(L) Katanagatari

[Kanon]

I fail to see see how Shichika ending up with Hitei would equal to betraying/changing/forgetting his feelings for Togame. Tons of people lost the "love of their life" tragically, yet still managed to fall in love once more with another person later down the road. That doesn't mean their feelings changed, they simply moved on instead of grieving for the rest of their lives. Which is exactly what Togame wanted for Shichika, by the way. She wished for him to move on and live his own life, he doesn't necessarily have to forget her in order to do that.

I don't believe for a second Hitei and Shichika will keep traveling together without anything ever happening between the two of them. Honestly, I have no problem with Shichika x Hitei. He deserves happiness, and if she can bring it to him, it's all good. Sure, the prospect of Shichika spending the rest of his life alone, loving no one other than Togame, is more romantic, but it's also incredibly sad in my opinion.

[Ashaman]

Gotta agree with Kanon.

Although the idea of Shichika staying devoted to Togame is both romantic and part of his character, its also extremely tradgic and against Togame's final wishes. those same wishes Shichika basically ignored.

I'm saying that if it does happen,it would take a lot of time.

I saw the endng as platonic, but with the potential to develop.

On a side note, ths episode was epic in so many ways I was stunned.

[Cyklops]

Remember in Episode 10, Hiteihime asks Emon to go find out why Shichika flinched when she mentioned the location of the 10th sword that was in the possession of that God-man? What was the reason he flinched?

[Windows X]

Daddy, how did you two fall in love?
.
.
.
We fell for each other during our journey after killing each other's past lover.
.
.
.
That's Kyotoryuu for you

[Nosauz]

Overall I don't get why there is any implications of hiteihime and shichika romance. It seems rather an awkward romance if there were to be any, considering shichika killed hiteihime's admirer/lover, and hiteihime's "hatred" or her need to meddle resulted in the death of Togame. In the end they are both actors in the deaths of people they strongly feel connected to, and that "love" seems a little hard to just sprout from that, although the only inclination that this might be real is the fact that Shichika took Togame's words to heart. If we really think about there really isn't a lot of interaction between hitei hime and Shichika, they are nothing more than acquaintances , which again adds another degree of separation.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Nosauz

Overall I don't get why there is any implications of hiteihime and shichika romance.

I'm with you on that. The only reason why i can see anyone would want it to happen is because they think Shichika shouldn't have to live a life by himself, though as we can see from the last scene that he's perfectly fine with that. Sure it's a sad end, though the whole last episode is sad, and personally i'm all for this instead of your typical happy ending. At least thanks to this last episode, Katanagatari will be a series i'll remember for a long time.

Originally Posted by Haak

Unfortunately I was already spoiled on Togame's death, partly because of some idiots spoiling it in the Bakemonogatari forum and partly because of the fact that some genius felt the need to give this thread the 'Tragedy' tag.

Thankfully i wasn't spoiled regarding Togame's death, though i was around when the tragedy tag appeared in this thread, and personally that just made me enjoy the series all the more. Wanting to see just what the hell could happen in the story that would result in such a tag.

[Haak]

^ I wish I had your perspective on things.

Originally Posted by Windows X

If it weren't for Hitei killing Togame, she would have to kill Shichika.

And here I thought that was just a lie she cooked up so Shichika could survive Entou Jyu (i.e. by not fighting Emonzaemon).

Now that I think about it, it could've still been true anyway.

[Windows X]

During journey, she started to believe she could change anew to have a happy life and forget her stupid goal. But during her last moments, she schemed Shichika to avenge her during first half. When it appears she would fail and admit her lost, she felt relieved that at least Shichika can live on.

However, hearing how Shichika asked things she needs to do, deep down she realized that she's still not letting go of her goal to avenge her father, killing shogunate and Kyotouryuu. That she still couldn't change. She doesn't deserve to beloved by this man. And most of all, she would regret parting him without letting him know all this though it can make him hate her. Despite that she clearly said that out.

