Ranked #1270

Kannazuki no Miko

A timid young girl named Himeko has a fateful meeting with Chikane, the elegant daughter of an obscenely wealthy family. There's an immediate emotional connection between them, but Chikane, bound by protocol and social convention, finds herself unable to act on her feelings while Himeko is kind of dating her bland childhood friend Souma. By the time the first credit sequence plays out it's revealed that they're the latest reincarnations of shrine maidens who must defend the world from a mythical beast who wants to destroy it for some reason. Ooookay.

The more I watched this show the more convinced I became that it's all an elaborate pisstake. Let's take the bad guys, who include a busty vixen, a loli catgirl, a failed pop star, and a bored manga artist. They attack the maidens and Souma randomly, usually one at a time and with no apparent strategy, in giant robots that literally appear out of nowhere. After the battles the girls return to their normal (relatively speaking) lives as if nothing had happened. It's full of clichés and self-consciously dramatic moments like heart wrenching speeches and sudden gusts of wind that signify events of great meaning. It laughs in the face of concepts such as subtlety.

But, really, that's all window dressing. Kannazuki no Miko is really about the developing relationship between Chiakne and Himeko. The problem is that Chikane is the only interesting character in the entire show. Himeko is continually bawling and wallowing in doubt and self pity. Souma is the stereotypical hot blooded love interest who'd do anything to protect his object of affection and he shouts a lot. Ugh, who cares? The bad guys spend most of the show standing around in their own little dimension doing nothing, and receive token development by way of a brief image montage.

Yet there was something that kept me coming back for more. It was certainly not the clunky animation, bland designs, or pedestrian direction. It might have been the promise of hot girl-on-girl action or simply the trainwreck-like quality of the storytelling. Kannazuki no Miko is pure soap opera melodrama and I was unable to tear my eyes away from the carnage unfolding on my screen. It's utterly awful but in a strangely compelling way. read more

Out of all the anime I've seen, this one seems to have been the most misleading. With such great potential after the first episode, I feel much of it was wasted throughout the show. Despite this, I still end up giving this show a generous 7 rating. Why? Well that's what I'm writing to discuss right now.

As I had said earlier, this show had a lot of wasted potential. There were so many points that could have been covered in much more detail, but were thrown away in favour of the yuri elements of this show. It felt like the mecha aspect of this anime was merely a side story and its overuse became very tiring. The battle scenes felt like mere filler with the same outcome time and time again. Even the main antagonists were barely focused on at all and seemed to be mere throwaway characters that could be cast away when need be. All of this played a huge factor in dragging this anime down in my eyes. Not only this, but there were several glaring factors that made things preposterous in my eyes (including several plot holes). Further details must be left out to avoid spoilers.

The animation was great, but not what I'd call the cream of the crop. You do have to give it credit considering the time period in which it was made. I really don't have much to say about the animation other than the fact that it was visually pleasing to say the least. Inconsistent at times, maybe, but still solid for the most part.

Here is where I really give the show praise. The soundtrack is really quite something. However, it's the opening and ending where I place most of my emphasis. Both were done by KOTOKO and both were simply astounding. The lyrics were melodic and upbeat and gave a sense of epicness that highly raised my view of the show's potential. Each song showed sorrowed emotions that moved me enough to want to listen to them over and over again. Without a doubt these themesongs were some of the best I've (no pun intended) ever heard. If ever you wanted a more memorable OP and END, you'd be hard pressed to find one.

There are a few things I have to say in terms of characters. I think much more could have been done in terms of character development. Little backstory was given into the past of most of the characters which made it hard for them to grow on me. Their personalities are interesting yet the fact that they are the origin for many cliches that exist in anime today makes them not as sound as I would like. The relationships explored in this show, however are quite interesting and allowed me to feel much more emotion towards Chikane and Himeko and had it not been for that, they wouldn't have nearly been as good of characters as they are. Though I like the characters themselves very much, the character development in this show was simply not enough for me. I must also add that it seemed as though the voice acting was at times a little too over-dramatized. Though I usually enjoy this, it seemed very out of place and awkward in this show. I would guess that it's due to the clash of themes that makes it harder for the seiyu to cater their voices to fit each theme and still sound good, but then again, I can't say for sure.

In terms of enjoyment, I enjoyed the show quite a bit. As I said earlier, the relationships explored in the show made it an interesting watch for this is one of the few cases where yuri relationships are explored. This felt like a nice departure from the norm and served to keep me watching the show all the way until the end. Interestingly enough, it was this, and not the story itself, that entertained me the most in this show. Despite the train wreck of a story, the combination of original with well-established themes allowed me to pay little heed to this.

Overall I'd say this show is an good enough watch. Definitely not in the range of a breakthrough, but not completely garbage. Though story and character development are quite lacking, the other aspects of the show greatly make up for it in my opinion. It's too bad this show had so much wasted potential or it would be a contender for one of my favourite anime of all time. This is a must watch for fans of yuri and even if the themes explored in the show aren't really up your alley, I would still recommend you watch this show. Despite its flaws, Kannazuki no Miko is a show to enjoy and (hopefully) remember.
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