Review of Katanagatari

Bias & First Impression: The first time I laid eyes upon this I thought this would just be another average shounen, with a set number of bad guys to fight on the main character’s journey. The art was sort of odd too and it was on a year schedule for 12 episodes. To say the least I was deterred. The first episode was a surprise. There was quite a lot of talking going on top of an actually legit plot. However it still was not immediately catching. Expectation: 6 (Fine) Final Grade: 8 (Very Good) Individual episode rating: -,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,9,10 Evaluation: The story did stick to the one sword an episode, but thatdid not limit what it was able to produce. Although it takes a while for the plot to pile up, by the last few episodes it really conglomerated together. In the end I would not claim the story to actually be all that great. Indeed, it was very episodic which didn’t allow for a very good flow. However, the keystone to the shows worth comes in the characters.

While Shichika is the average idiot which is fitting for one who must act as his partner’s sword, many of the other characters have quite the quirks. Togame is a very likeable character, who exploits Shichika’s willingness to server her. Indeed, she is the brains of the combo, and makes sure she gets treated as such. The owners of the deviant blades have their personality matched to their individual sword, and span the spectrum from noble samurai, to ninjas, yeti people, robots. What might not be obvious is that the term blade is used quiet loosely, as the blades all have their unique uses and shapes; think bleach but ignore the stigma associated with this reference. The Maniwani ninjas take the cake for the most interesting characters with their animal costumes fit to their ninjutsu.

Words of caution, if you expect this to be a true action show I suggest you reconsider. Although this seems to be the case with most action shows anyways, there is a marginal amount of real action. Shichika is a unarmed fighter who is incapable of holding a sword, against the specialized ability of the other sword. He doesn’t have any real special ability of his own, so the focus is more in finding the weakness of the opponent rather than powering himself up.
The quality is not bad during these scenes, but the focus is more on the behind the scenes preparations. The duo usually will meet their opponent, togame will try to think of a strategy, and then implement it.

A lot of the show consists of long monologues, either for the plot, or just random attempts at comedy. It took me some time to get used to the heavy conversation, as you will find them to drag on to great lengths and have great depth. For an example, during one scene a character talks for 15 minutes with minimal interruption. While it requires some concentration to read all the subtitles, you will come out with a net gain.

Music:
None of the OP or ED are particularly a favorite, but there is a great number since they have 14 songs total. A few weren't bad, so you might find a few you will enjoy.

Conclusion:
I am glad I stuck with the show. As time went on I grew accustomed to the show’s style and the better episodes are later on during the series. Though it was rather straightforward and episodic, It came together in quiet an epic finale that sort of surprised me. If we consider how we only follow two characters, and how Shichika slowly gains knowledge of the world and how to think, since he has been shut on an island all his life, the development is not horrible. If the start had been more enjoyable for me I would have given this a 9/10, but I am a tough grader after all.