刀語 Katanagatari

Adapted from its light novel series, Katanagatari's plot revolves around a mysterious ancient swordsmith that created 12 Deviant Blades which are scattered across the country. It is said that these blades contain a certain "poison" that inhibits its owner, making them claim absolute ownership of the blades. Our protagonist Yasuri Shichika, is a swordsman who excels in Kyotouryuu style which doesn't require him to carry a katana as he himself is the katana. A female strategist Togame heads out to scout for Shichika and the duo begin their journey in collecting all 12 Deviant Blades.

A pretty neat and organised storyline but when coupled with such a unique animation style, this series really stood out from the rest. Aired in 2010, this series wasn't a usual weekly series like the others, but of a monthly one instead. Every episode was 50 minutes long and in accordance to their airing frequency of once a month, the plot in the series moves at the same pace, where every episode features a month in the Katanagatari universe. There was a rerun of this series earlier this year but I didn't quite catch it until a few days ago where I took 2 days to finish the entire series. It was definitely worth the time in terms of how the plot moves and the final climax of the story about swords was really a big twist.

Every episode focused on a specific Deviant Blade where Togame and Shichika would journey to retrieve that blade. Fights are inevitable to collect them and it is really nice to see how the battle scenes are animated, in terms of how the animation department could've tweaked the animation design of the characters to suit the more elaborate fighting scenes. No doubt it was enjoyable to see how Shichika uses his own Kyotouryuu style to defeat his sword-wielding opponents and the different techniques that he used really makes you think that you're watching a martial arts series.

The concept of having 12 Deviant Blades created with perhaps, concepts from the future, really makes this series as interesting as it seems to be. Especially in terms of each blade's hidden ability, it's really cool to see them all in action over the 12 episodes.

Yasuri Shichika, the 7th Kyotouryuu Head, is our male protagonist in this series. At the start of the series, he is introduced as an individual who knows nothing about the outside world as he had been exiled together with his father and sister to an island after his father became the hero of a rebellion in the past. Shichika thinks of himself as a katana and does not seem to inhibit basic human behaviour where he takes down enemies without a single thought and killing them even when the situation doesn't require him to.

He was sought out by Togame who visits the island as she was looking for someone to help her collect the 12 Deviant Blades. However as she was continuously betrayed in the past due to the "poison" in the blades itself, she could not find people who work for honour and money as they are all likely to betray her once they get hold of a Deviant Blade and thus she seeks Shichika and asks him to fall for her so that he would work for her through love instead. It was quite obvious at the start that Shichika didn't quite get the meaning of "falling for her" or "love" in that sense, since he hadn't made contact with outsiders for a long time and was possibly thinking that it was a good opportunity for him since he was finally being used, as a katana. However, slowly through the journey in collecting the Deviant Blades, Shichika slowly changes and develops a more human side of him due to his interactions with Togame and the other owners of the Deviant Blades.

In the collection of the first 3 Deviant Blades, the Zettou Kanna, Zantou Namakura and Sentou Tsurugi, Shichika didn't spare any of the owners and had killed them off just to retrieve the blades. At that point in time, it was still obvious that Shichika still hadn't learn much of deciding for himself and acts totally like a weapon, a katana that belongs to Togame. It was until the retrieval of the 3rd Deviant Blade, Sentou Tsurugi from Tsuruga Meisai that Togame finally sees the fact that Shichika sees himself as a katana and not a human where he didn't hesitate in killing Meisai off, which to Togame, she shouldn't have to be killed off.

Shichika started to change after the 5th Deviant Blade, the Zokutou Yoroi which is in a shape of an armour rather than a blade itself and that was the first time where in the process of collecting a Deviant Blade, Shichika did not land a killing blow on its owner. For Shichika, his more human side of him started showing in the collection of the 6th and 7th Deviant Blade, Soutou Kanazuchi and Akutou Bita, where Shichika showed hesitation in killing of his opponent, especially Akutou Bita where his opponent was his own sister, Yasuri Nanami.

