Katanagatari

[Pandadice]

Mazui put out a v2 of ep one

episode 1 v2 torrent

The TL like read the books or something, so he went through and fixed all the things.

Now that I've actually read the book, I've turned around a ton of crap from the v1, so get this version as it contains substantial changes, the least of which are the editing mistakes. It's also a brand spanking new encode so there's no patch for it.

The 12 Deviant Blades
絶刀「鉋」 Zettai Kanna Plane, the absolute
斬刀「鈍」 Zantou Namakura Blunt, the decapitator
千刀「鎩」 Sentou Tsurugi Blade, the thousand
薄刀「針」 Hakutou Hari Needle, the light
賊刀「鎧」 Zokutou Yoroi Armor, the grudge
双刀「鎚」 Soutou Kanazuchi Hammer, the pair
悪刀「鐚」 Akutou Bita Poor, the evil
微刀「釵」 Bitou Kanzashi Sai, the tiny
王刀「鋸」 Outou Nokogiri Saw, the king
誠刀「銓」 Seitou Hakari Scales, the true
毒刀「鍍」 Dokutou Mekki Gild, the poison
炎刀「銃」 Entou Jyuu Gun, the flame


The 7 Shichika Hachiretsu moves
鏡花水月 Kyouka Suigetsu Insubstantial beauty
花鳥風月 Kachou Fuugetsu Beauties of nature
百花繚乱 Hyakka Ryouran Bloom of flowers
柳緑花紅 Ryuuryoku Kakou Nature's scenery
飛花落葉 Hika Rakuyou Evanescence of the world
錦上添花 Kinjou Tenka Crowning beauty
落花狼藉 Rakka Rouzeki Scattered blossoms

[Yukimura]

It's certainly possible but I am inclined to doubt it. I only rarely notice voices and even more rarely make connections to other shows through them and this show was not an exception in that regard. On the other hand maybe if she'd spoken more I'd have noticed she sounded like Felli. It should suffice to say I would I would gladly sacrifice lines from Togame to hear just about anything else Nanami had to say.

[Buffalobiian]

The 7 Shichika Hachiretsu moves
鏡花水月 Kyouka Suigetsu Insubstantial beauty
花鳥風月 Kachou Fuugetsu Beauties of nature
百花繚乱 Hyakka Ryouran Bloom of flowers
柳緑花紅 Ryuuryoku Kakou Nature's scenery
飛花落葉 Hika Rakuyou Evanescence of the world
錦上添花 Kinjou Tenka Crowning beauty
落花狼藉 Rakka Rouzeki Scattered blossoms

I love the name of the moves. They're all in the 4-word "idiom" format centered around the theme of flower (花). It's like I'm reading those epic fantasy martial arts novels.

[shinta|hikari]

I didn't notice the voice of Nanami before (though it felt really familiar, as did Togame's), but now that it has been mentioned, I feel dumb for not realizing it.

I do agree with Yuki that atonement is also a factor in Shichika's decision. It seems he was heavily affected when he found out that his father killed Togame. Still, his comment after this realization made it seem he was more impressed by her resolve than anything, since he said something like "asking for help from your enemy's child..." It is indeed something that requires a lot of courage and resolve to do, since it is no easy feat to ally with someone so close to your parent's murderer.

Togame is indeed great as a comic relief character. Nanami's lines worked because of her. For every tsukkomi there needs to be a boke, and hilarious and cute pair they make. I just wonder how the comedy will go now that the two main characters are pretty much boke. I guess they can take turns on each other.

It is also a really big plus that Togame doesn't get all physically or verbally violent on Shichika. It seems that their relationship will be healthy for each other.

[Buffalobiian]

[Nipponsei] Katanagatari OP Single - Meiya Kadenrou [Kuribayashi Minami].zip

[masamuneehs]

all i know is that this first episode gets an instant save in my archive. comedy, action. the writing is great. i like most the characters (Togame is pretty vanilla). and i'm a sucker for period pieces like this.

i thought the writing in this episode was better than Bakemonogatari (which i like, but i can't say it's the Pulitzer Prize winner of anime). i suppose it's because i take to period stuff more than i do supernatural, so all the babble was kinda interesting for me.

