Kamisama Kiss Review

Kamisama Kiss Review

Warning: The following review may contain spoilers. If you wish not to know some events in the story, or simply don't wish to find out what happens in the series, please leave the page, since I don't want to damage a watching experience for you.

Also, this review will contain some heavy fangirling.

With that said, thank you and onto the review:

The Shojo genre of manga has been something that's always been mentioned in my life that seems to offer some good stories, and cute romance. I read Alice The 19th toward the end of my 7th grade school year, and found the story quite enjoyable, even though it was SO obvious who she was going to end up with. *coughKyocough* And it was mentioned in the OVA's of Tenchi Muyo as a way to get Tenchi to notice Ryoko and Ayeka.

Besides that, I haven't seen or read any more shojo manga, or watched a show that's based off of it. Until the one ran into my hands at my local library.

This show is literally everything a super fangirl needs. Great characters, quirky animation, great story, and 3 sexy guys to battle for Nanami's affection. And it's just super hard to choose between two of them.

*swoons X1000* Ahh, these 13 episodes are so memorable.

Story

High school girl Nanami Momozono has pretty much a hard knock life. Her dad is normally out gambling, which causes her to not have as much money as people, and for wacky rumors to spread. But that all changes when her dad runs away after realize that he has a big debt, forcing Nanami to be evicted from her apartment and live out on the streets. The terror!

That all changes when she meets a man named Mikage, who she rescues from a tree, due to the fact that he was scared of a dog. As a sign of thanks, he kisses her on her forehead, and gives her his home. As due to the fact that she's homeless and pretty much broke, Nanami accepts the offer.

When arriving, she is greeted as the land god of the shrine by Onigiri and Kotetsu, two spirits who live in the shrine. She also meets Mikage's familiar named Tomoe, who tells her that Mikage used to be the land god of the shrine, and has left the mark on her forehead, causing her to now be the new land god. Unfortunately, Tomoe refuses to accept this, not seeing why a young human girl could possibly be a land god. So, he leaves the shrine, thus leading Nanami and the spirits to go after him.

After in which they find Tomoe and he STILL refuses to come back, the spirits tell Nanami how to make him her familiar: by a kiss to the lips! So she needs to seal it with a kiss, hmm? *plays Britney Spears song at full volume*

She is then attacked by a old demon, and has to hide up in a tree for shelter. She then sends Tomoe to come help her, but only if she says "Please forgive this foolish girl, O great Tomoe." to which she refuses, and when she falls out off the tree, she pulls Tomoe down with her. While falling, she then seals the contract of the familiar, forcing Tomoe to save her. And thus begins adventures of requests, a damsel in distress situation, a famous celebrity who might be a equivalent of Justin Beiber becomes a transfer student at her school, and later gets another familiar. What will happen in the land of the spirits? And when love is taboo between humans and demons, who will fall in love with Nanami first?

This story is quite original, and very fun to follow along. I had excitement predicting what would happen next, and I loved following along the paces of the misshapes and adventures of a new land god. I also liked playing matchmaker, and the dating game of "Who would you pick for best guy?" Although unlike Alice The 19th, it isn't made blatantly obvious who she ends up with. Because when you think she might end up with Tomoe, Mizuki just has to barge in, and it exceeds everything on my expectations.

Characters

Since there are too many side characters in this anime who don't play a role in the story, we will be talking about our 4 main characters. There's a villain too, but shh, he hasn't played a big role in the story yet.

Let's start off with Nanami Momozono:

First to start off, Nanami is probably one of those protagonists where she isn't completely clueless, or a stereotypical Mary Sue. For starters, she isn't the richest student in her class, and if often teased because of this. and when her dad ran away, she didn't really know what to do besides live on the streets. When she first becomes a land god, she isn't willing to do it because of Tomoe's attitude, but she later changes her mind once she settles in.

She is willing to anything for anyone, and is very open about her feelings. On various times, he is often scolding Tomoe over something that he did, such as turning someone into a animal, and thus begins some of her quests with ze Sacred Word Binding.

Okay, does anyone think that this reminds them of "Sit boy!" from Inuyasha?

Besides this, Nanami isn't your typical female protagonist. She has thoughts of her own, and is perhaps one of my favorite main female protagonists, with others going before her, but she's not far down the list.

AND NOW........ THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! IT'S TIME TO PLAY..................................... "WHICH GUY WOULD YOU RATHER DATE?" DODODODOODODODODODODOODODODODOODODODODODOODODODODOODODODODOODOD...

Your no fun. *sighs* Anyways......

#1: Tomoe

His hair is only long for about two episodes (being the end of episode 5 and episode 6) before going back to short, but I think this looks better on him. Enough about hairstyles though.

Tomoe used to be Mikage's familiar, after for several centuries being a ruthless and wild fox, who was the partner of the Demon King (our villain, well not yet, but still). He is very cynical, and often has a pretty rude demeanor, due to the fat that he doesn't trust others as easily as some individuals would. But he can sometimes be rather charming when the condition calls for it. Ooh la la.

He also has powers of his own, being able to disable other familiars by using leaves to slam on there forehead, turning into whatever animal he says. Though, when Nanami develops her Scared Word Binding powers (after Onigiri and Kotetsu tell her), his power is used to a lesser extent. Tomoe is also worried about Nanami due to the fact she is a human, and threatens anyone who speaks wrong or harms her. He might also have feelings for her, though Nanami doesn't know this due to the fact that he has constantly rejected her.

