Lets start a poll, who here thinks Togame will die and who thinks she'll live?
Lets start a poll, who here thinks Togame will die and who thinks she'll live?
Hmm I think Togame will die. There was definitely a lot of blood on the floor and the weapon is pretty much foreign to them. Besides Togame is physically weak. It would be a miracle if she survives.
Thanks shinta|hikari for the sig.
I think she'll either die right now, or be severely wounded so Shichika will think of her as dead.
Number of works of fiction that made me shed at least one tear: 3Thou seeketh soul power, dost thou not?TOX: 33524385841A92B08787EEBEBA2DB51ED293C4F15A2E292F3F C92165E82388281433A77EA8FE
Experts agree: Togame is dead or alive:
Episode 12 Final - Mazui
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Having been about 50-50 divided on expecting Togame's death or survival, I can't say seeing her go would have overly much surprised me. Nor moved because I felt the death scene was somewhat stretched and thus the impact lessened to minimum. But later happenings considered, maybe that was intentional. However, it made me finally realise this was, as the name suggests, a story of swords, not people. And Togame was just a person in the grand scheme of things.
Still, when Shichika attacked the castle I seriously thought for a moment the story had lost itself, turning into the most obvious of things, even if he told he went there to die, not exact revenge. My faith finally returned with the Emon fight and subsequent events that didn't see Shichika slaying Hitei. I'm also happy with the reason he told for killing the shogun.
Another thing that made me satisfied was that Shichika actually got something out of all of Togame's ramblings before she died and found a meaning in them. While her death scene itself didn't impress me much, at least it wasn't empty talk.
Finally, Hitei actually following Shichika on his journeys when he didn't find death after all, was a funny detail. I guess Shichika likes difficult women...
Last edited by Kraco; Sat, 12-11-2010 at 09:28 AM.
I really don't know what to think about this, besides as Kraco said, to think about it as "The Chronicles of the Swords", "The Life of Yasuri Shichika" or something. I'll have to watch it again to get all the other bits and pieces (and trust Mazui on their translation). The first viewing was all about watching Shichika pwn his way to the top.
Shichika's win over Emon by being "willing to take his shots" won by deus ex.. If two non-vital shots killed Togame, what do you call those? They could have used "reload" as his weakness if they needed one. At the very least Shichika decided to search for landmarks instead of death after all that. He must have realised he'd never find it.
Perhaps the most satisfying thing for me was that Shichika kept some of Togame's hair. Disobeying her, looking for death and keeping nothing but memories of her would have just been.. sad.Originally Posted by Kraco
Last edited by Buffalobiian; Sat, 12-11-2010 at 11:47 AM.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
Not only did he keep a lock of her hair, he continued to check it throughout the fights, Enmonzaemon's in particular. Bloodsoaked as he was, grievously injured as he was, Shichika got not even a single drop of blood on her hair. I found that part of this finale very touching.
Perhaps the most satisfying thing for me was that Shichika kept some of Togame's hair. Disobeying her, looking for death and keeping nothing but memories of her would have just been.. sad.
The ending scene with Hitei caught me off guard, but I guess he seduced her, not the other way around that I feared might happen at the end of last episode.
It was startling how much stronger he became when he no longer had to keep from breaking the swords. Konayuki's heavy one in particular. Thinking back, it makes you realize how much different the fights could have gone. When it looked like he was in trouble, he probably never truly was, he just had to play by the rules Togame set out for him.
That was an awesome ending.
It betrayed so many of my expectations, and I found myself starting to feel dissatisfied when the credits rolled in. But the epilogue gave the tragedy much more meaning. Shichika was completed as a deviant blade in the fights in the castle, but his travels completed him as a person. Togame gave him direction and purpose as a human, and Hitei provides fuel. While Shichika may seem like he dislikes her company, I feel she is a necessary element to Shichika moving on and truly living.
Hitei is a lot more likable when she isn't shouldering the burden of her lineage. I have no complaints with Shichika and her ending up together. The part where he said his line at the perfect time (like always) and how Hitei reacted significantly lifted my evaluation for this show. I guess part of Hitei's motive and reward in following Shichika is to get to know a different side of Togame, who she didn't not not hate, better.
@Buff - I actually think that allowing yourself to get flesh wounds is a very large upgrade when fighting someone of equal caliber. There are openings that can only be taken advantage of if you are prepared to get injured. Shichika's body was practically inhuman, and he didn't get his critical organs damaged. Togame was a frail girl. I can see why she died from 2 shots while Shichika survived much more punishment. Besides, I think Emon actually hit several organs with those 2 shots, just not organs that would cause instant death or prevent her from talking when damaged (i.e. heart, brain, lungs)
@Ryll - There was one fight where he truly was in trouble, and that was with his sister. Rather than Shichika being monstrous, I think Kyoutoryuu (bloodline, not just the martial art) itself is extremely imbalanced. Shichika also had the advantage of knowing all the swords intimately (which he owes to Togame), and facing off against really inept swordsmen.
The Maniwa that used Konayuki's sword was just epic. He practically killed himself.
Last edited by shinta|hikari; Sun, 12-12-2010 at 02:19 AM.
Peace.
The funniest of the fights was the kid who got the sheath. He also didn't even get killed, just knocked out.
I also didn't dislike Hitei accompanying Shichika. It was due to three reasons: Togame's dying speech, Hitei confessing she didn't really hate Togame, and finally Hitei getting no special treatment from Shichika during the journey (although I'd have nothing against those two even becoming lovers later on).
That last ep didn't work well for me.
But I don't care since the other eps were very nice.
I guess we might have the "glass sword" ep later?
All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening. And then: Golf.
And when he looked at the hair after Emon's fight, he even opted to go back to retrieve Emon's mask for Hitei, as well as tell her his final words - to return the same treatment Emon gave him. She even treated it in the same manner.
