Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu Part 3 Episodes 7-9

Kyoto, 1565.  Saniwa dispatches the elite First Unit to investigate an unusual disturbance.  Waiting for them is a new breed of Time Retrograde Army enemy type, one whose new capabilities seem endless.  Meanwhile, The Second Unit travels to Kyoto in 1866.  Kanseda still struggles with his role as leader but it’s a chance encounter between Yoshiyuki and his former Master, Ryoma Sakamoto, that could truly test the resolve of these Swordsman and their dedication to protecting history.  Will Yoshiyuki sacrifice everything just to save the most important person he’s ever cared about?

I’m starting to think that Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu is at war with itself over what it wants to be.  Is it supposed to be a philosophical take on protecting history and how the ripples of taking such action reach further and wider than expected?  Or is it a straight up action series using the pedigree of Ufotable to believe it can get away with not having a story or compelling characters to follow?  I lean towards the latter in this argument but this penultimate set of episodes looks at both sides.  Overall, this is still a seriously disappointing watch and I think it’s made even more frustrating when it does something right only for you to think that this is how Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu should have been doing things from the get go.
 
With Kanesada’s Unit Two in recovery, we got quickly introduced to another slew of living swords and, honestly, they’re even more bland and dull than the guys weve been following. And the members weve met prior to this units deployment are annoyingly cryptic, i.e. Mikazuki and his smug know it all face.  Their personalities vary but what sets them apart from the team we’ve been following is their combat level.  Save for team rookie Toushirou, every member of the First Unit is ridiculously OP, to the point where they can cleave an Ootachi in half in a single move.  That kind of over powered display makes you wonder why any other group is needed when these guys can be set loose on the TRA or why every single sword isnt as powerful as these guys. Sure that would make things way too easy but in a fight to protect history from smoke demons, isnt that a good thing?  Then again, I’m pitching ideas to Saniwa like he has an actual single brain cell in his head when it comes to making good decisions.
 
The First Unit’s best moment comes after they’ve felled their TRA opponents.  The team actually takes time to help out the village they fought in, whose townsfolk have suffered at the TRAs hands.  Something tells me this isnt part of Saniwa’s grand master war plan for dealing with the TRA.  And yet it’s good to see his lackies doing something that isnt out of some blind devotion to their Master.  These guys know the harm inserting fighting within the confines of history can be and acknowledge the collateral damage that comes of it.  It’s a burden they carry but they can also do what they can for those who are still left, like gather a bunch of food and give the people a nice hot cooked meal.  Honestly I’m surprised Katsugeki has time for this kind of story beat.  And shock of all shocks, it’s not the only decent beat in this set.
 
Yoshiyuki got to show why he’s always been the MVP of this series in this set but that’s not hard when you’re not a basic stats character.  A trip to 1866 gave his team something we’ve never seen Saniwa give them before going on a mission: INTEL!!! Having lived as the sword of Ryoma Sakamoto in this time period, Yoshiyuki is able to map out an entire events worth of details and give the team a chance to get ahead of the TRA for once.  It’s strange to see one of these sword teams so well prepared.  Even better though was Yoshiyuki trying hard not to meet his former master but eventually needing to step in when something went wrong.  You can feel Yoshiyuki is torn between fulfilling his mission and daring to alter history by putting Sakamoto on a path that potentially averts his demise.  His reverence and love for the man is touching and it adds to the uniqueness of Katsugeki’s premise: that we’re watching the tales of weapons who were close allies with great swordsman. This show needs more internal conflicts with other characters besides Yoshiyuki though as he’s the only one who’s been had to deal with altering history in a way he thinks is overall positive even though it isnt in the long run.
 
But for all the good Yoshiyuki brought out in this set, this is still Katsugeki and it hasn’t improved much on the other fronts it needs to.  Did Kanesada really have to go to all of his teammates and ask them if they wanted to stay on his team despite the ass kicking they all received?  Why is Saniwa assigning a rookie like Toushirou to the First Unit when they are the elite of the elite and he cant take and Ootachi single handidly?  Shouldn’t Toushirou be on a lower level team and have to work his way up the ranks?  Besides the obvious it’s not a good idea, are the swords not automatically forbidden from interacting with their former masters should they encounter them?  Hilariously enough, when Kunihiro asks this of Kanesada, A. OH NOW YOU WANNA START ASKING ABOUT RULES IN A SERIES WITHOUT A GUIDE BOOK?  And B. Kanesda just says “Eh idk” I kid you not, that’s basically his reply to Kunihiro’s question.  It’s almost funny in it own way how Katsugeki is even shrugging its storytelling responsibilities because screw it, only four episodes left so why start putting in effort now?
 
Ugh, four more episodes left of this disappointment.  Frankly I cant see Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu getting anything above a 5 and that’s being more generous than I think I will be.  There are glimpses of what this show could be but when you think of every single mistake made in these 9 episodes thus far, yeesh it reminds me of Anime I’ve reviewed that have squandered their potential like Beyond the Boundary or Sailor Moon SuperS in favor of fight scene after fight scene or just not willing to put in the bare minimum to deliver even satisfying entertainment.  Anyway, Next Monday we wrap up Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu and see if four episodes will be enough for it to claw its way out of the hole it needs to escape for a decent score, right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.