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In the 37 years since its creation in 1964, Garo has consistently been at the forefront of Japanese manga. As illustrated by the fact that Garo was created as a forum for the comic strips of Shirato Sanpei, the essence of Garo is the artists and their works and the emphasis is not on profit, but on featuring comic strips that will amuse and entertain the reader. In this sense, Garo is clearly different from comic strip magazines based on commercialism, and has carving out its own unique path.
This non-commercialism attracts a great deal of talent to Garo. Garo came to have its own peculiar rank in the manga world as a place where veteran artists could publish works freely and also as a place that opened doors to unknown new artists, allowing them to develop their talents.
At the same time Garo has also had an enormous impact on Japanese culture, extending to a wide variety of genres including music, cinema and stage. This phenomenon proved that manga can have cultural value as a subject worth discussing or as an object of criticism and research. Garo has played a decisive part in elevating manga to their current status...as reading material for train commuters, as a subject for discussion equal to other cultural genres and as the object of global attention.
As is clear from the comment that "reading Garo gives an insight into the manga of the time," Garo has a multiplier effect, bringing together avant-garde artists of the day and thereby attracting new talent. Garo does indeed capture the trends of the manga world and in that sense will continue to be discussed as a monumental presence in the history of manga.
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