Kannazuki no Miko (Destiny of the Shrine Maiden)

Kannazuki no Miko begins in the village of Mahoroba, where time passes slowly for both man and nature. Two students from the village's prestigious Ototachibana Academy might as well be night and day. Himeko is shy and unassertive, while Chikane is bold and elegant. Despite this, they love each other, and nothing can come between them, no matter how hard they try.

On the two girls' shared birthday, a sinister voice corrupts one of their friends into attacking them, and just when it seemed grimmest, the lunar and solar priestess powers that lay dormant in the two girls awaken, dispelling the evil. That was only the first hurdle, however. The two must now fend off the countless others who would threaten their well-being—even the people closest to them!

Edit

Background

No background information has been added to this title. Help improve our database by adding background information here.

Edit

Related Anime

Adaptation:	Kannazuki no Miko
Other:	Kyoushirou to Towa no Sora

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Himemiya, Chikane

Main

Kawasumi, Ayako
Japanese

Kurusugawa, Himeko

Main

Shitaya, Noriko
Japanese

Oogami, Souma

Main

Majima, Junji
Japanese

Nekoko

Supporting

Nonaka, Ai
Japanese

Tsubasa

Supporting

Matsumoto, Yasunori
Japanese

Sister Miyako

Supporting

Ootani, Ikue
Japanese

Yukihito

Supporting

Minami, Omi
Japanese

Kisaragi, Otoha

Supporting

Nishimura, Chinami
Japanese

Izumi

Supporting

Asai, Kiyomi
Japanese

Oogami, Kazuki

Supporting

Saitou, Moichi
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Kawase, Kouhei

Producer

Hidaka, Isao

Producer

Yanagisawa, Tetsuya

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard, Key Animation

Iwanami, Yoshikazu

Sound Director

Edit

Opening Theme

"Re-sublimity" by KOTOKO

Edit

Ending Theme

"Agony" by KOTOKO

Reviews

Jan 3, 2022

Justykanna

Recommended

Every now and then, I watch old anime, hoping that some day, we can ever uncover a rare gem. I think we've found one of our first gem in a while. I'm not saying it's flawless, but it's certainly better than I expected it to be.

As short trigger warning: This anime and review depicts an instance of sexual assault.

---

Story & Characters: Destiny of the Shrine Maiden starts us out in a small village where our characters reside. They go to an academy for school where life goes on, just like for any other teenager. Himeko isn't particularly special in all this, ... but is our main character in this short series. Chikane is the popular girl in school and she is looked up to by many around the campus grounds. As it so happens, they share the same birthday. However on this same day, the village is attacked by a sinister organization known as the Orochi, who pilot powerful mechs, and aim for planetary destruction. The attack occurs when the girls' priestess powers awaken, with Himeko being the solar priestess, and Chikane being the lunar priestess. Souma, another academy student, has mysterious powers awaken in himself that also allow him to power a mech of his own, and he vows to keep the girls safe until they can complete a prophecy that is said to save, not just the town, but the world. Throughout the series, we essentially see that outside of the main story, there is another story going on - a love triangle between Himeko and both Souma and Chikane - and is where the story shines.

This series absolutely nails down just about every romantic aspect that it could, including the near ten minute speech that we see on the final episode. Every romantic interaction between our characters couldn't have had a better setup and execution. Chikane has long had a pretty hard crush on Himeko, but she finds it extremely difficult to sum up the courage to tell her. However, she always wants the best for Himeko and we see throughout the entire series how she does everything in her power to make sure she remains happy, even at the expense of possibly becoming Himeko's girlfriend. As the audience, we can clearly see how she feels and rare do we see a character go through with risking their own relationship, that could result in another. You are completely watching the first half of this series for her. Himeko has an extremely strong heart, in that she is constantly seen doing what she can to appease others. She's incredibly kind and follows her instincts until the very end. She isn't much on the surface, but she goes through on her words. Souma, who asks Himeko out various dates, acts as a bit of a bodyguard throughout most of the series, but they give him an excellent background, even if it does get confusing at times.

Side characters, similarly, don't seem like much on the surface, but do have minor backstories that we get to see on the very last episode. While these, by no means, play into their character as a whole, it is nice to see what kind of backgrounds these characters come from. Tsubasa is likely the most confusing of the bunch, but even his actions sprout from his past, and I later related him to a bit of a 'cool guy' character. We do see the Orochi members banter with each other on multiple occasions and this light-heartedness added a nice mix. All of the characters in this group have a grudge against humanity and it's nice that there was a reason for the entire "destroy the earth" story.

