Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi (Sunday Without God)

God has abandoned the world. As a result, life cannot end nor can new life be born, and the "dead" walk restlessly among the living. Granting one last miracle before turning away forever, God created "gravekeepers," mystical beings capable of putting the dead to rest through a proper burial. Ai, a cheerful but naïve young girl, serves as her village's gravekeeper in place of her late mother.

One day, a man known as Hampnie Hambart, who is supposedly Ai's father, arrives and kills all the people in her village. Having lost her village and with no plans for the future, Ai decides to accompany the mysterious man on his journey. As she travels the land, the young gravekeeper strives to fulfill her duties, granting peace to the dead and assisting the living, while at the same time learning more about the world that God left in this tragic state.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi adapts the first 5 novels of Kimihito Irie's light novel series of the same title.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi
Side story:	Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi: Kioku

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Ai

Main

Toyosaki, Aki
Japanese

Hambart, Hampnie

Supporting

Namikawa, Daisuke
Japanese

Color, Alice

Supporting

Uchiyama, Kouki
Japanese

Stratmitos, Dee Ensy

Supporting

Kitamura, Eri
Japanese

Scar

Supporting

Noto, Mamiko
Japanese

Hecmatika, Ulla Eulesse

Supporting

Komatsu, Mikako
Japanese

Dmitriyevich, Julie Sakuma

Supporting

Fujiwara, Keiji
Japanese

Zubreska, Kiriko

Supporting

Kakihara, Tetsuya
Japanese

Gedenburg, Mimieta

Supporting

Kakuma, Ai
Japanese

Gedenburg, Memepo

Supporting

Kakuma, Ai
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Yamanaka, Takahiro

Producer

Hashimoto, Kentarou

Producer

Kumazawa, Yuuji

Director

Motoyama, Satoshi

Sound Director

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Opening Theme

"Birth" by Eri Kitamura

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Ending Theme

"Owaranai Melody wo Utaidashimashita. (終わらないメロディーを歌いだしました。)" by Mikako Komatsu

Reviews

Dec 1, 2021

9sayaka

Recommended

~~SPOILERS~~

Sunday Without God had excellent world building and was thoroughly unique with excellent pacing, but I had to venture into the internet to research the final episode and ending.

Deus ex machina ending (which is in fact canon / not anime exclusive), as well as having to decipher the overly cryptic last episode [why Dee didn't lose her memories and how Alis is the revived Alice (class 3-4 wish)], kept the show from being a 10 for me. Otherwise, the pacing isn't as bad as people say it is, the characters are unique and develop nicely, scenery is beautiful, great concept, and the scoring is just ...

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Sep 6, 2019

animesscythe

Mixed Feelings

I expected to like this show, but given how very different its arcs were, it manages to do good on some, and just outright disappoint on others. I'll try to cover most of my issues and what I liked without going too much into spoilers.

The story takes place in a world where people cannot be born, nor can die. Given how unique the setting is, it's bound to be interesting, but they immediately raise a problem to it. Characters can still die, but they live on as "undead" until buried by gravekeepers. The issue here is there is no remarkable difference between the living and ... the undead, so I could not see why there was so much discrimination between them. I think the only defining factor is that the undead cannot age, but other than that, they look completely alive. The first arc does well, I liked its characters, and was shocked by a certain twist at its end. Moving on to the second one, it mainly encompasses living and undead as I mentioned before and adds silly plot points with an abruptly stupid ending which I won't go into to avoid spoilers. Third arc is basically meaningless and just as a setup to introduce the characters of the last arc. Before the last arc, we get kind of an interlude which tries to develop Scar, but they kind of just pushed her into an unnecessary situation just for development. The final arc reminded me of my favorite light novel, HakoMari, with its plot being really similar to its first volume, except handled much worse. It was going pretty well with the explanations given to the situation until the ending which tried to offer a plot twist, but that twist contradicted all prior explanations, albeit being a bit surprising, but the annoyance factor outweighs the surprise factor. Basically a story full of ups and a lot of downs, and could have been rated at least a 7 if it covered its plotholes.

The art is well colored and drawn as evident in the PV and wallpaper, but the character designs seem like your generic loli girl and bishounens. It didn't really bother me but at times you can predict their personalities from their looks, which was kind of disappointing to see how they exactly follow that character trope. Sound design was nice and warm and fit the moments in the show. Hampnie was pretty much the only character I liked, I have an appeal towards Alice too but not too much, and I'm neutral toward anyone else. As I mentioned, their looks gave away their bland personalities, except for these 2 characters.

Overall, I expected more from a show with blatantly obvious plotholes that ignores them so casually. Covering up these plotholes would make this show watchable, but at this rate, don't bother.

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Oct 4, 2019

mouthpiece

Not Recommended

Here we are with another show with a very interesting setting and a very dull and randomly written plot. The premise is about God abandoning the world, which in the context of the story means no more people can be born. It also means no people die when they are killed *smirk*. They turn to zombies who act normally for awhile and only those with special powers can put them to eternal rest. Enter Ai, our heroine, an oblivious loli traveling the world looking for answers to all this mess.

