Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi

This is one of those cases when the synopsis, while being absolutely correct, seems to promise a completely different experience from the one you're about to get. I went into this series expecting a plot driven show where most of the intrigue comes from the world itself, which seemed the case early one, since the beginning of the show focuses on the world's rules, people being unable to die, the Gravekeepers and whatnot. Later on, though, attention starts being shifted to character exploration and eventually Ai, the lead, just flat out says she has completely forgotten about her role as a Gravekeeper.

So, if one were ... eager to get a coherent narrative filled with mysteries and coming to its ultimate resolution in the end, they'd be pretty disappointed to see this show consists of a number of subplots connected mostly by Ai's determination to save the world, no less, which leads to a road trip of sorts. Luckily, these subplots and characters they focus on were more than enough to keep me invested in what was happening, also helped by the fact that there's little to no filler, all the episodes feel as an essential part of the story. In the end it resembles Cloud Atlas done right: the subplots are similarly connected by one main theme, namely, dreams and wishes, but there's no obvious message that can be clearly tracked through most of the parts, in fact, different points of view are represented and, in the end, none are completely discarded.

Surprisingly for a show that consists of a handful of pretty much separate stories, there are not so many significant characters here but they are well written and none feel unidentifiable, although there is a guy who's simply boring. Some are straightforward, some evolve throughout the series (Ai, in particular), some end up being not quite what they seemed - all that good stuff is here. The twists (and there are a couple) are genuinely well done and the stories are interesting, each shedding some light on what did God abandoning Earth really mean and the consequences of this event. The ending gives somewhat of a conclusion to Ai's desire but leaves many things open for interpretation, which I always like.

The artwork is simply gorgeous, it's drawn in clear lines and colored beautifully. There are some effects, particularly later on, which also look fantastic. The main character managed to look as a generic young girl yet still be unique at the same time. Hell, the chief animator's other credits include working on Death Note, which, although extremely controversial, is also extremely beautiful, so it figures. Bottom line - this anime looks great. Voice acting is also very good. Nothing much to say here, it's just good. As it usually is with this particular aspect, there isn't much to comment on except if there are some unusual tricks, flaws or just very-well recognizable voices. That's not the case.

This anime explores an interesting and, to be honest, underutilized theme of dreams and wishes (at least I think it does). Seriously, it was mostly covered in Disney animated movies (and knockoffs of those but that's a sad story), and in a largely stupid way. They promised that dreams come true. This show, in return, asks: "Well, is it good?". A fine question with no clear answer; add some great animation, interesting plots and identifiable characters and voila - you get Sunday Without God (English title). A cocktail I was happy to try out, might I add.

This series has an excellent premise and its graphics are ABSOLUTELY STUNNING! I also really like its Opening and Closing songs, character designs, and complex universe.

I enjoyed the first half of the anime a lot because it revolved around both Ai's mysterious status as a gravekeeper (the main character) and the issues in society that have arisen as a result of the fact that people can no longer die.

However, the second half of the anime was not nearly as good as its first half. The story strayed away from its original premise (there was less about zombie people issues) and suffered from a bunch ... of plot holes. I personally didn't find the 'school' stuff to be interesting at all.

I would still recommend this anime though. The graphics are just wayy too gorgeous. Though the last half of the anime was kinda shitty, I would definitely stick around for a sequel too see if the series shapens up.

Well, I've got mixed feelings about this anime. It was introduced to me by a friend (very enthusiastic about it). I'm not sure what to start with. At first, I thought I was going to enjoy the story even though the main character is a twelve-year-old [but looking like nine or so] cutie-pie girl. I'm not fond of this type.

Alors, art first: wonderful colours, movement, lighting and details. That's undoubtly a very strong characteristic of this series. The same goes for the music. Everything fits perfectly highlighting what's needed in particular scenes. The music alone is touching, not to mention its role in building atmosphere.

The ... main character is so young and raised in a village that you can't really expect much from her. She gets to speak out some noble, kind of cliche words, trying to say she relates to others' problems in a way. On the other hand you don't anticipate anything else but this. Not that bad. Still, she becomes quite annoying at times. It appears that freshly met people reveal thoughts or ideas she would never come up with. It's quite naive.

The idea for the series is interesting and captivating. It twists the rules of living and dying, aand of course raises a few questions how such reality can carry on. The disappearance of God is drawn as main theme but... it quickly gets lost, somehow.
Basically, we get to watch four short arcs. The first one is gorgeous, quite original, introduces the bizarre reality and of course the main character. Then it plays on emotions so much that I doubt anyone would stay untouched. I remember I was slightly worried it happened to be a short arc because things seemed quite rushed and it looked as if the case was closed for good.
The second arc was good although not as great as the beginning. The idea seemed interesting but was executed worse.
The middle of the show was the worst. Everything was quite boring, cliche, even senseless. I could see a lot of "convinient" solutions that left too much unexplained. A lot of characters was tossed in, which was unnecessary and only annoyed.
The last arc was as beautiful as the first one, at least for me. I got engaged in the events and was nicely surprised with a plot twist. I'm glad the end appeared to be very good. I was afraid what to expect after the previous episodes.

