Review of Katanagatari

I fell for Katanagatari! Just finished it a few minutes ago so I'm still under the influence. Okay, so in order to start, first the story. Katanagatari has a very simple storyline, 12 episodes, and 12 swords to collect. Pretty straightforward. However, it's not a story that you could have seen a million times. Katanagatari managed to offer an alternative universe where having strange characters with even stranger powers and even more stranger dialogues are the most natural things in the world. Where death is just another new experience in life and where each and every character is just another pawn in the big messed upplan. I was very pleased with the story, however, it was lacking in some ways, such as giving more background to side characters or giving a better explanation of the reasons behind the main plot. Anyway, it was a unique experience to watch this anime. 8/10

Art: World and character design were just great! World design reminded me of Samurai Champloo a lot, and the characters felt like they are just stepped out of a cool indie alternative game. The animation felt nice and smooth, but I had a feeling that they could put a bit more effort into fight scenes as they felt short and not very spectacular. However, they nicely used the main character's simple personality to make comments about not really wanting to be flashy. It was a funny and creative idea! :D 9/10

Sound: Well, another great thing in Katanagatari. And another point where I was reminded of Samurai Champloo even though the music here was slower and had fewer hip hop elements. In my opinion, music is one of the most important parts of any anime or movie. Music conveys lots of emotions and provides a unique atmosphere that worlds or art can't. Katanagatari certainly has a special atmosphere. 9/10

Characters: I absolutely adored both main characters. I loved how their personalities changed slowly which was beautifully presented by how they got closer to each other with every episode. However, their romantic feelings are more just a symbolization of their character development.

Shichika was my absolute favorite in this anime. He looks like a simple guy with a deadpan face but he has a deadpan face because he never learned or experienced even the most basic human emotions. Even though Shichika claims to fell for Togame from the very beginning, he has absolutely no clue what that actually really means. I think his reason to join Togame was more because he was bored. He is a sword and he really feels just like an object at the start but on their journey, he slowly learns things like devotion, regret, jealousy, respect...etc, and love. It's funny how he considers himself stupid, even though he has pretty good common sense. Shichika also has a very interesting background and family.

Togame is the opposite of Shichika. She has a complex emotional inner world, she is very experienced and intelligent although childish at times. Her development is less obvious at first glance because of her more complicated personality and background, and because even though she talks a lot she says very little.

There are tons of side characters in Katanagatari. They are generally interesting and fun to watch. As I mentioned above, I wouldn't mind getting a bit more info about them as sometimes they felt like they are only in the anime to die. 8/10

Enjoyment: I loved the music, the art, the characters, and the world. I don't think this anime is perfect but it gave me nearly 12 hours of pure enjoyment so at this point I throw all logical reasons and scores out of the window and give a 10/10 for enjoyment. This is a 100% subjective score from me.

Overall: Very good story, great art, great music, fun characters, and creative execution. I don't think I did a very good job with this review as I could say so much more from the story and the characters, but I had a hard time putting my thoughts into words.
My objective score would be an 8/10, but I fell for this anime so my absolute subjective final score is a 9/10.