I am a simple-minded viewer who has not read the manga or light novels or whatever, and who only watches each episode once. But I was so frustrated by the way Katanagatari ended that I felt I had to vent my frustrations somewhere where a few people would read them. Here are the thoughts which come to the mind of a viewer who was prepared to devote modest effort to understanding this show (in general, the more enjoyment I get, the more attention I pay and the more effort I devote in return):
I felt that the concluding episode of Katanagatari was a mess. The people who made this final segment seem to have been thinking 'let's just scramble everything up; nevermind if it makes any sense or not. The viewers will think that our unconventional approach was cool'. But some things are unconventional because it has already been shown that they don't work, and such was the case here.
Spoiler for Spoiler::
So, Togame was going to betray Shichika all along? There was never any hint of that, and when it was announced I felt confused and didn't know whether to believe it or not--especially given her even more confusing dying speech. What was going on from this point was unclear; is Shichika trying to destroy the Deviant Blades to undo Shikizaki Kiki's 'twisting' of history? But how do you twist history anyway, and why would it be bad? By the way, we learn that Kiki wasn't a swordsmith at all, which leaves the origins of the blades unexplained--that was a brilliant move (not). Shichika fights a series of bizarre opponents to recover the blades; he says he has come to the castle to die, but he kills everyone he meets. The problem is, he seemed the bad guy here, since his opponents were only defending the castle against an intruder. Physics didn't apply to these fights, and I guess they were just to get most of the blades out of the way quickly. Please explain how twelve freakish swords have some sort of power to change history! It was hard to be moved by Togame's flashbacks near the end, since everything we thought we knew about her had been unceremoniously dumped at the start of the episode (another 'brilliant' storytelling move). I knew which way the fight between Shichika and Emonzaemon would go--that was too critical to change--but I found myself not really caring. Shichika is riddled with bullets, but that doesn't even slow him down. And all of a sudden the Shogun is declared to be the real villain--that is nonsense, what did he ever do wrong? And I'm supposed to be thrilled when he buys the farm? On the contrary, I fely sorry for him--and angry at Shichika. When the climactic scene came to an end, I could only think that was stupid. The person who has been built up over numerous episodes as the villain gets off scot-free--in fact, I seem to be supposed to like her now--while someone who I have absolutely no grudge against dies instead? How did Shichika survive all his wounds? And what the hell happened to the Maniwa leader? I thought he was the main threat now, after going berzerk, but he makes only one brief appearance here.
What a sloppy--no
retarded--conclusion. Bizarre twists like these
could work, but not when little or no effort is made to make them plausible. Strange things happening for no reason is not entertainment. What a mess Katanagatari turned out to be; and what a tragic waste of potential.