From director Akitaro Daichi, we get another tale of a homeless high school girl who is taken in by some very strange benefactors. This time it involves the world of Japanese spirits and gods. Wait, the other one did too…
What They Say:
Ep. 1 “Nanami Becomes a God”
Abandoned by her father, Nanami finds herself homeless when she meets a man who offers his own home to her. His home turns out to be a shrine where his supernatural household awaits the return of their lord and master after a 20-year absence.
Ep. 2 “The God Becomes a Target”
Nanami discovers that Kuruma, a famous pop star, has transferred to her high school, which spurs her to return to school. However, as a weak land god, her life may be at risk if she wanders outside the shrine alone.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Based upon the manga Kamisama Hajimemashita by Julietta Suzuki, TMS Entertainment has now produced an anime adaptation being helmed by well-known director Akitaro Daichi. The manga was already licensed by Viz Media, but the anime is being streamed by FUNimation. FUNi has decided to use the localized name that Viz used, Kamisama Kiss.
17-year-old Nanami Momozono has it rough. It seems she is part of the horde of anime main characters whose fathers are debt-ridden wastrels, which results in Nanami being evicted from her home. Alone and destitute, she will have to rely upon the kindness of a stranger for shelter. Before things slide into depressing territory, however, the voiceover that introduces us to our heroine announces that this will be a romantic comedy. Let’s see.
After rescuing a man who is afraid of dogs, he offers his home to Nanami. Taking him up on his offer, it turns out that his “home” is a destitute shrine. Mikage, her benefactor, was in fact the local land god. At the shrine, Nanami is greeted by two fast-talking small spirits named Onikiri and Kotetsu as well as a much larger spirit, a fox spirit named Tomoe, who was Mikage’s familiar. Nanami and Tomoe get off to a bad start, the two mixing like oil and water. After Tomoe takes off, Nanami goes searching after him in the world that exists beyond the human realm. Of course, we knew that somehow Tomoe would have to be bound to Nanami, and it happens that when Nanami is in mortal peril, the two kiss, which makes Tomoe her familiar, her servant, as Tomoe had been to Mikage before.
With the exposition and setup completed in the first episode, the second episode brings us back to our world, where we see Nanami’s somewhat more normal life. Well, as normal as it is to live in a shrine and have your material needs taken care of by sprites and spirits. The new and interesting development, however, is the news that Kurama, a popular male singing idol, has just transferred to Ujigami High School, Nanami’s school. While Nanami might not have seemed all that eager to return to school before, now she is suddenly raring to go. Tomoe, of course, advises against it, since Nanami, now that she has taken in some of Mikage’s divine power (but not that much), has become a tempting target for more malicious spirits out there who would like nothing better than to taste a little deified human flesh. The divine mark on her forehead (the gift from Mikage) will mark her out as a tasty meal.
Tomoe relents, but only on the condition that Nanami wear an embarrassingly unsightly hood to cover her forehead. Isobe, her classmate, teases Nanami about it, but she’ll just have to live with the mortification. Of course, it’s time to reveal the real center of interest for this episode: the arrival of Kurama. The two of them get off to a bad start as well. Kurama seems to be in a bad mood, and tells Nanami to get out of “his” seat. Nanami runs off to cry in the bathroom where Tomoe visits her, though mainly, it seems to get her to come back to the shrine. Nanami dislikes his lack of concern for her feelings and storms off, only to run into Kurama who apologizes for his earlier behavior. This, however, does not make Nanami swoon, as it might many other girls. Nanami does not like Kurama’s attitude.
Things might seem to be headed in a worse direction when Kurama, who appears to have something of a mean streak within him, tries to set up Nanami by slipping some of his money into her pocket (when he met her outside of the bathroom earlier), but the plan fails spectacularly when Tomoe intervenes. It looks like Tomoe wants to make up a bit for how he has been treating Nanami, and so the class is overawed by Tomoe.
Of course, Kurama is not just being mean. His plan was to get Nanami into his debt, by showing his magnanimousness towards her before the class, though the plan goes awry with Tomoe’s intervention. Kurama is interested in Nanami perhaps partly because she does not just swoon over him as all the other girls do, but mostly because he has sensed there was something different about her. When Nanami goes to school the next day without the hood, he knows right away that she is a land god and sets his sights on her. Because if he eats her heart (literally, I bet), he can become the land god in her place. Of course, there are two things standing in the way of his dream. First, Nanami hates him and can see through his facade (though she does not seem to be aware that he is a crow spirit, not a human). Second, and more importantly, Tomoe is there and actually enjoys the chance to do some fighting with other spirits.
