Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu Part 2 Episodes 4-6

Japan, 1868.  Kanesada and his Second Unit have been assigned to protect an important meeting over the span of three days that could bring an end to a long running conflict in the country.  The Time Retrograde Army is here as well, looking to disrupt history to the point where nothing can be repaired. And this time, theyre coming in force.  Outnumbered, outgunned and outmatched, can Kanesada and his men fend off an endless invasion, or is it time for another team to step in and do their job for them?

Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu has all the hallmarks of an instant classic.  It’s got the powerhouse Anime studio that is Ufotable doing the animation.  The premise of spirits protecting the history of Japan from Demons sounds fun.  And the action, well this is Ufotable, they’ve practically taken action scenes in Anime to a whole other level (see Fate/Stay Night UBW or Demon Slayer for that).  So why am I not enjoying myself at the midpoint of this series?  Is it because the story doesn’t feel like it exists so much as is just sprinkled in to get characters from one action scene to the next?  Is it that while some do stand out for their quirks and designs, I don’t really know much about the characters and thus don’t really care about their circumstances?  Or is it that the world on which this show is based on hasn’t been explained in any way shape or form beyond bare basics and I kind of want to slap Saniwa because he thinks simplicity is all that’s needed to do a job or tell a proper story…guess what it’s not.
 
Before we actually visited the occasionally spoken of Citadel later on, our five heroes jumped forward five years in time with a new mission, or rather the same mission, different time period.  I love how Saniwa has like zero intelligence to give to his men when theyre sent on assignments.  It’s just “Here’s the time period, take care of the Time Retrograde Army, good luck.”  Sure they have Konnosuke as their tiny furry mobile internet browser for historical details but still, as Cortana said in Halo 4, “Maybe it’s just me but I like a little more intel with my intel.”  But what bugs me more: we don’t see Kanesada and his group teleported into this new time period.  When we first spot them again, theyre on the run from officials who think theyre suspicious.  There’s no background info, no scene where the group is being briefed before being sent out.  Hell, I theorized that maybe they’d stuck around in 1863 and lived in the era until their next assignment came up.  Touken Ranbu is leaving out key scenes and hoping we don’t notice when in fact, they might be scenes more crucial than the action.
 
And when we do get to the Citadel, more disappointment.  We see that Saniwa has given life to a bunch of old weapons and theyre just kind of hanging out without a care everywhere I guess until theyre called to action.  What little nuggets of history we do get is that 1. This little oasis is located in 2205 yet looks like Feudal Japan; 2. These multi-man units being deployed is only recent, only one or two could be sent out at a time for some reason; and 3.  Apparently Saniwa and his first weapon, Mikazuki, think that just because Kanesada’s group failed to stop downtown Edo from being set on fire by the TRA, history is A-OK…DA HECK???!!!   I’ll come back to that last bit in a second but yeah, the Citadel episode should have been the point where Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu cleared up many of the questions surrounding the set up of this entire conflict but instead continues to revel in a “We know what’s going on but all you need to know is OH LOOK OVER THERE HOT SAMURAI GUYS IN PRETTY FIGHT SCENES!!!” 
 
While I feel like I don’t really know much about Kanesada and his chosen teammates, I do sympathize with the frustrations of how their mission is being treated as a success when it’s anything but. The TRA got the jump on them, used a second battleship to do some major damage to Edo, Tonbonkiri ended up in a coma and even Kanesada took some serious blows.  Even the arrival of a mysterious sixth team member, Tsurumaru, did nothing to help things in the long run. And yet Saniwa and Kunihiro are like, “Awesome mission, great job, gold star.”  While he likes to think he’s different from him, Kanesada and Yoshiyuki are similar in their concerns and frustrations about their job.  Kanesada sees a time period heavily damaged and blames himself for not only being able to protect them but also his teammates.  What’s worse is that while Kanesada’s Second Unit licks their wounds, we’re being saddled with another unit for the next mission.  Great I have to get to know six-seven other sword humans when I hardly know the other team that well besides bare basic traits and sort of interests?  Tell me the video game isnt so far up its own butt its beyond a simple tutorial of how things work in this world.
 
What credit I am willing to give to this set is in two areas.  The first is the action and animation, naturally.  It’s hard to care about the stakes when even those in charge of sending Kanesada and company into battle don’t seem to care that much.  But the fight scenes with the Ootachi were pretty cool.  While Tonbokiri put on a good show, it was the four on one preceeding battle that really stood out cause it showed a better sense of teamwork amongst Unit Two. The second area are Konnosuke’s little troupe of plushie data terminals. Frankly I could see a series of cute shorts surrounding these guys as they compare notes on historical foods and even get into pissing matches over which team is better in the field. They remind me of Tachikoma’s from Ghost in the Shell except a lot more mature.  I definitely would love to own one of these little foxes and shout out to the one who smacked Tsurumaru for not holding still during a routine scan.
 
Sigh, gorgeous presentation will only get you so far.  Yes, Anime is perfect for showing visuals and action sequences one can only dream of.  But when you don’t have a compelling story, or a story alone to begin with, your title is going to suffer and Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu is certainly suffering right now.  I still have no idea why this war between Saniwa and the TRA is even happening.  It would be nice to put a face to the enemy besides spooky demons stolen from Fate/Stay Night.  And Next Monday we have a new crew of supposed veteran bad asses taking the stage while Kanesada and his guys lick their wounds.  Call me crazy but I’m not excited. This series is a struggle but I’m gonna struggle through it til the end (at least its only 13 episodes). Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu continues Next Monday right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.