Tomoe is the main love interest of the show, and you can clearly see why. Not only can he be a bit rude, and often a little too over-protective, but he's nice and caring in his heart as well. Even though my main fangirl shipping isn't Nanami X Tomoe, it will always be my second home for this.

So those fans who ship it all the way, don't stare at me like this:

Or pelt rocks at my window. Okay? Good.

#2: Kurama

Kurama is a famous pop star who makes the fangirls, and I quote, "Squeal in excitement, before they pass out in mass." Thumbs up Jamie Marchi for this awesome line. He uses the gimmick of the "fallen angel" to have that bad boy personality trope, and wears Gothic makeup because of this. But in actuality, he is a crow tengu, another type of demon, from Mount Kurama, hence what his name is.

After having his plans thwarted by Tomoe to try and become the land god by eating Nanami's heart, he eventually becomes on even terms with her, even if Nanami still thinks he's arrogant. He even lets Nanami stay at his place after they are thrown out by Narakami after she takes over the shrine. He and Tomoe are the signature rivalry in this show, because with love, there's jealousy. Well, not necessarily, but still, it's proven not to have any series without one.

Kurama is my least favorite out of the love interests. Not because he has a horrendous personality, it mainly because if he and Nanami got into any relation-ship, it's clear to say it wouldn't work out. The chemistry between them is clearly for one side only, and it mainly focuses on the other two boys instead.

#3: Mizuki 

Now this is best guy in my opinion, right here. *thumbs up* and if don't agree with me, I don't mind.

To be honest, Grell and Mizuki have one character flaw. and that kind of compares to Mizuki kidnapping Nanami, and Grell killing Madam Red. But let's ditch those, because they're my favorite characters.

Mizuki is a lonely snake spirit who Nanami saved from some of her classmates. After this, he kidnapped her and almost forced her to live in the Yonomori shrine, as well as becoming his wife. Forced engagement alert! It sometimes goes wrong! 

After Tomoe rescues her from Mizuki, Nanami takes pity on him, and promises to visit him. Though he manages to come to her when she gets sick in Episode 6. Afterwards, he begins to show that he is falling in love with her, and in Episode 9, becomes her second familiar.

DAT SCENE DOE.......

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN'T  TAKE IT ANYMORE! FANGIRL TIME!

Okay, I'm good. But if you play me that scene, I swear to you that I will be screaming at the top of my lungs. But beside that, Mizuki also hates Tomoe, mostly because of his constant mocking. He even has the power to make flawless sake. Ryoko would be surely impressed!

Mizuki is that character that I think anyone might eventually love after a few episodes. He may be sneaky, but he also has heart, and perhaps extra love for Nanami. Besides that, he is often confused about the customs, and seeing him in episode 11 getting used to it made me awe in cuteness level.

Back to that kiss scene, I've never fangirled about something outwardly. If I fangirl, I normally do it internally, for examples recently, when Grell returned to Season 3, and when I found out that Toshiro is one of the main focuses of the second Bleach movie. 

*swoons* Gotta love fangirling.

Other characters include Nanami's friends, Mikage, the two spirits, Narukumi, Mikage, a lake deity, the dragon king, his wife, Mikage's partner, and the eventual villain. All of these characters don't really make a big impact on the plot, but they are still enjoyable, besides the "villain".

Animation

The animation was done by TMS Entertainment, who also animated series such as Magic Knight Rayearth, D Gray Man, and Sonic X.

I was surprised to see some lovely animation from a company I didn't know much about. The drawing style was quite unique, and it didn't rely heavily on CGI. It had some beautiful character designs, and interesting backgrounds.

And to find out that this company animated shows that I've heard about when growing up (mainly Sonic X) was surprising. The main animation always seems to look different, and it is such a treat.

So once again for animation, no complaints. XD

Sound

The score for this series was composed by Toshio Masuda, who has also worked on scores for Naruto and Excel Saga. The score is often very bubbly and energetic, and never goes down into dark and serious mood unless it has too, which at sometimes it does. But most of the time, it's very light and comical, and does the job well.

Both the opening and ending are sung by Hanae, and at first, I found it really hard to get into both of them. It was mostly due to the fact that her singing style was a little bit different than what I'm normally used to. However in time, I began to fall in love with the opening, and with the ending on a lighter note.

Both the original Japanese and the English dub are both examples of fantastic directional work. All of the cast gives it there all, and it shows in some of the crucial moments of the show. Each performance is unique, and none of them sound too similar. 

Highlights of the original Japanese are EVERYONE!

Highlights of the English dub are EVERYONE!

Verdict

Okay, I'm going to say this with self assurance: Kamisama Kiss is without a doubt the show I most fangirled in. With it's wonderful main cast, great animation, and interesting score, what's not to like?

If you want to watch any anime in the next few months, I would say this is one you should explore. The more you are into romance and fantasy, the more you are going to rip this show from your catalog, and spend hours upon hours spinning around on your bedroom floor gushing on how much you wished you watched this show sooner.

Now excuse me, I need to fangirl about Episode 9 so more. It's been since May, and I can't stop thinking about it.

Score: 10/10

Positives:

Fantastic characters.

Unique story.

AMAZING Japanese and English audio.

NANAMI X MIZUKI FOREVER!

Great score.

Unique animation.

Negatives:

Side characters don't contribute a lot to the story.

The "villain" doesn't do anything besides make two guest appearances.