The story has got many plot holes. It becomes notorious and can disturb in watching pretty much. Many things stayed untold, unfolded. It simply feels... lacking. Especially that there isn't really any main plot but separate small ones. I suppose they would appear definitely more enjoyable if this anime were longer. It's just not enough episodes to cover all of the ideas.

I love the opening episodes as well as the last events. This is why I feel a bit conflicted. I'm honestly disappointed how half of the show turned out. Aesthetics are on point, the story is far from that. However, I am glad I could see those great episodes, which I mentioned, because they were definitely worth it.

Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi, or Sunday without god as it's english translation is, is a very strange anime featuring an incredibly original idea that would probably interest most people. Unfortunately, just like its Sentai filmworks cousin Yumekui Merry, it falls very flat in its story category. Let us begin.

Story (7/10): God abandoned the world. A very interesting concept where he has "failed" the world, and closed off heaven due to it being full, and giving everyone immortality. Because god has gotten rid of the law of death, people are no longer able to die, have children, or grow older. That ... being said, when people sustain a life-threatening injury, their bodies don't recover. People in fact will grow corrupt and selfish as their bodies decay. On top of that, to counter that, God created the gravekeepers, who will sense any "deceased" person, and attempt to bury them in order to make them at peace. I'm not sure WHERE these people go, but screw it, it's anime. The story follows a girl by the name of Ai, the cute little protagonist of the story. Being born and raised in a sealed off village in the mountains, Ai is the town's gravekeeper, and is watched over by the villagers in the happy and wonderful world that she knows. That is, until a man by the name of Hampnie Hambart comes in and kills all the villagers. From then on, Ai sets off on a journey to save the world, whilst following the strange man that apparently murdered everyone she knew (logic). Though this comes off as an IMMENSELY original idea, there are many flaws with its execution. For starters, the story isn't about finding out why God abandoned the world. Regardless of how much that would've improved that story, they don't do that. In fact, what they do do, is show the audience, the effects of the abandonment. The anime features 3 different main arcs, each with different characters that show a new situation and mystery to Ai. While this is good on its own, it comes off to me as side stories while not focusing on the possible main plot point in the first place. However, it does bounce back on the complex idea of "alive" and "dead" in the anime, and shows quite a lot of diversity.

Characters (8/10): Rather then talking about several characters in the anime like I usually do in my reviews, I'll be going over only one, as revealing the identities of the rest of the cast, would be considered as a huge spoiler. Ai, as the main protagonist, is a 12 year old girl who is a gravekeeper. As a bright, optimistic, and cheery person, she hosts an extremely child-like personality, that would probably warm anyone's heart if they saw it. However, after the initial event of the first episode, she changes to the point that she wishes to save the world that God abandoned. Pretty bold for a 12 year old. As the story goes along, Ai doesn't actually change too much from what I can see, rather, she uses her experiences from without the story to combat the problem at hand. She's definitely not your average little girl. Apart from her, the rest of the main cast, including Hampnie Hambart, is shown to have a very large level of complexity which shows just how much time was spent into creating these characters. Bottom line, I LIKE THEM!

Art and Sound (9/10): For art, you gotta hand it to them. The art in this show is amazing. The characters can be compared to those of Angel Beats! where all the characters feature a wide array of light colors and a sort of godly looking look in their design. The backgrounds are very well detailed and I just love how good everything blends in with one another. As for sound, it's awesome. It's opening is amazing sounding with it's energetic opening showing the hope and despair that is in this new world. It sounds wonderful, and I listened to it every time I watched the show. As for the ending... I love it as well. It gives a very somber sounding feeling that gives a sort of calming closing, as if you were given peace. Overall, I loved them both and I wouldn't be surprised if anyone who decided to watch it after this review did too.

Personal enjoyment (8/10): From the general synopsis of reading it, I thought that this was going to be one of the best things I've ever watched. And I was right, mostly. From an individual arc standpoint, the anime does really great in terms of executing the individual arcs with well done characters featured in each one, which get influenced by Ai in some way. This is something I like. I'd probably give it a 9/10. However, looking at the anime as a whole, I don't see it as good. The transitions from one arc to another are very sudden and random, which feels kind of awkward. On top of that, the story did feel a bit rushed at times, and there were some plot points that felt uneeded and very stupid. There are 2 that I can think of in particular. The ending itself was a bit confusing as well, and leaves a bit of a cliffhanger, seeing as how it was quite obvious that the anime still needed to explain what the hell just happened. Aside that, there is still ONE moment that I would describe as my favorite/hated/heartfelt/story changing/important moment in this anime. And that is, the end of episode 3. For those of you who have seen it, you know what I'm talking about. This scene in particular is where I think the anime took a bit of a nosedive (like SAO). For me, I think it was both unnecessary, and necessary. It was both stupid, and brilliant. It was well done and- you get the point. Above all, Sunday without God is good with its individual story arcs, its aesthetics, and its characters. It falls flat on its overall cohesive story, and...that's about it really. If you want to watch something original and not based off of archtypes, I would highly recommend this.

