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Disclaimer: The entire review is reflective of my own opinions towards the Katsugeki series with some references to the game. I am neither a player nor have been exposed to the Tourabu world prior to Katsugeki.

Premiering on summer 2017, Katsugeki Is the second animation adaptation from the popular game series Touken Ranbu. The general idea of the game revolves around anthropomorphized historical blades summoned by the Saniwa to battle the Time Retrograde Army and preserve the flow of history. In this particular series, the story largely follows the development of the Second Unit and their numerous excursions to stop the enemy, with particular focus on the Unit’s leader - Izumi no Kami Kanesada - and his partner Horikawa Kunihiro.

Some of the highlights of the anime were instantly evident from the first scene as the two main protagonists cruised across the screen on their rudimentary wagon. As with many Ufotable productions, the animation and graphics were stunning. Within that short approximately 2-minute chase sequence, we have multiple angles portrayed, a blend of 2D and 3D techniques, flowing backgrounds, paneling cameras and a fluid fight choreography. They made for an impactful beginning that engaged my curiosity right away, despite my prior reservations for what I thought to be a purely fan-service franchise. What’s more, the characters’ appearance adhered strictly to the game, which was an impressive feat considering the level of details each design came with. Throughout the rest of the series, I was pretty awed by how the studio upheld their animation quality. Certainly, in the animation and graphics department, Katsugeki was top-notched.

The animation would not have been as thrilling without the support of the OSTs. I’ve read some dissent about the soundtrack from other reviewers, but not everyone shares the same taste, and I’m all for the OSTs. In particular, how multiple tracks were blended in a short scene delivered a nice punch. For example, from the Saniwa’s summoning to Tonbokiri’s and Yagen’s entrance, the character OSTs have switched seamlessly (it was not until later when I listened to individual tracks that I realized they were, in fact, multiple tracks). Besides, the ED was composed by Yuki Kajiura and performed by Kalafina, what more can I say? I have a nostalgic attachment to the composer and group.

The next point that I want to arrive at is the whole concept, which I attribute to a 50-50 collaboration: 50% contributed by the original game and 50% introduced by the studio. There is a lot of potential to the concept of historical blades summoned back in time to protect history, so all kudos goes to DMM for championing the idea. Ufotable, on the other hand, added another layer with discussions regarding the consequences of failing a mission to explorations of what ‘history’ actually meant and how they were supposedly protected. While many die-hard fans of the game have bemoaned the overly somber mood and out-of-character-ness, I would gladly choose Katsugeki any day over its counterpart: Hanamaru (apologies Hanamaru fans, but I find that anime too fan-servicey and - for a lack of better word - simple for my darker, complexity-slash-conspiracy-philic self).

But this is where I have to unfortunately draw the line between the highlights of the series and its shortfalls, not least of which had to do with the plot.

In defense of the studio, the game itself didn’t have a strong plot to begin with (perhaps to encourage players to imagine their own storyline and relationships with the characters?). It is at least commendable on the part of the producer to bring up potential conflicts and dilemmas - i.e. the swords meeting their former masters, questioning the meaning of history, different approaches to historical events and characters etc.

That said, all of these ideas were merely touched upon and not addressed in full or given closure. There were so much to untangle regarding Izumi no Kami’s and Horikawa’s dispute over Hijikata’s fate, or Mutsunokami’s interactions with Ryouma, or even how the First and Second Unit differed in their approach to dealing with history, all of which could have made for exciting plots and character developments. It was a pity that these potentials were quickly sacrificed in place of long-winded (and oft pointless) conversations and unnecessary character appearances. Don’t get me wrong - I am in love with many of the First Unit’s character designs, but really, do we have to dedicate airtime to them when the Second Unit demands more development and first-time viewers like me demand a lot more explanations? Why was the Time Retrograde Army trying to interfere with history? What would happen if they did? Who was the Saniwa working for? And the list of questions goes on, but you get the gist.

Character developments were non-existential. The portrayal of Izumi no Kami and Horikawa started out great, but quickly disappoints when there was no eventful moment before they changed their resolves. One moment Izumi no Kami was upset about their purpose and the next he was ready to go to the frontlines again. This was echoed in other characters as well with various moments where they got worked up for dramatic purposes but quickly brushed aside in lieu of jumping into another glorious fight. It was disconcerting to see them change their emotions so abruptly.

Now, I don’t know whether this was an oversight or if it was just an inherent property of Izumi no Kami’s frustrating character, but there were many contradictory points that he made. For one, he was obtuse to the amount of people allowed per expedition, making the sweeping claim that only two can depart at a time. This was quickly overruled by the Saniwa post-appearance (it turns out that in game mechanics, six people are allowed per Unit). Likewise our youngest sword was adamant about preserving the pristine course of history, only to backtrack on his words in a few minutes as he played hero.

But hey, who would care about the lives of a few insignificant bystanders, right? After all, they do not constitute part of the dogma of ‘Rekishi mamoru’. Oh yeah, ‘protecting history’, which was repeated 60 times in various forms across 13 episodes. Makes one wonder if the script writers were trying to beat some sort of Guinness Record of how many times they can pop the same phrase in an anime. We get it. History is important, but can we please go beyond the superficial catchphrase?

“I love the actors so much I just want to go up to them and tell them how amazing they are and how much I love their acting as well as how they bring the characters to life. They all deserve some head pats and rest.