One of the most memorable and emotional fight was for the 7th Deviant Blade where Shichika's own older sister took hold of it and forced Shichika to kill her in order to get the blade for Togame. For Nanami, she had always hoped to be killed off due to her extreme power that renders her impossible to die no matter how close she is to death. Shichika showed many hesitations over the fight itself and until the very end, he finished the fight with tears in his eyes, with Nanami dying in his arms. For him, it might seem "normal" for the Yasuri family to kill each other since he had killed his own father and now his sister too. This was a little confusing since we do see Shichika hesitating to kill Nanami, but ultimately he did which made me wonder if Shichika realised what Nanami had wanted, which was to die, and had granted her that wish? Since it wasn't that obvious that he would treasure his sword hunting with Togame over his own family. Or perhaps it was due to learning that Nanami's actions that wiped out innocent villages just to obtain a power to lure Shichika out and force him to fight for the Akutou Bita.

During the collection of the 8th Deviant Blade, Bitou Kanzashi, the blade itself recognises Shichika as a human, which of course he is, only that he thinks of himself as Togame's katana, and Shichika becomes happy that another being has acknowledged the fact that he is indeed human and not just a weapon or a disposable katana. From the start to the end, we can see Shichika changed from an individual who sees himself as a weapon to someone who starts to think for himself, think about his own actions and make his own decisions. What Nanami calls him after developing all these feelings was that he, as a sword, had became blunt. From an outsider's point of view, if we're looking at Kyotouryuu being a pure art of fighting which makes its users a true weapon, then it would be pointless to develop such feelings that makes a weapon hesitate in killing an opponent and it would go against how a weapon is supposed to be. However, we all know that Shichika is still a human and no doubt he would have human-like behaviours in time to come, which he did and it was all for the best.

In the later part of the series, it was revealed that Kyotouryuu was the ultimate Deviant Blade that was created and the first 12 Deviant Blades were merely pre-requisites to the development of Kyotouryuu.

Togame, the strategist, is a bubbly and lovable female protagonist that seeks out Shichika to aid in her sword hunt. She was hesitant at first to look for Shichika as it was the Kyotouryuu that killed her father during the rebellion period and the murderer was none other than Shichika's father whom he had killed before Togame managed to find him.

Upon acquiring Shichika as her katana, she gives him 3 rules to uphold throughout the journey: Protect the Swords, Protect her and Protect himself. Through the journey, it is seen that Togame possess quite an amount of intellect, rendering her useful in coming up with schemes to help acquire the Deviant Blades since she is unable to fight at all. Her most successful scheme so far was in the acquiring of the 7th Deviant Blade from Nanami, the Akutou Bita, which it was almost impossible for Shichika to win in an all out match with her and the only way was to "blind" Nanami by fighting in an enclosed room filled with candles and extinguishing them out when the fight began proper. Although it wasn't a fair win, but Nanami's eyes were far too dangerous and poses a serious threat to her and Shichika, well she did lose a large portion of hair during that fight so I guess that was a huge risk taken.

Another similar use of her knowledge was from the retrieval of Bitou Kanzashi where she spent long hours figuring out the movement route of the blade, which took up the shape of a doll, and devised the correct strategy for Shichika to take it down and obtain the 8th Deviant Blade.

At the very start of the journey, Togame did ask Shichika to fall for her so that he'll work for love which she believes is something that she will not be betrayed on but she herself did seem to develop feelings for Shichika as well. The most evident in the collection of the 9th Deviant Blade, Otou Nokogiri. As the owner of the sword didn't wish to fight Shichika when he is unarmed, which he is supposed to be as he uses Kyotouryuu, Shichika was forced to learn how to use a sword in her dojo. And every time when Togame goes and find them in the dojo, she always find them in easily misunderstood situations and become jealous when Shichika returns to her at night.

Togame's catchphrase was "Cheerio!" and she would always do that when punching Shichika when she's feeling down or embarrassed or just wanting to shout something. She had misunderstood that with "Chesto" which was supposed to be the correct phrase rather than "Cheerio", which meant "goodbye". Of course she ultimately realises her mistake but continues to use it since it already seemed innate to her. And of course since she was attempting to write out a story that reflects that sword hunting journey, she comes out with a catchphrase for Shichika which he uses it in the end "However, by that time you'll have been torn to pieces."

And then, the plot twist just had to arrive and delivered something expected:

HEAVY SPOILER AHEAD, DO NOT READ IF YOU'RE INTERESTED TO WATCH THE SERIES YOURSELF.