So, I don't she lied to Shichika that she planned to kill him. But I love how Shichika's confession saved her from her stupidity and free her burdens. Her last words is unexpectedly long but quite realistic enough judging how it didn't hit her vital spots. Cutting Togame's tearful scenes may be better choice to put her down on stage as strong woman with no regrets.

I understand this is pretty hard and complex ways of narration. Hitei is even easier to read as her words and actions are quite predictable to guess what her heart thinks. But you wouldn't get boring reading or watching Nishin's works again and again. Years later may give you new perspectives and make it even more interesting.

[BigRed]

Anybody else notice that Shichika used moves to defeat some of the 12 that he used originally? I though it was pretty cool after I went back and watched some of the fights again.

Zettō Kanna: Move he originally tried to break it with but failed.
Sentō Tsurugi: Same move he used to kill Meisai Tsuruga.
Zokutō Yoroi: Same shockwave technique.
Akutō Bita: The same 272 killing move that Nanami used on Shichika in episode 7

[Janifuu]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I fail to see see how Shichika ending up with Hitei would equal to betraying/changing/forgetting his feelings for Togame. Tons of people lost the "love of their life" tragically, yet still managed to fall in love once more with another person later down the road. That doesn't mean their feelings changed, they simply moved on instead of grieving for the rest of their lives. Which is exactly what Togame wanted for Shichika, by the way. She wished for him to move on and live his own life, he doesn't necessarily have to forget her in order to do that.

I don't believe for a second Hitei and Shichika will keep traveling together without anything ever happening between the two of them. Honestly, I have no problem with Shichika x Hitei. He deserves happiness, and if she can bring it to him, it's all good. Sure, the prospect of Shichika spending the rest of his life alone, loving no one other than Togame, is more romantic, but it's also incredibly sad in my opinion.

While I understand some of your points, and it's true that Shichika's feelings for Togame wont ever change, I still see no reason to believe that Shichika and Hiteihime would eventually develop that kind of a relationship. Yes, Togame wished for Shichika to move on with his life and be happy, but why should that necessarily entail him developing feelings for another peson, and Hiteihime no less? Hiteihime being the person who was essentially responsible for killing the person hes always loved in the first place. Not only that, but Shichika too was responsible for taking the life of the person Hiteihime had confined herself in in exchange. The idea of "we killed each other's important people, so maybe you and I can become an item instead" is just unfathomable to me. One of the things I've always loved about Shichika's character has been his love and devotion to Togame. It's not only among the central points to his character, but was the source of his development and growth all throughout the story. Togame just has too big of an influence on him, and I really do think that's rather beautiful and remarkable.

I myself really don't believe for a moment that Shichika and Hiteihime will eventually develop any kind of romantic relationship, but if you wish to speculate on the idea of it then of course you're entitled to that. Fact remains though that there wasn't a single thing, even towards the very tail end of the story, that would suggest that his devotion towards Togame had changed, nor was there anything to suggest the possibility of him and Hiteihime eventually becoming an item. It would just seem way too awkward, and I don't think most people would be able to stomach the idea of it.

Originally Posted by Nosauz

Overall I don't get why there is any implications of hiteihime and shichika romance. It seems rather an awkward romance if there were to be any, considering shichika killed hiteihime's admirer/lover, and hiteihime's "hatred" or her need to meddle resulted in the death of Togame. In the end they are both actors in the deaths of people they strongly feel connected to, and that "love" seems a little hard to just sprout from that, although the only inclination that this might be real is the fact that Shichika took Togame's words to heart. If we really think about there really isn't a lot of interaction between hitei hime and Shichika, they are nothing more than acquaintances , which again adds another degree of separation.

Originally Posted by Shiroth

I'm with you on that. The only reason why i can see anyone would want it to happen is because they think Shichika shouldn't have to live a life by himself, though as we can see from the last scene that he's perfectly fine with that. Sure it's a sad end, though the whole last episode is sad, and personally i'm all for this instead of your typical happy ending. At least thanks to this last episode, Katanagatari will be a series i'll remember for a long time.