When Kurama’s plan is revealed, it only makes Tomoe interested. Interested in making Kurama tonight’s dinner for Nanami. Literally. He turns Kurama into an ostrich (ostrich meat is actually quite healthy) and chases him around the school. Alerted by the commotion, Nanami stops Kurama from being burnt to a crisp by fox fire, and convinces Tomoe to turn Kurama back into his previous form. It’s not that Nanami likes Kurama, she still dislikes him, but she does not want to disappoint all of the human girls out there who do like Kurama the singing idol. As a sidelight to all of this, outside the window of the nurse’s office, Mikage is watching from the shadows. While he has been a very irresponsible god for the past twenty years, it would seem he has an interest in Nanami and how she is handling her new position in life.
Already before I saw this, I had heard others making comparisons to Daichi’s well-known and still very well-liked work Fruits Basket, which would seem to share a lot in common with this work. Spunky, plucky heroine who is down on her luck? Check. Indomitable spirit in the heroine in the face of adversity? Check. Need to find shelter when she’s kicked out of her house? Check. Finds refuge with a “family” that is unusual? Check. Problems and comedy follow? Check. Love triangle? Check. Yes, the elements of similarity are certainly there.
But it’s not a pale imitation nor a boring copy. Nanami has a lot more confidence than Tohru Honda ever did, and is more willing to stick up for herself (much as I love Tohru, she often seemed to cower and fall into being a bleeding heart for any and all misfortune). Nanami is less willing to put up with others behaving in an overbearing or high-handed manner. While she does not want to see Kurama come to harm or suffer, she’s not going to just sit there and take his attitude without calling him on it. Tomoe is not going to get coddled or pampered. He is strong, so he doesn’t need it. Tomoe himself is a largely predictable figure, but a well conceived one. Predictable in that we have all became used to powerful male figures who pretend not to be interested in a girl, and yet are drawn to the one they alleged have no feelings for. The ones who say that are unconcerned about how the girl feels about them and whatever misfortunes might befall the girl, and yet show up to save the day at just the right time. We’ve seen this before, but it does not feel like a major problem yet. This is Tomoe’s role, this is what he is supposed to be doing, so while it may be all too predictable, it works well enough.
The other characters introduced so far are also filling predictable roles. Onikiri and Kotetsu, the two small spirits who always wear masks, form the comic chorus, comic relief characters to lighten the mood, often by giving them good throwaway one-liners to launch at just the right time. Kurama comes in clearly to form the third corner of the potential love triangle with Nanami and Tomoe, though it’s clear this is not going to be a straightforward contest as Nanami has already announced her dislike for Kurama (though we all know what that’s worth), and she has not yet expressed what are her likely deeply subconscious feelings for Tomoe at this point. It will be interesting to see whether they play this straight or just keep it as a toy triangle, to be used at times or ignored as the writers like.
An element, a strong element in this show’s favor, that is apparent from these two episodes is the humor, which is in line with the lighthearted world of Fruits Basket. Gags abound, sometimes set up in advance, sometimes just pulled out quickly. Perhaps the best gag, however, was the complete bursting of expectations in the fight between Kurama and Tomoe. I was expecting something more along the lines of a contest of powers or physical fighting, something to show off how powerful the two spirits were. Instead, Tomoe allows Kurama to throw a couple attacks at him (which do not seem to have worried Tomoe much at all), after which he swiftly turns Kurama into an ostrich and announces plans for tonight’s dinner. It was a great piece of expectations averted, making for a good gag.
So, while there are stereotypical elements to this show, the execution is well done and the basic characters introduced so far are likable, especially our lead Nanami. It is a good show so far, though I’m not ready to give it an A-rank grade just yet, as I feel there is room to grow.
In Summary:
Nanami Momozono is one of those luckless anime protagonists who finds herself out of house and home. A kindly stranger offers her his own home, which turns out to be a shrine, as he is Mikage, the local land god. Not only does he offer his home, but he also makes Nanami a god, though a very weak one. Still, she is not without help and protection, as she makes Tomoe, a powerful fox spirit and Mikage’s former familiar, into her own familiar. As Tomoe is a handsome man and Nanami a high school girl who likes girls’ romance stories, it’s easy to see where this is eventually going. But the characters are likable and the comedy works most of the time, so I have a positive feeling about this one. Definitely a show worth checking out if you like lighthearted comedy romances.
Grade: B+
Streamed by: FUNimation
Review Equipment: Apple iMac with 4GB RAM, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard
