My experience with this series has been one of the strangest I've ever had with any anime. I cannot emphasize this enough. "It gets better later" has never applied to me, not really. Or rather, in its memetic form, not the literal one. I have watched plenty of shows that started off good and turned amazing, but few that tested my patience so much before I eventually came to not only enjoy them, but also leave with a positive impression.
In simple terms, of 12 episodes, the first 6 were a wash for me. Not terrible, not offensively bad, but I certainly didn't truly enjoy myself that much. I blamed it on several factors. Number one; most of the cast was gimmicky and uninteresting. The main characters were not exactly winning me over, and despite the series's selfawareness in calling Shichika boring, that didn't save him. I found him endearing, but not interesting. Togame was certainly the most interesting of the two. The Maniwa Corps? Talk about generic adversaries. They were such a joke that their entire presence felt like padding. The cusp of this was episode 4, the lowest point of the series for me, when I seriously questioned whether it was worth to keep going. Just watching some henchmen getting wrecked by a little girl. And by God, how much did this show enjoy talking. Episode 2 really showed its colors. Not that I dislike dialogue, but here's where the adaptation part of "anime adaptation" suffered the most. If I had been reading the LN, it would not have been a problem; reading by itself can be very engaging. But when you have a visual medium, and your main characters literally sit down in a desert to go on and on on conversation, it gets a little tiring.
However, upon episode 7, I might have done as much of a 180 as I could. That episode's conflict has me completely invested. For once, the user of a Deviant Blade was interesting, and upon that episode every blade user was incredibly engaging. Episode 10's antagonist was a fascinating character both conceptually as well as in terms of execution. Episode 9 had a wonderful blade user as well, one of the most sympathetic and enjoyable to watch. The inclusion of other characters, such as Hitei or Emozaemon really brought in this serie's A game to the table, and the Maniwa Corps, while still largely gimmicks with the barest of humanity to make them more that cardboard cut outs, brought in the best members during the latter part of the show.
Honestly, the best part of this show, even in its lowers moments, was the dynamic between Shichika and Togame. They were the main reason that kept me interested and forced me to continue watching despite all my issues with the series. Their romance was extremely adorable, but even fascinating, and each individual part, through their interaction with the other, came to evolve and become much, much more nuanced and interesting people as a result. Shichika's final characterization was entirely transformed from his beginnings, and I never found that evolution to be rushed or unrealistic.
Themes are everything to me in a show. If I can't find them, I grow frustrated. This show, however, presented an overarching theme worthy of its presentation, satisfying both to uncover and to witness being set into action. The idea of legacy and free will are touched through this show in almost every episode. Shichika is a tool, a man who was cultivated to be a tool from a young age, but at the end (SPOILERS) he manages to break free from that and become an individual. He is literally a weapon, and his liberation process takes him from being a carrier of his father's legacy, to being the "servant" of Tomage, to finally fighting for himself and only himself, denying the will others, even the woman he loved, tried to impose upon him, be the master of his own destiny. (SPOILER) Togame failed at this; her entire journey, and all the development she gained, even her genuine love for Shichika, were all pawns at the service of fulfilling her father's will, not her own. She was only capable of freeing herself on death's door, not before, and not for long. Emonzaemon is aware and willingly a servant to the last of Hitei, and his servitude is ultimately mocked by her, calling him "boring" to the last. Hitei (MAJOR SPOILER) carries the largest will alien to herself of all, fulfilling a plan centuries, if not millennia, in the making, concocted by an ancestor she never knew. She carries the ultimate legacy, and she does too impede the alteration of history the forger of the swords planned. In the end, she and Shichika are free to pursue their own destinies. Other blade owners such as Meisai fit into this role of being slaves to someone's legacy or will, and break free from it.
This is the most important part of the series for me, and that's why, despite all the flaws, all the boredom and tedium I got out of the literal first half of the series, I ended up being invested and really liking it. Would I recommend it? I'd have trouble doing so; "watch half of it before it gets good" sounds like a ridiculous claim. A true one, but not one I'd use as a selling point. I'm probably the odd one out here, as most people really love this series. For me it's love and "kind of wish I was watching something else". It is hard to say, but in the end I'm happy I watched it, and thankfully this series had a much better end than start. That is, frankly, much preferable to the other way around. Katanagatari, I leave with with an odd taste in my mouth, but ultimately something I will remember fondly.
