The final battle approaches in the 23rd episode of Katana Maidens ~ Toji No Miko. Things may have ended on a happy note in the previous episode, but the Toji have yet to defeat their foe.
No better time for snacks than with the end of the world just mere minutes away
In this episode, Princess Tagitsu is bringing the boundary between the human world and the netherworld down. She intends to destroy the boundary.
Meanwhile, Kanami and the other Toji decide to take a quick break, and even grab some office snacks. Kaoru’s all up for taking them without leaving any money, but Sayaka calls her out on it. Yukari comes up with a solution, and they eat the snacks.
May I offer you a mint chocolate chip biscuit in this trying time?
Kaoru gives Hiyori a pack of mint chocolate chip biscuits, and Hiyori offers one to Yukari. This scene is quite amusing, though it is just some light comic relief before the girls get back to preventing the end of the world.
Richard contacts the girls to tell them what Princess Tagitsu wants to do, and what that means for everyone.
Kaoru offers a simple answer for what they should do next: defeat Princess Tagitsu
To prevent the netherworld from crashing into their world, the Toji simply have to defeat Princess Tagitsu. That is a simple suggestion put forward by Kaoru, and the others all agree. Rui also shows up with some fresh batteries, so the girls are all ready for the battle against Princess Tagitsu.
The Toji confront Princess Tagitsu
I won’t go into detail about the battle against Princess Tagitsu, but I will say that I enjoyed watching it quite a bit. Princess Tagitsu is impressive for being able to handle seven foes, but the Toji all show off some really neat moves as well.
Maki and Suzuka discover Yukina holding a funeral for Yomi
As the fight with Princess Tagitsu rages on, Maki and Suzuka find Yukina. She is holding a funeral for Yomi, who had protected Yukina with her life. Maki and Suzuka try to get her to go, but she refuses at first. However, she is persuaded after Maki says how that Yomi sacrificed herself for Yukina, and to not let that go to waste.
The fight continues as the boundary of the netherworld closes in
The Toji and Princess Tagitsu soon find themselves fighting in the boundary of the netherworld – time is really running short. Princess Tagitsu uses jin’i, and continuously raises the level of it. The Toji attempt to pursue her, but only Kanami, Hiyori and Sayaka can match Tagitsu’s jin’i.
These three tell Tagitsu she is lonely
The three who are able to follow Tagitsu tell her that she is actually lonely, and that she went on a rampage simply because she wanted an opponent. They compare her to a child. Since they can’t save her, the only thing they can do is cut her down and exorcise her.
Hiyori forces Princess Tagitsu elsewhere, so she can confront her alone. However, Yukari joins the fight, and stabs Tagitsu. However, Tagitsu gets out of that situation, and stabs Yukari before she can generate utsushi.
Princess Tagitsu enjoys the battle
Kanami is able to join Hiyori, simply because she tried her hardest to do so. She can tell that Tagitsu is enjoying the battle. Kanami wants to keep clashing swords, because she is enjoying it as well. Conversations can be had through sword fights, and that allows Kanami to learn more about Tagitsu.
Hiyori then stabs Tagitsu, and says that she lied to Kanami earlier – she said that they would be going back together. Kanami says she knows, and stabs Tagitsu as well.
Their fate is left uncertain for now – we’ll have to wait until the last episode to see what happened to them.
However, there is a scene after the credits.
Ayumu wakes up
Ayumu wakes up, and the first thing she wants to know is the whereabouts of Kanami. She wants to apologise to her.
That wraps up this episode, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. That moment of light relief near the beginning was a fun little distraction, and then the actual fight against Princess Tagitsu was fun to watch.
The stakes are quite high, but what else would you expect from an anime that is coming towards its end?
It seems to be setting things up so that Hiyori and Kanami chose to sacrifice themselves to defeat Tagitsu, but I’m going to hold out hope that they will be back. Either that, or that they remain together forever.
Next week is the final episode, so I’ll be writing a review for the whole series once that has aired.
Rory Muses 