… And that is literally all there is to it. It is one of those slow ... burner shows of the likes of Cashern Sins or Kino’s Journey where the atmosphere is more important than plot or characters. And for the same reason it is quite boring too if you expect action, suspense, or shocking revelations. It is also quite retarded if you try to make sense of it.

At least the atmosphere part is done right, as it makes good use of the premise and it’s not there as background decoration, like some shitty Dog Days variant. Most of the plot is dedicated to showing you how people are trying to cope with this new way of life (or should I call it unlife?). It also does that by having a balance between sad and cheery; meaning, not depressing and inhumane like Technolyze nor goofy and trashy like Neptunia. It stays true to its gloomy premise and makes everything to feel sad and even elegiac in a way without resorting to the overused goth fad we had a few years ago. Forget that macabre style of Nightmare before Christmass everybody was ripping off for almost a decade. It actually looks quite bright and colorful with the only indication something is off being the moody background music and the dull way everybody acts or lives. It even does a good job at keeping you wondering what is going on with this whole “God has left the building” issue as means to keep watching.

Aside from the atmosphere though everything else is barebones. The characters lack any real charisma and pass as too obvious plot devises to care about. They are also contradicting themselves every 5 minutes. It is also questionable if you can even tolerate Ai for more than 10 minutes, since she is yet another oblivious loli that is occasionally presented as a fetish for pervs.

As for the mystery part, the show is only 13 episodes and most of it is spent traveling to different places and meeting different people instead of focusing on fleshing out the main characters. That may feel like placing a lot of focus on world-building but only manages to leave the cast as empty shells and the setting as random ideas with no continuity. Meaning, there is nobody at the epicenter from which we can see the world. Ai has barely any personality that goes beyond that of a stupid girl going alone in dark alleys full of crooks. She is not worthy to cheer for and worths not even SE Lain’s pinky finger. The rest of the characters don’t even represent some ideal or mentality, since they change their perspective on live completely every 5 minutes. You can find several scenes per episode where a character says one thing, only to contradict it a few minutes later. Even the mystery which seems so strong at first fades away fast when you realize nothing is making sense.

What gives the gravediggers the power to kill the undead?

It can’t be God, that’s for sure, and there is no other reason given. “Ah, but they will explain it later” one may say but even then that means you are supposed to believe anything they tell you. If the whole setting is a mystery and you are supposed to gradually learn about it, you have no other source of information past what the characters are telling you. And they are almost deliberately contradicting themselves as means to confuse you and by the end of the episode not really telling you anything. Here are a few examples:

Ai: I am a gravedigger. Actually, I am not. Actually, I am a hybrid. Actually, I am too one of a kind to explain what I am, so just take it as granted. Humphrey killed all my friends and beats me up all the time. I guess he is my new best friend. Let’s have fun together.

Humphrey: I can’t die. Oh, now I can. Gravediggers are emotionless robots. But Ai’s mother was a kind woman. And she was also a gravedigger. And gravediggers can’t have babies. But she could. I want to kill Ai. No, I just want to beat her up. No, I just want to give her a piggy ride and do silly comedic stuff with her 5 minutes after I killed all her friends and family.

Yuri: I want revenge. Actually, I want to die. Actually, I am fine and don’t want revenge or to die, so let’s travel the world together.

The above mood swings don’t happen gradually throughout the show. They happen within the SAME episode. How can the viewer be interested in a mysterious setting that is changing every 5 minutes? There is no truth to look forward to if they are constantly trolling you like that. There is nothing to accept as granted and no time is invested on something for you to care about. And even if you manage to make sense of it all in the end, there will be no reason to wanna revisit such a series that is mostly trying to fool you with red herrings and fake claims. It is essentially making you feel like an idiot and it’s a very good example of bad storytelling. Also it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the answer to most of the mystery is Ai herself since she was born special; so again I am not made to feel I should care about the revelation if it has to do with a sexualized plot devise.

The show is not even being subtle about its topics to the point it trashes them, despite the good balance in atmosphere. It does not try to integrate the everyday lives of its main characters to the main conflict; since they are always on the move and their goal is to basically kill any undead they meet instead of using them as means to offer a steady way to learn about the world. And the themes are way too heavy and edgy, as they have to do with rotting corpses and occasionally mutilation while occasionally switching to Ai doing some moe-moe nonsense. This is nowhere near the masterful way Haibane Renmei used to show some really deep themes through basically nothing more than everyday life.

Bottom line: If you want to watch a show with good atmosphere, this one is a good pick. But everything else from characterization, to excitement, to subtlety are quite weak.

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Poll: Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi Episode 6 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Aug 10, 2013	171 replies	by toralbabs »» Sep 7, 2:23 AM
Poll: Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Sep 21, 2013	370 replies	by Niveen_Sleem »» Jul 29, 3:02 PM
Poll: Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Amarrez - Jul 1, 2013	265 replies	by Niveen_Sleem »» Jul 22, 11:51 AM
Poll: Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi Episode 4 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Jul 27, 2013	161 replies	by Dawizz »» Jun 13, 11:51 PM
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Stratmitos, Dee Ensy

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