I might be over-rating this show but I believe this deserves over 10/10!
I usually don't get emotional through animes, I'm more of a manga person as well, but this series got me going! I cried multiple times in some episodes and others I was so giddy for the characters.
This anime definitely grasps its viewers and pulls you in quick.
Only thing I had a problem with was the incomplete ending (oh and the ending itself was so GRR perfect but so mean to us loyal viewers!) but I'm pretty sure a second season will be upon us.
Anyways definitely put this on the top of your to ... watch list!

Woah, seems I've got a bit of, um, dust in my eye here - WHY CAN'T I HOLD ALL THESE FEELS? Welcome one and all to another Waldy565 review, where today we look at Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi, roughly Sunday Without God.
Story - The story does jump about, but is generally cohesive. Briefly: A girl called Ai is a being known as gravekeepers, who's job it is to find dead people. Her dad disappeared and her mum died (tragic, aye). Anyway, mysterious man slaughters everyone in her village (which I didn't quite understand, even at the end, but I'll get on that) - this ... stranger is actually Ai's dad! Him and another stranger called Yuri then fight, then Ai chases after Hampne (Ai's father). They look for another gravekeeper called Scar. Hampne gets into another fight, but dies (despite being immortal... I'll give my spin on the symbolism after this) and meets again with Yuri.
Yuri, Scar and Ai go on a trip, and Ai is kidnapped by the Goran Academys version of the FBI, as she now must attend a school. Here she meets Alice (a guy) and Dee, among others. Few roadtrips later, we find Alice, despite looking 16, is actually nearer 30 as he comes from an alternative dimension that has been stuck in a time loop. He then makes everyone in this loop realise there in loop (thanks to Dee) and everyone escspes. Yes, that is OVERLY simplified.

I think the director had a hard childhood, life, and maybe considered suicide. Death and mass slaughter is prominent in this, along with a lot of people who 'leave' (die) and I think this is symbolising death and mourning. OK, yes, it's kind of implied with GRAVEKEEPERS, but, especially the last 2 episodes, you'll definitely see the suicide and death links. Hate to compare it to something as it's a great show in it's own right, but the show does scream, if you hadn't seen it by now, ANGEL BEATS. 9/10.

Art - Love the art. Standard CGI but just it's SO different to normal CGI use, it's not all crisp and "moe". It's all different and awesome. 8/10.

Sound - minimal, except at the end of each episode, a little, like, sombre interlude played which didn't add much and the opening and ending songs aren't particularly memorable, but what I LOVED was the song in the last episode between Ai and Alice, but I'll say no more. It really did save the score from dipping, as you can see. 7/10.

Characters - I've done brief bios in the story arc, but it's not what they do individually, it's what they do together. As said, they show the symbolism of mass murder, of mourning, of death, of the Kübler-Ross model (anger, denial, acceptance) - oh, there's a little optimism, but there's a general pessimistic undertone. But that in itself is the brillianceof the show. And this also acts as my overall enjoyment and conclusion of this review. Go in to this show as it is, and you'll find a quite generic show that then blooms into something you'll want to no more about and that you'll damn well nearly cry, if not you will cry, by the end (why do I watch such depressing stuff when I HAVE DEPRESSION. Ffs...)
Go into this while having watched Angel Beats and you'll have a nagging feeling this has all been done before, but watch this then Angel Beats and you'll get the same feeling. Overall, highly reccommended if you enjoy shows like Angel Beats (which I did) and a good recommendation overall into the insight of human pessimism. Thank you all and good night :)

Hello

Please note that there are few SPOILERS in my review.. So... only read it if you have already completed this series.

Don't know what i was expecting when i started watching this. I did read its description before watching though, it seemed like something of a fantasy with little bit drama. It was cute until that unexpected and heart tearing moment in episode 3. I was like a WTH moment!! and disappointing and unexpected. The sole purpose i started watching this damn thing was because i wanted to see how the father/daughter relationship goes after being reunited. But that was for a very short time. Why ... the heck he had to be dead in the in very early episode. I thought that i won't be able to watch anymore and the same happened, i couldn't. I had no idea what to expect out of it anymore.
Maybe i was expecting too much of it.

It had a great potential until her father awakens as living dead. This anime could've become a masterpiece yet failed deeply. Atleast for me.

You may like it or not it depends on you. Everyone has a different prospective after all.
Art 8/10
Story 5/10
Character 6/10
Overall 4/10

“God created the world on Monday.
On Tuesday, he drew the line between Order and Chaos.
On Wednesday, he arranged each and every number.
On Thursday, he permitted the ebb and flow of Time.
On Friday, God explored every nook and cranny of the world.
On Saturday, he rested.
And on Sunday, God . . . forsook the world.”

Based on the light novels of the same name, Kaminai, short for “Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi,” engaged many viewers with that first episode, by introducing us to a world without God. This isn’t the first anime to touch on the “God” subject, but it is one of the very few “Kamisama” anime ... I’ve actually seen, and very easily did I depict their similar unwillingness to deconstruct or delve deeper into the premise of their stories – thus, unappealing many viewers. However, I thought the premise was interesting enough to disregard those minor plot-holes.

