Kannazuki no Miko

In my opinion, Kannazuki no Miko could have been a real masterpiece, or at least something very close to that. Unfortunately, it has its bad(but it also depends on the viewer point of view) elements.

The plot it's not one of the best ever written but it really has quality and potential, expecially if you are fascinated by japanese folklore. That's why I found it very intriguing, not particulary original tough.

The best point about KnM is all about the way the part of the plot involving the main characters relationships is developed and their characterisation, expecially the one regarding Chikane. It's really intense how the anime depics in a delicate yet very strong way her personality, her feelings. She's probably the best character in the whole work but the others are not bad at all, even if the antagonists seems to lack in something, they're not as interesting as they probably should be.

The voice acting was pretty god in my opinion, it has really high moments, but, even if it sure has its ups and downs, it doesn't even come close to "bad",never.

Aother very good point in the show is the soundtrack. First of all, the opening and the ending theme are extraordinary and really suits the anime. Overall the music and sounds that go along with this show are good too.

Also, graphic in general, and character design are really, really good. The style is enjoyable, pretty but not too much, the colors are perfect. The animation on the other hand, are qualitatively instable. Some can really impress you, and some can even perplex you.

There's just something that can bother someone while watching the show.
I'm referring to the action scenes. Not that there's something wrong with them of course, 'cause they should be there but...well, some kind of viewers could really find the Mecha scenes bothersome. Somehow It feels like they doesn't fit, that they aren't necessary for the show. They don't have the power to possess the same or at least a similar relevance and intensity that the character relationships have. It's like that for almost every mecha scene, excuding maybe just a few. It seems like they don't have a strong, real reason to be there, so they could be really annoying. Also, they're not really good, qualitatively speaking..

So, in the end, if you're ok with mecha action, and of course, homosexuality doesn't bother you, just try this, 'cause Kannazuki no Miko really deserves it.


Ps: Since English's not my motherlanguage, I truly hope i just wrote something understandable X°°D

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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.

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I don't even know why I liked this series. It's another "we have to save the world with giant robots" anime, with anime staples such as catgirls, bishounen, and panty shots, all spiced up with some blatant lesbianism. It's a joke in premise alone, but the follow-through makes it a surprisingly capable tale of forbidden love.

As you can probably tell, I wasn't expecting anything overreaching with Kannazuki. I wasn't disappointed. The anime sticks to a giant robot battle formula for the first half with just the slightest hints about where Chikane and Himeko's budding relationship is going. Fortunately for viewers, a huge twist awaits and the redemption goes full-throttle to the very end. So why sit through the first half? Chikane.

Chikane is the center of this guilty pleasure. Himeko, Souma, the bishounen priests and the Orochi are all dull as dishwater. Chikane is the ray of light that shines on this series for six episodes. Her inner turmoil between being Himeko's friend and her growing desire to be her lover are intriguing enough to warrant the rest of the crap the series throws at you. This is where they payoff comes though, as Chikane's personal anguish becomes the center of the story before long and thus Himeko's character becomes much more interesting. Everyone else though... yeah.

The animation itself has its ups and downs. The sharp hard lines turn me off a little, but the flow and detail are all good. It's a solid production but nothing remarkable.

The music has a subtle but distinct air to it, coming from the (personally) underrated composer Mina Kubota also responsible for the score of Kaleido Star. The great BGM is sandwiched between a techno-flavored OP and a less dancy but equally energetic ED, both of which are sung by the prolific KOTOKO.

I enjoyed this anime far, far more than I probably should have. It's melodrama will not be to everyone's tastes and a few will probably abandon ship somewhere in the ridiculous first half, but those that carry a flag for Chikane and Himeko or yuri anime in general will hardly be let down.

Overall, Kannazuki no Miko gets a 8 out of 10.

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Ugh. Talk about an anime that started off so well and quickly deteriorated into a disappointment. The first episode of Kannazuki no Miko impressed me so much—the animation quality, the seemingly likeable characters, the potential for romance, even the mecha battles. I really thought this would be a yuri that I would actually enjoy. But as the series progressed, I soon realized that the romance was mushy and the story and characters were as generic as can be.

The story is, or at least started off, cliché. An ancient evil (called the Orochi) revives and the fate of the world rests in the hands of two high school girls, Himeko and Chikane, who must become the Solar Priestess and the Lunar Priestess, respectively. Turns out, however, that one of the Orochi, Souma, is in love with Himeko and chooses to fight against the rest of the Orochi. Chikane, at the same time, decides to go yuri on Himeko.

In fact, the romance in KnM is pretty much a battle between het and yuri, as Himeko doesn’t know whether to choose Souma or Chikane. Chikane gets Himeko in the end, but either way, the romance was mushy at best, if not downright corny. Souma’s catchphrase seems to be “I’ll protect you!” and Chikane says to Himeko at one point, “Your smile….your smile is my sun.”

Needless to say, as a yuri, KnM offers a fair amount of fanservice, with plenty of shower scenes and girls stripping (though such scenes lessen towards the end of the series). There’s also a yuri rape scene. Of course, nothing is actually shown; it’s all left up to your creative imaginations.

The Orochi fight using mechas, and I actually didn’t mind the mecha action, though I did get tired of Souma using the same attack over and over again. The Orochi themselves are diverse and have dark pasts (and thus have a reason to be evil), but they’re all based on anime stereotypes—a catgirl, a pop idol, a mangaka, and a juvenile delinquent, to name a few. Though I liked some of them, I also found them to be unoriginal.

Which brings me to my next point. The characters are generic. There’s the main character’s best friend, who does nothing other than comfort said main character. There are three jealous girls who relentlessly bully the main character. There’s the caring older brother, who just happens to be a bishie. These types of characters can be found in just about any other common anime. Even the lead characters are uninspired. Chikane and Souma are over-idealized, perfect characters. Souma seemingly has no problem at all dispatching the other Orochi. It doesn’t matter that he’s second to the lowest ranked Orochi; he’s a good guy, so he can’t possibly lose. Himeko herself is a weak, even annoying, lead. She always needs protection; she never can do anything herself. And worse yet, she doesn’t have any character development. In the beginning she depends on Chikane for support, and in the end she still needs her.

