Some random thoughts on Kamisama Kiss Episode 1: "Nanami Becomes a God"

Animation:

So, this is the pilot . . . and it shows.

This episode has that kind of incomplete feeling that a lot of anime pilots have. Everything looks a little bit rushed, a little bit choppy. There are scenes with no backgrounds or with minimal backgrounds that don't really seem like they should have no and/or minimal backgrounds. I spent a lot of my time while watching this episode thinking "Hey, where's the set?"

Of course, the animators may be trying to emulate the style of the manga, which is not exactly background-heavy, but what works in a black-and-white comic does not necessarily work as well once you add color and motion into the equation.

And speaking of backgrounds: In all 3 of the first 3 episodes of this series, there is a serious overuse of backgrounds constituted entirely by bubbles. I don't mind bubbles and sparkles and roses--oh my--in shoujo titles, generally speaking, but there is a tipping point. Seriously. Too many bubbles.

The character designs look good, and the animators were obviously conscientious about matching Julietta Suzuki's style. As I was watching, I remember thinking that there was something a little odd about the way the characters' mouths were drawn--and then I remembered thinking the exact same thing while reading the manga. So that's neat.

Voice Acting:

It's good. Not many characters are introduced in the first episode, but the male and female leads (Shinnosuke Tachibana and Suzuko Mimori) have really nice energy, and as a fan of the comic, I was pleased. (I never had that "Hey, that's not my Tomoe [or whomever]!" moment.) Tomoe comes off as both vulnerable and arrogant, and Nanami's voice actress manages an innocent enthusiasm and a sense of humor that helps to carry the more unlikely moments of the show. Both sound appropriate for their roles, and I enjoyed their performances. Unfortunately for me, I have seen just enough Sekirei to find Minato's voice actor a bit jarring as Tomoe, but I'll get over it.

Adaptation from the manga:

I think I wanted more. Like, literally, more. More content. Sometimes anime adaptations go out of their way to fill in what could be considered the "gaps" in manga: the stuff that happens between pages, between panels, between chapters and so forth. Sometimes they try to adhere strictly to the source material, adding and subtracting as little as possible. "Nanami Becomes a God" fits more in the second category than the first, but I think I would have been happier if the anime's creators had taken more creative license. Maybe added more detail, more backgrounds, more scenes. More little bits of business with the characters. If anything, this episode is less detailed than the equivalent plot arc in the manga.

The Opening Credits:

Song: "Kamisama Hajimemashita" by Hanae

Oh my. What is this song? Why is it here? Why does it sound like it's being performed by grown women pretending to be elementary-school girls? And why does it include lines like (according to the subtitles on Funimation and Hulu), "I want to be a bad girl / But I'll be a good girl" and "So I beg you / Let me keep doing sneaky things"? And why are most of the opening images just Nanami in various outfits? Boring, everyday, non-god-related outfits, at that? And what's with all the sensual focus on her mouth? And where are the men? I thought this was a reverse-harem title. Oh, wait, there they are. Lining up like the potential love interests in an otome game. There has to be a more interesting way to show them off.

Huh. I think these Opening Credits missed a really great opportunity to make use of the demons and other supernatural elements that are integral to this universe, but oh well. At least we've got inappropriate sexual innuendo. And clips of Nanami wearing clothes. Well, mostly. There are a couple of dubious images in which it's not exactly clear how much in the way of clothes she is actually wearing. And one in which she's posing with fruit. I don't know what to make of the overt sexualization of the overtly childlike Nanami in these opening credits.

The song itself is catchy, and kind of fun if you can get over or get into the 'little-girl' delivery. At first I thought it was just ridiculous, but to be honest, the more I listen to it, the more I like it. That's jpop for you, I guess.

On a side note, you can see Hanae's music video to the song on her youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/hanaechannel

Closing Credits:

Song: "Kamisama Onegai" by Hanae

So what's in the closing credits? The following:

A song that's fairly similar in tone to the opening song (which makes sense, since both songs are by the same artist, and both seem to have been made specifically for this anime), though less upbeat.

Still images of two male harem members who don't even make an appearance in the first episode, followed by a still image of Tomoe from his good ol'days, with more hair and more evil. All while silent "film clips" from the episode we just watched play in the upper right-hand corner. This is actually more forgettable than the opening credits sequence.

Overall Impression:

Um . . . undecided? I like the manga better so far, but I'm still really happy this exists. Since I plan to keep watching this series as it comes out, I may start doing episode recaps. Maybe I'll get a better grasp on how I feel about the show then.

Kamisama Kiss has an anime!

Obviously, I am completely behind on my following of manga- and anime-related updates on the Internet, or else I would have already known that Kamisama Kiss, which I blogged on here, has been adapted into an anime.

I was just doing one of the things I do, which is to say browsing through Hulu.com's "Recently Added in Anime" category, and hey-presto, there it was like Christmas and my birthday. Right here: http://www.hulu.com/kamisama-kiss.

I had been thinking for quite some time now that Kamisama Kiss, with its appealingly designed spirits and its unapologetic ::cough:: reverse-harem ::cough:: approach, would be quite well-suited to an anime adaptation, but who knew that the universe was listening?

