Forum - View topicKatanagatari (TV).
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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What the heck, I indexed the first episode anyway. Even though it just points to the post (tarheel91's) directly below my own.
Hmmm, what can I say about the episode itself. spoiler[The character designs were unusual in their utter simplicity. Sort of reminded me of Fantastic Children in that respect, although the eyes did not.] spoiler[The girl wears a ridiculous outfit, even more so than usual for Fantasy. The length of her skirt is, well, um . . . does she even have a skirt? Modern prostitutes wear more than that on their lower halves. The guy can carry a metric ton of water on his back (easily) and has very resistant flesh.] spoiler[I'll agree with the sentiment that there was too much dialogue. Yes, I know that dialogue seems to be NisiOisin's forte and great love. However, even Bakemonogatari didn't seem to have such an insane (not to mention inane; heh) amount of dialogue in the middle of a battle.] spoiler[The action scenes were good enough, but no more. The stylised battle at the start (before the credits) took some easy shortcuts, and the other scenes seemed well-animated but not exceptionally choreographed. I wasn't expecting another Le Chevalier D'Eon, but the fight scenes didn't wow me. Possibly because of the excessive talking; not enough action to truly show off anything. At least the final punch up was funny, reminding me of those arcade fighting games with the multi-hit combos.] spoiler[The plot is perfectly serviceable. Yet another Adventure-type story where the protagonists have to gather certain objects, as seen in too many stories to count. With such a generic plot device, it is up to the execution to make or break the Anime. Also, maybe I wasn't paying attention, but I still don't know why the girl wishes to gather the swords, and why she was so desperate that she turned to (what she thought was) her family's killer in order to do so. I did like how believably clueless the brother and sister were about the outside world.] spoiler[The humour was quite good, and I appreciated the instances of lampshade hanging that went on. Yes, a guy drew a sword as long as his body, but I don't really mind because Shichika constantly questioned how someone could do such a thing. The Fourth Wall was broken a couple of times by Togame; kind of funny.] Will I watch the next one when it gets released? Of course. That said, while Katanagatari does hold promise, spoiler[it needs to realise that snappy dialogue (with the requisite drums to highlight the jokes) has its time and place. Talking endlessly while on the battlefield is something that I expect from Bleach,* not from an OVA series such as this one.] * spoiler[I don't like that Bleach does it, but I have come to expect it of the show, because that's what you get when you watch something like it. Whenever there is an actual battle with little dialogue (almost never), then I get pleasantly surprised.] |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23812 |
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@dtm42 - with respect to your question about why Togame wishes spoiler[to collect the 12 spiffy katanas, two different explanations were given: hers and Sword Swallower Dude's (who had quite the fashion sense himself). Her explanation was that she was acting on the current Shogun's wishes, because as long as the katanas are out there, the chance of a successful revolt exists. Sword Swallower, on the other hand, suggested that the Shogun wasn't particularly concerned about the katanas but Ms. General Strategian saw an opportunity to curry favour with the Big Guy and that successfully collecting all the katanas would make her his "right hand" lieutenant and perhaps put her in a position to take all the marbles when he shuffles off his mortal coil. My early interpretation is that she wants to overthrow the Shogun herself and needs the katanas to do it.]
As to why she would select the son spoiler[of her family's biggest enemy for the mission, that's easy. As she has already found out, you can't trust mercenaries (i.e. those motivated by money) to do the job because they'll betray you out of greed and you can't trust swordsmen (i.e. those motivated by honour) because they'll find the weapons irresistible. So a guy who uses a "swordless" technique (as he says its not that his family won't use swords, it's that they CAN'T use swords) who is motivated by love for her, is the perfect tool (and I mean that in all senses of the word) because he would never betray her. Her need for him to dig her also explains her saucy little outfit, no doubt.] |
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tarheel91
 Posts: 128 |
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That happens during the second encounter with fail-ninja dude (when he's disguised as Ms. Strategist). He learns that she's coming the the son of the man who killed her parents in front of her for help. He realizes how important this journey is to her and is impressed by her... resolve? Whether it's love, respect, admiration, or something else, a feeling towards her is created in that conversation that motivates him to go with her. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23812 |
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Hmm, interesting. Personally, I think he just wants to boing her. 
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Dorcas_Aurelia
 Posts: 5344 Location: Philly |
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A fun show, but I'm a little disappointed in Togame. It's early on, so I'm willing to give her a little benefit of the doubt, but for an allegedly brilliant strategist, she's been pretty light on intelligence so far. I don't know if I like her dojikko aspects, either.
The character designs are kind of nice. Very colorful and stylized. Reminds me a little of Kung Fu Love. I'm not too bothered by all the dialogue amid the fighting, as having seen Bakemonogatari, I rather expected it. |
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Mister V
 Posts: 1000 |
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Let's see...