Kaminai follows a young girl named Ai. Due to God’s abandonment, the world can no longer die or reproduce. As a result, humanity turns to different means of living and new prejudices and mysteries are born. It isn’t until Ai’s encounter with a stranger named Hampnie Hambart, that she realizes her desire to “save the world,” which forces her on a journey to re-discover her own world.

So why did God abandon this world? There are many theories that the characters touch upon as to why God may have abandoned them, but the story doesn’t dig any deeper into the question – it just sort of happened. Instead, it focuses more on deconstructing the new world that is born from it - via Ai’s journey. The storyline can best be broken down into a series of arcs, as Ai attempts to help those she encounters throughout her journey – filling in the role as God’s messenger, in a way.

The story touches on various concepts, like “wishes” and “prayers,” which I thought made the series really engaging. Also, it had some pretty good production values. The series is animated by Madhouse and even though there is a surprisingly low amount of head tilts :P, there is a lot of attention to the background, which results in some very beautiful scenery.

The music was also really good. It made the atmosphere, for the most part. My only complaint would have to be a large number of one-dimensional characters. I would have appreciated a little more depth in their characters. Even Ai, who is supposed to be the main protagonist of the story, suffers from a lack of depth. Nevertheless, the best thing about Kaminai is its premise, which was the main reason I stuck around in the first place, so I can’t complain much.

I’d say the turning point for this series is episode three. You either love it or hate it or find yourself crying by then.

This will be my first ever anime review so please bare with me ^_^

Story 6/10
The initial idea of god abandoning the world seemed like an interesting concept and I was intrigued to see how the anime would portray it. Although after watching the anime this doesn't seem to be the main concept of the story, instead we get 4 story arcs set over 12 episodes which I felt were a little rushed and ruined the emotional moments, but still the story was still good enough to keep me watching.

Art 8/10
The art and animation of The Sunday Without God was beautiful, every scene was brought ... to life by the vivid colours and the use of lighting and darkness to portray the different atmospheres of the anime.

Sound 8/10
The OST was great and set the various scenes well from the sad parts to the uplifting parts. The opening and ending songs are what stick out to most though, the opening great at getting me excited for the anime and the ending is great for finishing off an episode.

Characters 7/10
Ai,the main character, s a great character with good development for a 12 episode anime. The other characters didn't get as much development but they never were annoying or completely pointless to the plot.

I really enjoyed this anime, with it's strong points being it's sound and animation but overall it's just really good.
Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi is definitely worth your time and if not already you should check it out.

This series asks a question I am sure we have all thought about at one point or another when confronted with the death of a loved one: What if we could not die?

According to Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi the answer isn't some idealistic fairy tale. Without death there is no new life or rebirth in this world and without that the world feels fairly empty and devoid of life. In fact, I felt death's importance was highlighted by this series because it gave a sense of closure and ending to a life.

The story is told as a series of connected arcs with very liberal use ... of time skips in between as we follow Ai and her companions journey through their world. This gives the story a somewhat disconnected feel which I did not appreciate, however this approach had the advantage of allowing more story to be told since the story often continues mid action and expects the viewer to more or less reason out what had happened in the interim between arcs. The arcs themselves I felt suffered from pacing issues, mainly they tried to do too much too quickly with introducing new characters and having them disappear from the story the very next episode, yet expecting their disappearance to somehow have an impact. Similarly, while we got to see much of the intriguing world that Ai lived in, the show only permitted glances at the different places and situations as to give the feeling that the environment was simply a storefront, appearing grander then they really were.

Where the series succeeded was really in presentation. The art was absolutely beautiful as any of the stills from the show can attest. I can only describe the environments shown throughout the show as surreal, almost like looking at the world as a painting rather than a picture because of the color choice. Character design is always hit or miss but I think the show had good character design with all the characters well differentiated and nothing too quirky as to distract the viewer.

I liked the world and the context this series presented which made me strongly want to finish this series. During the first few episodes the series really delved into issues about death so I expected that theme to continue. However the series really just switched into "adventure" mode where the tough questions were left behind, I expect this was a good decision for DVD/BD sales but it would not have been my preference. Overall, I would have liked to see a longer series or a series that didn't try to cram so many adventures into only 13 episodes because the pacing really hurt my enjoyment of the show.

I would recommend this show to anyone who likes adventure shows like Kino no Tabi where you get to travel to various parts of an intriguing world, encounter a problem and solve it within arcs.

Sunday without God is an outstanding experience that combines a menacing atmosphere, suspenseful situations, and a well-developed main protagonist into one of the most memorable anime in the thriller/tragedy genres.