The soundtrack is standard, never really standing out except for the overly dramatic opera music during battles (which annoyed me) and the theme that plays throughout the series (which I liked). The OP and ED are sung by Kotoko, which will please you Kotoko fans, but overall are decent but not particularly memorable.

Animation is perhaps the series’ strongest point. I loved the sharp, detailed character designs, and the girls certainly make for nice eye candy. The backgrounds are average, however.


In short…
Pros
-A nice epilogue.
-Decent mecha action.
-Impressive animation.
-Ayako Kawasumi voices Himemiya Chikane.
-If you like to laugh at corniness, here’s a classic exchange between Himeko and Chikane:
(Chikane starts crying)
Himeko: I’ll be your handkerchief.
Chikane: How nice. A handkerchief made of the sun.

Cons
-The final three episodes are difficult to get through, largely due to the two girls spewing soppy proclamations of love to each other.
-Annoying or overly-idealized main characters.
-Minimal to no character development.
-Clichéd story.
-Melodramatic romance.
-Average soundtrack.

Bottom Line
Well, if you’re a hardcore yuri fan, then you’ll want to add this to your list as soon as possible. Otherwise, I think that, if not for the soppy romance and weak leads, there’s some untapped potential here for quite an entertaining series.

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My goodness, what an interesting show this was to watch. Had many good qualities and bad qualities and plenty of fan service. I can't say that I am disappointed in the slightest, especially with the great ending it had.

Acting for the most part is quite mixed, decent and mediocre at the same time. Now Himeko's voice sounds a little spacey and a little scratchy at times as well. Almost like the VA's is trying to do a high voice. While Jennifer Sekiguchi certainly makes for a lovable Himeko acting skills is something to be desired for her. However her co-star Michelle Ruff does wonders with Chikane. Ruff brings out Chikane's many characteristics in the best way. The sweet as honey Chikane, the elegant Chikane even the dark and evil Chikane. Ruff once again proves her self to be a voice actress of many talents, and as I said before she did wonders with this character. The other cast is also fairly mixed, decent and mediocre at the same time. With some notables such as Sandy Fox, Melissa Fahn, Kate Higgins, and others, they shine in their roles as the evil orochi. Steve Staley makes for a great Souma Ogami, who brings out the words of compassion for Himeko.

The musical score was one of the finest scores for an Anime series of this genre that I have heard. With all the places it could have gone including ditching out altogether, it was refreshing to see a lovely score. However there were some minor problems with it. The cues were a tad predictable and like some of the dialog made it feel very melodramatic. But really that was the only flaw to it, so non the less it had a wonderful feeling to it. The themes I think were somehow fitting. The opening was a very heavy techno-j-pop style and it just seemed to work. Overall my hat's off to Mina Kubota for writing a wonderful score.

The animation and style was very beautiful in this. Dark tones and bright tones all mixed together splendidly. The giant robot to each character (with the exception of Miyako and Gorochi) are beyond wonderful. Chikane's eyes also stand out to me, they are like two deep pools full of thought.

Overall this is a worthwhile series, so give it a shot. Romance lovers, yuri lovers, you may just like this. As crazy as it is.

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Kannaduki no Miko can be summarized as thus: Shoujo-Ai and Giant Mechas with bits of Japanese mythology thrown in the mix for good measure. It works better than it sounds, trust me on this. I watched the series in it's entirety in a span of about one week, and you know what I did the day after watching the last episode? Began watching it again from episode one. That's how good this series is.

My reasons for liking this series so much are by no means logical ones. From a cold, ruthless, objective point of view, Kannaduki no Miko is a mindless piece of drivel with excessive fanservice, but I'm a sucker for sweet, heart-aching romantic stories, especially when the romance is between two persons of the female persuasion. The last episode makes me do the "eyes like twin waterfalls" trick (often seen used by such anime characters as Pedro of Excel Saga and Maito Gai of Naruto) every time I watch it.

The animation is, for the most part, average, but makes use of a couple of nifty tricks. The split-screen dialogue in the beginning of episode 2 always struck me as pretty cool, and the doors slamming closed in the last episode make me feel like I've been hit in the face with a bag full of anvils. The visuals are nothing out of the ordinary with the exception of the endings of the mecha battles, which are colourful to say the least. The actual fights are fluid and well-paced, if very short. People used to the multi-episode fights of animes like DBZ or Naruto might find it hard to adjust to battles that are usually over in 5 minutes or less. But mechas fighting isn't what this anime is about, it's just there to give it some seasoning.

Characters are quite often the most important part of any given story to me. While the characters of Kannaduki no Miko are not incredibly deep and multi-dimensional, nor do they go through light years worth of developement, they are all likeable and sympathetic, and that's enough for me. The three main characters are all fleshed out enough as far as their personalities go, but some questions about their past are left unanswered. Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you. Some of the supporting cast are left kinda unused, but I don't mind. There isn't enough room in 12 episodes to fully develope all of the characters, but I doubt if the series could have been longer (say, 26 episodes) without becoming unnecessarily drawn out. There's a story, they can tell it in 12 episodes, no need to prolong it.

The dialogue of the characters can be slightly cheesy and corny and other foodstuff-y, but on some level it manages to appear 'real'. Normal people don't come up with the perfect things to say, completely devoid of any cheese, in the middle of a conversation. Offering to be someone's handkerchief might seem disturbing, yucky, even ridiculous, but it's definitely something one might come up with at the spur of the moment.

The story is, as a whole, nothing new under the sun, but does contain one or two surprises (at least, it did for me, but most people seem to be better at anticipating future events than me). My knowledge of Japanese mythology is minimal, but a couple of names and events apparently have a basis in it, namely Orochi, the figurative eight-headed dragon and the main villain of the story (despite having only something like 2 or 3 lines). Every single detail of the story is not explained, like how the mechas can appear out of thin air, but I doubt if anybody could come up with a sensible explanation for that. They're, like, divine (or demonic) mechas. It's magic. Like gods. They're probably organic, or spiritual, or something. Better leave it at that.

