Last month on Katanagatari, Shichika and Togame retrieved Zantou Namakura from the tragic villain Ginkaku. The next sword on the list is Sentou Tsurugi, or the thousand swords. The weapon has fallen into the hands of Meisai Tsuruga, the matriarch of a shrine and yet another foe with a tragic history. What are you going to do now Shichika?
Apparently, he's going to get punched in the face.
The episode starts with our heroic duo climbing the thousand steps outside of the shrine. Shichika ends up carrying Togame up to the top, where Tsuruga greets them. The two women retire to discuss the terms of their visit. Tsuruga lays out the challenge: Togame must identify the original Tsurugi, while Shichika must defeat her in combat. A shrine maiden attempts to kill the strategian, but Tsuruga blocks her and sends all the girls away. The leader calls Shichika in to tell him about the purpose of the temple. It serves as a refuge for broken women who have nowhere else to go. Despite hearing the story, he stays determined to defeat her in combat. Maniwa Kuizame shows up to claim the sword, but Tsuruga dispatches him with ease. Togame believes she has found the original Tsurugi, and the battle begins. Tsuruga lures Shichika into a trap, and then explains her past in detail. Shichika “escapes,” and the two face off for a final rush between his martial arts and the true Tsurugi. He emerges triumphant upon slaying her in a single blow.
I'm convinced the Maniwani exist solely for comic relief.
The shrine maidens set the framework for this episode. Many of the girls suffered severe abuse at the hands of men. The psychological damage is so extensive that they cower in fear of Shichika, even though he would do them no harm. They all came to the temple looking for a sanctuary, both for their broken minds and from the crimes they committed. While their assailants may have raped or abused them, in the eyes of the law, they are guilty of murder. As a result, they also have to keep their faces covered so no one can recognize them. Their circumstances force them to live in isolation for the rest of their lives. Tsuruga puts their welfare ahead of her own life. Thus, Togame offers aid from the Shogunate to take care of the temple and pardon the women for their crimes.
All he did was pick up a bundle of wood.
Tsuruga is quite an interesting character. She lost her father to the rebellion. To gain power and influence, she used the skills he gave her to kill hundreds of people. Then, she found salvation, but only by treading upon the bodies of her comrades and an innocent priest. Finally, she has helped all the girls at the shrine to repair their damaged minds, but they will have to pay with their souls. Everything she set out to do has reached fruition, but she did it by paving the road of her life in blood. To her, the ends do not justify the means. At this point, she doesn’t feel she has the power to break the cycle, or no longer thinks she’s fit to try. Following Shichika out of her trap seems like a tactical blunder, but she herself says she thought she would probably die. Like Ginkaku before her, Tsuruga ultimately wants death, and she knows that Shichika is fully willing to grant her wish.
If this sounds familiar, it came up last episode as well.
On that note, Tsuruga also mentions a belief in fate several times. Let’s look at the events in the series through that lens. When Togame’s father died in the rebellion, it set into motion events that would cause her to resent the empire. Since Shichika is the only heir to the anti-sword style, fate dictated that the two would meet. Their search means that so long as they live, they will eventually meet every person who bears one of the twelve swords. Tsuruga believes fate decided that her multi-sword style would bring her in contact with the Tsurugi that perfectly compliments her. This means that her path would have to cross Shichika’s at some indeterminate point. The ensuing battle would finally allow her to feel death’s embrace. When you look at it in this manner, Tsuruga’s death broke her cycle, but served to prolong Shichika’s.
Finally free...
Finally, we need to look at Shichika’s character development. You probably have trouble sympathizing with him given the way the writers have constructed his character. When Tsuruga questions him on why he fights, he states that he does it because Togame wishes it. It evokes thoughts of a soldier that carries out his duty with no regard for the task’s morality. That idea is firmly rooted in reality. Many times, we kill our enemies because they tried to kill us without taking a moment to think about why they tried to kill us. Even when he’s given the opportunity to learn Tsuruga’s motivations, he ignores it. This leads Tsuruga to accuse him of ignoring it simply because he doesn’t want to think for himself. She is absolutely right, and he even admits it. Think about it. Tsuruga and Ginkaku are not truly evil characters. At worst, they are simply misguided. Their only real crime was standing in the way of Shichika’s, or rather, Togame’s goal. He never questions if the ends justify the means. I have to wonder if a real fight for his life would get him to start examining his actions, and it seems that Sabi will put him through hell next month. I’m looking forward to it.
Hopefully, you'll have to think for yourself sooner rather than later.
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