I completely agree with these two points.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Windows X

Daddy, how did you two fall in love?
.
.
.
We fell for each other during our journey after killing each other's past lover.
.
.
.
That's Kyotoryuu for you

Awkward. Still makes for a way better story than How I met your mother's.

Originally Posted by Nosauz

Overall I don't get why there is any implications of hiteihime and shichika romance. It seems rather an awkward romance if there were to be any, considering shichika killed hiteihime's admirer/lover, and hiteihime's "hatred" or her need to meddle resulted in the death of Togame. In the end they are both actors in the deaths of people they strongly feel connected to, and that "love" seems a little hard to just sprout from that, although the only inclination that this might be real is the fact that Shichika took Togame's words to heart. If we really think about there really isn't a lot of interaction between hitei hime and Shichika, they are nothing more than acquaintances , which again adds another degree of separation.

None of them resent the other for what they did. They know they just did what they had to, nothing more. It wasn't personal.

The last scene showed the two of them were growing closer. Hitei started following Shichika of her own volition and he apparently kept pushing her away. However, he acknowledged her this time, and while he didn't formally invite her to accompany him in his travels, he allowed her to. I think their smiling faces at the end say it all: they like being around each other. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean they'll end up together, but the possibility definitely exist.

[Squire James]

I was quite impressed by this final episode... I've noticed that endings tend to be a lot better when the makers of the anime know the series is ending after episode X from the beginning! I've seen too many endings get all fudged up by leaving room for an uncertain sequel or the makers finding out after episode 9 that there won't be an episode 13!

Now, on more specific matters...

Togame's death scene DID stretch out a bit, but perhaps this is for the best. Most combat deaths occur suddenly, allowing no chance for the dying character to express all his/her thoughts. The situation was directly engineered (in-story and out) to allow her that chance.

As for the combat scenes... epic! None of those guys really knew what to do with their weapons, and the protagonist (1) was no longer interested in preserving the weapons and (2) was generally a much stronger weapon than he was a year ago.

Hmm... the aftermath. Well, the princess DID indulge in a lot of deliberate falsehoods in earlier episodes, and I noted that she was nearly always smiling and/or laughing when she declared her hatred of Togame. At the very least she was enjoying the rivalry. I think she followed the protagonist at the end to fend off boredom than anything else.

[shichi-chan]

Originally Posted by BigRed

Anybody else notice that Shichika used moves to defeat some of the 12 that he used originally? I though it was pretty cool after I went back and watched some of the fights again.

Zettō Kanna: Move he originally tried to break it with but failed.
Sentō Tsurugi: Same move he used to kill Meisai Tsuruga.
Zokutō Yoroi: Same shockwave technique.
Akutō Bita: The same 272 killing move that Nanami used on Shichika in episode 7

I noticed that too, but for Zettou Kanna, it didn't break because during the first episode he used a weaker technique than before, but now he knew how to destroy it.
And for Zokutou, He just had to lift him off the ground lol.
For Bita, I kinda felt that the sword (since it is charged full electrical power) revived the person that many times, kinda like using CPR lol, if you get what I mean. But so much electricity in the person just fried the user to death. (as it "drained" away the users life over time)

I kinda felt like: "Huh, I see now" as Shichika was destroying the swords, and how simple the swords actually are. If Shichika never had to protect the swords or himself, the previous sword owner battles would've had the same outcome of dying in 30 seconds.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by shichi-chan

I noticed that too, but for Zettou Kanna, it didn't break because during the first episode he used a weaker technique than before, but now he knew how to destroy it.
And for Zokutou, He just had to lift him off the ground lol.
For Bita, I kinda felt that the sword (since it is charged full electrical power) revived the person that many times, kinda like using CPR lol, if you get what I mean. But so much electricity in the person just fried the user to death. (as it "drained" away the users life over time)

I kinda felt like: "Huh, I see now" as Shichika was destroying the swords, and how simple the swords actually are. If Shichika never had to protect the swords or himself, the previous sword owner battles would've had the same outcome of dying in 30 seconds.