Artistic style? Check. Genki female lead with a touch of tsundere? Check (although she could do without the dojikko part) + points for costume... I expect some nice fanart soon. Conclusion: good enough for me. On a more serious note, I like the show's pacing and the style (as dtm42 points out, the execution makes or breaks this, and the visual style is a great part of that). I'm not sure if it's just a certain predisposition that I get from my experience with Bakemonogatari, but I'm under the impression that the whole show doesn't take itself too seriously. It's like a half-parody of a typical chanbara that you're supposed to watch with an amused half-smile, because the characters are obviously aware of what's happening. Not that it's a bad thing. In fact, I know what to look forward to for the next year. On a side note, the ninja's "koneko-chan" reminds me too much of Gates from FMP! TSR. Brr. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Episode Two
I was kind of surprised that the second episode was out already. It did catch me unawares. Next episode should be a full month away, apparently. So, more talk talk talk. I'm not surprised at all, and anyone who is should regret having that lobotomy. However, some people will still no doubt be disappointed with how the episode went. The chatter threatened to impinge on the realm of the banal; how the hell does a discussion on catchphrases take up - literally - five minutes of screentime? The music also got kind of weird at times. It was like some vocals would start up out of nowhere and then stop just as quickly. Happened three times, I think. Togame bought all those clothes, and yet she is still wearing that hooker skirt. Vot? I'm not a prude, but fanservice for fanservice's sakes should belong in a Hentai. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23812 |
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Loved it, lengthy discussions of catchphrases and all. I have developed a character crush on Togame because she's just so damn cute and I love the sound of Yukari Tamura's voice. spoiler["Cheerio!"] Ha ha, great stuff.
I didn't remember Shichika being so much taller than her, but when they walk side by side, he looks like he's twice her height. Very moe. I enjoyed his efforts to imprint her presence on his memory so that he distinguish her from all other people, spoiler[i.e. sitting in front of her with her hair wrapped around his body]. Again, very moe. And never mind Togame's "hooker" skirt as Super-Prude dtm42 pointed out - did you check out her cfm shoes? |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Her shoes are NOTHING compared to her skirt. I tell ya, I wouldn't be surprised if she was cosplayed at cons by girls looking for a "good time". I mean come on. Even when she's standing up straight the skirt isn't enough, and nothing will save her every time she bends over. As I said before, that's hooker-ware. Another thing I was annoyed about was how a plot point was so quickly dropped. spoiler[There was how at the beginning of the episode such a big fuss was raised at how the sword that the ronin had was so sharp. And then, it never gets mentioned again, not during the battle or even the strategy sessions. Instead, all the focus goes on the drawing speed, not on the incredible sharpness of the sword.] |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23812 |
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That aspect didn't bother me at all. Obviously, all 12 swords are going to be spoiler[tagged with some kind of individual advantage and sharpness happened to be this particular blade's "deal." However, such an attribute is pointless against a foe who isn't wielding any kind of weapon anyway. Therefore, the speed element is more critical.] I mean, I get what you are saying but to me it seems like a minor thing that I didn't even think about when I watched the episode.
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Dorcas_Aurelia
Posts: 5344 Location: Philly |
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Thank goodness the backwards talking guy died so fast.
Lubricant? That's not how blood works! It's dries all sticky. Quibble aside, I thought the swordsman was rather interesting. I was also surprised that the catchphrase actually seemed to work. When they were discussing it, I thought it sounded awkward.
I thought so, too. We didn't ever get a decent look at them standing next to each other in episode 1, but I think partly it was a bad use of angle, since most of the time she comes up to his chest, rather than his waist. I'm still a bit disappointed at Togame's lack of demonstrable strategic expertise, although I suppose strategy and one-on-one combat require different approaches. Shichika's initial plan to lure out the swordsman was a little amusing. |
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Kyogissun
 Posts: 676 |
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Guess I'm a bit late to the party on this, huh?
Oh well, I won't bother going into detail why but I love this show. ...Okay, I'll list my top three reasons: 1. Really slow but concise pace, it doesn't give you too much all at once but it never really drags on. The long episodes make it nice to just sit down and focus on for a while. 2. Very good voice acting and though I cannot remember her name off the top of my head and I have no desire to look it up quickly, to hear her again is pleasant. She's Somewhere between that moe natural and a genuine female voice actor. Not annoying, not boring, just 'perfect'. 3. Art style is something to behold. It... reminds me of Okami at times. I know, no real comparison but I just think of it for some reason. Very unique and a pleasant alternative to the other shows I'm watching at the moment. It's only a bummer this show won't be done before summer, guess I'll have to wait till some other convention to get an artbook, eh? @dtm: I see where you are coming from but I don't think it's like that for the sake of fanservice. It doesn't seem like something they'd just... stick in there. And even if I do see someone cosplaying as her at Otakon, I'd rather compliment them for choosing a rather sleeper hit of a show than comment on the adult theme it 'might' be considered to be related to. Besides, there are worse things out there when you think about it. 
