Anime Hajime Review: Kamisama Hajimemashita Season Two

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Kamisama Hajimemashita Seasons One and Two. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

It has been several months since Nanami Momozono (voiced by Suzuko Mimori) became the new Land God. Though getting more comfortable in her role, she still has many things to learn. Not only that, she must deal with the intense feelings dwelling in her heart.

Nanami has fallen for her familiar, the fox demon, Tomoe (voiced by Shinnosuke Tachibana). While he has a tendency to be a jerk, Tomoe is always there for Nanami when she needs him the most. Unfortunately, it seems that Tomoe does not see her in the same way.

Yet as it turns out, Tomoe has also grown attached to Nanami. His new master is unlike anyone he has ever met. As much as he tries to deny it, Tomoe knows he loves Nanami as much as she loves him.

Be that as it may, these two are often busy with other matters. Being human is no excuse for neglecting one’s divine duties. As more time goes on, Nanami’s spiritual power increases. As does the relationship between the mortal God and the demon.

Series Positives

At the end of my Kamisama Hajimemashita Season One review, I said this.

(There) is a season two. I have no idea what this series has left to do. It ended on a satisfying note. I’m not sure where a continuation can go.

I didn’t expect to hit the nail on the head as hard as I did. I enjoyed this season. But if you were to ask which was better, the answer is clear. Kamisama Hajimemashita Season Two did not have the same impact as the original.

While watching I was having a good time. Except I was always aware something was not the same. This had the pieces. Many of the characters returned. There was little difference in tone and atmosphere. This was a true follow up. Lightning struck twice. Only not as much as before.

Keep in mind, the original Kamisama Hajimemashita is an outstanding romance series. It set the bar high. There was a lot to live up to. While this installment stands strong, it can’t compete with its predecessor.

What I’m saying is, this was fine. There was fun to be had. There were a ton of entertaining moments. This was not bad. It was just lesser. It didn’t deliver the same level of quality seen before. I’m still very happy with this series.

I’m making this sound awful, aren’t I. This wasn’t by any stretch of the imagination. Kamisama Hajimemashita Season Two had its merits.

More Characters

In the last series, the cast was big. Yet there were only a handful of characters that held any real weight. Not as much the case with Season Two. There were plenty more characters to get to know. And unlike before, most served some kind of purpose.

Mizuki (voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto) and Kurama (voiced by Daisuke Kishio) were again great to have around. Except now, they didn’t need an introduction. They could actually do things and be a part of what was going on. Particularly with Mizuki.

There were more scenes without Tomoe, so Mizuki had the chance to step up. Not as a romantic rival, but as Nanami’s familiar. The master-servant relationship between them grew considerably from the first season. Mizuki's loyalty to Nanami was a nice aspect of his character.

Though he would sometimes have ulterior motives, Mizuki was looking out for Nanami’s best interest. His nefarious side from season one had dissipated. What remained an enjoyment for teasing Tomoe.

This came off as a competitive, often violent, but functional brother-like bond for the two demons. Plus, their fondness for Nanami allowed them to tolerate being in the same room with each other.

Also returning from the original was the Wind God, Otohiko (voiced by Hiroki Takahashi). I don’t believe I mentioned him once in the last review. It was because he wasn’t much of anything in the last season. His biggest claim to fame was being the closest thing to an antagonist the first series had. Even though that’s stretching his role by a lot. Here he was more satisfying as Nanami’s mentor.

Otohiko was one of the few that was willing to stand up for Nanami. Unlike his fellow deities, he knew the kind of power the new Land God could wield. Thus, in his own roundabout way, he would help Nanami where possible. Although he would always let her be the one to prove herself.

Another important return was Mikage (voiced by Akira Ishida), Nanami’s predecessor.

If you value a character’s worth based on their screen time, then Mikage would be forgettable. But if you base such a thing on what happens when someone is around, then this is a different story. If a person only needs to be in one scene, then so be it. His time may have been short, but Mikage created a welcomed sense of reassurance. A reassurance that would go on to help bolster Nanami’s confidence.

Adding to those who came back were the number of newcomers. Something Season Two did better was having people feel important after their introduction. With that, there are two I want to point out.

The first was Mamoru (voiced by Hinata Kusunoki), Nanami’s shikigami. There’s not much I have to say about him other than he was a tiny monkey. He was cute. That and he was a perfect companion for Nanami.

The moment I saw Mamoru, I was afraid he was going to be a little brat. As in, he would have needed to warm up to Nanami. That didn't happen.

Instead, Mamoru clung to Nanami as soon as he saw her. The two were almost like mother and child, and it was adorable. Along with this, Mamoru allowed Nanami to elevate her powers. Together, they were formidable. And not in a potential sort of way. They worked well together. Nanami could demonstrate she wasn't an in-name-only God.

The second character was Kirihito (voiced by Junichi Suwabe). Where Otohiko was a placeholder antagonist, Kirihito felt more like the real thing. Not so much in this season, but down the line he could be a problem. That wasn’t why I liked him.

Kirihito got a fascinating story arc. We didn’t get a conclusion to it, yet that’s the case for every other person in this show. This is not important. What is, though, was how much Kirihito did change in this season. Even if there won’t be an anime version of this resolution, what was here was solid.

While I do give credit for this season using more characters, I can’t say they were used in the most efficient way. There was one major issue that did not exist in the original. But before we get to that, you may have noticed a certain name I kept mentioning. I couldn't describe most of the other characters without bringing her up.

Nanami

Though season one is the superior of the two, this season did something I did not think was possible. It made me fall for Nanami even more. In the original, she was wonderful. Here she was nothing short of lovely.

This was immediate too.

