(L) Katanagatari

[pikachuwei]

i still dont get the whole plot, so did hitei wanna alter history or not? and why did togame have to die? @_@

also, EoS Shichika vs Nanami, who would win =)

[outcast_within]

DISSAPOINTMENT!
Damn you artsy melodramatic overcomplicated endings.

All i wanted was shichika to end up with togame. And maybe they would both go to college. And togame would secretly work in a maid cafe.

Is that too much to ask?

[O.F Death]

Originally Posted by pikachuwei

i still dont get the whole plot, so did hitei wanna alter history or not? and why did togame have to die? @_@

also, EoS Shichika vs Nanami, who would win =)

I'd say that Nanami would win, assuming they were fighting in a place where the lights wouldn't be turned off.

She could learn his style and pummel him with it. If she had Akutou Bita in her chest, then it would get easier for her (since the negative side-effects weaken her over time but not in the short term).

[Nikkunemu]

Just saw the ending yesterday.

I think it's epic. Everything is "resolved" except Emonzaemon's past story.
It would be awesome if there were a spin-off about his past.

Another thing that make this anime interesting is the dialogue which is very theatrical. I love listening to it, especially the Maniwani's dialogue.

[Haak]

Originally Posted by roriconfan

Ok, question. Emonzaemon stated several times that he is not a great fighter. He always turned to his guns in order to defeat the Maniwani, seeing they were more skilled than him. Yet in the final episode he lasts an entire minute of exchanging blows with Shichika and even managed to do permenant scars on him. How the heck did he found the power to fight so well when all others before him dropped at seconds?

Even Zanki Kiguchi was capable of giving Shichika a run for his money. Heart and belief do actually make a difference in a fight.

[Ermes Marana]

What an incredible show.

I suspected from early on the show would end with Togame somehow using all the swords to kill Shichika... then near the end I started to think maybe she could forgive him after all... then I find out that even though she had feelings for him, she was still planning to kill him.

My take is that she loved him by the end, but she would still have killed him if she lived.

Then you have Shichika who loves Togame but also understands that she wasted her life. It works especially well because he basically didn't understand anything before the year started. When he finally understands it's like "... but then wasn't your whole life a waste?"

This show really blew me away (which happens very rarely anymore).

[j-fizz]

Great show overall. I give it a 9/10 only because nothing can be perfect . The ending was a complete 360 from what i had in mind which added to my liking. I hate shows where you can predict the ending, happens to much in anime nowadays. Togame eating dirt from Enmonzaemon was awesome. It's great when a main protagonist dies because its something different and Shichika's eyes at the end were pretty cool, he looked like he gone mad which he sort of did. I don't think the ending did justice for the whole 12 months spent watching this though : /

[Kismet-chan]

People, stop over-analyzing Togame's eye. It's just for looks. Seriously. No other reason. If you don't believe me, research it. XD Take just thought he was making her cute/unique.

Originally Posted by stuopidget

I hope someone like MAD!!

http://zoome.jp/gin2/diary/103

LMAO. Talk about Katanagatari summed up in 4 minutes. That's a cool ass video, though. So well synced, and the song fits. XD

[KittyMaverick]

Nanami vs EoS Shichika?
...Sadly, Shichika would still win in my opinion because Nanami going full power will end up killing herself pretty quickly...Unless Akutou Bita comes into play...In which case Nanami will win...

BTW, does anyone know whether they stated in the light novel at any point whether Emonzaemon was blind physically? His mask had no eyeholes in them, and they don't look the least bit transparent, and knowing what happened to his face...but I don't remember reading it when I glanced at the translated (Chinese) version.

[shichi-chan]

I don't recall Emonzaemon understating his powers, or immediately needed Entou or w/e when it came to killing the Maniwa. He slaughtered Umigame, easily. and Pengin, he really didn't need to use his guns he was just mocking Pengin, and being an ass to him. Oshidori he just simply felt that it was best to deal with the situation quickly and efficiently. And besides, despite using the guns, he could've handled Shichika to a certain extent.

And at KittyMaverick I don't think Emonzaemon is blind lol. I just think he doesn't have to rely on his vision all the time to do things.

Plus besides everyone saying that Nanami would be the only "real" opponent, I would beg to differ cause I am sure Emonzaemon and Houou are up there too. (Houou only seemed weak in my opinion is because fucking pengin blew it too hell and fuckin Shikizaki kiki raping his body. But Houou and Emonzaemon are like the same so I bet it would be a close fight with Shichika.) >.> plus Houou-samasexysama can decapitate any mofo out there!

[Funkatron]

Originally Posted by outcast_within

DISSAPOINTMENT!
Damn you artsy melodramatic overcomplicated endings.

All i wanted was shichika to end up with togame. And maybe they would both go to college. And togame would secretly work in a maid cafe.

Is that too much to ask?

I'm with you. Togame's death was a big punch in the gut for me.

[Haak]

Originally Posted by shichi-chan

IPlus besides everyone saying that Nanami would be the only "real" opponent, I would beg to differ cause I am sure Emonzaemon and Houou are up there too.