This anime is tremendous for many reasons. Firstly, Ai’s character and her development throughout the show is something to behold as her kind and caring personality palpably serves as the moral compass in the brutal and horrifying setting this show has to offer. We are introduced to Ai in the Valley of Death arc as her innocent and very young personality must already learn to overcome extreme tragedy. She meets Hampnie Hambart who ... she thinks may have deep connections to her, but as it turns out his personality is extremely harsh and unforgiving. The confrontations and interactions between Hambart and Ai during the beginning of the show sets the tone for the harsh and strong emotion Ai’s personality drives throughout much of the story. The writers also utilize her character to push many grave and tragic emotions to great effect. Much of the reason why these moments with Ai are so heavy is due to her personality being appreciably normal which effectively represents a young girl her age. Therefore, when she is confronted with hardship she emotes as a very real and identifiable young child. The result is tons of unrestrained emotion. The writers also brilliantly use the heavily detailed animation to capture Ai’s expressions of fear and sadness throughout much of the opening and by the end of episode 3 we already feel a deep connection to Ai’s character, and the development does not stop there. Throughout much of her journey we see Ai having to confront and discover the worlds many secrets and the meaning of being a gravekeeper. In the Ortis city arc we see Ai’s personality grow further as her wisdom and matureness shines when she must confront the complex leaders and dwellers of the city. This leads to many interesting and unique situations as she learns to deal with a complex world and characters. This builds to a very intense and fascinating concluding arc in which Ai must apply her experiences to convince others to face the harsh reality of the world they live in. Ai is not only the best aspect of this show, but one of the most impactful characters in the realm of the thriller/tragedy genres.

This anime also features a plethora of beautiful cinematography, memorable soundtracks, and suspenseful sequences which work in tandem to capture the beauty and horror of the world God left behind. This combination is effective because the writers treat the setting as a living character. From the long drawn out shots of the sun shining on Ai’s village, to the suspenseful and eerie sequences of ominous music used to introduce the city of Ortis, the anime certainly pulled me into the world and provoked my interests. The show also features a few sequences of extreme terror and violence proving the anime is unrestrained. These sequences heavily caught me off guard because the writers amazingly use the phenomenal animation to show the beauty of the world, so when we are introduced to the more frightening aspects of the story coupled with Ai’s intensity it successfully constructs the realism of the setting. Suspenseful sequences where Ai and her new friends discover unfamiliar elements of the world are also plentiful throughout the story. From the scenes focusing on the expressions of the characters to the silent moments of their journeys throughout the vastness of the world, the writers know how to build anticipation and take “showing the story” to a whole new level. All of these themes remarkably came together to create some memorable and intense experiences.

This all being said Sunday without God is not a complete masterpiece. Firstly, the show is told in three different arcs that do not heavily relate to each other by the end of the show. As someone who watched this without any knowledge of the anime at all, I was expecting a payoff where all three arcs would come together by the conclusion, but they never did. This left for a bit of a letdown ending. Secondly, aside from Hampnie Hambart in the first arc, the side cast is not particularly that memorable or well developed. Most of the time this is also due to the three arc structure as the side cast comes and goes to often leaving little time to feature a ton of maturation or development.

However, these were all subsidiary issues. I still loved this anime because of Ai’s journey and the sensational and intense atmosphere throughout the show. If you are a fan of the thriller/tragedy genres you should definitely check this out.

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.

An anime that I hesitantly ignored to watched due to my own instinct and thoughts. But ended up watching it after a psychological anime called "Happy Sugar Life" that left me speechless and blank. This anime literally brought me up from the pit of depression(?) to my normal mood. Honestly, I was really surprised. What really held me back from watching this anime in the past is the rating and the low review scores. I several times thought "This anime seems cool, and it's probably good. But I think I'm over expecting it. I'm just gonna ignore it for now.". But I am wrong, this ... anime is a hidden gem. With a lot of potential hidden within tantamount to an unopened door with many possibilities and outcomes. After watching this anime, I did not regret trying it out in the slightest bit. But I'm guilty for not trying it out earlier than this.

Story : 10/10

The story is actually pretty great, and the plot is very well-made and complex. Basically, god abandoned the world, making no one able to born and die. And left one hope for humanity, which is individuals so-called "grave keepers". They are the ones that are able to put the dead people that are alive into peace. Ai, a young girl serves as a grave keeper for her village after her mother which was a grave keeper had passed away.

One day, Ai's father ( Hampnie Hambart ) arrives at the village and kills all the villagers. Ai had nothing left for her at the village, so she decided to accompany her father on his journey. And with that, is where the adventure begins.

I won't be writing any spoilers, because I think that it is best to watch this anime raw. But I'm just going to say one thing. The story is actually REALLY good. One issue is the ending which doesn't really seem to feel like an ending. Other than that, it's a masterpiece.

Art : 9/10

The art is brilliant, Ai is so kawaii ( don't call the cops ) and the other characters looks matches their personality. The effects are alright, and the background is okay. Nothing much to criticize nor give a good feedback about. I think putting it around 9/10 is ideal.

Sound : 9/10

I can't decide whether the OP and ED is good or bad. I couldn't clearly hear the opening and ending of the anime due to me watching the anime inside my dad's loud engine car. But what I know truly is the voice acting is outstanding, I nearly cried around the final episode because the voice acting, music and sound effects really matched the scene perfectly. And not just the final episode, also the majority of the scenes within this anime. They set the sounds for the moods well, and really got me into the story deeper with the outstanding sounds. Truly fascinating.

