Why Is the Art Differnet in Ep 7 of Katanagatari
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one homo in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.– William Shakespeare
Theatrics take always been a mixed suit in anime. I don't necessarily hateful overdramatized behavior – no, that can exist establish in most any anime, to an extent. What I mean is a specific study and behavior of a story; a type of storytelling which functions as a staged performance or a play. I could pick out a couple of aces, such as Gankutsuou, a dramatic retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, or Wolf's Pelting, a tragic story with heavy allusions to the bible and the epicsParadise Lost and Dante'sInferno. On the other mitt, we haveRomeo ten Juliet, a dramatized version of the Shakespearean play, which ended upwards becoming blase and strayed far besides off the mark, orZetsuen no Tempest, which only takes some themes and roles of the play and trivializes them as mere inserts, rather than exploring them in total detail.Katanagatari,I'm happy to say, works specifically in the former suit, as it plays out its trump menu this episode – a move well fabricated.
Each episode up till Episode 4 has worked as a certain 'Act'; nosotros are introduced to the antagonist, are given solid buildup (mixed in with comedic relief, in the form of a discussion betwixt Togame and Shichika) merely to follow up to a climax and a speedy resolution as Shichika defeats his opponent and gains a footling humanity in the process, with a cliffhanger at the end of each episode. Episode 4 was an Act, as we witnessed Nanami's true nature.The episode still functions every bit an Deed despite post-obit a different structure every bit the episode as well builds up to the eventual climax of Episode 7. As before long as Episode 4 finished, the Acts resumed; Episode 5 and vi followed the aforementioned format every bit 1-3, with Episode half dozen merging the storyline of Episode four and the previous Acts together. Episode Vii is the seventh phase, where the final battle begins as Nanami and Shichika come up into full conflict and wage battle against one another.
If we can presume that the previous six episodes have served the purpose of existence the protasis, epistasis, and cathastasis (exposition and ascension action), then episode seven functions as the climax and falling activeness/denouement.** It is the stage of both an internal and external disharmonize; a setting where Shichika must confront himself (man against self) and his beloved sis (man confronting man). There are no new characters introduced in the final human action; no further plot progression. The focus of the episode isn't even about the sword of the month; no, it is near the final confrontation between the protagonist and antagonist. Thus, the requirements have been set for a concluding Human activity. For the first half of the episode, Shichika spends his time burrowing himself in depression and feet, unable to confront the fact that he must defeat his sister not merely to gain a Sword only as well because his grooming and efforts take amounted to nothing. The second half of the episode is where the climax begins – Shichika wins his internal boxing from the aid of Togame and prepares to fight his sibling, and ends up succeeding at the cost of being forced to kill his sis. The episode finally ends with Togame and Shichika sailing off into the altitude, with Shichika having found peace in his sister'due south decease, determined to find the remainder of the swords.
From a playwright's perspective, the seventh episode is a perfect construct of a tragedy in its terminal stages. The dramatics are consistent and a sacrifice paves the style for resolution. Of course, this sort of tragic drama can be found anywhere in anime – wait at the listed examples above! Zetsuen no Tempest focuses around Aika'due south murder and revenge;Romeo x Juliet has the two main characters cede themselves out of love.* But what these shows lack and whatKatanagatari has in spades is self awareness and the understanding of how theatrics should work. For example, there's a ii minute sequence where the prove summarizes upwardly what happened earlier the events of Episode 7 through the format of a video game. Nanami faces her battles (as does Shichika and Togame) much similar a regular RPG. In the same mode, Shichika and Togame confront Hime's henchman, demanding to know what's going on.
This of course, is a play on how contrived Katanagatari's story format might have been with each Episode or Deed, but it's likewise an of import allusion to how video games and plays part very similarly. Each character in a traditional video game follows a certain role or purpose in the story. They take gear up ancestry as they do with endings, much like characters performing in a play. This is likewise heightened at the end of the episode, when Shichika and Togame have their final boxing. Simply earlier they fight, Togame tells them that they are non performing for their own ideals and revenge – they accept an audience: the Buddha of War. This doesn't merely increase the sense of drama and tension every bit the ii siblings are not only but performing on a stage forus, but information technology also breaks the quaternary wall a scrap every bit they are both fighting on a stage in the show for a God. It gives a sense that our characters aren't just performing their roles within a show but truly inside a certain concluding deed, with their fates existence left in the hands of the playwright, even down to their terminal lines.
Katanagatari does a twist on the 'last line' result; each actor has his or her terminal line in a play, as does every shounen protagonist or antagonist.
It'southward during these moments that Katanagatari proves that it isn't just witting of the tropes it'southward pulling at, but that information technology's also fully knowledgeable ofwhat those tropes are and how to use them for maximum result. To use the format of a play as a user-friendly excuse for writing is one affair, but to use it, be aware of it, and thenplay on it continually is a sign of masterwork, and that's where the show succeeds.
