Swordgai The Animation: Complete Collection

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I had remember seeing an ad for Swordgai during one of my Netflix viewings some time ago and always meant to had circled back around to it one day. That time has finally come as Sentai Filmworks sent over both seasons of it spanning across 24 episodes in the Swordgai The Animation: Complete Collection. Following the story and piecing it together can be a chore, but action fans will want to pick up with swords and stick with it.

Taking place in Japan where some ancient swords and other weapons are so old that they actually have souls and will possess anyone who wields them to kill and feed them blood, we’re soon introduced to our young hero Gai Ogata. When he was just a baby, his father and mother were possessed by a sword called Shiryu, leading to their deaths and leaving him to be raised by swordsmith Amon Ogata, who takes him and the sword and has him growing up with his daughter Sayaka.

Gai becomes a swordsmith like Amon, but is constantly angry and pushing everyone away except Sayaka who is like a sister to him. As if things couldn’t get worse, Gai loses his arm in an accident which leads Amon to forging Shiryu into an arm for him. Meanwhile, an organization known as Shoshidai is also looking into these cursed weapons and special cases such as Gai. It falls on Gai to fight back against others possessed by these ancient weapons while also fighting against the bloodlust of his new arm, least he become an uncontrollable killing machine.

While I definitely enjoyed the whole possessed weapon concept and how the violence/action played out, I have to admit the story and pacing of this series is all over the place both figuratively and literally. There are times when Gai, who is supposedly the main character, will rarely show up in the show and will sometimes follow other characters as well as just random people. If you follow everything closely and can piece these bits together, you might be able to make some sense out of it.

At least everything looks and sounds good thanks to a nice high-definition transfer featuring clean and crisp visuals and audio. The only special feature is the clean opening intro, but since these three discs are packed to the brim with the series, there’s not much room for extras.

If you don’t mind an anime series that goes all over the place and keeps your brain on its toes, then you’ll want to take a look at Swordgai The Animation: Complete Collection. It looks great, is animated well, and has plenty of action to boot. Just be prepared to have your thinking cap on hand when the dust settles.

About the Author: Chris Mitchell