the Zed Word: No one ever calls the former humans "zombies".
• Norio Wakamoto: The Nabuu brothers, falling squarely in his "not serious" category.
• 108: Yomi got pierced by Mitogawa's 108 iron needles. She got better. Or not.
• One Steve Limit: Subverted with the Nabuu brothers, both of which are named Nabuu.
• Prequel: To the manga.
• Pillar of Light
• Power Levels: The categories for spirits.
• Power Perversion Potential: Noriyuki's Kudagitsune are meant for spying.
• Razor Floss
• Redemption Equals Death
• Red Eyes Take Warning: Mei.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Subverted: Yomi and Mei who control the red monster Ranguren is calm. Kagura who controls the white monster Byakuei is prone to panicking.
• Red Shirt: Anyone can be Red Shirt, yeah...
• Relationship Voice Actor: A good deal of the main cast in the Japanese version is shared with, strangely enough, Lucky Star.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Mei at Yomi. Complete with matching insert song.
• Shell Shocked Senior: Toru.
• Shoot the Dog: Part of an exorcist's job.
• Shrines and Temples
• Slave Mooks: Category Ds and also Bane Stone users all count. With the latter, see also This Is Your Brain On Evil. If it could send Yomi that crazy, even Mei must have had a kind side somewhere.
• Sleep Cute: Yomi and Kagura, starting in the opening sequence.
• Squee: When Yomi and Kagura "share" their Pocky.
• Start of Darkness/Face Heel Turn: This anime is all about Yomi's start of darkness.
• Straight Gay: Iwahata.
• Strike Me Down With All of Your Hatred: Mei goads Yomi into doing this, before regaining her consciousness/sanity back, then tries to plead with her not to do it. However, considering that Mei attacked and later told Yomi she killed Yomi's dad out of jealousy of her, it's not surprising that Yomi follows through with Mei's taunt.
• Survival Mantra: It is our job to eliminate those who spread the taint of death to the human world, it is our job to eliminate those who spread the taint of death to the human world, it is our job to eliminate those who spread the taint of death to the human world...
• Swiss Army Weapon: The other end of Mei's retractable naginata also contains an... umbrella.
• Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Yomi. In fact most of the female cast is this.
• The Atoner/Zen Survivor: Ayame, although it's not revealed until much later. In the finale (and manga), Noriyuki become some sort of this.
• The Dark Side: Anyone who works with Bane Stones are vulnerable to this.
• The Dragon: When someone falls to the lure of the Bane Stones.
  • Benevolent version: Kiri Nikaido, secretary of Ayame Zinguji.
• The Mentor: Yomi teaches Kagura the way of the exorcists.
• The Power of Love: Subverted. Because Kagura loves Yomi, she kills her after her Face Heel Turn. Easier said than done.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Kagura finally gains the resolve to kill Yomi once and for all.
  • Yomi's love for Kagura is what allows her to be killed by Kagura as her greatest desire was to protect Kagura
• The Squad: Two squads.
• The War Room
• This Is Your Brain On Evil: The Bane Stone does this to anyone who gets caught by it's 'pure' form. Yomi managing to break past it in the end counts as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
• Tragic Hero: The final fate of those who wield Ga-Rei, but especially Yomi.
• Trauma Induced Amnesia: Kiri reverts to the personality of a little girl after getting stabbed in the gut by Yomi.
• Tsundere: Yomi and Noriyuki, a rare Tsundere couple.
• Unstoppable Rage: Yomi's reaction when Mei told her that she killed Yomi's foster father, and tortured him in the progress.
• Vasquez Always Dies: Yomi. Poor Yomi.
• We Have Reserves
• Wham Episode: How many shows have one of these for their very first episode?
• What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?
• Where Are They Now? Epilogue/Distant Finale: The last episode of the anime flashes forward to the manga timeline.
• White-Haired Pretty Boy/Manipulative Bastard: Mitogawa.
• White-Haired Pretty Girl: Mei
• Wild Man: Master Michael. To stay close with nature, he refuses to wear clothes except for fundoshi. Even when he visits the city.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Yomi, at least at "some" point during her Start of Darkness.
• Your Head Asplode/There Is No Kill Like Overkill: The safest way to kill Category D.
• You Shall Not Pass: In the final battle, Iwahata and the remaining Nabuu fight the mooks so that Kagura can concentrate on Yomi.
• Zettai Ryouiki: Natsuki, in the first episode.