Katanagatari

Wow...just wow, that episode really blew me away with the ending battle. Rather very emotional as well, it's great seeing how much progress Shichika has made as a character, he's a lot more human now and easier to relate to, I'm hoping this sticks till the end of this series (which i'm sure it will.)

I also adored the art style for this episode, liked the look of it from the preview trailer and after the episode had finished I was in love with it. Kinda reminded me of a western cartoon style, but it really worked well and the ending fight with the candles looked very dynamic and astounding.

Perhaps I'm over-praising it but I really enjoyed this episode, I'm a bit weird with Katanagatari, it can bore me easily and annoy me even, but when it's good it gets really good!

Without a doubt my favourite episode of this series so far, I'm hoping the upcoming episodes can be equally as good.

Well here's a trailer for episodes 7-9 if you guys are interested, it's gotten me excited a little. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtkV_084F84

that last line, she murmured in the end, so hot

and the next sword, the doll, by far my favourite out of all the sword they've hunted

my favourite part of this ep wasnt the ending fight i'd put that in 2nd place, my favourite was when everyone was talking about how much of a monster nanami is

[size=11]
What makes Katanagatari interesting isn’t because of its connection to Bakemonogatari’s author, Nisio Isin; it’s not because of the crazy antics the animation studio does (not exactly for some though) or how wacky the characters are (again, opinions may differ); then again, it’s not about the morality discussed in each episode, but more of it as a whole.

"The whole is greater than the sum of the parts"

And to poke fun with this phrase, I’ll start by questioning the elements themselves, namely the characters (only some though).

The show is obviously a story about swords, and when there are swords, there are swordsmen. Here, Shichika, a human, is a sword, symbolically-speaking, under Togame, the strategian. Shichika had been a very dull and uninteresting character at first, perhaps because he lived with his sister in an island, or maybe because of his father’s upbringing. Either way, he’s supposed to be a sword. Swords are objects, aren’t they? And as the 7th head of the Kyotō-ryÅ« , he personifies a swordsman that doesn’t use a sword. Unsurprisingly, he develops a personality later on, or to be specific, somewhat of a mild change in his behavior – and it can be explained by his lover (haha) slash owner (again haha) Togame, and their travel around Japan.

It’s important to note that a single person can make millions of decisions under a myriad of circumstances in his lifetime. That said, who the person was the day before may not be the same person the next day, and that can be from external or internal circumstances that consciously and subconsciously change his behavior – in this series, Shichika changed because of Togame – I am, however, not stating that Togame is the sole reason though. I’m just saying that she’s a catalyst of some sort, and without her, Shichika wouldn’t even have a reason to leave the island. So, slowly, gradually, he’s changing—it’s an ongoing process. For Togame, it would seem like a change for the better. He’s still the type of person who’d kill a woman though, because he’s a sword and anyone in a battle field is generally an enemy. For Nanami, his brother’s change can either be good or bad. Her comment on him becoming dull/rusty (another sword analogy) can also be taken either way, in both being a sword, a human person, or even both. I may have never noticed it before but I think this was the first time Shichika cried. Yes, for the loss of a family member; but then again, if you objectively regard yourself as a sword, that meant something.

Speaking of Togame, her father was killed by Shichika’s father – and by working with her father’s killer’s son – it’s either a very bright idea or below-average stupid. Apparently, this was one hard decision for her. She doesn’t have many options though, and employing a person that won’t be corrupted by the swords and who she can trust because of love does sound like a win-win scenario, if not for their pasts. One can only imagine what will happen with the two in the end – if Togame will still use Shichika, or if she’ll throw him away. Nevertheless, one cannot forget her statement, “I don’t know about half a year ago, but you’re the only sword for me now!” If her reasons before were entirely objectively using him in her schemes, well, you can’t say the same by the recent episode. Her last comment in the episode bares it all: “ No family? Are you dumb…I have you and you have me, right?” You can take that statement either way, you.

