Review of Katanagatari

In a way, I find Katanagatari (and the relationship I have with it) to be very similar to Escaflowne. Not in themes, of course, but in that both shows are built on strong premises that poor execution mostly fail to back up. Both shows feature a terrible introduction, a huge cast of underdeveloped characters, a somewhat rushed ending and a few pacing issues… But all this is supported by gorgeous art and fantastic voice actors. Just as Escaflowne, Katanagatari presents well and, similarly, is by no means a bad show but has several problems. Aesthetics aside, the main selling point of the show would be itstwo protagonists: Shichika and Togame. As spectators we spend most of our time watching their interactions and evolution. Shichika can be described as a character somewhere between Goku and Kenshiro. He starts as an extremely powerful man-child that does not know anything about the world but leaves his secluded island on Togame’s impulse. The duo, in the beginning, is clearly reminiscent of Goku and Bulma going on an adventure to find the Dragonballs. His journey is then, just as Kenshiro’s, one of humanization: as the heir of a generation old, deadly martial art, he will learn through his fights that, contrary to what his life up till now led him to believe, he is not simply a tool but a person whose purpose, resolve and feelings (mainly anger, sorrow and love) can actually make stronger. Togame, in contrast, is a schemer with revenge and ambition as her main motivations. I feel her development was meant to be a mirror of Shichika’s: she has been dehumanized by society and sophistication while he has been by his seclusion and overly simplistic lifestyle. I think their journey together was supposed to both bring them back towards a more enviable middle point. However, they are not given the same care and consideration. Even if she is at the origin of their journey the show mostly focuses on Shichika and she usually takes the role of a sidekick and/or comic relief (a pretty bad one too). As a consequence, her character development mainly comes in relation to Shichika or, if not, feels strange and contrived. Episode 10, for example, is treated as her growth episode, but up to this point not much indicated she needed to grow in this respect and, indeed, Episode 11 Togame is basically the same as her Episode 10 counterpart… This is the first problem I have with the series: the imbalance between those two characters that are given similar screen time, which is to say most of it.

Togame’s character arc is sadly weaker than Shichika’s and she is supposed to compensate by being the vector for his. This is not necessarily a problem in and of itself, however this fails in conjunction of what I think is the second (and biggest) flaw of the series: the poorly written dialogues. Most of those are actually long, drawn out, overexplaining exposition dumps, made either by Togame or the episode’s antagonist, for the ignorant country bumpkin that is Shichika and, of course, the viewer. If you then add the recurring and obligatory dumb jokes, as well as the systematic reliance on catchphrases (often used as a way to substitute gimmicks for personality traits), it does not leave much time for genuine conversations (which exist but are few and far between). We end up with a couple of main characters with essentially no chemistry whose ramblings make up for (I’d say) 60ish % of the show. Something that I would say is pretty boring, but has another pernicious effect … Just as Escaflowne, once again, Katangatari is a bit too ambitious with its enormous cast, needing to reduce many side characters to a catchphrase or a gimmick coupled to a flashy design. I sincerely think the show could have been better without the Maniwa Corps or, at least, if they were less numerous. Ironically, I think the character that suffers the most from their presence (indirectly, of course, as he is allowed less time to develop) is Houou. During the show he is hyped as extremely powerful, highly motivated and centuries old with a deep backstory. Everything builds up to its confrontation with Shichika in Episode 11 and… nothing. We don’t learn anything about him, we don’t even see him fight. Fortunately, Emonzaemon and Hitei receive marginally better treatment, but not so much as I would have liked. Despite all that I think the cast is overall pretty likeable. We spend so much time with the main characters that is difficult not to care about them, and the supporting cast is colourful and mysterious enough that I wanted to know more. It is by no means catastrophic but rather disappointing, mostly when considering it could have been solved through better writing…

Despite all that, I really think the first episode and a half is pretty bad. What kept me going is the gorgeous and syncretistic artwork that juxtaposes vibrant watercolours, traditional Japanese engravings and more modern, 2010s anime style visuals. Backgrounds are lush with details without being overloaded and I went and paused the video several times just to observe those more closely. Character designs I feel are uneven (I’m not a fan of Togame’s and think the Maniwa’s are heinous while Shichika’s and Hitei’s work very well) but I like the way they clash with the environment. This allows the action to always be perfectly clear and understandable while keeping the backgrounds fairly sophisticated. Animation is good when it needs to be and change in animators is noticeable but not problematic. The show borrows a lot from fighting games when it comes to camera work and composition, which is not a bad idea considering the plot is basically that of one. Fight choreography though is a bit lacking. It has its moments, sure (episodes 4 and 8 notably), but often devolves into mindless spam, the worst offender probably being the disappointing Episode 7… Music is mostly discreet (with a few really good tracks) and complements the action nicely. I have to salute the effort that went in composing a different ending for each episode, though I don’t find any of those transcendent in any way.

When having to give a definitive grade to Katangatari I struggled between 6 and 7. No grade properly reflects my opinion of the show. The last impression is, I feel, pretty good with a second half that is in many ways better than the first (Episodes 7 and 9, which are mediocre, aside) and an imperfect (Togame’s last speech…) but satisfying ending. But when I look back at the show as a whole, I cannot neglect its subpar first half and loose ends. Aesthetically the show is great but it also lacks in the writing department. I’m conflicted but, in the end, it was still an enjoyable anime and the fact it compeled me to write this review probably means I should lean towards 7.