Character : 10/10

Don't call the cops, but I think that Ai is a waifu-loli-material. Okay, okay, jokes aside. The character developments are very good, especially for Ai. They made her story clear, I understood her past story and her past relations. Character developments for other characters are also pretty neat, but I won't say the names of the characters I want to mention because I may accidentally slip a spoiler into my review. So all I'm going to say is IT'S GOOD.

Enjoyment : 9/10

Besides having to watch this anime annoyingly due to my dad's loud car engine, sunlight flashing into the car and blinding me sometimes, uncomfortable, and no F water to drink throughout 7 hours. I find myself still enjoying this anime at its fullest. And I'm hoping that there will be season 2 in the future.

Overall : 9/10

Great anime, great story. Not gonna lie, I really wanted some more romance actions. But I guess this is fine. Yeah, I enjoyed this anime a lot. I recommend this to everyone out there. Thank you for reading.

p.s. English is not my first language, thus I am not fluid in it. Please try not to feel uneasy if my writing is a little bit off. I apologize and thank you.

Just a short review to pen my thoughts.
I first watched this 5 years ago when it was airing. For some reason, I dropped it. I think it was because of how incohesive the story seemed to be at that time.

But now, having matured, I can appreciate the story fully. Like you may have read in the Forum Discussions, many points and aspects were not explained or left to be ambiguous. But if you just thought about it, everything is actually inter-connected and the explanations are as clear as day.

I've really enjoyed this anime and I think I'll pick up the LN now.

So this anime started off a bit odd, as it progressed it became more odd and i thought the story would be completely different. Nonetheless the anime had me crying happy tears by the end. Though i wish there was more to it. I highly recommend watching it, if not for the walking dead than for the hint of romance everywhere and the heart wrenching goodbyes. Oh it was so lovely. The ending might make you really angry at first but continue watching and you will be pleasantly surprised my dear anime lovers, if your looking for gore, love, zombies, and a hint of magic, ... this anime gotcha covered.

[Prelude]

Despite my 6/10 rating, I DO recommend that you watch The Sunday Without God. It is a good show that very clearly tried to be great. That's all.

[An Adventure]

After the events of the first arc, Ai sets out on an adventure to "save the world that God abandoned". Unfortunately, I don't believe that Ai is an interesting enough character to lead an adventure anime. By the time that the first arc ends, we don't know anything about Ai other than that she is a gravekeeper and she is sort of a dimwit. That last trait does not bode well for a 12-year-old girl who is ... journeying out into a world that is said to be "dangerous". Due to her naivete, she is mostly led around by her supporting cast. This means that Ai is a story-driven character, which is okay until you consider that she's supposed to be pursuing a goal of saving the world. This was the show's biggest problem in my opinion. If the synopsis of the show wasn't so good, I probably would have dropped it without a second thought.

[The Second Biggest Problem]

As previously mentioned, the supporting cast and random events of the plot serve as the driving force for this show. It's unfortunate, then, that the character building is so rushed. Every character is plopped in the story, then within a few minutes, the audience is expected to be invested in them.

This is something that I hate almost as much as the use of stupid anime tropes like guys getting caught peeping on girls and characters, in unison, saying "ehhh?!" as the camera pans out. Oh, yeah, and both of those happen for no reason as well.

[Character Breaking- of the Show]

The final issue I found in The Sunday Without God is confused tone of the show. It seemed that the director couldn't decide whether this was a philosophical mystery anime or a light-hearted adventure-comedy. Actually, this problem shows up in a lot of shows that I love. Even Re:Zero has this problem, although, in Re:Zero's case, the dark atmosphere never disappears, just recedes into the background.

[Presentation]

The artstyle of this show reminds me of Clannad. As is the case with Clannad, the lolis look, for lack of a better word, "derpy". The OP and ED are very skippable- especially the ED. I can't stand hearing Engrish. It completely takes me out of the show.

[Conclusion]

Despite its flaws, The Sunday Without God is a good show and I definitely recommend it. At least it *tried* to be different- unlike all of the soulless garbage being released today.

Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi (Sunday Without God)- This anime was a mixture of good and bad. It was a pleasant surprise but at the same time was a lot of wasted potential. It definitely would have been better with 24 episodes, but it was still a solid 7 despite its problems.

Let's start with the good. The best aspects of this show are the art and the music. The artwork is gorgeous and has everything you could want in an animated work: vibrant colors, detailed scenery, fluid animation, realistic character designs, and a variety of environments.
The music is just as good as ... the art in terms of how much of an impact it has on the show. The ambient music is perfect and adds a surreal feel to almost every scene. It really makes this already unique world feel even more unique. Both the OP and ED are also very good, with the ED being one of my favorites.

The world that is built in this series is by far one of the most interesting worlds I've seen in awhile. It's a mixture of post-apocalyptic with both modern and medieval architecture, both living and dead, and different races - human and gravekeeper, along with the power that wish fulfillment can bring in a world essentially devoid of rules. The way everything flows cohesively together in this world abandoned by God is really nice to see and it's one of the most unique creations I can think of.