Not necessarily. This time around, the users themselves were inferior.

[hai_san]

LOL we get the Death of the Heroine, we get epic fights of the Hero, some mysteries about Emonzaemon fight as first he wanted to use his "ninpo"? but instead he uses Entou Jyo?!, the hero actually wanted to die but all i get from this forum is a shipping war about Togame & Shichika or Shichika will be together with Hitei hime...

[shichi-chan]

Erm, well I suppose so, I mean they haven't had the swords for so long, that they hadn't have much time to hone their skills with it.

@hai san, Well, Not everyone is all into the shipping war lol. I mean I am more interested in the gauntlet and Emonzaemon. And well Emonzaemon like used his Ninpou, with Entou Jyuu.

Speaking of Emonzaemon....RIP EMONZAAAAAAEEEEMMOOOOONNNNN!!!!!

[felix]

Killer-Mode Kyotoryu is awesome! Too bad we won't be seeing more.

[Maccette]

Epic, Simply Epic, I have not been blown away by a series like this in a very long time.

[roriconfan]

REVIEW TIME

Spoiler for wall of text:

PROLOGUE

Katanagatary (directly translated to English as Swordstory), is from the same guy who wrote Bakemonogatary. As famous as that anime was, I wasn’t very thrilled with its episodic nature. The smart gags and the wordplays were all nice but all the rest felt like random psychedelic rambling with lots of otaku culture cliches. But it still had enough artistic expression and weirdness to be memorable in a way.

Katanagatary is practically reusing the same formula, only here it offers a better feeling of progress, focuses more on the main characters and less on most others who come and go in the same episode they appear. I for once welcome this change in a positive light. You can’t watch the episodes in random order and the characters don’t mysteriously disappear after their use in the story is gone (even when killed are still mentioned in passing).

ENJOYMENT SECTION: 8

The strongest feature that exists here is its style of conscious trolling. You literally know the scriptwriter is messing with your expectations but you actually like it. That means, things are made as to make you expect something that never happens and surprises you with its unexpected turn of events. In most other series, being trolled is a very negative feature, the cause to hate an anime and downvote it for disappointing you. An easy example is the wars foreshadowed for dozens of chapters/episodes in famous fighting shounens such as Naruto and Bleach. We were promised a war of epic scale and were offered a lukewarm and poorly handled line of small spars that were hardly exiting.

Katanagatari managed to reverse the feeling with smart gags and wordplays. In literature, a famous method of foreshadowing is code-named “Chekhov’s Gun”. If you are given a detailed description of a gun, you are given the impression it will be useful in the plot later on, that someone will fire it or it will be a key element in revealing the mystery. Most authors are advised to hide their guns as best as possible with subtle hints and red herring in an attempt to make the revelation less expected. But not this author. No sir, he is firing his gun all the time and throws it at your face. You are of course expecting for this gun to be damn important later on. And no, that moment comes and goes as if the gun was just a cigarette lighter. Ooooh, you didn’t see that coming! How unexpected!

As I said, this works only because the show never tries to be too serious to anything other than the core reasons every character is fighting for. All your expectations from the plot, formed by decades of stereotypes and tropes are in this case working against you, being used by the author in a way to make YOU the reader/viewer the expected and the stereotype. The roles are in a way reversed and you become the kits factor. The joke is on you and in this case it is funny. It is a kind of humor that directs at you, making you part of the show. Just like when a magician makes a building disappear, you being present and gasping at the illusion is actually part of the act as well. You don’t know it but DAMN it works.

So yeah, I liked it how I was being trolled all the time with events I couldn’t predict. To the overcritical this will feel like the show is going through totally random events and stupid character reactions. Which is true and made deliberately as such. It was funny, unlike those stupid wars in other shows that were supposed to have seriousness and consistency. The only reason I didn’t give a full mark is because I’m not fond of the long talking feature. I prefer more action and less blah-blah, which is a personal taste that can vary from one person to another.