"we're not swordsmen who don't use swords. we're swordsmen who can't use swords".

see you guys next month!

[fireheart]

It is just that he himself said that the essence of his martial art is in breaking the enemy's sword. In fact, it is the very first thing he tried when the opponent attacked him with a sword. This means that such a reaction is almost instinctive, deeply ingrained in his physical training and mental conditioning.

Had to check the episode again (v2). He only said that the move Kyotouryuu: Chrysanthemum is a technique for breaking swords not that the essence of his martial art is to break swords. After that it was Maniwa Koumori that assumed that Kyotouryuu was about breaking the enemies weapons, but considering that was the only thing Shichika had done it hard to blame him and it didn't seem as if he had any alot of information on Kyotouryuu beforehand.

Personally I think another reason Shichika's going with Togame is because he's interested in the swords. At the beginning he mentioned how the art was all he inherited from his father and that he wants to cherish it. So think that part of it lies in testing himself against these swords hence why he was more interested in Kanna than Koumori. Also because of Koumoris taunts of how Kyotouryuu was useless against these swords, this is the reason I think that made Shichika want to keep breaking the sword instead of fighting in another way, in other words that he wanted to challenge the sword not the user. But gave up on it after Togame forbade him, well that's the way I see it anyway as something closer to Mutouryuu from Shura no Toki.

[shinta|hikari]

Indeed, I checked before and he never did explicitly say such a thing himself. That is why I decided to concede the possibility that it may not be as integral as I made it sound in my previous post.

[Nadouku]

Great episode, loved the unique artwork and the fight.

[Kraco]

The second act of ambition:

Episode 2 - Mazui





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"They may be bad guys, but that doesn't mean you can just slaughter them."
"What a hassle..."

Lines like that already mark a series great. It's so nice when the main characters are ready to kill when they need to and especially when it's a historical story where slaying in the name of the ruler was an obvious thing.

Anyway, it was another great episode. There were no parts I wouldn't have liked. Quite a lot of talk, just like in the first episode, but I feel like this particular author doesn't write empty talk at all as such, and even if not all of it was essential for the greater story, it was still fitting and fulfilled the comedic purpose if nothing else. Characters as strong as these (character personalities, not their muscle strength) enhance the silly conversations really nicely.

I was also exceedingly happy to notice that while Shichika might not be any quantum physicist, he's by no means a bore and won't let Togame's verbose ways confuse himself at all. Otherwise the dude is pretty hard to judge. It was a hassle for him to leave the island but obviously he's interested in some things out there in the wide world. I'm not entirely sure how much he cares about Togame after all, or if she's just a convenient way for him to see the world and acquire battle experience. He might be a somewhat crafty person by his own right. Though the way he likes Togame's hair might indicate he genuinely likes her. Who knows.

[Buffalobiian]

The hair scenes combine cuteness and sexiness in a way I find hard to describe, but it works.

I'm surprised she allowed him to lick her.

The conversations certainly weren't empty, as Kraco said. I think Shichika ended up using all those catchphrases except the first one, which went like "God loves me more than you" or something.

I don't understand the "sword pressure" thing and why Rose didn't work. I'm guessing he means the draw created so much pressure that it weakened his move (and that his lack of battle experience meant he didn't compensate for it by increasing the force).

[shinta|hikari]

What he meant was that he felt fear from the sword pressure (the mental danger, not the actual physical pressure) and was not able to commit his all into the attack. The Japanese word he used was "bibichatta" which means "was afraid/scared".

His lack of experience did not allow him to completely overcome this fear and end the match with that opportunity.

[Buffalobiian]

What he meant was that he felt fear from the sword pressure (the mental danger, not the actual physical pressure) and was not able to commit his all into the attack. The Japanese word he used was "bibichatta" which means "was afraid/scared".

His lack of experience did not allow him to completely overcome this fear and end the match with that opportunity.

Ah. That makes a lot more sense. Thanks (again?).

[oyabun]

Gyafun made me lol But i'm not satisfied how Uneri was defeated.