I thought that was.. rather human of him to do so. In fact, he seemed to loosen up a bit after he killed Emon. Regardless of what Shichika says, deep down he wanted to kill Emon or die trying.
I didn't mind her. It's interesting how they (Hitei and Togame) both look better with a haircut. Makes me wonder what Nanami would have looked like.
Only problem with this is that "taking damage" isn't simply physical pain, but also disables your attacking power. Inhuman body aside, he should be fainting from bloodloss, and his arms shouldn't have the same mobility and strength as they did earlier. If some blood on the floor bothers Shichika, think of what a dozen bullets should be doing.@Buff - I actually think that allowing yourself to get flesh wounds is a very large upgrade when fighting someone of equal caliber. There are openings that can only be taken advantage of if you are prepared to get injured. Shichika's body was practically inhuman, and he didn't get his critical organs damaged. Togame was a frail girl. I can see why she died from 2 shots while Shichika survived much more punishment. Besides, I think Emon actually hit several organs with those 2 shots, just not organs that would cause instant death or prevent her from talking when damaged (i.e. heart, brain, lungs)
Rewatching the ep, I saw more sense in it though, and that "reload" did come into play in that Emon used up all his bullets. I was wondering why he stopped firing, since he had seemingly unlimited ammo prior.
Rewatching also raised another question, however. I thought Emon's special attack (like Houou's) was about absorbing all of the opponent's lifeforce in one strike.
Indeed. My favourite fights were the ones against Sentou and Yorogi (Thousand Swords and Armour). They were simply brutal.
I think so too. It would only boost DVD sales, after all.
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PS: don't get me wrong, I liked this ep fine.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
Not sure if this has been posted before but I apologize if so. (too lazy to check)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ID65QYXO <-- katanagatari OST 1
Togame ;_; I <3 you still!
As with any anime i watch, I am always sadden by the fact the characters don't get the happy ending I envisioned them getting. But by the same token unless there is tragedy I tend to forget about the anime quicker and it leaves less of an impact on me. So its give and take I guess. Tragedy is both good and bad in Anime.
My math equation for the day: Tragedy = epicness +
I did enjoy the ending and the epilogue helped bring it back to a "somewhat" happier ending for shichika. At least he didn't go back the island of his birth alone.
"Chrono is our Religion. In the name of the Chrono, the Zeal, the Trigger and Cross, Amen."
You guys reviewed it the hell out of it so I won't anything except one thing.
This - was magnificient went it came to execution, on a technical level, attachment, feelings, pacing everything led to that conclusion.
Togame dying really felt like a nuclear submarine surfacing in the middle of bathtub, at loss for words.
I just hope we can get some more from the same team, because potential is there, talent looms and Bluray sales will be rewarding.
Look closer at Togame's death words - she first tried to form a strategy to counter Entou Jyuu, but she wasn't able to form any scheme.
She formed another scheme instead - she tried to fool Shichika that she was using him. I think she knew that he would go and obliterate anyone on his way to Emonzaemon, and probably die trying, so she was trying to convince him that she was only using him so he would instead start to hate her, and, hopefully, won't go on killing spree.
She basically was trying to sacrifice memories of herself, in hope of saving Shichika's life.
Number of works of fiction that made me shed at least one tear: 3Thou seeketh soul power, dost thou not?TOX: 33524385841A92B08787EEBEBA2DB51ED293C4F15A2E292F3F C92165E82388281433A77EA8FE
I'm not too sure.
Throughout the series I've been trying to put my hand on exactly what her purple eye means and signifies. During her speech, it flicked on when she was talking about using him (and everything else) as a pawn for her goals.
I've come to the conclusion that the eye signifies her ambition and herrevengewhatever you call her motivation for what she does. It first appeared when her father was killed, and finally disappeared when she was dying. In this episode, it was also synonymous with the snake that chained her to the path that she took.
I don't think she was lying when she said she would kill Shichika. What she said made sense. There was a side to Togame that loved Shichika and wished for them to be together, and she allowed herself to go with that because it was beneficial to her greater cause.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
Yeah, I've called it an eye of ambition from the beginning. Comparing it to that snake is apt because she couldn't escape her fate (ambition/revenge) and thus died trying to reach it.
I also don't think she lied about planning to kill Shichika, but I also don't think she would have killed him had she survived. She would have lived with him till dying of old age or other causes, telling herself in her mind that she should kill him but in reality never doing it and enjoying his company. That much is evident by the fact she really wanted Shichika to keep living and not die for her sake.
Well, I finally got around to finishing this series today instead of working on my homework. They tricked me with the silly lighthearted episodes in the middle into thinking that everything would be ok. But everyone kept dying
Philosophically thinking it's not fair to blame the series if it turned out differently than your expactations, as long as it didn't turn to clearly poor quality. Someone wrote this story, giving their all, so the story such be judged as it is, not as it could have been. Like I said in an earlier post, this ending underlined the fact this was a story of swords above all, not a traditional love/adventure. So, in fact, this is what it should have been and ending in any other way could have been betraying its core.
I'm not blaming the story, I'm just sad. Yes, it was a quality series. But it also made me unhappy. I don't like being unhappy. It's the writer's prerogative to write their story however they see fit, but I'm allowed to enjoy or not enjoy their story because ultimately a story is meant to provoke a response from its audience. The story can aim toward a certain response, but a story never controls its viewers. We all interpret stories through the lens of our mindset and worldview. No matter how fitting or well-crafted the ending was, I can't escape the fact that I feel dissatisfied and depressed. Though, in the end, it's just a story, and I'll get over it by tomorrow and move on.
That's certainly true. But don't you think a sad story every now and then is good to save the happy stories from inflation..?
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