ANIMATION SECTION: 9

First of all two warnings about what will follow. By any means, do not try to view this show as historically accurate. It has ninjas dressed more colorfully than circus clowns, while it features guns and robots centuries before they are even invented and introduced to Japan. Also, by any means do not try to view this anime as an action series. It has action alright but it is much undermined in favor of dialogue. Plus, most battles are made to last only a few seconds as part of being trolled again. You would expect them to last for entire episodes yet they end quite fast and anti-climactically. Sounds frustrating but it’s meant to be funny.
Now onwards with the rest of the animation.

A nice contrast of plain character designs next to a broad range of colors and patterns filling said designs. It creates a dreamy feeling, open to personal interpretation. I mean, how old is each character or how does he look in real life? The artwork does not help; you need to imagine all that. And this is what makes it great; making you imagine the scene despite being shown to you. You are forming the details in your mind, basically embracing the characters. The environments are basically colorful cartoons so even when you don’t want to think, you are still taken in by the visuals, like reading a very well made picture book. See? Once again you are tricked to be part of the act. This is what I call genius.

But you don’t need to think so deep if you don’t want to. There still is a large amount of fan service present, as each scene with the main duo is basically passing like sexual foreplay. It is not original in any way but in this case the author once again manages to turn the joke on you. Because the stereotypical couple would be about a tsundere loosing her clothes all the time before the guy, who would immediately have a nosebleed, she will scream, call him a pervert and hit him a hundred times. Well, again this is not the case here. The lead guy has NO idea how to be ashamed of nude and the girl is NOT afraid to be naked. Heck, they spend a lot of time being naked or him smelling her hair and although it doesn’t feel sexy to them, we are completely taken in by the fact that for us it is. Ingenious!

I will still not give full points here. Although the cinematography part is brilliant, the characters remain terribly frozen for several minutes. It is supposed to be part of the whole picture book act but ten minutes of endless talking with the screen showing the same picture slowly scrolled sideways can get to your nerves. Not a tragic problem but I sure mind it a bit concerning animation... which means something moving.

SOUND SECTION: 9

Voice Acting is superb. Although at first it will feel like amateurish or stereotypical, in reality it’s again just more trolling. Each character will have a very distinctive voice, accompanied with personal catchphrases and different pinch in voice. It may feel like a repetitive joke at first but in reality it is a basic way of character immersion. At some point all their reasons for talking like that are exposed. So yeah, voices are not random cartoony squeaks. They are part of one’s personality.

The dialogues are again great to listen too. After all, most of the series consists of talking rather than acting, so we are talking about a lot of speech here. In fact you can watch half the show without even staring at the screen but just listening to what they say. What makes it interesting is once again the trolling part. You are constantly feeded with possible future actions that are proven fault or meaningless a few seconds later. Heck, the characters themselves are constantly fooling one another with misunderstandings and wordplays, so the feeling is mutual.

But jokes aside, the seemingly endless talking offers insight to each character’s personality. Ten minutes of a monologue and you know who someone is or what he/she wants. It will feel artificial or forced at times because of the long duration but it still helps you to get to know them. So yeah, great work here as well.

If I need to lower the score a bit, that will be the Music Themes. Nice pieces of pop with folklore and ambient overtones but not something to hum for life. Not a real minus but I only give full score to series with memorable songs. There are otherwise numerous and each episode even features a different ending.

STORY SECTION: 8

The core story is quite the simple one. One guy and one girl, stroll around Japan to find twelve magic swords. One each episode they face a villain of the month (well, it was a monthly series) and acquire a sword. This pattern does not change from beginning to end. But what DOES make it feel better is the way each sword is acquired. The method used each time is different, the circumstances are different, heck, the whole aim of the episode is different. So don’t expect the lead to constantly use his signature move as panacea every time. Each adversary needs a different approach. Another minor but nice detail is how the weather slowly changes per episode to signify the time of the year it takes place in.

So even in such a formulaic show there are plot twists. Some events occur in moments or in ways you were not expecting, thus being trolled once again in a good way. Even the ending is considered quite uncommon for such shows. Not only it is strong and solid but features events most would never expect the outcome despite the info being offered by previous events.

