English Dub Review: Katana Maidens: Toji no Miko “Innocent Sword”

Sheathe your sword!

Overview (Possible Spoilers Below)

The episode begins as the “Sword Administration” continues to investigate the aftermath of Mai’s failed attempt to stop Hiroyi & Kanami as for some reason, Yukari refuses to mobilize the military in pursuit of the two. Frustrated at the apparent lack of progress, A Demanding purple-haired bitch of a President of the Renpu Academy named Yukina privately sends out her best Toji Subordinate Sayaka to track them down despite being ordered by Yukari herself not to do anything. Meanwhile, Kanami and Hiyori use the phone number that Mai had previously given them and are met by Rui, a former Minoseki student and a retired Toji who agrees to help them by the request of Minoseki’s headmaster, President Hashima.

A good portion of the episode is spent on the two staying at Rui’s place as Hiyori is unable to trust Rui to a certain extent as shown when she has her Okatana with her at all times. Later on, Kanami wonders why Hiyori won’t tell anyone or even the press about the discovery she made about Yukari, but Hiyori doesn’t think it’s possible since Yukari has the government under her proverbial thumb, but Kanami suggests they need help on the matter since Yukari maybe too overpowered even for Hiyori to handle alone. While Mai discovers the rest of her class are going back home, she notices Sayaka leave in a car and meets Two other Toji’s by the name Erin and Kaoru, along with Kaoru’s tiny cute pet named Nene who steals the scene with just it’s cuteness alone.

When we get to the third act, Mai begins to see a darker side of the Sword Administration’s politics when she’s verbally chewed out by Yukina for prioritizing the Aradama attack over pursuing the two fugitives and was even threatened by one of Yukari’s sadistic elite guards named “Yume”, While after dinner, Rui then puts Kanami and Hiyori in contact with one of her online friends codenamed “Gladdy”, who tells them to go meet at a specified location. But seconds after they get the message, Sayaka straight up attacks them. It’s a well-paced action scene that adds the right amount of dramatic tension & weight as Sayaka turns out to be too fast for even Hiroyi, but just when Hiroyi is about to make a very tough decision, the episode ends on a positive note when Kanami is able to find a solution without anyone getting hurt.

Our Take

So many new characters were introduced in this episode. From what I can gather, the politics of the Sword Administration are in a subtle way shown also have an ugly & ruthless side in their methods as exemplified by Yukina and Yukari’s Royal Guard Yume. It’s not yet explained why Sayaka was so emotionless during her attempt to kill Kanami & Hiroyi, but are we’re left to assume that it’s possible for Okatana’s to control their wielders when they choose them or is it an outside force that made Sayaka follow Yukina’s orders without question?

We also learn that there’s some sort of underground resistance group with a leader who calls him/herself “Gladdy” but who is Gladdy? what are they even rebelling against? Do they also know the big twist regarding Yukari? and finally, Why does Yukari still not care about pursuing the very person who tried to kill her two episodes ago?

I’m pretty sure we’ve got a long way to go before we get to those answers, but I’m hooked enough to keep watching.