I don't usually pay much attention to the soundtrack, unless it's really whatever is the aural counterpart of 'visible', like in Naruto, so I can't pass much judgement on the musical world of Kannaduki no Miko. But the opening and ending songs, Re-Sublimity and Agony, both performed by Kotoko, are pure awesomeness. And that's saying a lot, seeing as they're techno and I'm supposed to be a metalhead.

(Notice: the next chapter might include some spoilers)

So what is it, in the end, that makes Kannaduki no Miko worth 5 stars, ten points out of ten, in my eyes? It's the love story. I can't help it, if the story has two (or more!) female characters with deep feelings towards each other I'm glued to my seat. Kannaduki no Miko, Maria-sama ga Miteru, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito... It's a guilty pleasure. But even if we were to remove the shoujo-ai aspect of the love story, I'd still like it. There's just something heart-warming about it.

I don't ask much from an anime series. A heart-warming love story, likeable characters, with possibly some decent action and/or humour and/or philosophical ponderings, and I'm happy. Kannaduki no Miko manages three outta five, two of them spectacularly, and that's enough for me to count it amongst my favourite animes ever. Now go watch it. Yes, even if you've watched it before. Just do it.

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This has to be one of the messiest anime I’ve ever seen. Starting in a traditional high school setting and then suddenly throwing in mecha-fied Shintoism, this manages to make itself yuri. Okay then. And I guess it’s not supposed to make much sense, since all of the citizens in the town manage to go into denial about all supernatural happenings. Right.

Despite this awkward first impression, I enjoyed it. :)

The fanservice gets kind of annoying after a while, or in my case, within the first five minutes. But if fanservice is what you want, then you won’t be disappointed. Otherwise, read on.

The odd plot evolves at a pretty fast pace, so you won’t be bored. And at the very end, all of it is revealed to be a pretty tight plot, with a completely unpredictable and emotional ending. It really got to me. Good if you love twists. Yes, it actually makes sense at the end. Logical sense, that is. Nothing will make it feel any less weird, but on the other hand, that makes it rather unique.

The premise is pretty generic and boring at first. Same old save-the-world thing. But what really moves the plot forward are the characters. Yes, I dare declare this a character-driven plot.

So in that case, the characters must be great, right? Unfortunately, half the cast is completely useless. The antagonist cast, that is. Aside from Tsubasa and Miyako (kinda), the Orochi are completely boring. Best I can say for them is that Girochi’s jacket and chains look cool on him. You also have this useless Yukihito guy hanging around at the temple, doing absolutely nothing besides accentuating Souma’s boringness. So how does this plot work? With the main characters, of course. The antagonists are only present for the sake of having other mecha for Souma to bash. Himeko, Chikane, and Souma are the real focus of the anime. Souma means well, but he really doesn’t do much besides go with the flow, so let’s forget about him, okay? ;) That leaves us with Chikane and Himeko. If you happen to immensely dislike the BOTH of them for whatever reason, I’m telling you right now, don’t even bother watching this show. It doesn’t work unless you sympathize with the two. If you love them, then every other detail can easily be overlooked in the end.

Animation’s pretty cool, although it oddly switches between hard lines and really smooth ones. Oh, and the mecha are shiny and really, REALLY cheesy, but that’s why they’re funny to watch. Background music is great and sets a good mood, but what I really gave the points for are the OP/ED. “Re-sublimity” is awesome and I practically fell in love with “agony”. And the voice acting is superb all-around. The English dub made me cringe though (but Miyako’s awesome). XD

Trying my very best the write an unbiased review, but about the enjoyment – I absolutely LOVED it. The pace was great, even though it shed a lot of potential in further development of the Orochi and whatnot. It kept me hooked and absorbed throughout, and I was left stunned when it ended.

I guess I’d recommend it to people who aren’t picky about their anime making sense and focus more on the raw emotion of a situation. XD Tragic romantics. Also anyone who just wants a change of pace from the usual stuff. Kannazuki is SPECIAL, and whether that’s good or bad is an individual thing. :P

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First of all notice that the note is the result of what I enjoyed or not (mostly not) of this series. My analysis conforms my particular point of view, as is usual in such cases. It should be noted that we are only users of this and we entertain ourselves, (except some cases) we don't live in this industry. So like most this isn't a professional review but rather is a particular vision and you can feel free of that maybe you might get to like this series.
It wasn't my case, I found it very ugly and I gift it a bit of qualification. Just for little details that I liked, but I should put a 2.


Design.

Well, actually I saw the series to saw the design of mecha. I reminded to the Dancougar Nova, and although this is not a great match, at least it's a sequel to a series impressive like Dancouga .
I'm not, however, someone that remove points from the design of both the characters and the mechas, but if disturb me when a mecha is too stylized. This isn't the case and the designs are acceptable, nothing very special but acceptable.


History

The protagonist is a weak girl, scary, clumsy, distracted, not popular and that not trust in herself and she love a guy who's popular, good at sports.... They have been known from children and they give many circumlocutions and with much romantic story. Nothing original, right?
Perhaps it that gives a bit of originality is the seconds main character, the perfect girl, intelligent, excellent pianist, archer magnificent, beautiful, with big breasted, president of all student councils, who will have to deal between her love for another woman and her work as piece of the ritual, among other issues.
Often, it can get boring, so romantic content with that strange triangle between lesbianism disguised (Chiaka), ignorance of almost everything that happens (Himeko) and also Souma breaking his fate for his love. Yes, it's cheesy as it sounds.


Characters

There aren't characters pleasant (except Chikane), much less original. I have already described the mains and just say that the rest don't offers great variations neither, Miyako and Otoha are typical girls that love to their heads and become jealous because they are in love of someone else, the rest are mostly characters filler without much significance.