[Kraco]

It might have seemed like an easy way to defeat him but keep in mind that Shichika isn't any loser either. Uneri had a distinct edge in a number of ways but it's essentially the purpose of Shichika's school of martial arts to render those edge's dull. I'm sure the dude would have had techniques to defend himself from attacks from above but probably not techniques that would have helped against an opponent of Shichika's level. His forte was elsewhere.

[shinta|hikari]

The thing is, Uneri's defense while in that room was practically absolute. It was already out of his predictions that someone could evade his 10 slashes, much less use a girl as a stepping stone to enter the room before he could recover and attack again. His "weakness" of not being able to use a sword draw to slash opponents directly above you (which is quite true) should not have existed in the first place had Shichika not been that skilled and knowledgeable in battle.

[masamuneehs]

another good episode. i was really happy that they killed off the Backwards talking ninja early, and although i wasn't so in love with the end (they built up Uneri's last words, but they were pretty mediocre, and although I liked the progression up to Shichika attacking from above (Gyafun ftw), i thought it ended the fight a little too suddenly...)

what i really liked about this episode was the dialogue. at first i found myself a little bored with the talk about clothing and catchphrases, but after a while it dawned on me that something was going on here.

it seems to me that this show is parodying its genre, making fun of the silly, dime a dozen action show staples that it itself eventually caves to (this was particularly noticeable when Togame commented on how convenient it was that the Backwards Talking ninja was already dead, because now there would be no need to deal with the annoying backwards writing).

last time we got tons and tons of dramatic attack announcements, breaking up the action, and the theme was "Defeat him with a badass attack so it'll make my story more presentable". this time we got a bunch of catchphrases (Uneri himself delivers like six) to endear the characters to us. and, in the end, i felt that Uneri was a complete bore of a character, because he was just such a mishmash of character traits and one-liners pulled from The Lazy Pro's archetype.

i thought the delivery of this poking fun at itself was pretty subtle, too. and it doesn't hurt that the action is great, the characters funny, the music (usually) fitting, the main character willing to kill guys. i really think this will be a good year!

[Buffalobiian]

it seems to me that this show is parodying its genre, making fun of the silly, dime a dozen action show staples that it itself eventually caves to (this was particularly noticeable when Togame commented on how convenient it was that the Backwards Talking ninja was already dead, because now there would be no need to deal with the annoying backwards writing).

Yeah. When Togame was talking about writing her novel and the trouble she's having with making up an interesting character, I couldn't help but smile that it may well have been the author's thoughts at the time.

Or even that the author couldn't think of anything interesting about the character, and decided to write about how she couldn't think of anything interesting about the character.

[Nadouku]

The dialouge is so interesting that I actually value them talking more than the action done later on, but nonetheless both parts were done very well. Great episode!

[Kraco]

Something was going on here:

Episode 3 - Mazui





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I can't deny I had some worries this series would be highly repetitive seeing how it seems to be following the format of one retrieved sword per episode (although I admit they could easily alter that and make an unsuccesful first attempt and then get two swords in a later ep). While it by necessity will be repetitive to an extent, I'm satisfied it still is displaying variation as much as it has.

I felt this episode was somewhat less dense than the previous ones, although objectively speaking the first one probably should be the lightest with the Maniwani comic relief as the opponent, but since it was the first episode, it carried certain undisputable extra weight. Perhaps the actual reason for my feeling was the lesser amount of witty conversations between Shichika and Togame. The other conversations while very enlightening indeed were still somewhat more standard as far as anime in general goes.

Even if I called them standard, I only meant the atmosphere and the lack of the goofy feeling Togame and Shichika's discussions always have. I still liked them for another, a very fundamental reason. I have always appreciated unwavering, fateful, characters who do what they have to do, even if it was wrong. Add to that the fact I oft like weird characters and destined couples and you can bet I loved the way how Shichika depicted himself as Togame's sword with a much deeper dedication than I expected.

Keeping that in mind I found it almost touching how Togame stopped herself from reprimanding Shichika after he had slain Tsuruga. I don't know if she's much of a strategist otherwise but at least she perfectly understands the relationship between herself and Shichika and how everything is in her own hands, responsibilities and regrets included, and she mustn't blame the sword, only the hand holding it if something has to be blamed.

This series kicks ass. (And makes me write Masa-long posts...)