Well, the graphics really were all over the place in this episode. It’s a shame to see that the budget for this series is starting to run out, because this episode was full off models, the characters were suddenly drawn with incredibly thick lines, and a lot of the fights boiled down to people moving so conveniently fast that all the animators had to do was to draw a bunch of curved lines.
It’s a shame, for a series with so many still frames, you’d expect the art at least to be crisp. I think the worst part of the graphics in this episode was how ridiculously small Nanami’s feet were drawn. Normally I like it when artists take an interesting graphical approach to an episode… but this was just the sign of either a very low budget… or a really bad outsourcing decision.
It’s a shame, because this episode was was all about Nanami again. I still find the concept of her powers a bit hard to grasp. Unable to die? Well, why don’t you commit suicide then? Still, the relationship between these two siblings, the extra info about their parents. It was well worth it. The graphics may have cut corners, but the series still is as good as it has ever been with its dialogue and build-up.
In any case, this also destroys the theories of “Nanami as the end boss”. With this episode, this series seemingly closed off Nanami’s story here, but I wonder whether we get to know more about their parents. Either way, the time has really come for this series to actually start some kind of finale now. We’ve gotten a few hints as to what it might be about, but something tells me that the creators still have a number of tricks on their sleeve. The cutting of hair always seems to be a solid symbol of change, after all.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
About the graphics, they’re “trashy” ‘cuz this episode is special. He’s using the same art from the novels. Yeah, it’s a bit ugly… But yet, a good present for the book fans.
8 and 9 will be normal, though.
( Sorry my bad english. :[ )
I really liked how this episode was drawn. It felt more in tune with the style of the series rather than a usual anime. Either that or I’m enamored by Hiteihime, god she’s beautiful.
This episode was alot better than I thought it would be. They managed to make use of it by using the usual cliches (depressed hero) but not stressing them too much. I’ve got to say that Togame’s motivational speeches do work well.
As for references.
The sections that were styled after a visual novel made me laugh. But I play them alot, so the style is probably lost on others.
The more obscure reference is the game-styel-Nanami fight which is made in the likeness of KiKi KaiKai series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny7QDQj-lW4&feature=related
So Nanami wants to die because she’s too powerful for her own body? Why doesn’t she just not use her eyes (blindfold?) so she never learns new techniques?
The dialogue Nanami has during the first duel suggests she has a kind of Comedian-esque philosophy. She says that all forms of existence are equally meaningless, therefore her will is fate just as much as it is choice. She uses this to excuse her genocides, but in the end this is just a facade. What she really wanted was to verify that it was okay for her to exist.
Everyone, including her father, calls her a monster because her power is unstoppable. She takes this to mean that she is considered an anomaly by the world, something that exists outside of natural order. If the only way for her to die was to kill herself, it would prove that nature had no way of dealing with her — that she truly was a monster to be hated and despised.
She uses the sword and others abilities to weaken herself so that she may be killed, but after the sword is taken, she realizes this too is cheating. So, the end of the episode has both siblings fighting at full strength and she is killed. Her death proves everyone who said, “You shouldn’t have been born,” wrong. Now, she can finally drop her nihilistic facade and embrace her selfish enjoyment of living. That’s why her final moments go off the “script” she made.
I thought it was a nice spin on the old “recognize my existence” trope as her dying was the only way to make it okay that she lived. Or, it could just be that suicide is too dishonorable considering the time period. (or not)
I predicted back at episode 1 Nanami would find a sword that would allow her to use her body to the fullest but I never thought that it would make her weaker like she explained. She’s the most powerful character I have seen in a while.Learning new techniques to weaker yourself is so over-the-top-awesome.And being Immune to death cmon.Katanagatari is becoming better and better for me.
And for the budget and animation at least they made me laugh with all the rpg/ VNs style and old shooting game .
I thought the use of different art styles was a way of referencing a bunch of different settings.
The moving so fast you can’t see it bit was funny to someone who has seen Dragonball Z. I assumed it was a reference.