Review of Katana Maidens: Toji no Miko

If there is an anime from 2018 that I consider to be underappreciated it would be Katana Maidens because despite having a low MAL score which I will never understand it manages to be the best two cour show from the Winter 18 season. The main reasons for why I think this show is better to compare to the likes of Darling in the Franxx, Beatless, and Record of the Grancrest War is one it’s very enjoyable to watch from start to finish, two the story and characters were well-handled and three and most importantly Katana Maidens actually respects its audience. Yes, this show isnot perfect, as it has some flaws which I will point out throughout this review but compare the other three two cour shows Katana Maidens positives outweigh the negatives to a point where I consider it to be one of the best animes of 2018

Since the ancient times, the Kannagi priestesses have used their swords, or Okatana, to exorcise the creatures known as Aratama that brought chaos upon the world of man. These maidens were known as Tojis, a special task force within the police allowed to have their Okatana on their person because they are government officials, but they mostly consist of school girls who go to one of five training schools. This spring, the top Tojis from five schools across the country have been gathered for a customary tournament where they will use their abilities and fight for the top position.

Just by reading the synopsis alone you the viewer would expect the show to be just another tournament anime that features cute girls with sword doing cute things you are dead wrong. The show destroyed the synopsis that I said in favour of a more intriguing action/adventure and espionage story that is well-executed and charming.

While the premise isn’t all that original it’s the way that it presented that made it intriguing to watch.
The Toji’s are basically magical girls but instead of using magical weapons they use actual weapons that we see in the real world.

The pacing in the show is very good for the most part as it knows how to pace itself as well as keeping the audience interested in the events that happen in the show. In addition, every episode in the show has a purpose and a point that nicely blends with the overall narrative of the story. Instead of pointless recap episodes (Beatless) and unneeded random subplots (Darling in The Franxx) the show makes every event inducing subplots to feel important to the overall plot not to mention unlike any other 2 cour show from the winter 18 seasons the show does a great job of making the audience care about the overall plot and characters.

The writing in the show is pretty surprisingly consistent. Yes! at times the show can have its hiccups in some areas but for the most part, I thought the writing of Kanata Maidens to be pretty good overall.
Katana Maidens intriguing and the unpredictable story is only made strong of how great chararter and nicely written the chararters are.

Kanami is a cheerful and positive girl who is also a big Kenjutsu enthusiast.

I really Kanami. She started a weak fight who constantly has to rely on others to win but as the series progresses she becomes a much stronger fighter who is able to stand on her own. I also loved her character interactions with the cast overall.

Hiyori is the Stoic and dedicated fighter of the group who carries a grudge towards the Origami family for her mother's death. Personally, I liked this character a lot. Her relationship with Kanami was well handed as she slowly starts to trust and respect Kanami as a fighter and a person.

Mai is Kanami best friend and acts as the older sister of the group as she is always kind and friendly to everyone that she meets. I really liked Mai as she is probably the most mature and responsible characters in the series as she is very intelligent and always willing to care for others.

Sayaka is an interesting character overall. She starts this emotionless girl who barely interacts to the group but as the series progresses she slowly starts to open up to others.

Kaoru is a fun character that I liked. She may a sluggish person but she has a good heart. I overall liked her relationship with Ellen because despite having an indifferent attitude to Ellen she actually cares for her as she's very good partners who get along with each other.

Ellen is the mood-maker of the group where she has a simplistic girlish personality.
Despite her simplistic personality she actually a clever and brave fighter who is willing to risk her own life to protect her comrades in battle. Like with the other 6 girls she is a great character that I really liked.
The rest of the characters are pretty good and enjoyable as they are including the villains who were interesting.

Moving to the presentation side Katana Maidens visually is pretty good for the most part.
The character designs are cute and very appealing to the eye.
The background scenery is, for the most part, were solid it fits well with the series tone and atmosphere.

The show features some fan-service but thankfully the fan-service in the show didn't overstay as the fan-service scenes in the show were only used in the parts of the hot springs in series when the girls are not fighting.
I was glad there wasn't much fan-service in this show because this show could have taken the generic route where girls would often be wearing skimpy battle gear which they skin would often be exposed but am very glad that the show didn't follow the footsteps of a generic ecchi anime.

Speaking of battle gear I liked the girls battle as not only they were appealing to look at but they actually fit well the shows setting.

The actual animation is pretty good for the most part as the fight choreography was engaging and fun to watch.
However, the use of CGI at times can be pretty distracting especially in a final couple of where the use of CGI was an all-time low. I honestly wished the show handled its CGI because outside of that complaint the animation, especially for some of the fights, were pretty good.

Overall minus the awkward use of CGI especially in the last couple of episodes the visuals for Katana Maidens were pretty good.

So far I praised the show for having great chararters. an intriguing unpredictable story and good visuals. This, unfortunately, can't be said with the soundtrack.
Don’t me wrong the soundtrack is good for what it was but it didn’t really stand out which is a shame because some of the fights of the show were pretty good minus the awkward use of CGI that I just mentioned.

Luckily both opening and endings themes from are pretty great and memorable in their own rights.

The Seiyuus did a great job with roles that given for each girl. As you expect the subversion is great and well-acted.
The English dub done by Funimation is actually pretty good as each of the English voice actors managed to do a great job voicing each girl.

Katana Maidens is liking watching is underdog sports team grow into fame.
Despite having a low MAL score which I will never understand I really enjoyed the series thanks to how well executed and enjoyable it was. The story is great and very enjoyable, the characters are all charming and likeable in they own ways, the writing/pacing was pretty solid and the visuals were very good minus the awkward use of CGI at times. Is it the best anime of 2018? Sadly no as it, did have some problems that prevent it from being one of the true greats from 2018.

However, I will say this. Katana Maidens is easily the best two cour anime from the Winter 18 season and for me, it’s destroyed Beatless, Record of the Grancrest War and the now popular Darling in the Franxx. The show won’t be for everyone but if you want to check out an underrated anime from 2018 then I recommend Katana Maidens.
It is an anime that will stay with my heart for many years to come.