Sato Ryuji’s Major Performances of 2020

Ryuji in The Brow Beat’s Live Tour 2020 “Adam”

Igarashi Kazuki in FOLLOWERS

Nishi in Furimukuna, Ushiro ni wa Mirai ga Nai

Tanaka Ryota in Peanut Butter Sandwich

Shibasaki Akira in Online Reading “Lily & Rose” Vol. 01

Sherlock Holmes in Reading Theatre “A Study in Scarlet”

Kishi Hotaru in Nippori Charlies

Kashuu Kiyomitsu in Musical Touken Ranbu: Bakumatsu Tenrouden 2020

Kunori Masaki in Shousetsu no Kamisama: Kimi to Shika Kakenai Monogatari

Hiya! xD Thank you for the comment ♥ I’m glad that you enjoy my blog :DDD and despite my fangirling, um, insanity, I promise that I’m mostly harmless? xDDD Kind of :P LOL!

Jokes aside, it’s also lovely to hear that you enjoyed Bakumatsu Tenrouden, and welcome to the world of the Musical Touken Ranbu/Touken Ranbu Stage Play! :DDDD This post will be slightly long because I’ve compiled a Guide to the Musical Touken Ranbu and Touken Ranbu Stage Play (including a master list of links) that I hope will be helpful to you, so I will place most of the information under the cut. 

But I would like to start by just answering your question of wanting to know how to support the productions.

HOW CAN YOU OFFICIALLY BUY THE MUSICALS/STAGE PLAYS?

Buying the online version of the musicals and stage plays from the DMM Website (which is the official provider for downloads): HERE 

Buying the Blu-ray, DVD and CD: HERE

Buying tickets to attend the actual performances: HERE

INTRODUCTION

As an introduction, the musicals and the stage plays are produced by different companies, and both franchises exist as separate entities that are unrelated to each other:

The Musical Touken Ranbu - produced by Nelke Planning Co. Ltd.

The Touken Ranbu Stage Play - produced by Marvelous Inc.

And now, on to the guide about the Musical Touken Ranbu and the Touken Ranbu Stage Play franchises.

Hi!! sorry, I don’t know if it is too late to respond, and it’s been years since I last made a rant, but I actually have a lot to get out of may chest about this, so here we go.

First of all, even though I love both; manga and anime, if I have to choose one, I’d definitely go with the manga. Don’t get me wrong, ufitable did an incredible job when it comes to art and animation, also the seiyuu had the chance to give their respective characters a deeper acting acting compared to Hanamaru, and the story was told in a way that was easy to follow, but I find the manga to be deeper and more complete when it comes to character development and the relationship between all of them. We can do comparations all along the story in both formats:

Part 1

Anime, episode 1 vs manga, chapter 1

As we can see from the very begining, it’s pretty obvious that this two are pretty close and take care of each other but they never get to have actual physical contact.

n the other hand, the manga shows us they get along pretty well til the point Kane-san gets to be playful towards Kunihiro as an attempt of distracting  making him feel better.

Now, I would lie if I say the manga is 100% better than the anime, since that’s not the case, in my opinion. Actually, ep 1 is my favorite in all the anime all because of scenes we don’t get to have in the manga like this one:

This show us they aren’t fearless just because they were swords in the past. In fact they can have the same fears as any human, in this case, that disturbing feeling produced by quietness and darkness.

Or this one, were Kunihiro, and us as expectators, get to be conscious of their mission, and also gives some kind of explanation for  Kunihiro’s doubting. This scene gave him the notion of not being good enough even if he thought he was going pretty good fighting the enemy on his own.

But in the next part, the manga makes clear that Kunihiro is willing to not to obey Kane-san if that goes against his believings by making him the one who saves the girl from the fire

In contrast of this, in the anime, Kane-san is the one who saves her, showing that he can be flexible about all the “protect history” thing.

But the reason why I like better how the manga managed this part is that Kane-san knows he and his partner are not the same person, they are independent from each other and so is their way of apreciating the world, yet he makes sure to let Kunihiro know that he believes in him, even if the boy doesn’t believe in himself

Anime, episode 2 vs manga, chapter 2-3

Pasing now to next episode, in the manga Mutsunokami shows his disaproval to Kane-san’s way of handling the sacrifices made by the retrogade army just after finding ‘em attacking the foreigns in the castle while in the anime this happens until episode 3

(I also have to mention I love Yagen’s desing in the manga)

Also, in this part of the manga we get to see Kunihiro and Kane-san before going out to patrol. Contrasting to chapter 1, this time is Kane-san the one who decides to go by his own, probably just to let the others have proper rest (Kunihiro included), but they seem to be impossible to be apart one from the other, at least for too long.

I guess there aren’t that much of a difference here

But what does is different is the “presentation” thing. It might seem like non-important, but I think it shows how protective Kane-san can be towards his partner

But what it does seems to be important to me, is how the wakizashi reacts to Mutsunokami shoing off his gun.

It is kinda subtle, but Kane-san notices something about the boy is a bit odd, and I get the feeling that this is an clue for us to notice about his “trauma”, since his former master died from a gunshot wound.

Anime, episode 3 vs manga, chapter 4-5

I guess there are no major diferences between formats besides these panels

1) 

2)

3)

Anime, episode 4 vs manga, chapter 6-7

As we all know, this episode starts with the crew being chased 

while chapter 6 starts with this panel, focused on showing the details of Kunihiro’s sword, just like the anime does in ep. 9

Now, this little conversation was missing in the manga

Again, it might seem like is nothing important, but i think it shows how the Hijikatagumi manages to have their “private” conversation even if they are with the other members of the unit, and also Kunihiro’s desire to have succes now that they can actually be called a team.

On the other side, in the manga we have this page where we get to see Kunihero’s “wife” side

Now, from here is where we have more marked differences between formats when it comes of “who was doing what”, like this:

Another difference is the fight with the oodachi

Although Kunihiro still gets hurt in both formats, in the manga we can see how serious it was, and also how worried Kane-san was.

also… things like this make me love the manga even more