Katanagatari – 09

Queen to G5! Knight to C7! Tsundere up front!

I’ve had a busy week. That’s not bragging or anything, I swear. I’ve watched two episodes of anime this entire week, Katanagatari, and K-ON. Not even Amagami, which I’ll be reviewing episodes 11 and 12 together, mostly because nothing happened in 11. But aside from all of this, what’s happening in Katanagatari on this day of the month, and on this hour?

The doll faced, sword-haired Kiguchi.

In this episode, Togame and Shichika are after Nokogiri, The Sword of Kings. We quickly learn that Nokogiri is actually a wooden sword despite it’s name. Nokogiri is also owned by a woman named Zanki Kiguchi. We open with Togame beating Kiguchi in Shougi, then a very quick fight between Shichika and Kiguchi. Kiguchi forces him to wear armor and wield a sword, as she believes she will injure him a lot. Yeah right.

Kiguchi really has some split ends. *Crickets*

With Shichika at a loss, they lock themselves away in their inn and discuss what to do next, until Kiguchi calls in. She tells them that she thought the match between her and Shichika was unfair and that he should train at her dojo under her hand, until he is ready for a rematch. Agreeing to this, Shichika beings attending her training sessions. Togame, eager to watch Shichika train, turns up at the dojo, mistaking a simple action for a lewd act, running off in shock and disgust.

This happens several times as Shichika heads off to train, only further worrying Togame. During this time, we also find out that the three remaining Maniwa Ninja, particularly Maniwa Houhou have come into possession of Dokuto Mekki, the most poisonous blade. Togame finally snaps one night, blowing up at Shichika, crying and pouting and generally trying to act all cute, which is odd for her. Surprisingly, Shichika also gets his first kiss, and he gets really embarrassed and pretty much dies.

Having explained her scheme to Shichika, Togame once again challenges Kiguchi to a match. She accepts, on the condition that if Shichika looses, they will stop trying to acquire Nokogiri. She agrees, beating her once again at Shougi, then fighting against Shichika. As the battle starts, Togame starts calling out Shougi moves, getting Kiguchi to play along in her head, distracting her. Using this, Shichika comes in with a horrible strike, winning the match and making Kiguchi hand over Nokogiri. Oh yeah, and Emonzaemon tries to kill Houhou, but instead is left to battle with Oshidori, finishing her off with Ento Jyu. Only Pengin and Houhou left!

End Thoughts

Shichika’s exercise regime revealed.

Oh my…..

I had to resist making that one HOTD reference here. It was so perfect….

They see me herpin’, and derpin’…

This one shot alone was worth the eight-hundred MB download.

The stand out in this episode was obviously Togame and her explosion of emotion at Shichika. Not because it was cutesy in anyway, just because it was utterly hilarious. Though, the same can’t be said about the kiss. It came out of nowhere and took you by surprise (I guess the same could be said for Shichika…) and it worked perfectly. It reminded me of how each episode starts, right in the middle of things and you’re sort of left to work things out for yourself. It’s like a series for smart people.

The Maniwa Ninja are finally on their last legs. With only Pengin and Houhou to go, the outlook is grim. We know that Houhou now possesses Mekki, Emonzaemon has Jyu — or is borrowing it from Hetei — but we still don’t know where Hakari is, though I can assume that’s in the next episode. (I didn’t watch the preview, I’ll explain later).

I love how Shichika is his own character now. He doesn’t follow Togame (Well, not a lot…) and is slowly starting to develop his personality. It’s taken like, nine episodes to happen and it happens to slowly you barely notice it. It’s subtle and perfect for a series like this. With only three episodes to go, one thing is still scaring me. What will happen to Pengin. That’s the only thing that matters to me right now. I don’t care if all the other characters die. If Pengin kicks the animated metaphorical bucket, I’ll go Super Saiyan.

Now I didn’t watch the preview, because there are apparent spoilers for the next episode. I can assume the next blade is Hakari, so that’s all you need to know, yeah?