Kamisama Kiss Season 1 Blu-ray Review
Nanami Momozono, an ordinary high school girl, has been thrown out of her home by debt collectors (her dad has done a runner). As night falls, she’s sitting in the park, wondering what to do next, when a young man begs her to save him from a persistent dog. To thank her, he offers her a place to stay and unexpectedly, before he takes his leave, kisses her on the forehead. When she goes in search of his house, it turns out to be a dilapidated old shrine. The two little shrine attendants, Onikiri and Kotetsu, tell Nanami that the stranger who kissed her is Mikage, the god of the shrine – but that by kissing her, he’s made her land god in his stead (while he goes off on his travels). The only other problem? Tomoe, the handsome fox demon who should be acting as her familiar, refuses to acknowledge her in Mikage’s place. But then – when her life is in danger – she hears from Onikiri and Kotetsu that if she kisses Tomoe, he’ll be forced to save her. What else is a girl to do? Now Tomoe – much against his will – is bound to be her familiar and do what she commands. He also warns her not to go out without him as her newly acquired powers as a land god make her a very tempting meal to other yokai.
Nanami, after her initial dismay, determines to make the best of her new role and sets to work to clean the shrine. She’s also determined to continue her education, so she returns to school – where a good-looking transfer student, Kurama, is dazzling all the girls – but seems to resent Nanami’s lack of interest in him. Tomoe reveals that he’s really a tengu who’s making a career as a pop idol and to punish him, turns him into an ostrich!
And then one day at school, there’s panic in the corridors when a white snake appears. Nanami rescues the snake but finds it has left a magical mark on her arm. Tomoe tells her that the snake is Mizuki, a snake spirit and the mark is a proposal of marriage. To protect her, Tomoe starts coming to school as a transfer student with predictable results. However, Mizuki is determined to make Nanami his bride and kidnaps her. Spirited away to the shrine of Yonomori, the water god he serves, Nanami tries to escape and when her efforts fail, calls in desperation to Tomoe to come to her rescue.
Nanami’s status as land god has begun to cause ripples in the world of the supernatural and Narukamo, god of thunder, is jealous that she has made Tomoe her familiar. Stealing Nanami’s god mark, she turns Tomoe into a child, sapping him of his powers. Nanami has to turn to Kurama for help…
Tomoe and Nanami may have started out at cross purposes but, in spite of themselves, they have begun to have feelings for each other. But, due to a tragic incident in Tomoe’s past – and the unwritten law of the spirit world that a human and a yokai must never marry – the fox demon has tried to distance himself from these feelings. Will there ever be a chance for the two of them to acknowledge their love?
Based on Julietta Suzuki’s immensely popular shojo manga (which ran for 25 volumes in Hana to Yume 2008-16) the TV anime of Kamisama Kiss from TMS Entertainment first began airing in 2012. This means, that to today’s eyes, it might look a little dated (those flip phones!) – but that also adds to its charm. It’s also very faithful to the original manga in the character designs and overall look, with much use of muted, misty pastel colours which greatly enhance the supernatural scenes.
Tomoe is one of those resourceful shojo heroines like Tohru Honda (Fruits Basket) who bounce back, no matter what life throws at them – and one can see why directing this series appealed to Akitaro Daichi who also directed the first and much-loved anime series of Fruits Basket. As with Fruits Basket back in 2001, the source manga for Kamisama Kiss was ongoing when the anime came out. Two seasons were made and there are also four OVA which have never been given an English version release. Kamisama Kiss is also typically shojo in that the heroine’s new status attracts several attractive young men (yokai in this story) who seem threatening at first but whom she helps and who eventually become her allies and friends, rather than love interests.
Many familiar shojo tropes are to be found here, but all are entertainingly woven into the main story: yes, there’s even a beach episode (#8) – and the development of the central relationship between Nanami and Tomoe is sympathetically portrayed. The menacing supernatural beings are convincing yet there are plenty of fun scenes where the yokai change their appearances so that they can attend high school as ordinary teenagers but are so inherently glamorous they don’t really blend in at all. (This trope is still being used to good effect in Witch Watch!) All credit to Akitaro Daichi and his team for making the drama move along swiftly and maintaining the manga’s nicely judged balance of comedy and dramatic elements.
Both Japanese and US casts give appealing performances, especially in the case of Tomoe who’s voiced by Shinnosuke Tachibana (Yuki in IDOLiSH7) and J. Michael Tatum (Sebastian in Black Butler) and Nanami who’s voiced by Suzuko Mimori (Sora in Digimon Adventure: tri) and Tia Ballard (Happy in Fairy Tail). The US cast are helped by a witty script from Jamie Marchi, Andy Gay and Leah Clark.
Toshio Masuda (Naruto) is responsible for the soundtrack which fits the supernatural atmosphere well and cleverly uses the shrill flutes and drums of traditional festival music to accompany the two little shrine spirits. Both the OP: “Kamisama no Kamisama” (God of God) and the ED “Ototoi Oide” (Come Another Day) are performed by Hanae. I like the way the ostinato introduction to the ED starts quietly but insistently in the background as the end of each episode approaches, building up to the vocal entry as the credits role.
Extras include two commentaries (Episodes 1 and 12) and a video commentary for Episode 6 by the US cast, textless songs and a US trailer. The Blu-rays are easy to navigate and the subtitles are easy to read. Issued at the same time as this Blu-ray release from MVM is a Collector’s Edition which contains Seasons 1 & 2 and a rigid artbox containing 10 art cards (not seen). Season 2 (which I reviewed for this site in 2016) is, I understand, still available from MVM in Blu-ray.
Kamisama Kiss is still a very engaging watch for those who like their shojo romance anime combined with Japanese yokai, making it one of the most likable supernatural manga adaptations of the last fifteen years.
Our review copy was supplied by MVM.