Plot

Development begins showing a bit of school life to jump to the relationship between the two priestesses and how they come to be. Throughout this first part Oogami is not so relevant, even if he breaks your Oroshi's destination in battle, those battles are so short that is secundary and the friendship (lesbian or not, you judge) stands first episodes . So much is showing some originality because Souma takes no romantic interest in history, but then itself becomes part of that and shows great eagerness to conquer Himeko and then development is becoming obvious, predictable and above all extremely cheesy.
The chapters are clearly romantic and just the last 2 minutes of mecha action, a number that makes slow and predictable and, therefore, boring.
I must say that when Chikane changes course produces a slight shock and probably is the best part of the plot, because doubt arises the why she changed from being a member of a Oroshi's priestess .


script

You can not expect much of anything, is to be becoming more cheesy. Probably the best script is in chapter 11, but overall is awful.


Music

I'm not one to get very hard at this point (except when it is actually very good as Miyu, Sakon or Bubblegum Crisis), since music is the result of an extensive study that targets a specific audience for which it was created this series. I don't settle for that group and I think really bad, and I mean not only the Op and Ed's music but also episodes. Awful too.


Enjoyment

At this point lost by a landslide. There isn't a series you enjoyed or would recommend. There are few good passages but I think I should be mention. The first is the beating that Chikane gives to Souma, after she abused to Himeko; another is when Chikane eliminates the other pillars of Oroshi and I liked the fact that all that bad paper was adopted by her and actually she wasn't manipulated by Miyako.


I see no Shoujo ai (this is the only one I've seen and just because he had wick) and I can not say if it suits the requirements of consuming this genre. Not much contact with women, that is true. Mine is the mecha and I can say that it is very ugly in this regard, maybe not by pathetic fights (some of them were Oogami-vs-Tsubasa) but more by scarcity. A very unoriginal story and a very romantic story merited a little more action. To salvage something LOL.

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I never thought that I would ever rate any anime below a 5 (average) but this anime was obviously to me below average. As you might have noticed I have only watched 3 of the episodes of this anime series. The reason for that abrupt drop is that if I had to watch even 1 more episode I would have either laughed to death or shed tears of pain. The story starts off well with the creation of a love triangle centered around Himeko who is loved by both of the other main characters. What completely throws this anime down hill is when the whole "shrine maiden and mecha"(mostly mecha) comes into play. All of a sudden bad looking "gundams" (hard to explain without spoiling) appear out of nowhere. The male pilot makes a bunch of trite and obvious statements, does a lot of random and annoying yelling, uses horrible attack names(v1), and somehow gains immediate enlightenment to how he can and should use his powers.

If you really like yuri anime and mecha then you will most likely like this anime. If you don't like either yuri and/or bad looking mecha then I suggest you stop reading these reviews and look for a better/more suitable anime because this anime is FULL of both (for yuri fans I suggest skipping the unneeded parts of mecha fights).

In short this anime on the first episode started off healthy but then dropped dead over halfway through. Fortunately for yuri fans there are some strong slaps that might make you wake up but for those who aren't you might as well start digging a grave.

(v1) (words backwards for no spoiler) "gnilkraps.ralos.kcatta.evaw.of.evissam.niotcurtsed"
(overall average 4.2)

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Great anime for anyone who likes action~packed yuri. The show is gripping from the start, and the complex themes will leave you thinking for days. Kannazuki no Miko is one of my favorite anime personally because it's straightforward yuri with no subtext, and Chikane's feelings for Himeko leave little to the imagination. The show deals with realistic emotions, in a realistically unaccepting world, as opposed to the strictly yuri relationships environment in Strawberry Panic. I'd recommend Kannazuki no Miko for anyone 13+ but towards the middle of the series there is a brief rape scene, later referenced in the following episode. Regardless, I'd highly suggest finishing the series because by the last episode everything will be explained!

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Kannazuki no Miko is a show that demands apologists, but it's also sufficently vituous to have them at all. The somewhat intrusive mecha element, the fanservice (though it is *good* fanservice) and the badly developed and utilised villains are all present and accounted for, but the series has virtues that outshines its flaws. The central love triangle is robust, with all three characters carefully balancing virtues and flaws while remaining likeable. It's also important to note that the fighting aspect of the show is vital to underpin the character development as it occurs, as frustrations in battle and love both drag Chikane down relentlessly during the first half of the series. The show evokes strong emotional responses provided you can buy into the action- Chikane's dilemma is well-executed and episode 8 a heartbreaker. The pacing is generally very good, moving the story along at a fast pace, though it slides during an over-extended final episode.

The animation is servicable, while the villain's cast is rescued by the brooding figure of Tsubasa, and to a lesser degree Miyako, with the rest providing tepid comic relief. However, they are all utilised to demonstrate the trajectory of the major characters, especially in the second half of the anime. The show is dominated by the main characters and this works well; the yuri is in a shounen vein, with high emotion, tragedy and compelling meldodrama to follow a slow, powerful build-up. It is this aspect of the show that forgives shortcomings elsewhere, and if you appreciate tormented and ambivalent love stories this series is well worth a look. Otherwise, there are more balanced shows elsewhere.

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Being a fan of romance, especially Yuri and Yaoi when I can find a decent one, I had high expectations of this anime. Unfortunately this series did not live up to expectations at all - it was a bad series in general and apart from the things that I didn't even need to watch the series to see, I just did not enjoy this series.

Story - 2
Pretty much, the story is terrible. A 2/10 may sound a bit harsh, but the only reason I didn't give it a 1/10 is because at least other people got some enjoyment out of it. The story is pretty much random mecha battles that are all practically the same and fan service. If you came here looking for a romance, then you will want to look elsewhere. If you want fanservice and enjoy any Yuri, even if it is obviously aimed at a teenage boy audience, then you might enjoy this.

Art - 9
While the series itself was pretty bad, I think the art was pretty good. It isn't enough to save this series, but I do enjoy looking at it. I'm not completely sure it is deserving of a 9, but that is what I'm giving it.

Character - 2
I guess the characters could be worse, but they are in general pretty bad. All the characters, including the main three, are just a bunch of stereotypes. None of the characters are unique in any way outside of their graphical design and some of the characters are downright annoying.

