Kamisama Kiss, also known as Kamisama Hajimemashita, is based on the eponymous manga created by Julietta Suzuki. The story begins when Nanami Momozono has just been evicted. Her father left her after he’d build up a lot of debt, thanks to his gambling addiction. While she’s trying to figure out how to move past this she meets Mikage, a man she ‘saves’ from a dog that was chasing him. Mikage is grateful for her help and offers her a place to stay, his house. Nanami decides to take him up on his offer, because doesn’t have any other options. When Nanami goes to visit the house she is stunned to find out that it’s not a house at all, it’s a shrine for worship.
During her visit she meets Onikiri and Kotetsu, the keepers of the shrine. Despite her initial shock in meeting the childlike youkai, she soon finds out they are very friendly. Unfortunately the same wasn’t true for Tomoe, a fox youkai who is angry because Mikage left him there. Nanami finds out that Mikage was the deity of this temple and that she is supposed to replace him. At first Nanami doesn’t want to live at the temple, but she eventually stays because she’s out of other options. Over time she feels more and more at home in the temple and starts noticing that she’s developing feelings for Tomoe.
In the course of the anime you get to know Nanami Momozono a lot more. You learn something about her background, but you also see her develop into an almost normal schoolgirl, if you don’t take into account he deities and youkai she runs into. Despite a few obstacles she enjoys her life and you see her grow stronger, if not physically at least mentally. She wants to develop her power more and more and clearly wants to be more independent. This causes her to make some rash and stubborn decisions, but eventually it usually ends well.
As the story progresses you see Tomoe open up to others more and more. Especially towards Nanami he becomes more willing to open up a little. His background is also elaborated on a bit more, especially his fear of abandonment. He clearly misses Mikage and has a hard time with it when he realizes that he needs someone else’s help. The relationship between Nanami and Tomoe is bumpy from the start. Their two personalities tend to clash from time to time, because Tomoe tries to protect Nanami and she would prefer to be able to take care of herself. This makes for a lot of funny moments and makes their relationship more interesting to watch develop.
Besides Nanami and Tomoe the story includes a lot of other interesting characters, who each have a well thought out and often interesting personality and background. Some character backgrounds are not elaborated on in the anime, but were thought out and described in the manga.
Unfortunately there was one thing that disappointed me about this series. There are a few low quality episodes, when it comes to the quality of the animation and drawing style. When I first noticed this I had a strong feeling that the original animation team must’ve been sick and had been replaced for these few episodes. It’s a shame, but luckily it didn’t make the story any less interesting.
I’m pretty in love with this anime. The characters and story are all well thought out. Especially the interaction between the characters creates a lot of fun scenarios. I’ve always been a fan of writers who tease their characters a bit and that certainly happens in this anime. This creates situations in which even stubborn characters admit their faults or flaws, even if it’s only to themselves, which they would normally never admit to. On top of all of this I think Nanami is a character you can empathize with. She isn’t capable of doing everything right on the first try, just like most people aren’t, but tries her hardest.
The anime momentarily consists of two seasons, with a total of 25 episodes. It’s not entirely clear whether there’ll be a third season or not, but the manga is ongoing. The manga is on its 131th chapter. It is easy to read and doesn’t deviate from the anime, you can even start off reading the manga where the anime ended and I highly recommend doing just that!
Studios: TV Tokyo
Started airing: 2nd of October 2012
Number of episodes: 25
Rating: 90/100