Where this series misses, and this is likely where this anime gets most of the hate from, is the final bunch of episodes where we see a bit of a plot twist coming at us. Do we see it coming? No, that's why it's a plot twist, but story wise, I feel like it was executed really poorly. They leave out most of the explanation until the end, and by then, I still feel like there were still a few plot holes. You also have to give a small laugh when you see members of the Orochi coming after the priestess, who essentially have no power on their own, with these gigantic mechs. It seems pretty over the top, and it is the entire time. Speaking of over the top, we do also witness a sexual assault, and anime series really have to be careful about these kind of inclusions these days. They explain the reason for this happening shortly after, and I honestly didn't mind the reason - crazy to hear, I know. So while this kind of thing is usually included in any for more cringy reasons, I didn't hate it here. (Story: 6/10, Characters: 9/10)

Art: This anime is a fine watch, considering it's almost twenty years old. You always have to ask yourself how well an anime ages, and the graphical work done here seems fine. The mech designs are unique from mech or mech, but the fighting sequences really weren't anything too impressive. You never expect anything in Gundam-quality, but the quick back and forth sequences just looked a little too crude at times. That being said, like the romantic aspect, they really did display the times between Chikane and Himeko beautifully. Unrelated, there are random moments of fan service, usually revolving around minor panty shots, but there's only a handful of them and can mostly be ignored. (7/10)

Sound: The OST was a bit up and down with some tracks that were great, and others that really didn't work for me - mostly anything that contained trumpets. However, most of the rest of the sound was impressive. Kotoko did the OP, ED and an insert song, and all three were really good tunes (Re-sublimity, Agony and Suppuration -core- respectively). VO work was impressive here as well. Stephanie Sheh (Himeko) seems to have a habit of being cast as a happy-go-lucky teenager for some of these older shows, but she performs really well here. Michelle Ruff (Chikane) is another really old name that I didn't expect to go so well, but she was fantastic - she isn't really cast in many romantic roles. Steve Staley (Souma), Liam O'Brien (Tsubasa) and Kirk Thornton (Girochi) around out a very impressive cast. (9/10)

Overall Enjoyment: If some of the details revolving the supernatural elements weren't so rough, Destiny of the Shrine Maiden probably would have been a top 10 anime for me. It just felt like they weren't completely ironed out and the back half story elements revolving around Chikane could have been a little cleaner. That being said, the romantic aspects were done so well that it still remains a strong series. I could recommend this series to anyone who likes the girls' love genre and doesn't mind some weird mech battles in between. (8/10)

Open

Gift

Dec 22, 2013

Dalek-kun

Mixed Feelings

When I first watched this anime, I was a little disappointed. The story line was somewhat predictable and hard to follow in some places. The characters were had very little depth and were not very likable at all. The animation was jerky and overloaded with flashy visual effects. So this may not be the best anime ever, but it wasn't that dreadful.
In spite of being poorly-written and incredibly cheesy, I actually thought that this anime was actually pretty funny. In fact, it's one of the funniest shows I've seen in my life! Some scenes in here are just flat out pee ...

Open

Gift

Jul 30, 2022

jedemdasseine

Not Recommended

Ah yes, anime with horribly chosen target audience. Almost everything go wrong because of this.

They chose Shinto as main base (rituals, prayers, symbolic, Mikos, etc.), but slapped Mechas on top of this. You can say sure, there are examples of that like Kyoukaisenjou no Horizon (to a lesser degree). But then you realize that plot revolves around girls love, and it can be indeed called Yuri because there are a lot of such relationships happen. And you think - Oh, how cool, at least Yuri fans can rejoice... yet then anime introduce male MC, and they form a love triangle. And boy, it is bad. ...

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

BROWN SUGAR | 2nd Ed.

by nightjasmine

50 Entries · 55 Restacks

Hidden gems for yuri lovers

by jaded-eagle

50 Entries · 533 Restacks

anime with wlw couples/themes

by evilpetergriffin

44 Entries · 10 Restacks

More recommendations

Recommendations

View All

More news

Recent News

More discussions

Recent Forum Discussion

Is it still worth watching? MEMEMAX - Jan 14	4 replies	by Oxybeast »» Jan 14, 10:34 PM
Poll: Kannazuki no Miko Episode 12 Discussion removed-user - Oct 7, 2009	47 replies	by Destroyer31 »» Dec 22, 2023 10:31 AM
Poll: Kannazuki no Miko Episode 1 Discussion removed-user - Sep 15, 2009	36 replies	by rsc-pl »» Jun 17, 2023 9:33 AM
Poll: Kannazuki no Miko Episode 8 Discussion removed-user - Oct 5, 2009	24 replies	by elgatosaika »» Jun 10, 2023 7:36 AM
Poll: Kannazuki no Miko Episode 7 Discussion TitanioVerde - Nov 27, 2009	14 replies	by elgatosaika »» Jun 9, 2023 2:47 PM

Recent Featured Articles

10 Scenes for a Happy Birthday, Anime Style

Birthdays are something we all look forward to. We get to throw a party, invite our friends, receive gifts and stuff ourselves full of delicious cake. Let's see what anime characters get up to on their birthdays.

by MisterD98

145,752 views

Collection

Top 15 Anime Crossovers: The More the Merrier

The ultimate fantasy for any anime fan is the anime crossover. How cool would it be if one of your favorite anime characters teamed up with another one of your favorite characters to make animated magic? Very, indeed. Let's explore some of the most creative anime crossovers of all time.

by NicWat10

183,485 views

Spoiler

Recommendation Collection Video

Kannazuki no Miko

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Himemiya, Chikane

Kurusugawa, Himeko

Oogami, Souma

Nekoko

Tsubasa

Sister Miyako

Yukihito

Kisaragi, Otoha

Izumi

Oogami, Kazuki

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Kannazuki no Miko

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-