Soundtrack - 9
I'm a bit of a Kotoko fan, so maybe my opinion on this is a bit biased. Nonetheless, this series has one of my favorite soundtracks of all time and while I would suggest steering clear of the anime itself, I definitely think the soundtrack is worth checking out.

Ending - 5
Perhaps the only part of this series that seemed to have any thought put into it at all was the ending. I can't say it was good, but it wasn't as bad as the rest at least.

Enjoyment - 2
I enjoyed the soundtrack and the art wasn't bad to look at, and at least the ending was slightly interesting. Other than that this is one of the worst series I have ever seen. As I said if you are like me and enjoy romance rather than fanservice, steer clear of this series.

Overall I disliked this series. I could have just grabbed the soundtrack and maybe a few pretty wallpapers and gotten more out of it than I did by watching it. I give the series as a whole a 4, just because of the few redeeming qualities it does have.

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This is a very bad anime. Nevertheless on several conditions I'm inclined to highly recommend watching it. I'm doing it mainly because it has some originality, its melodrama is rather disturbing and, what is really rare for a bad show, it's thought-provoking.

One can have many complains about Kannazuki no Miko, especially about its story. But the very general outline of the narrative is very solid and not entirely unoriginal. At least I have never watched anything like that. It slightly resembles PMMM, but Madoka is almost ten years newer and it's not nearly as edgy. I suppose the outline of Kannazuki no Miko could make a brilliant story but it looks like something extremely difficult to write properly.

And, as expected, when it comes to filling the general concept with details writers fail horribly. HORRIBLY. And unfortunately they fail from the very start, even before the difficult parts begin. The central conflict which threatens Earth is sketched, but basically unexplained. Neither is the mechanics of the world. Main antagonists are so badly described they are unpleasant to watch. They are walking clichés thrown into the world without exposition for short bursts of screen time and used by story mainly as obstacles for the developing romance. They even try to provide some jokes, with dreadful results. Everything seems to be rushed - it's probably the first anime series I would call "too short for its story". Action sequences for most part of the series look like imported from some generic 70s mecha anime and glued to the show by creators' caprice only - Kannazuki no Miko focuses so much on relationships' development that short and boring fights can be seen only as annoying distractions. The outdated and uninspired animation and art design make it all the worse. It's all bad, it's really bad. The anime pseudo-nudity is also present - but here, for the most part, I would call it justified (because it serves mainly as accentuating erotic tension between characters).

Initially the only redeeming quality is (fortunately) the central point of the show - and it's the more or less standard love triangle story. This is still somewhat convoluted but done acceptably well and apart from the character of Chikane it's the only reason I can think of you can endure watching it. And later the series pulls off something not fully expected, fanservice fades away and central conflict begins to play more prominent role (at least not entirely artificial one). It still isn't executed very well - for several episodes I was asking myself "Hold on, hold on, what the fuck just happened? And now? What is happening now? Why? What am I watching? WHAAT?" - but it was more than enough to grab my attention. And the ending actually resolved some of these wtf-questions. Not all however - it's better to look at the story from the distance, because when one looks more closely one can't fail to notice it is full of plot-holes and on event-to-event basis doesn't make any freaking sense. And it's the reason why I hesitate to call the ending good - although it would be really good if it was written by someone skilled. Still, as a very general concept, the story is interesting enough to make one think about such issues as double standards and their implications. I even suspect that if it was handled better it would be less thought provoking.

So who is the series aimed at? Undeniably, you shouldn't watch the series if you've come for mecha battles - they are probably the worst part of the show. If you expect good story with interesting antagonists and well thought-out world, it's also not the anime for you.

But you could like (maybe "watch it with interest" would be more appropriate phrase) this series if you like controversial romance melodrama. And you should probably see this if you are a Westerner who likes anime for its orthogonality to your culture world. And if you are a fervent yuri fan this anime is probably a must see. In all cases - watch it, but be prepared to encounter numerous severe flaws.

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So, listen... I saw this yuri awhile back and all I can say plot wise is that it doesn't really make much sense. While I'm fuzzy on some of the knitty gritty details, I can give you the highlights. Anywho-- **Spoiler Alert**

So get this straight: Himeko has a complete and total girl crush on Chikane, but very openly is in love with Souma. The entire sun and moon goddess conflict aside, their friendship blossoms until one day Chikane pretty much rapes Himeko. Himeko, alienated (as she probably should be, considering she was raped by her best friend), avoids Chikane for awhile and seems to dedicate herself to her relationship with Souma-- who is honestly a pretty great guy and is the kind of a person anyone should be lucky to have. Well, Himeko starts to fight with the internal conflict that is her feelings for Souma and also her desire for, her best friend and rapist, Chikane. Eventually, however, Himeko gives into her passion for Chikane and dumps Souma to get with her. In any other universe, this series of events just seems bonkers-- but I guess anything goes with shrine maidens... ಠ_ಠ
Yep.

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Story 3/10
This story was dumb and cliche'd. Mecha battles came almost out of nowhere. The idea behind the show is good, however the awful, awful writing and characters ruined what could have been good. I could have been awesome. The writing sinks to a new low when the (Controversial scene) happens. And the way they justify it makes no sense, niether does much in here. Bottom line the story is mediocre most of the time, but it finds places to be really bad.

BTW, the ending... wasn't that bad compared to the absolutely terrible ending the manga had.

Art 6/10
It's okay... It looks pretty good. I don't care for the designs, but the animation is pretty good during the mecha scenes.

Sound 7/10
I'd say that it's good. Although in anime, you don't have much of an excuse to not be good. But I'll give them that.

Character 1/10
Oh, now we get into the bad shit. Let's start with Chinkane. She's alright. Nothing new, but not much to complain about... well at first there isn't, they had to fuck it up later on, but I won't spoil that. But overall there's not much to object to with her, for the most part.

Himeko is another beast. I hate this character with a passion. I finally see what Nagisa is like to poeple who hate Clannad. Except this character isn't well written at all. All she does is cry, and she does it so much you lose all sympathy for her. She's annoying. There are other characters who are shy and get emotional easilly, but she takes it to another level. But the bigger problems is unlike other characters like Nagisa, Himeko doesn't have much other interesting traits. She's annoying and pisses me off, that's her character trait.

