Ga-Rei - Zero 03: First Meetings

IN A NUTSHELL: Tsuchimiya Kagura and Isayama Yomi's first meeting
EPISODE 03: Moments of Chance Meeting
OP: Paradise Lost (Minori Chihara) [4shared]
ED: Yume no Ashioto ga Kikoeru (Kaoru Mizuhara) [4shared]
The original head of the Tsuchimiya family of exorcists, Kagura's mother, just died. Because of this, Kagura's father has taken her place and is now currently in the process of sealing the family's ga-rei, Byakuei, into his body. Apparently, the ritual sealing takes a very long time to finish so in the meantime, Kagura is sent to live with relatives, the Isayamas. This is how Yomi and Kagura meet.


fate
It appears that since Tsuchimiya will be very busy being the family's frontliner in dealing with evil spirits, Isayama is given the responsibility of taking care of the entire branch family. That includes taking care of Tsuchimiya's only daughter and heir. Yomi is all too happy to have a new "sister" join the family.
kagura's mom

Kagura, who is still grieving over her mother's death, takes a long time opening up to Yomi. The older girl, however, is determined to make her feel at home with her new family.


happier times

Yomi's efforts start to pay up when she wins over a sparring match against Kagura as this causes the younger girl to reveal what her father, the present Tsuchimiya-dono, has always taught her: defeat in any form is unacceptable. Taking this as a good starting point, Yomi tries to lessen Kagura's burden as the Tsuchimiya heir by getting her to lighten up, until eventually Kagura does open up to her and even takes to calling her "sister."
everybody has her role thrust upon her

While Yomi tries to bond with her new "sister," the SDCD she works under faces new challenges as more and more evil spirits keep appearing in various parts of the city. The new SDCD head, Jinguuji Ayame, is particularly interested in a plane crash that kills an entire family of exorcists, whose expertise is in the sesshouseki. Apparently, the family was on their way to the Vatican City on some sort of mission.


sisters
Meanwhile, Kagura and Yomi are walking home together from school when the older girl gets a call from the SDCD. But when Yomi tries to leave, Kagura starts to cry. This causes Yomi to take her along with her on the mission.
kagura the younger

That evening, Kagura meets for the first time the other members of the SDCD's Disposal Unit: Iwahata, the bald old guy; Kazuki, the happy-go-lucky one; Noriyuki, Yomi's fiance; and the twin brothers, Nabuu and Nabuu.

The others immediately take to Kagura, especially after knowing that she is Tsuchimiya's heir. Iwahata even gives her the Michael 12, in spite of Yomi's protests that Kagura is too young to wield a sword. Iwahata says that it's alright since Kagura is a Tsuchimiya.


they shared everything

During the mission, Yomi quickly dispatches of the monster. Here, it is revealed that the Nue is in fact her family's ga-rei, which is sealed in her sacred sword, the Shishi-ou. It is also revealed the Yomi is not the real daughter of Isayama, as her real parents were slain by evil spirits. Isayama merely adopted her but raised her as his own daughter and even gave her the Shishi-ou as a symbol that she is part of the family.
ga-rei byakuei

When Isayama learns that Yomi brought Kagura to a mission, he gives her a good scolding. But Yomi assures Kagura that it happens all the time and that she does not take it to heart. A few days later, Kagura joins the SDCD's Disposal Unit as a part-timer like Yomi.

COMMENTS:

I am beginning to understand the general flow of the story and I have to say, what an EXCELLENT way of telling it. As I understand, Ga-Rei Zero is a prequel to the Ga-Rei manga but the initial info about the series just say that it will feature characters different from the manga, so I assumed it will have nothing to do with the original. And I have never read the manga (although I'm planning to read it now) so I don't even know who the original characters are or that KAGURA is a main character. I just thought, in the previous episode, that she was kind of cool and that something about her made me sense that she was important and, boy, was I ever right.

Yomi is a villain in the manga. In fact, she is the first villain that Kagura and that Kensuke dude will face. And Ga-Rei Zero is about how it was with Yomi and Kagura before Yomi finally turns to the dark side. OMFG, Yomi = Darth Vader! *dies*

It's going to be SOOO interesting, and maybe a little tragic, because we all know how it's going to end for our main characters. Even the OP and ED theme songs, sang by Kagura and Yomi's respective seiyuu tell a little about their story.

Also, note the white-haired boy who loved blue butterflies in the first episode? Yeah, he's important alright.

Doesn't Kagura's mother look like Natsuki? Although they aren't the same person.

So this series is going to be about Yomi. It's going to be very interesting watching her turn from the happy Yomi we see now and the vicious Yomi filled with hatred we saw in Episode 02. But it is also about Kagura. It will be a joy watching her character develop.