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Garzey’s Wing Ep. 1: The Other World

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Summary

Chris Senshu talks to his friend Rumiko about returning home to attend a class reunion. Chris drives down the road at night in his motorcycle. Suddenly a necklace around his neck starts moving on its own. Chris wonders if it is the nearby Shiratori Shrine. Suddenly a giant ethereal duck appears and carries his spirit with it. A male voice talks to Chris as he falls, naked, through a warped landscape towards Byston Well. Along the way he accidently catches a small green haired woman, a Mi Ferario, with his necklace and falls into a medieval setting with wings coming from his feet. A group of slaves trying to escape a fortress they are in sees him fall from the sky and call him “Garzey’s Wings.” Chris is immediately attacked by a group of soldiers but fights them off. The Mi Ferario tells him her name is Falan Fa. The slaves wonder if Chris is the “Holy Warrior” and why a Mi Ferario is with him. Chris realizes that he can understand everyone even though they speak another language. Hassan, a priestess, with her two children Aishe and Tance ask if Garzey’s Wing appeared. One of the elder slaves thanks Hassan for summoning him here. Suddenly a group of soldiers arrive, which Chris and the slaves battle. One of the slaves tells Chris that they are the Metomeus tribe and are trying to escape from being slaves of the Ashigaba tribe. They believe they can now successfully escape since Garzey’s Wing has arrived. Chris flees along with the slaves and grabs a dead soldier’s sword at the advice of Leelince, one of the female slaves. Fire rages as the slaves escape. Chris and the Metomeus tribe slaves escape into the nearby forest. A pair of soldiers report to King Fungun of the escape of approximately 5,000 slaves escaping due to the soldiers and war beasts being afraid of Garzey’s Wing. The King believes Garzey’s Wing is just an illusion and orders his war beast core to re-capture the slaves. Soldiers chase the slaves through the forest and a marsh on flying and land-dwelling war beasts as well as horses. Zagizoa, a general of the Ashigaba, returns to the castle to report to the king saying that due to it being a leap-year he thought a slave uprising was inevitable. The king reveals that he let the slaves escape as he believes that they will lead him to the powerful Baraju Tree. The slaves continue to head through the river, where the Ashigaba’s flying war beast are forced to turn back. Chris and the slaves fight off a giant insect like creature that attacks them. Falan Fa is knocked away by a swarm of bees and argues with the doubting Chris for taking her from her home, Kastanga Hill. The slaves get on a series of rafts to head down the river. The slaves have a hard time making it down the river due to the rapids, blaming Falan Fa for their difficulty.

Back on Earth, Chris arrives at his home where his mother and grandmother live. His grandmother asks about the necklace from the family shrine and Chris realizes it is missing. Chris’s mother asks about the mysterious bruises on his body. On Byston Well, Ketta Keras, leader of the slaves, meets with Ondel, a food gatherer who has stored weapons for them. Chris is hesitant at them calling him a holy warrior. Chris’s necklace start to rattle again as Hassan prays with her children nearby. Chris says he wish she would send him back to his world. She says she must use all her energy such that Garzey’s Wing can be summoned at any time to protect him. She says the transient hero, Garzey’s Wing can be summoned by the people’s aura power. Chris is doubting about how macho he can be. On Earth, Chris awakens and finds the necklace ratting. His body is all bruised and his spirit talks to him about what is happening on Byston Well. Chris wonders what will happen to his body on Earth if he dies in Byston Well. His spirit says they are likely still one person and will die together if that happens. On Byston Well, Falan Fa and Leelince are surprised to find that Chris is talking to himself in another world. Chris’s Earth self tells his Byston Well self to make gunpowder. Chris eats some noodles his grandmother prepared for him and talks about his upcoming reunion. Zagizoa and fellow Ashigaba general Gelgog Aji head down the river with a number of soldiers. Falan Fa warns the slaves about the oncoming soldiers. The women and children, including Hassan and her children head ahead. Leelince tells Chris that Ketta Keras is going ahead of the rest of them as a decoy. She gives him a bag of explosive material, Gada. While passing a group of soldiers Leelince calls the suicide squad, Chris trips and almost blows up himself, Leelince and Falan Fa with the explosive bag, making her question his stature as the holy warrior. The Ashigaba soldiers approach but a trap set by the slaves explodes, killing many of them. Zagizoa calls Hassan ungrateful and wonders why she summoned Garzey’s Wing. Falan Fa yells at Chris for taking some Gada powder out of the bag. Using some oil from her wings he applies the Gada powder to an arrow tip and kills a series of soldiers with an explosion by firing it. The other slaves are inspired by what he has done. The slaves descend through a cave, blowing up more soldiers pursuing them. Chris’s bow snaps and the rest of his Gada bag is destroyed. Chris and the others continue through the cave. Meanwhile, Ketta Keras’ group heads down the cliff above them. Chris realizes the enemy is using kerosene. Earth Chris realizes that his other self is in danger as he departs his home on his motorcycle. Chris’ arrow quiver is set aflame but he is able to put it out and he battles some of the soldier before stumbling back over a rock. Gelgog and many of his solders are caught up in a collapse of the rocks below them. Zagizoa does battle with Chris in a pool within the cave and Garzey’s Wings appear from his feet again. Chris uses his wings to gain the advantage over Zagizoa, but the cliff collapses above them as Gelgog and the others fall upon them. Zagizoa, defeated curses Hassan. Hassan is happy to hear from Falan Fa about his wings and is convinced he has the power. Chris isn’t very confident but knows he has no way back to Earth right now. Leelince gives Chris a new, sharper sword.

Commentary

I’ve heard this anime declared the worst of all time, and while it’s not that bad, it’s still pretty awful. In particular, the dub is one of the worst acted I have ever heard. As with almost any Tomino show we’re rushed into things right from the beginning and it took me a couple of viewings to get a full understanding of what was going on here. Things start off quite bizarrely and nonsensically with the giant duck and Chris fighting people naked. Overall Garzey’s Wing seems like just another retread of countless medieval-themed anime that have been done before (such as the prior Dunbine series and OVA) and there really is little here that is unique or interesting to warrant much interest. The one aspect I did enjoy was the dual nature of Chris being on both Byston Well and Earth and being able to communicate with himself and transfer anything that happened to him physically on Byston Well to himself on Earth. Although the way they handle it is quite confusing, particularly the first time they suddenly cut back to Chris on Earth with little explanation. Also notable is the total lack of any Aura Battlers, which were staples of the previous Dunbine productions. In any case, for the most part this was not a very interesting start to things.

Overall Rating
1.5/5

Garzey’s Wing Info

Director:
Yoshiyuki Tomino

Writer:
Yoshiyuki Tomino

Character Designer:
Kenichi Ohnuki

Musical Composer:
Shiro Sagisu

Format:
3 episodes

Video Release:
Japan 09.21.1996 – 04.09.1997
U.S. 06.20.2000

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