Souma is the one dude I kinda like. It's actually kinda depressing to see him fight like an animal for a girl that's into other girls. However, I like this dude cause he's hilarious, but isn't a well written character at all. He screams everything he says. His dialouge and yelling cracks me up every time.

Enjoyment 0/10
You know I've heard this anime was nothing but cheap fanservice and mecha. Well, I disagree 100%. I wish this anime were like that. The first time I saw it was in a youtube clip called, "Greatest (something) minutes in anime history". It showed giant robots and lesbians. I thought, woah, "giant robots and lesbians." IF this was mindless anime fanservice and robots, I'd like it a lot more. This was a pathetic soap opera of an anime. This anime had me gritting my teeth, particularly whenever himeko started crying or any other sad parts.

Why do I hate this? Becuase this anime tries way to hard and fails even harder at trying to make me sad, or feel anything. It's forced melodramatic bullcrap is the reason it sucks. Cut that out, and it would just be mindless action and fanservice. A lot of people said the mecha scenes werne't nessasary, and they're right. But they're the only good thing here

Overall 1/10
This may be harsh, but I have almost nothing good to say about this piece of garbage. I hated it, it was annoying, and it is the queen of "forcing emotions". Why is this anime so low? Well, I've seen shittier anime than this, that entertain me... I've seen anime with shittier stuff than this in it, but they also had good stuff to make me forget it. I'm not just failing this anime cause of the bad, but for the absence of anything good. Besides a unique idea and come cool mecha, there's nothing good to say about this

#1. worst anime I've ever seen...

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In my opinion this was a "intresting" anime. It different and unique but the plot is little wierd. There were when i was watching it and just asking myself "What the hell?" Each character has his/her own objective, making the plot nothing more than all there wants put together.
another problem is that the main characters are to confusing. At the begining they don"t know what they want in life but then during the last 2 episodes it all becomes clear. Suddenly, they kno what they want to accomplish and who they want to be with.
But besides all the bad, there was some good. For example i did like the love triangle, and a though it could've been handled better, it was good. The villians were also good, they funny and fun to watch, and unlike others they all were different people with different personialities and wants. Overall it was ok to watch, but i would never watch it again.

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Kannazuki no Miko is a light high school Yuri / save-the-world-from-an-evil-god / big-robot-fighting series spread over 12 episodes. Normally I don't care for big robot fighting, but I don't mind when it's not the main attraction, ie: Nadesico. This seemed to be the case with Kannazuki no Miko, the robot fighting wasn't prominent enough to bore me.

The first episode had some strange timing issues, I felt like I was being thrown into the fray too quickly without a good introduction, but this seemed to be limited to the first episode. I would have liked a little more character development for some of the Orochi as well, but being a 12 episode series we can't ask for too much. Animation was good, but areas of low detail were notable to the eye in some parts. The plot, although not very complex, was able to draw me in and keep my interest to the end. Seems I'm a sucker for these dramatic romance animes. Overall a decent series worth watching imho.

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So, as someone who wasn't -terribly- involved in anime until around 2007-08, I have never truly gotten around to watching this one, which is odd, considering my likes. So I figure I will toss my hat from here, 2013 and ten years hence production.

I came at this from the angle of someone who likes mystical and yuri romance. I haven't ever been more than neutral towards mecha, not avoiding it, but not going out of my way either. I enjoyed this series immensely, but mostly as a character study (my preferred method of series). But a character cannot exist in a vacuum, so let's get the bad stuff out of the way.

As has been mentioned, the villains in this series are rather bland, even distracting. At best, they exist to fuel the tension in the love triangle. More often than not, they are mood killers for a few nice character moments. As such the entire plot can feel bogged down by the quirky-sentai team of mech fighters. The meta plot on the whole is not much better, being repetitive episode to episode and poorly explained. A show like Madoka Magica gives just enough details about how the mechanics work so that, if you WANT to, you can fill in the blanks. Kannazuki no Miko is decidedly short of that standard, and the nature of the bad guys, how their mecha tie into their roles, and the powers of the priestesses are all vague and poorly developed (the latter only becomes clear at the very end). Look at it as a framing device for Chikane, anything more and you may be courting disappointment.

The animation is pretty good for the time, and holds up as "average" post-renaissance. It isn't as hard lined and simplistic as the early 90s but neither does it have the flow of a modern eye. Point being, while you'll note some still-frame panning and extensive dialogue padding (as its cheaper than animating), it probably won't detract from your experience like some older shows can.

The formulaic first half of the series can be a bit of a chore, and is by far the slowest point in the entire series (ep 3-6). There is some "drama" about how the girls need to learn their true miko powers, some character development about how nice Chikane is to Himeko (because of her secret feelings) and some Himeko/Souma romance that gets interrupted by a mech arriving to crash their date. This pattern is repeated way too often.

But then you find out the game Kannazuki no Miko has been playing, and it wasn't for a status-quo baddy fight.

Chikane emerges very quickly as the strong character, because this series really is about her struggle. She has tones of Ga Rei Zero's Yomi to her, absolutely (or, is it vice-versa since this show came first?).

I personally love dark tones, and the notorious "Episode 8" did not disappoint. While the show warns you about the dark turns coming, it doesn't really prepare you, the imagery is so layered and dialogue so heart-sinking, it makes a rewatch of the previous episodes rather enjoyable. The show lays out subtle hints, some lines of dialogue come off as downright disturbing post-reveal.

On paper Chikane's struggle isn't very complicated. She harbors feelings for a friend that seems oblivious that she wants things to go further, all while chasing a boy and seeking Chikane's help (and, often, Chikane trying to make it work because she feels that will make Himeko happy). Her station in life makes loving a common girl a problem. Oh yeah, it's lesbian, that's right.