I don’t know if I appreciated this enough last time, but Nanami’s whole attitude was beautiful. She was kind-hearted and caring. That doesn't mean she was a pushover.

Nanami never tried to be perfect or hide who she was. She would talk back. She had no problem dishing out some light teasing. She could turn violent and was a little spiteful. None of these aspects went to an unbelievable extreme.

For example, the review before this was Fruits Basket. From that series, the lead, Tohru, shared many of Nanami’s qualities. Both were ready to help anyone they could. They were people you could rely on. It wasn’t hard to see why anyone would develop feelings for them. The major difference is, Nanami was capable of saying no.

Nanami could get annoyed. She could get frustrated. That’s not to say Tohru couldn't do these things. Except she kept them all in. Tohru would let her thoughts and emotions bottle-up. This made it so when she did crack, the stress hit much harder. For Nanami, telling someone to piss off did not bother her. And she was saying this to Gods and demons.

To go along with this, Nanami was susceptible to becoming flustered. Again, these were Gods she was interacting with; deities who harnessed unimaginable power. For these kinds of beings, you would expect them to hold contempt for humans. Most would scoff at the notion of a mortal being equal to them. Anyone would hesitate in such a situation. Nanami was no different.

Yet it was difficult for anyone to intimidate Nanami. Despite the circumstances, she was a God and could carry herself as such. She was easy going and laid back. Then when she needed to, she could be very dignified. There was no question, she was the head of her group. Tomoe may have been her sword, but she was the one in control. If someone wanted the Land God's help, they went to Nanami.

To get this out of the way, I once again thought Nanami’s character design was gorgeous. There was a grace to her. It was during this season I realized how much further this went. She was stunning, but what she actually looked like didn’t have much to do with that.

There were a few points in this series when Tomoe needed to disguise himself as Nanami. Whenever he did this, it was always obvious he wasn’t Nanami. I’m not talking through physical differences. That was never that big of a challenge. I’m referring to every other aspect. Tomoe could not match Nanami’s charm. Let’s try something. One of the pictures in this review is of Tomoe disguised as Nanami. Try and guess which one it is.

Nanami is Kamisama Hajimemashita’s best feature.

Series Negatives

This season felt rigid.

This story was taking meticulous steps, instead of moving along a path. One thing would start, it would finish, on to the next thing. Repeat that a couple of times and you’ve got twelve episodes. But isn’t this how a plot should move along?

Season Two never had things happen at the same time. The conflicts in this show felt independent of each other. There were a few things that formed some kind of connection. More often than not, each story arc was in its own bubble.

To illustrate my point, I don’t believe there was an instance when Kurama and Mizuki were on screen together. To be fair, I don’t remember this being a thing in season one either. The issue is, I noticed it in this season. That means there were fewer things distracting me from it.

That sums up why I didn’t like this season as much as the first. There were fewer things happening to focus on. This made inconsistencies stand out. Such as Nanami’s powers.

Though Nanami used her God powers a lot more, which I liked, it was almost as if she was relearning them. I say that because of what happened at the end of season one.

Nanami was able to exorcise a demon that even Mikage had difficulty with. Although there was no lead up to that moment, a fault to season one, this was a level Nanami reached. Going forward, you would think it would be possible for her to do at least that. Then came the start of season two and she seemed to revert to where she was midway through the last installment. 

To give this story a break, by the end, it was definitive that Nanami had become the Land God. Her powers were impressive. She did really cool things over the course of the season. She was no longer the pure amateur she once was.

I have reservations about using a word like “definitive” for this season. I thought it was pretty definitive at the end of the last show that Tomoe had feelings for Nanami. Turns out that wasn’t the case. Much of this season had to do with Tomoe realizing that he might actually like her.

There were bits here and there concerning Tomoe’s side of the relationship. Too bad they were only that, bits. The first season put in a lot of effort developing Nanami’s emotions. This led to some outstanding scenes when she confronted her feelings. If the story’s going to backtrack with Tomoe, why not do the same thing it did with Nanami?

To an extent, this did happen. The final two episodes of this season were Tomoe’s confrontation. Surprise, surprise, they were great. This should have been the entire season. Or least, this story should have spread this out more.

Finally, there’s one more thing that's irking me. It bugged me last time, but I was okay with it. And I was okay with it because I thought this season would deal with it. Why has no one figured out that Nanami and Tomoe have a connection? Something brought these two together.

In season one, this was ignored. I thought that was bad enough. In this season, it wasn’t ignored, but rather flat out confirmed. Yes, there is something between these two. Too bad this acknowledgment came in such a way that it would not have triggered with Nanami or Tomoe. Or any character for that matter. So then why was it here?

Who was this season talking to?

The audience. This season was confirming this connection for the audience. Why bother doing this? We already know there is one. You don’t need to tell us. Instead, stop dangling this and get to the point.

Final Thoughts

This season didn’t have much progression. In many ways, it felt almost unnecessary. I say “almost” because there did seem to be some kind of point. As in, this was a set up for a third season. And you know what, that might be the case. There is another story arc in the form of Kamisama Hajimemashita Kako-ken.

You better believe I’m going to watch it too. I’m not over this series.

Despite this season not being as good as the first, it was still good. The humor and romance returned. There were more characters. Nanami became even better if you can believe that. Negatives aside, I was always happy while watching this story.

Like it was before, Kamisama Hajimemashita Season Two is worth a look.

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Others in the Kamisama Hajimemashita Series

Anime Hajime Review: Kamisama Hajimemashita Season 1

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Anime Hajime Review: Kamisama Hajimemashita Season Two

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Anime Hajime Review: Kamisama Hajimemashita Kako-hen

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