But as I said earlier most of the plot is talking rather than acting. The actual screen time of getting the sword lasts only around 5 minutes at each episode. The rest is getting to know the characters and fooling around, thus the core series is way too small next to the side stories of the characters they meet in each episode. Very good entreating-wise but rather poor story-wise. Most secondary characters are never shown for more than an episode so the feeling of expanding future possibilities as the episodes go by feels a bit off.

But other than that the pacing does not feel erratic at any point. Since each episode is pretty much self-contained in plot there is no room for fillers or staling. And no episode is really treated as unnecessary since there always is a sort of progress present; so it is not really bad. It’s just that powers and characters found on one episode would make an interesting event if they met powers and characters from following episodes. Sounds like poor excuse for needless crossovers but I still like the idea.

CHARACTER SECTION: 8

The prime thing any series needs to have is memorable characters. This show succeeds and wins by failing, thus performs a double victory. Sounds weird? Let me explain.

The main duo is definitely worth to remember. Although they initially feel like the usual tsundere and blockhead of so many anime out there, by the end of the show they are colorized and immersed so much that you have all the reason in the world to cherish them for life. That is something I can’t say for other shows with similar duos like Inu Yasha or Spice and Wolf. Their development and presence was a lot less bold, stretched amongst several episodes, most of which are fillers, while the ending was lukewarm at best. But here they did an excellent job at making them worthy. I mean, Shichika is a clueless to the world swordless swordsman; he fights better against swords when he is not holding one. Isn’t that weird enough? And here I though the three-sword style of Zorro from One Piece was too much. As for the lead girl, her title is Strategian (a fusion of tactician and strategist) Togame looking for 12 hentai swords, who keeps using the word “cheerio” with the wrong meaning. Isn’t that weird as heck? And it’s just the tip of the iceberg of what their personalities are like.

The secondary cast is also memorable for being… killed right away. Sounds weird but it’s the trolling effect again. Most adversaries will be presented as super powerful and will be handed a Chekhov’s gun. But when the action happens they will pretty much not use the gun and die fast and anti-climactically. What is funnier is how a simple handgun is far more powerful than elite ninjas. Which is true but still not something you would expect to see in a show about superhumans. Trooolled!

But anyway, most characters will still be colorized enough before they kick the bucket on the same episode they appear in. It will frustrate you but you will probably like the feeling. Think of it like the first time you kissed someone on the lips. That’s the one…

Besides that, all characters have a really strong presence on screen. They all have their set of catchphrases, unique uniforms, special attacks, demeanor, etc. For a cast where most are killed right away and the rest just talk to the end, they did a great job and I salute them for that.

And no, I still don’t give a full mark for a cast where most are rather stereotypical and die 20 minutes after they appear. This trolling trick still has its limitations.

VALUE: 7

I am not a fan of episodic plots or this trolling business. It worked on me all right but only this time. I am also not willing to sit down and relive all those long dialogues either. But heck, going though rough times in the anime industry I say this anime feels like an oasis in the desert. I mean, it is not devoid of moe, sex jokes, or meta-modern feeling but at the same time it is not aimless, carbon-copied, lukewarm adventure either. So ok, some say it pays tribute to Rurouni Kenshin, or Dragonball, or even Inu Yasha and Naruto. The similarities are still not clear enough to make it a retelling of those shows and to my knowledge it has a lot better directing and feeling than most of the above.

So yeah, it’s a good show… Even for MY strict tastes.

Average: 8/10

[creb]

So yea, I laughed. I feel like the entire show was actually one big troll attempt by the author, and I loved it (then again, I loved the Endless Eight sequence in Haruhi too, so maybe I'm just weird).

In the end, it was all pointless, and to just make it even more funny, the blonde girl gets the guy, throwing die-hard nerds committed to the underlying romance that was there throughout the previous 10 episodes into a hissy fit I'm sure. ;p Whoever the author was, I applaud you.

Katanagatari shall remain a classic in my library for all time.