The cast of Katanagatari is extensive but memorable in both appearance and personality. The artwork is distinctive in how the faces are rather simplistic and drawn in a style perhaps more suitable for a children’s show. While in contrast, the costume design is highly detailed and vibrant so much to the point that you’ll end up remembering characters for what they were wearing and not what they were saying. This is actually a smart move, seeing as how wordy the script is, viewers would be bound to forget who said or did what but the variation in character design (and their environment) help to ensure that most of what you’re watching actually stays with you.
As for the characters themselves, the lead MC’s are a female strategist named Togame and her “living sword” bodyguard, Shichika whom she found on a sparsely inhabited island. Shichika’s social skills are virtually non-existent since he’s had little interaction with people besides his long deceased parents and his older sister. His interdisciplinary skills are so lacking at this point that he can’t even recognize faces besides his sisters’ and his own. Togame is his opposite. She’s tactful, slick and despite the explicit revealing of her past, much of her ambitions and who she truly is remains shrouded in mystery from start to finish. She’s not just a liar, but a good liar and for that reason viewers will either love or hate her. Despite their differences, Togame and Shichika display great chemistry and have a charming relationship, but with the introduction of far more open and dynamic side characters and enemies, their chemistry slowly begins to subside.
The supporting cast members are presented with proper introductions that explain who they are and their relationship to the main characters and other affiliates. This is especially noticeable with the antagonists so much to the point that by the conclusion I felt as though I knew more about the will and intent of the enemies than I did the protagonists. Is that to say that they, Shichika and Togame, were any less fleshed out or interesting? Yes and no. While their initial interactions were sweet and engaging, as time went on (and as Shichika became more acclimated into mainstream society) it felt as if he and Togame were steadily growing further apart instead of closer together. While much of the show kept you guessing as to what will happen next, the shift in their relationship hints that much of what they had in the beginning was attributed to fate and that neither of them would have sought each other out under any other circumstance. There’s also the added frustration that even though Shichika has learned more and more about the relationship between men and women he still doesn’t even bother to initiate sex with Togame. Basically, you’re just sitting through this long ass show waiting for them to fuck and they don’t. Who cares.
