And I finally got around to watching Katanagatari, which you will recall was one of the series I really looked forward to for winter 2010. The reason I am this late is because I was waiting for a good fansub group to finish with it, and they have. Katanagatari follows the story of Yasuri Shichika and Togame, who set out to find 12 legendary swords. It airs roughly on the 8th of each month, except for the first episode, 12 episodes in total for each month of the year. Here are my impressions of the first episode.

I warn you ahead of time, due to its length (it is an hour long per broadcast) there will be a huge number of screenshots for this episode, but at least it is split into a few pages. So, off we go on the sword hunt.
 

I happened to listen to the OP even before the first episode aired, because of a leak, as I recall. It got on Youtube of course, so I watched it there. Meiya Kadenrou is the OP, sung by Kuribayashi Minami, but the TV-sized version sounds really weird at the end with its change in tune. The full-sized version is better, but it is not exactly something that I feel is really notable by Kuribayashi.  For lack of a better screenshot that I could get from the OP animation, the one of the title of the first episode serves above. The OP animation was average, nothing much. Before the OP, we had a preview of the small history that led us to our current time period in the story of Katanagatari, with Hida Takahito, the rebel lord, taken out by one of the Kyotou style. It appears to be a memory, for we are snapped to the present (and out of the female lead’s thoughts) right before the OP.
 

Meet Yasuri Shichika, the 7th generation head of the Kyotou Style. He lives on a deserted island to which his family was banned after the success by Yasuri Mutsue, his father, of quelling the rebellion. The shogun Yanari, afraid of Yasuri’s prowess as a fighter, had exiled his family here. What is interesting about the Kyotou Style is that it is based on swordsmanship…but without using a sword. Shichika however hardly displays anything more than a block of wood as his head, though his fighting prowess will certainly be proven later. As his personality and character goes, he himself admits that he is dull in thinking and intellectual matters.

Shichika is voiced by Hosoya Yoshimasa, who has not been cast in a main role except in an OVA before, though he had a few forgettable side roles in some of the series I watched. An unknown to me, but as Shichika he does do rather fine for a wood-headed fellow.
 

Shichika lives on the island with just his elder sister, Nanami, for companionship. Their father had died a year ago, leaving the two of them alone on the island. The island had not been visited in 20 years, since the time of the exile. As the exile only applied to their father, they were free to leave the island if they so wished, but Nanami apparently has a weak body and is prone to illness, which is probably one of the reasons Shichika refuses to leave until Togame shows up.

Nanami is obviously better in intellect than Shichika, but she dislikes him treating her as a fragile doll that could be broken at any moment. At the start they talk about having Shichika leave the island, but due to the content and way of expression, Nanami decides it is too early to be discussing the matter and drops the subject.

Nanami is voiced by Nakahara Mai, whose voice I found familiar but unable to identify off-hand because her last role I remember was as Linda in Guin Saga. Unfortunately it appears that Nanami will not be a major character throughout the series and thus we will not be able to hear more of her voice. Nakahara is pretty good as Nanami.
 

Hardly surprising for Shichika to want to preserve the martial arts style his father had passed down to him and his sister, even if it was going to die out with him. He had nothing else to feel as a connection to his father anymore, which is depressing in a sort of way. Japanese culture in general (and most other Asian cultures) value filial piety as one of the most important social values, and thus Shichika would have felt that it was important to preserve the style while he could. This would certainly be obvious to viewers who are familiar with Asian cultural values.
 

And Shichika meets Togame for the first time, who is our leading female character. Togame has expressively come to the island to look for Yasuri Mutsue, but learns from Shichika as they meet at a spring that Mutsue has passed on. She then switches her attention to Shichika, calling him a pass in terms of attractiveness. Her real business is with the head of the Kyotou Style, which means it now falls to Shichika to hear the proposition she brought. But before that, she decides to try and test Shichika so that she would know if he was truly of the authentic school, and thus draws her sword.

Togame is voiced by veteran Tamura Yukari, doubtless one of the big reasons quite a few people picked up the show. Her voice in this one is deep but with that distinct Yukarin sound. It is hard to pinpoint it down, a sort of light yet husky pitch, perhaps.
 

Unfortunate fate indeed. Also, WTF at “Gyafun!”.

Who the hell brings back a guest in this way? Lots of laughs to be had in minor ways throughout the episode, though. I hope they keep this up.

Though a “secret school of swordsmanship that does not use a sword” certainly fits the description of a “null-blade”, what may also be implied here is that the Kyotou style is actually also the style of martial arts that nulls others’ swords. Theoretically this explanation is also possible, as later on Shichika demonstrates a skill that attempts to break a sword.

Related posts:

1. Winter 10 Anime Watchlist