Toji no Miko

A story about girls with swords fighting some critters that pop up randomly to cause trouble. I (and probably a lot of other people) expected it to be a fun, lighthearted show, focused on hijinks and friendly competitions. Hooo boy, were I wrong... the first episode twist shattered that expectation, the whole second episode put it in a coffin and the twist at the end just buried it. Now we have our main characters on the run from their own organization and the head of that organization got replaced by Aratama possibly years ago. Talk about dark.

Really interested where this is going.

I'll repost here what I put in the Winter 2018 thread

Katana Maidens ~ Toji No Miko: The first episode was a bit meh but the second was an improvement with the twist ending, this would probably have been better if they had been shown back to back. The two main girls seem to be developing a nice dynamic and the monsters have cool designs.

Yeah, the first one seems to be designed to lull the viewer into a sense of familiarity until the last minute where the twist happens. The second one is much more interesting from the get go.

Hm, ep 3 was on the weaker side. Moving pieces around and teasing at some things, but not much actually going on. Dream sequence had an interesting implication, though

A slower episode dealing more with the intrigue, but still decent. Kanami herself has some secret stuff going on apparently. She's turning out to be a much better protagonist that I thought she would be. Hiyori isn't impressing as much, but she really hasn't had an ideal opponent yet.

Seems they are other people in on the conspiracy than just our leads. This show is thick with intrigue, totally not what I expected, but I'm liking it.

We still don't even know how Hiyori knows about Yukari being Aratam, but I suspect that it has something to do with her mother death.

Next episode, Ellen and Kaour join the fun.

Was it just me or did the apartment in episode 3 have the same layout as the one in Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid?

As for the episode itself, it was a little on the slow side even for someone like me who likes shows that take things slow. The action at the end was reasonable but the intrigue was the focus and it is definitely quite interesting, as was the dream sequence.

Now that you mention it, I think you're right. But that could just be a fairly standard layout for an apartment in Japan.

Similar, but rooms are flipped. Door, Kitchen then Living Room here. Door, Living Room, Kitchen in Dragon Maid

4. Plot is moving kind of slowly honestly. Still, the development between the two leads is good, and the other pair were entertaining, so I can forgive it.

Anyone else feel like they're watching a game adaptation? You can even recognize various gameplay gimmicks

Speaking of which, I think it'd've been better off going full 3DCG

I'm really enjoying the slow intrigue of this show. It's so unlike my expectations.

Oh hey, this episode was pretty good. Not too much on the plot side, but there's some neat action, and Kaoru is likable

5. It seems the Elite Guard is compromised as well. Not surprising, but it helps to get a clear line on who knows what on the enemy camp. Kaoru got some nice development. Yomi's got a creepy power, but she really needs a bodyguard.

oh yeah Kaoru is a nice character. Good to see her get some focus. Hopefully Ellen gets some next episode.

Seems the elite guards are aradrama too. This explains some things.

That was a nice combo attack.

I'm still surprised that this series has such a dark story-line.

6. Okay, the villains are becoming pathetic at a rapid pace. The Elite Guards can't seem to do anything, and Yomi ended up KO'ing herself. At least she got a creepy form out of it. Kind of odd the protagonists didn't capture her while they could, but whatever. Ellen is showing herself to be the craftiest person thus far. So Yukari has an aradama plant? Can't be good. And in the meantime, our protagonists join up with people that hopefully aren't terrorists.

Ellen really is pretty crafty. She mastered the art of obfuscating stupidity and getting the info she wanted instead.

So, it seems, the extent of aradama operations is even wider than previously though of. The Elite Guards have aradama implanted into them, and they even have a giant pool of the things?

Thankfully it seems the first act of the story is over, as the girls are just on the run, but managed to reach the heroic resistance movement. And those guys seem organized.

Now, hopefully we'll get some answers.

7. Well, that's some heavy backstory for Sayaka. Seems that all the top brass at Renpu is compromised. Good on Sayaka at least for breaking through. Oh hey, one of the elite guard is finally living up to her hype. Of course she was the one that didn't go on the serious mission. Full team is assembled. I must admit, I've grown to like all of them.

Wow yeah this show is quite dark at time. Glad that Sayaka got out at least. Renpu is the center of the conspiracy it seems. A conspiracy to... I'm still not sure.

Ah well, now that everyone's here, time for some flashback. Maybe we'll find out what exactly happened back then.

8. Backstory backstory backstory. Not too much that couldn't have been pierced together already, but nice to find out about Kanami's mother. Hopefully Yukari is about to act soon.

Ugh, the script for this episode was lousy. Poor dialogue, and a fixation on details that don't really matter

So, if I understood it correctly, if Kanami's mom didn't butt in at the last moment, none of this would have happened? Nice Job Breaking It, Hero

9. Festival antics promptly followed by the organization falling apart. About as expected, though there were some interesting revelations about aradama. And it looks like there's a reason Yume is so much stronger than everyone else.

So uh, Aradama are made from the leftovers from the process of making Okatana? Why don't they stop making those then?

10. Shit's Going Down: The Episode. Spiffy new equipment they've got there.