Of grade, the perfection of this episode doesn't stop in that location. For such a thou finale, our main protagonists may take been Shichika and Togame, but the star of this episode was none other than Nanami, as this episode fully gave closure to both her arc every bit well every bit her complex nature. One of the more surprising parts with Episode 7 was when Shichika fully defeated Nanami in the concluding battle. Every bit Nanami says herself only earlier she dies; inheritor or not, she is a member of the Kyotouryuu family, having engraved every skill Shichika learnt as a kid into her own mind and body. She and Shichika are not simply siblings: they are warriors carved from the same root, merely two branches on the opposite side of the tree. At the beginning we assumed that Nanami was stronger than Shichika because she was able to fully mimic his abilities as well equally strengthen them with her own power. The flaw of this was that Nanami's ain body was unable to handle such an impressive skill. And thus, Nanami began to copy other's skills, all which used a 'bract' in i way or the other. Every bit she learnt more skills, her ability scaled downwardly and she was able to fight more hands, at the expense of her becoming 'weaker'. Her concluding restraint was Bita, which forced Nanami'southward body to 'regenerate' – a painful price for lengthening her life a lilliputian longer and condign more durable. All of these efforts seemingly went to waste, as Nanami fell by Shichika's own paw, leaving us with yet another tragic episode and some tears.
Hearing the synopsis of this at start seems a bit like a copout. "Why didn't she create her ain skills and techniques, like Shichika did? She could have beaten him then!" nosotros could ask. In virtually cases I would take considered this battle to be a flaw of writing every bit it was also hands solved; something as simple every bit shutting off the lights and taking away Nanami's eyesight in the dark shouldn't have been the winning hand for Shichika. But as I idea more and more than almost it towards the end, it was because these events were and then simple that they allowed for some greater introspections to unfold.
There are two reasons as to why Nanami did not win. Beginning, Nanamicouldn'tcreate new things even if she wanted to. Nanami's entire life circled around the upshot of being stuck in limbo. Too powerful to die, too powerful to live, and forced to scout people struggle to attain the sort of godliness (or curse) she possessed was what Nanami went through. This isn't to say that Nanami wasn't aware of how demonic she could be – her phrase, "Is it good? Or is it bad?" conspicuously shows that she had no regard for the immorality of her actions despite beingness aware of how immoral they were in the first place. Nanami was but put, a monster who relied on passivity.*** Her disregard for the 'rules' paralleled her ability. She could only watch and imitate and combine one technique with another, but to fully create something from scratch was something her torso could non handle. Stealing other's abilities was the only thing she could resort to, and fifty-fifty that slowed her down. Ironically, in copying other'south abilities, Nanami breaks the one law thatdoes matter; the fact that Kyotoryuu cannot utilise swords. Her death is the both the result of Shichika killing her, simply also of the effect of what happens when a taboo is broken.
The second reason is considering Nanami didn't want to. She wanted to die. As said higher up, Nanami'south life was hellish, every bit she found no peace in the nightmare she was living day and night. Abandoned by the mechanics of basic nature (life and expiry), likewise as her male parent himself, Nanami had nowhere else to turn to except her brother. It is a twisted sort of love Nanami harbored in that she wanted Shichika of all people to impale her – something she casually explains to Togame as "family unit history" as their father might have killed their mother. But the hard fact is that Nanami was tired of her cursed life. Her search for Bita was also a search for someone worthy plenty to impale her, which led her straight to Shichika. Worried that he was too edgeless and rusty of a blade, she used her death as an opportune moment to resharpen him, but also to finally observe the peace she sought years ago when her ain father tried to kill her.
For such a well developed character to take ended this early (I personally thought that Nanami would have been the terminal dominate) would be a tragedy in almost cases, butKatanagatar ihas only shown me that it has total understanding of its limits past killing off Nanami in this episode. There was nowhere else for Nanami's arc to head side by side, every bit it had already been explored to its full potential. We've seen the darker side ofKatanagatari through Nanami'south eyes in Episode 4: how the blessing of power can equally be a curse, and how she was the antithesis of Shichika. Whereas Shichika dulled with each episode but gained something a little more than important and powerful, Nanami merely connected to forestall her inevitable fate, decaying her torso and soul in the procedure. With Episode 7, Nisiosin answers the important question: is there peace for someone like Nanami, who was given everything but nothing? The answer is yes, but leaves one more than question to be solved. Tin can Shichika, who was given as much as any regular grapheme was, besides attain happiness and true peace? We have v more than episodes to find out, and I, like the rest of the audition, hope that the conclusionand answer is as satisfying every bit the ones offered in this episode.
*It is important to note thatKatanagatari does not follow the construction of a Shakespearean nor Greek tragedy; Shichika is no tragic hero, and possesses no hubris/tragic flaw.
** Episode 7 (besides as the others, to an extent) can also be considered as a play within itself. Following the Three Human action Rule, exposition is introduced in the form of a video game, our character falls only to ascension again, and the major conflict is resolved.
***By no ways am I woobifying Nanami; as said earlier, she was a monster. But whereas virtually monsters took a delight in their mode of life, Nanami was fully enlightened of everything she had done and wanted an end, but shaped in the image of an ending that befitted the likes of her. The brilliance of this is that while Nisiosin answers the question of Nanami existence able to attain peace, there'south a bit left for us, the audience, to decide. Was Nanami's death befitting? That's left upward to the viewer.
Source: https://shibirerudarou.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/the-final-stage-katanagatari-episode-7/