Everyone's forgotten about the super-powered yeti loli, Shichika never managed to beat.

Talk about messing with your expectations.

[roriconfan]

^ It's the trolling effect I was talking about.

[Pishkaposh]

Can anybody tell me what song plays after Shichika breaks the fourth sword in episode 12? It sounds like a special remix of Bahasa Palus, but I didn't hear it when I was listening to the OST.

[sayde]

There's another ost coming out soon. So the song you're looking for might be on that.

[Malkuth]

Originally Posted by roriconfan

^ It's the trolling effect I was talking about.

Ah! trolling is not the same as unexpected, unpredictable, etc. This is like the neo-conservative and facist re-definitions (i.e. 1984). To understand what trolling is, please check ED (NSFW ... tits in renaissance artwork), at least it will give some chukles, unlike the former examples.

[Shikijin]

Originally Posted by Kismet-chan

People, stop over-analyzing Togame's eye. It's just for looks. Seriously. No other reason. If you don't believe me, research it. XD Take just thought he was making her cute/unique.

I have done some research and the truth is that in all the novel illustrations Togame always had the cross-eye. So is the eye switching just an anime thing?

However, then the point is why in the animation she doesn't always have the cross-eye? The answer must be that the director of the anime wanted to convey something based on his interpretation of the novels; this something is likely anime original. Possibly the director even asked some tips about it to Nisio, but this is debatable. The anime version has made it own choices that must make its own sense. And what is this sense?

As it is, I think that for the anime version the cross-eye represents the trauma Togame underwent through when she saw her father being killed. This left her in a state where she "can only live by calculation". As I have said, no emotions. To say it with the words of Koumori, "she has closed her heart" (IIRC).

(I must confess for a while I thought it could be some kind of superpower, because in anime that's what this kind of eyes means, but looking back the situation was just a trauma for Togame)

I still say the original idea behind the cross-eye is possibly that the left eye is controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain that is popularly thought to be connected with emotions, so barring the left eye means her emotions are hindered, or something on that line. Probably the artist thought that just the white hair as sign of a trauma was too cliched, or something. Though again it is debatable whether first Nisio gets an idea for the character and then the artist sketches it or the opposite. In the end though the anime has chosen its own way to use the cross eye, so whatever happened with Take may be irrelevant.

I see the serpent motif appears to have come from Togame's "standard", a cross with a snake coiled around it. The metaphor of the white serpent in itself could be also anime original, although at least suggested in some way by the text. I think the snake represents cold schemes and poison, what Togame was suffering from and what she has turned into (the poison is the pain inflicted on her that makes her call for revenge). Mind that the serpent has the same cross-eye of Togame.

Seeing in this light, I think the anime director chose to offer some salvation for Togame, as in her very last moments the cross-eye and the serpent disappeared, so she was possibly "healed" from her trauma.

As for the novel version though it might be a slightly different matter. Such conclusion could be somehow even a little too much optimist for a work where the majority of the cast dies, so even with the same lines the nuance might be slightly different.

With the eye thing going on in the anime, I guess the pattern was showing that the cross-eye was becoming less and less frequent the more the story progressed, as Togame was getting more and more involved (emotional) with Shichika. In her last episode Togame would have shown her true self for the last time, and then in the last moment a salvation. This is a romantic end.

However, if the eye clue is lacking in the novels, then I suspect as a mystery writer Nisio wrote in the last chapter some huge plot twists, so the impact of Togame's revelations is meant to be even bigger than in the anime. If Togame is said to have closed in her heart, then she has closed her heart after all, and nothing can be done about it. She is already damned beyond salvation. The truth is, was she actually capable of falling in love with someone? Her last sentence was "can I fall in love with you?". She is asking permission for it. However, if she asked this now, what has happened before? Was she always on the verge of falling in love? Can't be, she has always intended to kill Shichika from the start, before even recruiting him as a soldier driven by love (that was the plan, after all). It was only obvious that if he loved her then she must have had to love him back, but this is just part of the plan, she predicted it and she acted out of her calculations. Her last minute words are not the love words of a fated lover. This is a love story gone horribly wrong, and she is regretting it. She feels guilty of having betrayed Shichika. Togame's last words sounds like those of a bad person who is unexpectedy not so bad. She didn't want to be that bad either.

At least that's what I think. I will try to read at least the last novel when I will have time.

[ShiroiRyu]

Originally Posted by stuopidget

I hope someone like MAD!!

http://zoome.jp/gin2/diary/103

I'm not at all in AMV video ... but wow ...
The music and the video were so good.
What is the song ?

[O.F Death]

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure about the properties of Ninpo: Danzaien or Entou Jyuu (aside from the fact it's a pair of guns and can project flames).

What do they do?

[Xacual]

They're basically pistols that have unlimited ammo a couple hundred of years before their time. At least that's what I thought was special about them.

I've been catching up on the series since I was waiting for it to be complete and wow at the ending, I was spoiled on it back at the beginning of the year but it was still really good. I've probably watched the scene with Shichika going through the 12 swords about 6 or 7 time now.