While that little wrench shouldn't make this story as compelling as it does....well, it does. Chikane's internal struggle is extremely relatable, particularly if you've BEEN on the end of harboring feelings for someone who really doesn't get the hint that that IS an option available to her. And that's really where the sadness about the Himeko/Chikane dynamic comes from: Himeko just never considers that she could be with a girl. It sounds so silly but it's a truth in the world all too common. And I think that's what elevated the love triangle into something I was invested in, when I normally loathe them: This love triangle was genuine, and quite honest with the audience. There was no handwaving. The series comes out and says very clearly "YES, Chikane is GAY for Himeko!" and at the same time "Yup, Himeko really likes Souma".

As such, I found it very hard to blame Chikane for any of the actions she took on her path to darkness. If the world had been different, if it hadn't placed so much baggage on her feelings, perhaps she could have had Himeko. Even though Chikane's status as a "noble" (a very ill defined term in the anime. Probably just wealthy) is rather grey and ill defined, she does an excellent job of conveying that pressure in her words, and in how she's designed. She seems perpetually sad, even when smiling. The looks she gives Souma are downright terrifying sometimes, and the end of her "date night" with Himeko made me giddy with how sad it was (Yes, I see terrible, awfully dark things and I squee). And those are the best villains, I feel. Chikane joins an incredibly short list of dark characters whom you genuinely can feel are "in the right" (relatively speaking). Did she need to go as far? No, probably not. Did she have to play nice with everyone though? Also not an option. It's a beautiful story of a young woman's despair and everlasting love.

This in turn gives Himeko room to grow. She shoulders both of their responsibilities on her own and finally understands Chikane's feelings. Which was nice, she didn't have to -change- who she was, merely grow. And by the end she's her own tolerable character (previously overshadowed by Chikane's complexity). Souma, sadly, doesn't really ever elevate beyond a nuisance to the plot as "generic selfless hero".

And a small note: the music was divine and fit the series perfectly. Not a small task for a mystical-mecha-lesbian-romance. It was just beautiful, sad, and eclectic enough to blend.

In the end, how much you like this series really comes down to how much you like Chikane. As my score for "overall" and "enjoyment" show, I recognize there are some serious flaws here. But I love Chikane so much that I can't help but wave all those faults away as necessary set pieces to give Chikane a stage to glow on. The only thing that drags the enjoyment down, was the awful first part of the series. And even then it was a burden worth bearing.

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Rephrasing & rearranging parts.
Rather long review, MAJOR SPOILERS PRESENT in order to give detailed analysis on stuff.
Before you downvote my review for giving KnM a 5, I suggest you also read what Erica Friedman thinks about the manga. Many of the problems present in the manga are also present in the anime.


Opening question:
It's widely said that love conquers everything, and so too in the series, but how can you say 'love conquers everything' when love can't even make character development happen when it's already required?


Kannadzuki no Miko, aired in 2004, is usually considered a landmark in the history of yuri anime, as it, being one of the earlier yuri anime, shows serious love development between two girls.
But to look at it now, this anime has some serious flaws that are not hard to find if you turn an objective eye on it.

The sad fact: Yuri manga masterpieces seldom get adapted into anime, while yuri anime like KnM are 'good enough' to be called a 'yuri anime masterpiece' by yuri fans because we don't have a handful of yuri anime to choose from to begin with!
Now, when ranking 'the four yuri classics', most people would rank KnM second highest among the four, only behind MariMite. Their reason would mostly be that 'the ending is so beautiful'.

And this is where I don't understand.
Does an anime automatically become a masterpiece just because the ending is a beautiful bittersweet 'true love' ending that involves a lot of tears and 'cool girl breaks down' scenes? And especially when all the earlier episodes are so flawed, and often cliched EVEN BY 2004 STANDARDS.


Let's start with the plot.
The plot can be divided into 2 sections: The mecha battle plus some Japanese folklore, and the romance part.


--PLOT SECTION 1: THE WORLDVIEW--

...Why, do mecha battles appear in a yuri anime?

The worldview is like: Orochi wants to destroy the world, and it's up to the mikos to summon Ame no Murakumo to defeat the Orochi.
...Of course, the core part of the plot is not this folklore, but we'll dig into the worldview a bit.

The mikos' job is to summon Ame no Murakumo. But to complete their missions, one of the priestesses must kill the other.
That's an ideal setting for a sad or a bittersweet ending, and as expected the ending is done well and becomes instant fan favourite.
But to think of it objectively. Why such setting? In real life, lesbians do have hardships, but not in this manner when lovers (who are sane) have to duel with each other.
If you interpret it as a symbol of the hardships lesbians encounter in real life, it's not well-designed as a symbol.
So, while the ending is still good, that setting as a plot device is somewhat awkward.

**Characters in Section 1**

The Orochi disciples are chosen from those who have experienced great pain in their lives and have surrendered to despair.
For example we have a victim of medical experiments, a sociopath who murdered his abusive father, and a manga artist.

...Something's wrong here. Have you any other good motives to work around with?
Sure, experiences like being betrayed and tainted by one's dream of becoming an idol may be really sad, but that doesn't make any reason to want to destroy the world.
And what's up with the manga artist anyway? What is her motive, her manga being excessively edited or something?!

The only interpretation I can come up with, is that some of the Orochi followers are probably not really keen on destroying the world, it's just that they are chosen by the real source of evil i.e. Orochi. But still, Orochi sure is lazy on picking his followers!

Of all the Orochi heads (not counting the major characters), only Tsubasa's backstory is properly explained, and even that part is a bit underdeveloped.

But anyway, the Orochi is not the focus of the anime.



--PLOT SECTION 2: ROMANCE--

The major part, and it has huge problems which can be summarised into the 2 following problems:

>>What is it that you call love?
>>Love should stand the test of what? (Or in proper English: What should love stand the test of?)


PROBLEM 1: What is it that you call love?
OK, probably due to my analysing on Yuri Kuma Arashi that I always want to relate problems in other anime to YKA. But again, the problem lies in 'obsessiveness'.
Unlike Yuri Kuma Arashi and YamiBou though, this problem never gets criticised!
Sure, Chikane may have other reasons to join Orochi instead of just letting obsessiveness overcome her, but still, what has gone on in the anime is an example of 'being obsessive is good after all'.

