Review of Katanagatari

***MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD*** Katanagatari translated into English reads "Sword Story" and true to it's title, the entire anime is centered around the story of Swords... both real and figurative. The title in many ways can be misleading. Because the story isn't so much an action adventure as much as it is a coming of age story. The action in the show is limited, with only the final few episodes showcasing a good-ish amount of action. The quality of the action however, is quite good. The soundtrack -in particular Bahasa Palus- really sets the atmosphere for every occasion. Where the series truly shines however is the dialoguebetween the characters. At times it can be rather tedious but at the heart of it all the dialogue has proper meaning and ties into the core concept of the story which is about the life and purpose of a sword. The exchanges range from childish, to witty to downright profound and it helped balance the lack of action quite well.

I have one recommendation and one criticism. The recommendation is that if you're binge watching this series then PLEASE DO NOT LISTEN TO THE OLD WOMAN'S EPILOGUE at end. The original show aired one episode per month, and therefore it was fine for the epilogue to give you a few spoilers for the next episode because chances are you wouldn't really remember them till the next episode. But if you're watching the episodes back to back then I strongly advise you to stop the episode as soon as you hear the epilogue begin.

My criticism would be that an epic battle -which is shown as part of a preview- doesn't actually happen in the show. Instead the episode is taken up in the development of a minor character into a major antagonist. While there is nothing wrong with this approach, I found it disappointing because the battle -if it would have been shown- could have quite easily been the best and the most epic battle you would see in Katanagatari. So be ready for some disappointment.

Other than that, I enjoyed the show thoroughly and would definitely recommend it to people who enjoy a healthy dose of dialogue along with their action.