Author: Tatsuya Takahashi
Producer: Genco
Genre: Action, School Life, Supernatural, Swordplay, Tournaments
Released: October 26th 2017
Katana Maidens takes place in everyday Japan in which all girls have an incredible aptitude for slicing and dicing. Oh and giant monsters are dotted around the place. So whack on your visors and buckle up. After the momonse gets beaten we see 2 schoolgirls having a quick and I mean quick sparring session. The winner of the fight gets to be the main protagonist. In case you were wondering all the men are sword to hold STI shields in a group so I guess they have that going for them. No rashes in this Anime.
Back to the main protagonist and her unfortunate friend (more on that later). They are both on their way to the Katana slinging tournaments filled to the brim with schoolgirls. I mean I know the Anime is called Katana Maidens but it would be nice if a couple of guys can get up to no good and maybe start a little trouble in this neighbourhood.What’s that? What is the prize for winning the tournament? Great question.
So the tournament begins and we see 2 definitely not antagonists having a chat as they scout the talent. Looks like it could be a tough fight but Red Eyes dark haired Schoolgirl has a dinner appointment soon so she’s not hanging around.
As I’m sure you have noticed by now, the animation for the fight scenes are pretty decent however they are over way too quickly. It’s almost like the bathing scene at the start (No I’m not showing it) should have been scrapped and more focus should have been on the fights. There is a lot of build up and talk about the different fighting styles but the talk is a good 10 to 15 times longer than the fights. Such a shame as there are no over the top animations of special moves just solid fighting. Rare to see for most Anime these days.
Ok so you heard me say about the unfortunate friend. Our MC here is full of personality and is almost glowing on the screen. Number 2 here however is suffering from a bit of Deadeyes disorder, not sure why it is but out of all the characters she seems to suffer from this the most. Not only that but she has a huge build up for revenge in this match but just gets bullied and beaten after a single swing of her Katana. Poor old number 2.
Anyways back to the fight which everyone was waiting for. Both the MC and her new rival ready up and wait the rival decides to kill her most likely Sister. Of course this is stopped easily because you need to level up first before you can kill the final boss. MC does a saving parrying and they both run off into the sunset. Stopped in their tracks by Sadist Sally, she has another extremely quick fight with a smile on her face. MC sees the fight as being tough and leaps to safety with her new friend and number 2.
I know it feels like I have been bashing Katana Maidens but I did enjoy a lot of it. The soundtrack for example I really like, I’m a sucker for piano keys so it had me hooked. Like I said the animation is solid and fight scenes were really cool and seemed plausible. As far as a rating goes I would give this first episode a 7.5/10.
Slice and Dice, please be nice - Mamushi
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