The downside of this show is that it wasn't able to fully capitalize on the world it had to work with. Things felt rushed, the world wasn't explored to the capacity many people would have liked to see, and the story itself suffered from poor writing and poor characters.
The story has 4 important arcs: Valley of Death, City of the Dead, Goran Academy, and Class 3-4, in the order they take place in. The first 2 arcs were very good. They did a good job introducing the viewer to this fascinating world and explaining how it operates now that God is no longer around to oversee its happenings. The City of the Dead arc is especially good at offering more insight into the world in both lore and environment. The Goran Academy arc is by far the lowest point in the series. Thankfully it's only 2 episodes long, but those 2 episodes were painfully uninteresting compared to the rest of the series. It's really immersion breaking- that's the best way to describe it.

Speaking of the Goran Academy arc, the characters in the show are another weak point. Too many characters are introduced and flung to the side shortly thereafter, and the mainstay characters suffer because of it due to their screen time being interfered with. The Goran Academy arc is the worst of this dilemma, with a plethora of characters being thrown aside as soon as the arc ended without there being any attempt to develop them at all. The worst part is that the writing tries to force drama that isn't there because, well.. Nobody cares about these characters.
The main cast is honestly not that bad- Hambart and Alice in particular are very interesting characters with strong personalities. Ai is a bit of a hit-and-miss. She's a likeable character overall and is less annoying than your typical young female lead, but she still suffers from some of the same tropes that you would expect (being overly naive, being overly stubborn, and showing an alarming lack of awareness in some situations).

Overall, Sunday Without God is worth a watch. Despite the Goran Academy arc in the middle and an overall weak cast of characters, the rest of the arcs (which are all very good) and the few good characters are not overshadowed. The superb sound and visuals do a lot for strengthening the show as well.
Sunday Without God is not a bad show by any means, it's just not as good as it could have been. I still really enjoyed it, and I'm sure any fan of the Mystery genre or anybody looking for a unique world (which is rare to find these days) will enjoy it as well.

Story: 6/10 (Great and very interesting world but average writing overall)
Art: 10
Sound: 10
Character 5: (Some good characters but just way too many irrelevant ones)
Enjoyment: 7

Overall: 7

My anime of 2013.
a Short Review/Recommendation from me!
This anime really ticked everything i wanted.
-Not full of fan service but still a cute protagonist
-Had to be deep
The anime kept the tension up the whole way for me, there were sad and happy moments and shit i loved all of them


[STORY:9]
The story and background setting is great, very well thought out and explained through the series so its easy and fun to keep up.
Character development was spot on for me as well. I can say I genuinely cared for all the major characters, each have their own flaw but they all have a genuine good side - ... none of that stereotypical evil villain rubbish here.

[ART:9]
Beautiful, just stunning the designs, the flow, the effects. Would go for a 10 but then it would have to match or top the series "K"

[SOUND:9]
Voice actors are perfect for the roles

Wow... Of all the anime I've reviewed this is definitely one of the most difficult to give a grade to. Based on the other reviews I've seen here you guys seem to agree, as I've seen scores that are absolutely all over the place. I can't imagine any scenario in which this show is anywhere close to a 10 or anywhere close to a 3- and I've seen both scores multiple times. Here's my take to the best of my ability, but, at the end of the day this is one of those anime you simply have to see for yourself.

Art-

The presentation as a whole ... deserves high praise. The art was very pretty throughout and in a few moments outright beautiful. Multiple of the moments involving death had a beauty and eloquence to them that I really appreciated. The animation is smooth and fluid and the art style fits the world the anime creates very nicely and never feels out of place.

Sound-

Inexplicably, there is no music or sound whatsoever on the blu ray main screen or episode select screen, which is weird and lame to begin with and even more so given how good the soundtrack is in this show. The music is outright beautiful and it really complements the often emotional messages the anime is trying to convey.

The voice acting was above average and never bad but it wasn't ever fantastic either. The main character, voiced by Caitlyn French in the dub, provides a passable but generic voice performance. Overall there was a lot of mediocrity in the voice performances as a whole. Personally I think the best performance in the dub was provided by Tyler Galindo as Kiriko, but ultimately this character wasn't all that important to the final product.

Story-

The story here is really hard to talk about and rate for multiple reasons. For one, it's all over the place. It very much felt like this anime had four barely connected, standalone mini arcs that happened to take place in the same universe. Beyond that they felt disjointed, fragmented and very much lacking cohesion. I almost feel like I watched three or four different mini anime as opposed to one whole one. Interestingly, all four arcs were genuinely good as standalone products, with the second being my personal favorite and the third in my opinion being the weakest, but they simply didn't feel connected or relevant to each other. In fact, I'd argue damn near everything that happens in the first two arcs- which is the first half of the entire show- basically doesn't matter at all as far as the bigger picture plot is concerned.

