Having witnessed
Yoshiyuki’s defense of his former master, Kunihiro’s resolve begins to
waver. When he suddenly vanished,
Kanesada fears the worst. On the eve of the fall of the Shinsengumi, the Second
Unit must not only deal with a betrayal from one of their own but an
overwhelming force of one thousand Time Retrograde Troops. It is here at the infamous Battle of Hakodate
where all shall be decided, where the swords of the past will make a final
stand to protect the future.
There have been
moments, fleeting ones but ones nonetheless, where Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu has
been trying to be something meaningful.
How far will one be willing to go to save the life of someone important
to them even if it irrevocably changes the flow of history? Is all the fighting Kanesada and his team are
doing really making a difference or making things worse overall? However, Katsugeki hasn’t really wanted to
delve super deep into these matters and instead focus on one team of
underpowered rookies and one team of overpowered vets cleaving their way
through demons being sent back in time by a faceless enemy. The finale wants to be more than the sum of
its visual parts but dammit, throughout this entire watch, I was just waiting
for it to be over.
Kunihiro’s sudden
wish to seemingly change the fate of Hijikata at the Battle of Hakodate doesn’t
come out of nowhere. He and Kanesada
have often spoken of their fondness for their former master but while Kanesada
is ok remembering the man as he was, Kunihiro wants more. It echoes Yoshiyuki’s sentiments from earlier
about saving the life of someone meant to die and teaching them a better way to
live. But Kanesada and Yoshiyuki both
understand their vague mission parameters: protect history no matter what. Kunihiro is still the rookie who would
naturally go off and do something stupid like sign up with the Shinesengumi
just so he can make sure his sword brother, Kanesada, can join Hijikata in his
final battle and hopefully avert his fate…wait a sec, so you’re telling me
Kunihiro was trying to change the destinies of both his friend and his
master? Who the hell let someone not
mentally prepared for this kind of work into the field in the first place…oh
right.
Saniwa really is
the worst boss ever. Much like the
disastrous results of the Second Units previous missions, he seems to smile and
shrug it off as “eh no biggie”, especially when Kunihiro goes rogue and
Kanesada cant bring himself to cut him down.
If you’re that big on protecting history from the TRA, shouldn’t you be
taking this kind of desertion a bit more seriously? More so, when the TRA sends in a record
breaking 1,000 troops to make sure the Shinesengumi don’t die, why are you only
sending 6 guys to fend them off?
Shouldn’t you be sending the entire damn cavalry to deal with such a
massive threat? No, just the B team and
the OP Vet Squad are enough apparently and even before then, Saniwa just tells
Kanesada and Yoshiyuki “Good luck, you’ve got this.” The slave driver doesn’t even give the Second
Unit a minute to rest as he sends them right off on another mission as soon as
that apocalyptic event is averted. Don’t let that carefree smile deceive
you. Worst. Boss. Ever.
While Kunihiro is
a massive screw up and Saniwa’s prevention measures are weak at best, Kanesada
proves he’s better than either of them in this finale and probably more capable
of running this shoddy operation with Yoshiuki’s help. His reunion with Hijikata was nice and I like
how he stuck to his own sense of loyalty to both masters while also kicking
Kunihiro’s wishes to the curb because this is how things are supposed to be.
This is one of the few scenes in Katsugeki that work and is another annoying
reason why this show never fully lives up to its potential. Also seeing Hijikata speak with Tetsunosuke
brought back vibes of Peacemaker Kurogane.
Sure it’s not the most spectacular Anime but it does have a soft spot
from my early Anime watching days, so it’s good to see these characters again
in some way. Also, I’ll admit, Kanesada
running to his Master just as he’s about to die, knowing he cant save him, that
was a nice touch too and a good test of his commitment to both the man and his
mission.
Naturally,
Ufotable can make up for a lack of actual story or decent characters with its
visual powers. It isnt surprising that
Katsugeki has had this working in its favor the entire time and if this were
being animated by any other studio, it would be even more forgettable. There are some stunning moments sprinkled
throughout the finale but few of them are actually action bits. I mean yeah watching Ufotable animated
characters cleave through anything with a blade looks cool. But it’s the quieter moments like Kanesada’s
search through the fiery ruins of the Satsuma compound and his chat with
Hijikata that remind audiences that Ufotable can make more than action look
dazzlingly beautiful. That said, the
battle against the 1000 TRA demons feels underwhelming, especially when the OP
Vet Squad shows up and starts doing what Saniwa should have sent them to do
from the start. Do they kick ass, sure
but I also don’t like the majority of them so why should I say “Ohhhh and
daaaamn” when they do something cool?
There’s a post
credits bit where its revealed a movie project is in the works…but why would
anyone want to check it out when Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu is so damn
terrible? The story makes no sense. The characters have promise but one a couple
ever show glimpses of their potential.
The animation is stunning but doesn’t make up for the lack of everything
else needed to make an Anime work. And
worse off, even with flashy battle scenes, it’s both boring as heck and
frustrating to watch when you have a million questions about why things are
happening but you’re never given any answers.
Characters like Kanesada and Yoshiyuki provide decent character work and
entertainment but everything else suffers under the weight of an Anime that
thinks it’s importance is greater than it actually is and squanders its 13
episode run time in favor of looking cool and thinking it can get away with
that. Ugh. This is easily the worst Ufotable work I’ve
ever seen and that’s coming from a fan that can forgive even the shortcomings
of the Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel finale.
Also, everytime I see Saniwa, I just wanna throttle him for actual
answers about anything going on in this show.
Yeah, 13 episodes was more then enough for me. A movie?
Someone else can watch it, I’m tagging out of this train wreck (also
it’s been 6 years since that was announced and nothings come of it so I think
even Ufotable’s gotten the message).
Katsugeki/Touken
Ranbu gets a 4/10
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