Netflix’s Latest Anime ‘SwordGai the Animation’ is Just Shy of Being Binge Worthy

  SwordGai: The Animation is one of the dozen original anime productions Netflix revealed last year. With the ability to binge through an entire series in a weekend, anime fans are always looking for the next new thing to hold them over. Is SwordGai worth your time? The short answer is no. For the long answer, continue on dear reader. The story takes place in modern Japan. In this world, cursed weapons can come to life under the right circumstances. This usually involves an act of great evil which taints the weapon, but it can also result from a pact with a demon or other means. Possessed weapons have the ability to merge with humans, forming a “Chrysalis,” or human which can wield the power of the weapon at will. There is a terrible price for this power, however. The demonic power of the weapon eventually corrupts the wielder, turning them into a Bosuma, a demon which exists only to kill and destroy. It is into this world that Gai Ogata, the sixteen year old protagonist, is born under tragic circumstances. His mother encountered one of these weapons, a Japanese sword named Shiryu, while pregnant with Gai. Rather than be consumed by its evil spirit, she took her own life, and Gai was born during the trauma. He was found by Amon Ogata, a swordsmith who takes him and the Shiryu in and raises him alongside his daughter, Sayaka. FORESHADOWING Gai is an inexplicably moody protagonist whose anger is never properly explained or contextualized. It’s true that his mother took her…