Katanagatari – 08



Whoa, we got a musical upgrade this episode. There were new background songs and a brand new OP and ED. I like the former a lot. The latter… not so much. I finally realized what has been bugging me about the ALI Project. I mean, their biggest complaint is that all of their songs sound the same, but that’s nust one part of the problem. They’re really good composers, and you can only say that their work looks the same on their least inspired OPs and EDs. The thing is more tha their OPs and EDs often feel completely out of place.

I mean, their OPs and EDs are perfect for chaotic series, or series with a soundtrack that is all over the place like most of the Bee-Train series. Most of the time they’re into series that completely don’t fit the mood of these chaotic and random songs, and the same goes here: the new OP is nice and all, but it in no way fits Katanagatari’s style or substance. The ALI Project really have a unique sound, and most anime producers just don’t seem to know how to use them well. I don’t like the ED either, but the reason for that is far simpler: the incredibly squeaky voice annoys me.

This was a fairly standard episode, though I liked the chemistry between Togame and Shichika in this episode. They were just like a bickering couple. The interesting part is that the sword in this episode was a doll, where the main battle against it consisted out of fighting it until its energy was drained.

On a side-note: as soon as the upcoming autumn season start, I might stop blogging this series. This first of all is because it’s going to be the first season this year in which I won’t have a quantity problem and there actually seem plenty of bloggable series to debut, but the biggest reason is going to be that… I just don’t know what to write about this series weekly. And really, don’t get me wrong: this is far from a bad series; it really is quite good, and I’m enjoying it a lot more than Bakemonogatari. The episodes are well paced and told as well with few hiccups and no moments of stupidity. But the thing is that for me, nothing stands out: neither good or bad. For the past number of episodes, I have found myself struggling to come up with things to actually say about the episodes of this series, more and more with every episode. This episode was no different, unfortunately.
Rating: * (Good)

7 thoughts on “Katanagatari – 08

  1. “but the biggest reason is going to be that… I just don’t know what to write about this series weekly. ”

    You mean monthly right? Four episodes left, hang in there big guy.

  2. Please keep blogging this one!!! I love your reviews.

    I didn’t like the song either…

    The episode was really good though, with some funny moments. It seems that those pistols in Hime’s house are another deviant sword. I’m inclined to thing that her and her spy will end up as the mayor antagonist, although it’ll be interesting to see what the other clan of nijas do.

    Sorry for the double post in Nurarihyon… Wasn’t intentional. Something seemed wrong when I posted the first time and I didn’t see my post published…

  3. The composer for ALI PROJECT, Katakura Mikiya, is quite capable, and if we focus on their albums rather than the pieces they do for anime bookends, there’s a lot of good music to be found. The anime stuff that I’ve heard, besides the .hack//Roots OSTs, isn’t really that great and is mostly self-similar. I have no idea why. There’s a lot of range in their work. For starters, consider 遊月恋歌, 緋紅的牡丹, 極色一代女, and Arabesque Romanesque.

  4. Ali Project is truly the worst thing to ever touch my ears. Code Geass sucked, Armed Librarians sucked, some Sunrise show I didn’t watch sucked. The exact same rhythm and vocal inflection, abrupt ending, NO.

    About dropping: I hear the last few chapters of this series move away from being solely about the swords and more towards building the characters and an overarching story. 9 may be more of the same, but I think it will get pretty bloggable at the point of no return.

  5. Finish it kind sir, but just write shorter concise reviews for it for your own sanity. The problem with the series and at other times the highlight is that there’s too much exposition.

  6. I was thinking about it back at episode 1 when I was thinking about the silhouettes of the swords then there was the armor one Yoroi in ep5. It’s been confirmed now one of the swords is a pair of guns.
    I liked the conversation with the guy at the inn and how she told him to put his valuable vase were everyone would see it.It pointed to this exactly.

  7. is it just me, or does the doll and togame have the same color for a left eye. with that and from what the princess said about shikizaki modeling the doll from someone he loved, i wonder if there’s a connection there.

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