Will watch.

Will blog.

We'll see how it goes.

Spotlight #6: Kamisama Kiss

English Title: Kamisama Kiss
Japanese Title: Kamisama Hajimemashita
Author: Julietta Suzuki
English Publisher: Viz Media
Manga?: Yes.
Novels?: No.
Anime?: No.
Volumes out in English: 8

Wow, it's been a looong time since I posted anything here. I guess I could talk about my work, my life and why I've let this blog lie fallow for so long, but I think I'd rather just jump back in with a new 'femdom manga' spotlight.

Like many a manga hero/heroine, Kamisama Kiss's Nanami Momozoni has a useless parental unit (in this case, her father) whose bad habits with money eventually lead her to become broke, homeless and alone. As we all know, broke, homeless and alone is an excellent jumping-off point for the hero/heroine in a shoujo or shounen manga. (See: Hayate the Combat Butler, Fruits Basket, Ultimate Venus and oh so many more . . . ) Sometimes, being broke, homeless and alone means that a manga protagonist will stumble their way into working as a maid/butler/housekeeper/groundskeeper in a live-in job at a new home, which is usually occupied by attractive members of the opposite sex. At other times, being broke, homeless and alone will directly precede the hero or heroine's discovery that they are the long-lost heir or some other form of successor to a new home, also frequently populated by attractive members of the opposite sex.

Summary (minor SPOILERS for Volume I): So, broke and homeless Nanami, who is all alone, is busy being broke and homeless and alone when she comes across a strange man who has been treed by a small dog. Nanami 'rescues' said man from said dog. After a short conversation, the man kisses Nanami on the forehead and tells her he is giving her his home. Our heroine thinks this is weird, but takes him up on it, as then at least she will no longer be homeless and alone (she will still be broke, but hey, you can't have everything). When she gets to her new home, she finds out that it is a shrine and that she is the new god of the shrine. She also meets Tomoe, the attractive-member-of-the-opposite-sex who will become her fox-spirit shinshi (meaning, in this manga at least, her spirit-beast servant). Tomoe is kind of a jerk and Nanami is kind of a ditz (this is shoujo manga, and it would honestly be more noteworthy if Tomoe were nice and Nanami were competent), but as the manga progresses, they slowly develop feelings for one another. One at a time, other attractive-members-of-the-opposite-sex start cropping up, giving the manga that "harem" feel we all know and love.

This goes on the femdom list, obviously, on account of the "shinshi contract" that Nanami enters into with Tomoe, which means that, not only is he bound to serve her, but he is magically bound to obey any command she gives him.

Nanami's reaction upon learning that Tomoe, who is kind of a jerk, will be loyal to her if she enters into the contract (Volume I, Chapter 2, page 64):



Nanami's reaction upon learning that Tomoe, who is kind of a jerk, is magically bound to obey her (Volume I, Chapter 5, page 144):



Nanami's not going to be breaking the shoujo manga heroine mold anytime soon, but I kind of love her for the two moments illustrated above. They're small, but they're important to me as a reader simply because it's rare to see a shoujo manga heroine express desire for any kind of power. In a lot of what I describe as 'femdom' manga and anime (not that there is all that much of it around to begin with), heroines luck into or back into power. They don't get it because they want it; it's just forced upon them. Because these characters are 'good' girls, and in many cases 'good' is expanded to mean 'passive', especially when we are talking about women of any age. (While this equivalence may be more prevalent in Japanese media, it's certainly to be found in American-made products as well.) It's refreshing to see Nanami, who is positively portrayed, gleefully anticipate having and using power, even if only for a few moments.

Of course, whatever authority Nanami has is largely subverted by the fact that Tomoe, who is kind of a jerk, spends a good portion of the series 'training' his master to become a better god, thus flipping the female-dominated master/servant relationship and turning it into a male-dominated teacher/student relationship, which is a pretty common trick for shoujo manga to play. Still, Nanami manages to retain some authority when it counts--in spite of her shinshi's sadistic streak--and she frequently manages to get her own way. This sometimes leads to her getting into trouble and realizing that she should have listened to the male lead, but again, this is shoujo manga. These things happen.

In many ways, Kamisama Kiss is a paint-by-numbers brand of shoujo title. The main characters, though ultimately sympathetic, are somewhat annoying and the supporting cast members (with one or two exceptions) are not particularly memorable. The art is pretty (and almost unbearably cute at times) and it does what it is supposed to do, but it rarely goes beyond that.

I love this series anyway. I really, really enjoy reading Kamisama Kiss. (So much so that when I cannot find the latest volume on the shelf at my local bookstore, I actually ask for it by name at the customer service desk. I know that doesn't sound like much, but it takes me a certain amount of courage to admit to a fellow adult that I want to read something with "Kiss" in the title. The cover art and graphics are usually in pastel tones, too . . . ) It's a cute, frivolous, wish-fulfillment title, with some adventure, some magic and lots of pretty animal-boys for the heterosexual preteen/early teen girl gaze (because they deserve eye-candy too!). Kamisama Kiss doesn't have a lot of surprises or even a lot of plot, but it makes for a fun, relaxing break from reality. And sometimes that's all you need.