Nanami… Oh, if I was frightened by her in the episode where she beat the crap out of the insect squad, I am now loving her. She realized that there was nothing left for her. She’s at the apex of all martial artists, and her defeat by her brother’s hands was a result of Togame’s trickery, her downgrading (not using Akutou Bita), and her own wish to be killed. Killing the family members seems to be common in the Yasuri family, but it sure is both a bittersweet kind of death, to be killed by a person close to you. All her actions, using sharingan *cough* to copy the skills of her opponents, were motivated by her own decision to end it all – to end her life. Sure, she could tell anyone that there’s no need for a reason to fight – but deep inside, all she wants is to escape her invincibility. Then again, she continuously gives her brother a reason to fight her (i.e. the deviant blade, cutting Togame’s hair). One could say that the weed finally got weeded out.

I won’t go specific on the Maniwanis. They’re all interesting in their own right. Some are just plain weird (i.e. Reverse-talk Shirasagi), others completely brutal (i.e. Houou Maniwa slicing his own arm and a fellow Maniwani just to be on the good side of Togame), and others I sympathize with (i.e. the whole Maniwani insect squad). I don’t even feel like discussing the owners of the deviant blades as well. Epic Hakuhei Sabi fight is epic.

The point being that the series showcases characters that are entertaining because they're humans living in a dog-eat-dog world--sometimes, they're even larger than life. Their motivations and circumstances may be different, but they still try to make do with what they have. They can be barbaric sometimes, but isn't that how human life was before, heck, even now?

I’ll end it with that. After all, the whole series is a parody, and the show keeps reminding us that. It can be good. Or it can be bad. You decide.
[/h]

it's up to episode 9.

8 was so so, but 9 was really amusing.

Did the new Ali Project OP turned off the fakku audience?

Wow!


Or perhaps it's 4manyak and his essay's fault, which I honestly haven't bothered to read due to my lack of interest with the series until now, I don't know?

Episode 9

Episode 10:

So, two more episodes seem to be left.

Episode 10 was definitely a good episode. I really like how this series uses several different types of designs in a very effective manner.

the weird but funny thing about this show is that all characters love to talk too much ... what else can they do, right? Ep10 was no exception but at least if you can withstand an hour of yap-yap-yapping we know now a bit more of the legacy that ties everything together

Nanami scares the shit out of me

Well this series is really appealing for me as from the art till the stories as nowadays most anime would only focus more on beautiful picture however lack of story.

This series is one of the few anime i kept on following. The next episode about Shichika vs Hou ou this will be a very interesting eps to follow.

The last episode has been released. Sadly I don't have time to watch it before work.

OH MY JUICY GOODNESS the RAW made me jizzzed in my pants already, this episode is probably the most action filled one in the whole serie

Episode 12:

I'm unsure what to think of.... the reveal about Togame left me unhappy and annoyed, it felt un-needed and after having a somewhat light hearted series and then have that dropped on you feels..urghh >_>

However I've got to say, having Shichika invading the castle and taking down everyone was most cool, he was clearing people out of his way with ease and the final battle was awesome. Also the way he killed that guy by shouting "CHEERIO" did bring a smile to my face and felt somewhat clever.

In the end this was a somewhat good series but the ending just kinda ruined things for me, it seems in anime we either get the typical harem with no solid conclusion or we get actual romance but then it ends all horribly :/

I hope Bakemono doesn't get the same treatment of painful ending. *sigh* I just... god damn it Nisio ;__;

I don't think you have anything to worry about since Bake is fundamentally different to Katana, and Bake is still an on-going work.

About Katana's ending:

Am i the only one that LOL'd at Seitou Hakari?

The series was always about this sort of thing. Each episode had a slightly different design to its story and a slightly different focus to it.

What was going to happen was going to happen the entire time, you could see the sort of hints and limitations he was being given and such.

I've actually grown to really like the ending, the way everything comes together and how clever it was, along with how exciting it was.

I guess my only gripe is...



Still the show surprised me, and it ended very well.

One thing to keep an eye out for when you re-watch it: