Anime Hajime Review: Kannazuki no Miko

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Kannazuki no Miko. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Living in the town of Mahoroba are Himeko Kurusugawa (voiced by Noriko Shitaya) and Chikane Himemiya (voiced by Ayako Kawasumi). Though they've chosen to keep it a secret, these two are close friends.

Himeko is shy, quiet, and timid. The result of a harsh childhood. She met Chikane years ago, drawn in by her beauty and confidence. Himeko considers Chikane to be an irreplaceable friend. One that she cares for very much.

Chikane is the daughter of a well-respected family. Although beloved by everyone, her first and only real friend is Himeko. In fact, her feelings towards Himeko go beyond friendship. But Chikane is afraid to confess her feelings in fear that they may not be mutual.

Life is like a paradise for the girls. But on the day of their shared sixteenth birthday, an ominous black cloud appears in the sky.

An apparition proclaims itself to be a terrifying god who plans to destroy humanity. With the help of its eight servants, the Orochi, this ancient evil seeks to plunge the world into darkness. To do that, however, the Orochi must eliminate the two people that can stop them. The Solar and Lunar Priestesses.

Those Priestesses are none other than Himeko and Chikane. While their task is daunting, the two friends must press on. Even when all things seem hopeless.

Series Positives

This is an anime that exists. Nothing more.

Himeko

Kannazuki no Miko is time filler. Though, I don’t feel as if it was time wasted. The series does several things right and it is an overall decent show.

The Story

Kannazuki no Miko was enjoyable. It made sense. It flowed. It was simple.

Chikane

As a romance, it did its job. For the first half of the show, it was your average high school love story. This aspect of the series could have been its own thing. And for a while, I wished that it had been.

There was no incentive to care about the actual point of the series at first. The world coming to an end at the hands of eight giant robots started off as a minor inconvenience. Kannazuki no Miko instead focused its attention on the relationship between its leads.

While interesting, the story went to extremes to tell a rather average tale. Yet there was a payoff.

The first half of the show took the time to build up the romance. It was an important setup for the latter half of the series. Not to give too much away, the events of Kannazuki no Miko forced our two heroines to fight. 

This sounds like we've been here before, doesn’t it? As in it's the same setup we saw in Venus Versus Virus.

Thankfully we didn't get the same result. Kannazuki no Miko managed to do what Venus Versus Virus failed at. The final confrontation wasn't sudden. It wasn't rushed. It didn't feel forced.

The bond between Himeko and Chikane was like the one between VVV's Sumire and Lucia. If not stronger. The difference was, the fallout between Himeko and Chikane had a valid reason. With Sumire and Lucia's lack of that, their fate only occurred so that there could be a tragic end. 

Kannazuki no Miko was much more rounded in this regard.

Series Negatives

I have more to say about what I didn't like about Kannazuki no Miko than what I did. 

Don’t get me wrong, what was good about the show was solid. It can carry you through.

No Deviation

With all the anime I've watched, the mecha genre is the one I know the least about. What I do know is the romance genre and this was what Kannazuki no Miko was to its core.

Thus, this show was predictable and clichéd. There was no effort in trying to deviate from the established formula. While a safe move, good anime isn’t good because it plays it safe. There needs to be a risk because part of the fun is the unexpected.

Kannazuki no Miko had no surprises. You'll not only be able to guess what's about to happen, you can guess what's about to be said verbatim.

Shows don’t have to change the rules each time. Except there does need to be as a sense of uniqueness. Adding giant robots does not count.

Genre Mixing

This series had giant robots. Okay.

I don’t have any issue with the idea of mechs being in this show. I just don’t get why they were in this show. They could've been demons or magical beings and nothing would've changed.

Mixing genres is cool to see. Especially when you think a particular pairing could exist. Regardless, though, genres must complement and support each other. Take Sora no Woto for example.

Why would a slice of life, military show even have a chance of working? For Sora, it did because these two aspects were on equal grounds. They worked together to make the story the way it was.

When a genre is replaceable, there's no point to it. Giant robots were out of place in this world. Instead of setting Kannazuki no Miko apart, it served as an unfortunate distraction.

Final Thoughts

I don’t hate Kannazuki no Miko. It’s forgettable. But while you’re watching, it’s fine.

This is an interesting twist of genres. Though it doesn’t work that well, it does prove that there's no combination that's too far-fetched.

The story was enjoyable and had plenty of heartwarming moments. Not to mention a few gut wrenching ones too. The romance succeeded where it needed to. Although there was nothing that special or noteworthy. If you're a fan of the mecha genre, you may get a kick out of this aspect of the show. It’s unnecessary, but still.

Can Kannazuki no Miko be skipped? Let's just say you could do worse things with your time.

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