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15485 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Probably the one thing I want to mention about this series is that though it has some quite cliche parts, it pretty much seems aware of itself and makes jabs at it's own genre. For example the first episode had the guy more impressed over the ability to store the sword in his body rather then the sword itself.
I think it also tried to trick the audience by placing the bird guy in the preview, the guy turned out to have some character to him, was very anoying by speaking backwards (I couldn't understand what he was saying. They even mentioned he might fight them, but ended up being killed of relativly quicly, thank heavens. They mentioned the villains have more character then the lead, and lamp shaded having to make him be more interesting via catchphrase, I still think he should have used "I will make you fall for me" 
The only problem I am having is trying to figure out if it is serious or not, though that might be it's plan to try and play both. Though in the episode the girl ad no right mentioning what he was wearing when sh prances around dressed like someone from DOA. |
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SoandSo
 Posts: 204 |
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Ughhh, Katanagatari. This show really has no business being an hour-long. Good God, all that talktalktalktalking. It's all dull-as-dirt, unneccesary exposition, complete with snooze-inducing talking-head cinematography(That first episode especially). IT's not teven the talking itself that sucks so much as how it highlights just how boring the entire show is.
All that pretty promo art and stunning opener? Yeah, push ALL of that out of your mind because the show itself is nowhere near that interesting or creative. Outside of the main character designs, everything's very standard, Pokemon-esque green and brown backgrounds, and the animation itself hasn't been too showcased yet since the characters rarely do anything too taxing, budget-wise. Said designs are....weird. Colorful, but not especially creative, like Okami or One Piece, just weird. It's too bad they're also nowhere near as expressive as their aforementioned contemporaries; often just having the same bored/stoned expression on their simple, egg-eyed faces. And everyone aside from them are just the same old feudal Japanese peasant types. You could argue it's at least better than Soul Eater's approach at rendering every incidental character into featureless, purple totems, but it's just a small step above.
I was only really interested in this series because I heard Taku Iwasaki was scoring, and at least that facet of the production hasn't disappointed. My only complaint there is how the show, from its very bloated, talky nature, completely wastes it. I counted three seperate times in the first episode when his score would erupt into a rousing, Asian-tinged action piece, only for the action to skid to a halt for yet MORE TALKING FFGHFGEOFJEO BUT, all my whining aside, the second episode, to its credit, is significantly better. The blabber, while still mostly skip-worthy, does finally have some meat to chew into in the form of some Bakemono-esque metahumor on the subject of character desgin and storytelling tropes. At one point, Togame, who's writing a diary chronicling their journey, berates Shichika for how dull and lifeless his character is, how the ninja chasing them stand out much more(though she admits it's mostly due to trying way too hard) and browbeats him into adopting a witty catchphrase to compensate. It's no Ouran(PHONY!!!), but it's clever, insightful and kindasorta funny before it too wears out its welcome. The setting is also novel(a derelict feudal castle half-hidden in the desert sands) and the fight du-jour is a real puzzler with a suprisingly clever soulution, even though it still skids itself to a halt with chatter. One step forward, two steps back, but the ver fact that it's improving is encouraging. Alright, no more length-raping this thread. I'll probably give Katana one more episode before probably going "screw this" and waiting for the OST to come out. I'm not the greatest fan of Nisoisin, so I knew to expect some of its stylistic choices, but it's still a pretty big disappointment due to its visual and storytelling flaws. Again, no way in Hell did this series need to be in hour-long. I contest why it even had to be a show. A manga, with a particularly brutal editor(perhaps Zac  ) would be much more palatable, considering.
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Mister V
Posts: 1000 |
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Episode three continues in the same tone. Impressive backgrounds, in-jokes, spoiler[mother-figure former bandit woman heading an army of murderous girls on the way to redemption (actually a surprisingly nice story)], and we get hints on Togame's past. Also, Shichika says that he [spoiler]slew his father, which I'm guessing is either some kind of play on words, or their way of succession[/quote]. I'm a bit taken aback by the completely innocent way Shichika goes about killing. I didn't expect it. It's true that he calls himself a sword, but it's weird to see a character who doesn't get angsty after it. A killer without reason is usually the big bad's minion, although it's obviously not the case here.
Are Maniwani going to continue being a recurring joke? I swear, someone's going to wave a "Fail" sign some time in the future. I wonder if it'll ever get serious (probably towards the end). Does it need to? I'll enjoy it even if the answer is "no". Next one looks like it'll be mostly combat. |
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