WHY TOGAME... NAZE DAAAAAAA :'(

Yasuri Shichika showed the most emotions after Togame's death under the 12th Deviant Blade, Entou Jyuu. Truthfully speaking, that was the most emotional moment throughout the entire series. I didn't quite expect Togame to bite the dust after she was shot twice in the abdomen area by Entou Jyuu, but I guess it was the blade's properties that made her wounds fatal. Over the last 12 months of travelling with Togame, no doubt Shichika would've shown some affection for her and indeed he did, with tears and a sense of lost after he knew that Togame might not pull through. It was painful to watch Shichika screaming for her as he didn't want to lose her like how he lost Nanami and Togame, to him, was his last family member and without the wielder, how can a blade survive? After all that talking about travelling together after the collection of the swords are complete, now with Togame dead, how would Shichika continue living when all his life his sole reason in fighting was for Togame. It was a great emotional impact when Nanami was killed but this is on a totally level. I did expect some good ending between her and Shichika, where the duo would continue to journey together and to complete a map of Japan which Togame suggested but they just had to kill her off :(

What came more surprising and plot breaking were Togame's last words. She revealed to Shichika that she had the intention to kill him after the journey was over and everything were only pawns to her. She included her own feelings, her own side of loving him, and even Shichika himself to be mere pawns which she controlled in order to finish the collection of the Deviant Blades. Perhaps it was the hatred towards the Kyotouryuu that made her think this way, or perhaps it was the multiple betrayals that she had encountered before to make her weary of her partners. Well, for someone who had been betrayed that many times, it would be perfectly normal for them to think of a countermeasure in case she was betrayed and this time, it made her seem that she didn't actually believe Shichika at all, or maybe that too was just a pawn as well?

After revealing to Shichika her true intentions, she gives Shichika her final orders, which was to forget everything about her and to live on by his own decisions and asks him if it was alright for her to fall for him before she breathed her last. What it seemed to me was more of a lie in Togame's lie itself. Honestly, for someone who says that their own feelings were all a lie, it makes it very hard to believe after seeing how she acts in the entire series, all those care and concern for Shichika didn't once seemed like an act. She really did seem to have feelings for Shichika although her inner self might have qualms about it since Kyotouryuu was her arch enemy but nonetheless, I believe that their mutual feelings were true.

A cute couple together that were torn apart in the end, now that really is too much :(

After a burial of Togame, a grieving Shichika storms the final castle alone, breaking all 12 Deviant Blades on his way up to the Shogun. With Togame gone, he no longer have to uphold the promise of protecting the castle and had stormed it with an aim to be killed by Togame's murderer, Emonzaemon. However with Shichika no longer have to hold back his abilities and to protect the Deviant Blades any more, he cuts down Emonzaemon and heads to the Shogun, killing him with a "Cheerio", in memory of Togame and the history changes. All those flashbacks of Togame really made me felt sour watching this, it is really a pity seeing how a wonderful pairing such as Shichika and Togame to be torn apart at the last moment...

Ultimately, what I see as 2 major flaws in the series was the all trolling episode of collecting the 4th Deviant Blade, the Hakutou Hari. From all the introduction to its owner being the strongest in Japan, I was really looking forward to a well coordinated fight between Hakuhei Sabi and Shichika but that didn't happen, at all. The entire 4th episode was showing how Nanami rips apart the ninjas that were sent to assassinate her and until the very end, it was just passed off that Shichika had won and had retrieved the 4th Deviant Blade, without showing anything related to their fight at all. And that was the first big disappointment in the series.

The next one revolves around the existence of Princess Hitei. We do know that she's the descendant of the swordsmith of the Deviant Blades, but what does her existence make in the series? I don't see anything that she could have played an important role in the series and only start sending Emonzaemon off to help her complete various tasks. At the very end, I wasn't holding much grudge over her character after it was revealed that she did not order Togame to be killed as she does not exactly hate her and it was a sole action by Emonzaemon. That wasn't the only weird part where she played a small role in the series, but of what happens at the end. Where she began travelling with Shichika who now inherits Togame's dream and begins to draw a map of Japan by himself. Now that makes me scratch my head and wonder why is she there. A character that has little plot development suddenly become a part of our main protagonist? Furthermore she wasn't exactly a friend since she was always loggerheads with Togame so that really came out pretty weird.

Nonetheless, this series had been extremely enjoyable, it had a good ending, but not one that I would have hoped for. I wouldn't call it a happy ending nor a sad one, but a satisfying ending instead. What this shows is a journey where it shows people changing through multiple interactions with others, how people might betray each other in terms of finding power and control, and of course not forgetting the cute pairing that our protagonist are. With a unique animation style, an interesting storyline, a powerful twist and a hidden back story, this series does prove itself to be something worth watching. Kudos to Katanagatari!