Katanagatari

Togame is a master strategian who has been tasked with collecting Shikizaki Kiki's Twelve Deviant Blades, twelve weapons that grant their wielder unimaginable powers that are strong enough to capture an entire nation. With no real offensive capabilities of her own, Togame recruits Shichika Yasuri, the current head of the Kyotouryuu sword-less fighting style to assist her in her task. Once Shichika agrees, the two begin their journey.

Creation and Production

Katanagatari is based off of a series of light novels by the same that that are written by Nishio Ishin, a popular Japanese writer, with illustrations by Take. The anime series is created by White Fox and directed by Keitaro Motonaga with music by Taku Iwasaki. The series, which ran in a 1-hour time block, began airing on January 25, 2010 and continued to air on a monthly basis for a total of twelve episode. The Japanese BD/DVD releases began on April 7, 2010 at a pace of one episode per volume per month and the American release, licensed by NIS America, is scheduled to begin its release on July 5, 2011 in BD/DVD formats with six episodes per volume.

Main Concepts

The Maniwa Corps The Insect Squad of the Maniwa Corps The Maniwa Corps are a collective of rogue ninjas who Togame initially recruited to help her secure the blades, but upon retrieving them they betrayed Togame and decided to keep them for themselves. Throughout the series the Maniwa Corps shows up as both allies and enemies to Togame's cause.

Klesha Bringers Dokutou Mekki, one of the Twelve Klesha Bringers Twelve weapons of unimaginable power, whether it be mystical or scientific in nature, created by the master swordsmith Shikizaki Kiki. While they are referred to as blades, they cover a wide range of weapons including clubs, firearms and robots. Along with that, some of them technically aren't weapons such as Zokutou Yoroi, a set of armor, and Seitou Hakari, a sword hilt.

Main Characters

Togame Togame Togame is the self-proclaimed master strategian that was assigned to collect the twelve deviant blades. She has a usually upbeat and tsundere personality along with the ability to analyze almost any situation and come up with an effective plan of action that rarely results in anything other than total and complete victory.

Shichika Yasuri Shichika Yasuri Shichika is Togame's partner on her quest to retrieve the twelve blades. Shichika grew up on an isolated island along with his sister, Nanami, and his father. As the current head of Kyotouryuu, a swordless fighting style designed to counter and defeat swordplay, he is the ideal candidate to assist Togame in her task.

Princess Hitei Princess Hitei Princess Hitei is Togame's bitter rival and is also trying to retrieve the twelve deviant blades. Similar to Togame, she has a tsundere personality and the ability to quickly analyze a situation and come up with an effective course of action.

Emonzaemon Souda Emonzaemon Souda Emonzaemon is Princess Hitei's personal assistant and a well trained ninja himself. He has an unbending allegiance to Princess Hitei and his dedication to her rivals that of Shichika's to Togame.

Houou Maniwa Houou Maniwa Houou is the current leader of the Maniwa Corps and a very powerful warrior in his own right. As leader, he feels responsible for the loses that his organization suffers and does his best to secure a peaceful outcome. Despite this, Houou seems to have no hesitation or remorse for sacrificing his teammates or himself if he feels it will serve the greater good of the Maniwa Corps.

Trailers