At first glance, Katanagatari doesn’t seem to be very plot-centric, instead only valuing action as its first priority. However, it turns out that Katangatari is, in fact, still not very plot-centric, but neither does it have the action to boot! And despite all that, it still manages to be entertaining! What gives?
Presumably, the first major complaint people have regarding Katanagatari, besides possessing a name that is RAGE-inducing to type, would be its strange decision of showcasing talking heads a collective 35 minutes out of 50 (Mazui reports that there are 950 lines in those 50 minutes; according to Sam in gg’s interview, the average for 24-minute episodes is 250). And although the result is something more potent than a sleeping pill for many, fortunately I’ve always been into heavy dialogues. Hearing Yukarin in a serious<->mischievous voice and Nakahara in a strangely deadpan one was certainly a treat, though what’s really important are the dialogue themselves. From the batshit insane Koumori to caveman Shichika, exchanges between the various characters never once felt boring, and even the obligatory setting development stuff was nicely masked inbetween small bantering and jabs. I’m sure everyone and their dog knows Nishio Ishin of Bakemonogatari is the author for this too, but it’s great to know that he still retains his talent for producing witty dialogue, as apparent in Katanagatari.
And then we have the artstyle. Oh man the artstyle. If I were kind, I’d call it unique, but since I’m not, damn it’s weird as hell. It’s not necessarily horrendous, mind you, but it just doesn’t really click with me when the head of Shichika looking like it’s drawn by a fifth grader is affixed to a body drawn by a pro. The one redeeming factor is that it’s actually surprisingly easy to get used to, partly because you’re looking at subtitles 60% of the time and partly because the animation itself is fairly decent as well (kudos to White Fox). Also packaged along is a cast inevitably full of lolis, as you can see from our 27-year-old onee-chan who barely looks like she just turned 10 yesterday. Pedobear would surely approve of this.
Finally, we have the plot, or more accurately described as the lack thereof. Right from the get-go, we get plunged into some sort of conflict between the current shogun and fear of rebellion, quickly transitioning into an adventure series to collect a bunch of legendary swords (the only thing left ambiguous is Togame’s geass). I’d found the episode pretty enjoyable, but even I gotta admit that this must be the worst excuse of a plot I’ve ever seen. It’s convenient of course, as a setup to guarantee copious amounts of boss battles in the future, and also to give a reason to throw two such contrasting characters (Shichika and Togame) together for humorous bantering. In fact, given Nishio Ishin’s forte for character interactions and the endless advertising of specifically Shichika + Togame, that is probably exactly what Katanagatari is selling; the plot can rot for all he cares. Not very encouraging, to be sure, although if I can buy into Bakemonogatari for that same aspect, I’m willing to buy Katanagatari for this as well. Bring on ep02.
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