Review of Katanagatari
-------------- Criteria -------------- Story: 8.5 The story of Katanagatari is one that I have also never seen done before. It was so simple yet was simply able to hold me for 12 episodes straight. The story practically revolves around the number 12 and the main protagonist Yasuri Shichika. 12 Episodes, 12 deviant Swords, 12 Maniwana heads...you see where I’m going. The story follows Yasuri Shichika and Togame on their quest to find these deviant Blades. Yasuri Shichika utilizes a martial arts (Kyotouryuu) only known to those of the Yasuri Bloodline. The story was beautifully set out and really easy to follow, except for the fact that there areso many characters it’s easy to forget the protagonists name… Yasuri Shichika.
Kyotouryuu
Ending: 9
Only of the most epic endings I’ve seen to any anime. The ending is both sad and awesome at the same time…sad to see it end but awesome how they ended it. We finally get to the true power of Kyotouryuu, which is just amazing.
Solid Plot: 8
The plot is extremely solid and consistent; I don’t believe they ever sway away from the main story line and if they do its only ever for character development.
Moral: 8.5
The moral of Katanagatari is something very simple bit not a lot people ask themselves it. “What do you fight for?” Find the answer to that and you find the answer for your reason to live. Or so I believe.
Sense: 8.5
Everything in Katanagatari is explained in a lot of detail, so all the Who’s, What’s, When’s, Where’s, Why’s and How’s are all ticked off. Sometimes you have to just stop and think about it for that light bulb to finally glow.
Music: 9
When there’s a suspenseful moment suspenseful music is played, when it’s a sad moment sad music is played…I think I was sadder because of the type of music instead of the moment.
The Music is Katanagatari is really complimentary to the scene/moment.
Art: 10
The art style is Katanagatari is something I’ve never seen done before yet I found it quite to my liking. The art shifts at time going from classical art, to visual novel art and then back to normal art.
Characters: 9
Yasuri Shichika is now easily one of my favorite male protagonists. I’ve simply never seen anything like him, I loved him…only way to put it. By far the best male protagonist. The character art style was also flawless and no two characters looked the same. The character art style is bar far one of my favorites in any anime to date. Each character was modeled differently and you could tell how much effort they put into character detail. It’s like their very appearance told a thousand word essay about them. From their hair, to their eyes, down to their build and very feet everything was unique.
Boredom Factor: 4
Admittedly sometimes I did fine myself being ‘bored’ due to how much talking they did before the fight . A lot of Katanagatari is talking and adventure about 60%-70% of each episode and then the small [portion at the end is the major climax…the fight scene they’ve been building up to.
Captivation Scale: 9
When the fight scenes did come I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. Kyotouryuu a fighting style I’ve never seen or heard of before is unraveled before us, and what an awesome fighting style it is. The ending of each episode was amazing and I don’t think I could ever wait to watch the next (which is why I watched it on one day)
Personal Score: 9
Katanagatari = Awesomegatari nuff said. An awesome anime with awesome genres, a bit of love, action, martial arts….something for everyone
Do I recommend it…Hell YES!!
If you have not watched this yet you are missing out big time.
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Genres
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Action: 7
The action scenes where always at the end however when they came they were awesome yet also short
Romance: 8
There are a lot of romance elements to Katanagatari which I just found sweet, the romance element to Katanagatari also helps to add a lot of character development, bonds and maturity between Yasuri and Togami.
Martial Arts: 9
Awesome Martial Arts genre anime especially seeing as I’ve never seen or heard of Kyotouryuu before, watching Kyotouryuu unravel was truly a sight to see.
Adventure: 8.5
If travelling all over Japan isn’t enough of an adventure than I don’t know what is. From oceans to deserts to snowcapped mountains they go everywhere!
Powers: 8
Combining ninpou with martial art, guns and swords sooo many powers shown in Katanagatari it’s too hard to count.
Super Powers: 9
Super powers in Katanagatari never get old, the way they say them and how they execute them are just awesome and flawless.
Overall (Average) 8.35