The problem in this anime even worsens because of two things.
One of them is the male character, whose relationship with Himeko is consensual. This has already made what has gone on in the anime enter the territory of NTR. (No wonder people joke that 'Souma's in the wrong anime'.)
The other, is the question of whether Chikane's deed is indeed justified or not. Some people interpret Chikane's deed as not some noble gesture to let Himeko hate her, but her own selfish wish.
Now, as I think of it again, I also think there's something fishy with this part. Namely:
>Chikane's raping on Himeko comes after how Miyako tells her to become obsessive. This doesn't necessarily prove anything, but it is an optional plausible motive.
>If Chikane really is to let Himeko hate her, why spend another day like usual after the raping? This would make Himeko more hesitant when she is to face Chikane, and that indeed becomes the case.later on.
Frankly, at this point I don't know how to explain Chikane's motive: Neither interpretations makes 100% sense. I assume that Chikane is indeed acting partly out of her own wish to be obsessive.
This leads to more problems like double standards on lesbian raping.

To sum it up, the 'obsessiveness getting paid' thing is a problem that seriously questions Chikane's character.


PROBLEM 2: Love should stand the test of what?
Sure, the greatest form of love should stand the test of even the greatest perils: Even if the lovers are doomed to be apart their love would not be apart.
But every skyscraper should have its foundation. The foundation KnM lacks can be described as simply:

>Love can't even make character development happen--when it's high time that character development was required.

In real life, one of the most practical problems lovers have to face is the problem with their own characters.
Let me tell you a story:
Once two climbers who were lovers got stuck on a mountain. During that time they faced a lot of hardships, but they eventually survived.
If that couldn't break the two, what can? Well, ironically their life as lovers ended because of a small quarrel.

And let's take a look at Kannadzuki no Miko. Talking about character development, we should talk about the characters.

**Characters in Section 2**

The problem, without question, mainly lies in Himeko's character.

Full analysis(IMPORTANT, if you're reading this review make sure not to miss this):
>Himeko is your typical crybaby.
>The other 2 MCs, Chikane and Souma, are determined to protect Himeko(good on this part).
>But they don't know that in the long term, the best way to protect Himeko is to let her learn to PROTECT HERSELF. Even until the end of the anime they still don't understand this!
>While the other 2 MCs treat Himeko very well, if it weren't for them she would likely be mistreated! Himeko is one who would allow other people to take control of her life easily.
>It is actually Kazuki, and the circumstances in Ep09, who/which eventually lead Himeko to her character development. (Chikane is the person who makes Himeko not lose faith, but doesn't seriously teach Himeko to stand on her own in the earlier episodes)

Kazuki: 'What are you going to do then, Souma? Weep with her together?'

So overall, in the scriptwriters' efforts to depict the greatest form of true love, they made several flaws that, though seemingly minor, made this form of love questionable and fragile.
Daily love development part is of acceptable quality though.


--PLOT: MIXTURE OF SECTIONS 1 & 2--

Are there any problems with the plot trying to focus on romance in a story with a not so light-hearted worldview?
Here I shall provide an idea on how to find out problems with this part.

The perceptions the scriptwriters want us to have:
Step 1, Chikane & Souma & Himeko love triangle
Step 2, Chikane gets too obsessive with her love to the extent of joining evil
Step 3, but later we find that the above is fake, Chikane actually wants to sacrifice herself

Now, step 2 is a false perception. But since the scriptwriters want us to have this perception, they must spend efforts on showing how 'bad' Chikane's actions are.
So. What if actually at some point, what Chikane does becomes so unforgivable that it's not simply a false perception?

And there we have it: Becoming the Orochi, Chikane bears the duty to cause massive destruction to the world, and she actually carries on with this job.

Now, when we write a story focused on romance but set in a not so light-hearted worldview, we must be aware that romance between 2 people is microscopic compared to events like war, massive destruction etc.
In order to make the romance part sound, usually we should avoid 'justifying' the protagonists' decisions on joining forces with the evil, for example we can get away with 'it's not the protagonist's own will' etc.
However, in KnM, Chikane's decision on carrying on with the Orochi's job is actually forgiven. This makes Chikane's decision even more unsound.


Plot: 4.5/10 Only the ending is really worth watching. The other 10 episodes are not well written, and by now(2015) it has become even more unappealing.
Characters: 4.5/10 Overall decent, but obviously flawed.


Some minor aspects:
Animation & Art: 8/10 Visually, it's attractive for the most part, though the animation is sloppy at times.
Music: 9/10 Very well done. I like the ending theme best, and I've done an 8-bit cover of it.
Enjoyment value: I dare not give a score from an objective standpoint. Personally it's 4/10 for me.

Overall rating: 4.5/10 (not an average) 'Mediocre' in my scales.


More thoughts:
The 'four yuri classics' all have their own problems. (Note: Said name refers to YamiBou, Kannadzuki no Miko, MariMite, Strawberry Panic)
YamiBou has its crappy ending. KnM's only good part is the ending. MariMite is stereotypical Class S. Strawberry Panic has Korean soap opera melodrama.
If we're looking for serious yuri titles of good quality, this has left us with only a handful of shows like Ikuhara yuri anime (which are hard to understand) and Candy Boy.
Hopefully we'll see better yuri anime adaptations in the future...

(Stats: Suspicious Ups=0, Downs=0 as of 5 May 2015. Calculated with statistical hypothesis)

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This anime focuses more on romance and story than action. It certainly has flaws and the role of mecha isn't too appealing.
I usually watch subbed anime but the dubbed version for this is on point and I really enjoyed the English voices.

There is just something about this anime that makes you forgive its flaws. For me, it's the intense relationship buildup between Himeko and Chikane, and if you love Chikane like me, then the anime plays with your heart in a way that keeps you from stopping, and in the end, it is worth it.
I got more enjoyment out of this anime by watching it from the perspective of Chikane and it helps to love the character.
For an anime that is this old, the character designs and art are amazing.
For the story, there are some mixed thoughts, but I do like how the story uses the theme of the harsh realistic reality to serve as the actual plot. The music is average excluding the opening and ending which are great.

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