The other problem is that this anime is not actually about, or even close to about, what the synopsis and the back of the blu ray box tell you it is about. The main character is established very early on to be a gravekeeper- an extremely important supernatural being that can properly put the dead to rest, which no one else is able to do- and this is presented to be an extremely important plot point that I thought would be absolutely core to the anime from start to finish, but as it turned out that couldn't have been much further from the truth. The gravekeeper thing as a whole is CRIMINALLY under-explored and underdeveloped and quite literally- not hyperbole- the main character uses her gravekeeper powers to put the dead to rest in episode one and then once in episode three and then LITERALLY NEVER AGAIN THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE ANIME! It felt to me like the fact that she is a gravekeeper was super irrelevant after the third episode. I couldn't believe they did so little with this interesting, unique premise that I thought had all the potential in the world.

Character development as a whole left a lot to be desired as the arcs are just so self-contained and separate from one another than you only really get to know a lot of characters for 2 or 3 episodes before they're gone forever. Very few characters ultimately matter in this anime and there certainly isn't a single character from this show I'll look back on and still remember or remotely care about one month after watching it.

Enjoyment-

This is such a tough category because the anime is artistically beautiful and has a lovely soundtrack from start to finish and each of the four arcs, individually, are solid and enjoyable. However, though this anime was not intended to be episodic it often felt like it was anyway and with the plot simply feeling disjointed and disconnected, you inevitably lose something along the way. For the most part I enjoyed and was entertained by what I was watching, but I was having a really hard time connecting with or caring about any of the characters.

Overall-

This anime is just... unique. I've never seen another anime quite like this, for better or worse, and it definitely wasn't what I was expecting (or even close to it) based on the description the blu ray box and the Wiki page provide. It's a show I ultimately felt "somewhere in the middle" about, though closer to positive than negative, and while I would probably recommend it at the end of the day it wouldn't be something I'd treat as a high priority watch or come into with sky high expectations.

+A sense of beauty and eloquence in many of the sadder scenes
+Beautiful soundtrack
+Four distinct, solid arcs that are all nice watches on their own

-Disjointed, all over the place story that lacks cohesion
-Very lacking character development
-Wasted, criminally under-explored base premise

OBJECTIVE RATING- 7-7.5
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING- 7.5

*I included as few spoilers as possible

There are few anime who, after I finish watching them, I have to scratch my head. Even fewer make me simultaneously want to review the story itself and post it online. Sunday Without God is one of those irksome shows.

Story 4 (This show really is a cute girl doing cute things)

I picked this series up because its premise sounded amazing. I am a sucker for religiously-inclined series, and this one seemed to fit the bill perfectly. The show's two opening arcs were nothing short of amazing, if a bit campy. The series explained the setting while also bringing to ... light the conflicting views of safety and security in this new world, and how each person seeks to attain them. It was beautifully done with the only issue being the complete campy-ness of everything. This show is slice of life, make no mistake, it is not extremely dark like the opening or themes would have you believe.

My problem comes in two forms; one is the tone, and the other is the ending. The tone of this, as I said is very slice of life, but its concept is much less than so. The slice of life aspect of this show ruins many of the themes because it is like the show itself is not taking itself seriously. I could not tell who this story is for. The people who like slice-of-life will be off-put by the random and graphic violence, but those who like darker themes will be put off by the storytelling that is reminiscent of bubblegum, cotton candy, and rainbows. Maybe there is someone out thee who this show is perfect for, but the tone, to me especially, seemed way too varied to really take it seriously.

The ending... is another matter. This is one of those shows where everything literally stops mid-story without any resolution. Unlike similar shows such as Kino's Journey, the series doesn't even give you any final words. It. Just. Stops. This would be okay, if the viewer were not left with a dozen questions. The show does not explain the nature of the wishes God gives the world or how what happened at the end of the final episode, even happened. I could have ignored the tonal shifts, but the horrible ending and the fact that the final two arcs were so similar to one another (same settings and themes) dragged this score down at least 3 points.

One last thing to note is its poor execution of Chekhov's gun. I can't give specifics, but there are events and things that happen that do not come up again, even though a big deal was made of them to begin with. It happened more than six times in this series, and really brought down the overall message, as well as the characters.

Art 9

The artwork in this is gorgeous, in that hyper stylized moe kind of way. I don't have many complaints save for the fact that there were awful uses of CG and the characters often did not quite blend with the gorgeous backgrounds provided. Otherwise, I thought it was great.

Sound 6

The sound is usually really good. The opening sequence is ear-catching with its swelling choir and snippets of English phrases and the ending is one of my favorites of all time. But other than those two, nothing really stands out. None of it is bad, but it's not great either. The music is also not very versatile. It tells you exactly how to feel and when to feel it- with no interpretation left to the viewer. If it's sad, you're supposed to be curled up into the fetal position bawling. If it's happy, you're supposed to be skipping and laughing. Etc.


Characters 5

Sunday Without God is a mixed bag when it comes to its characters. Sure each of them have well-thought out motivations and solid interactions between one another, but those interactions and motivations do not match up most of the time. A character's backstory will be presented and a few personality quirks alongside that, then, the character just goes off and does random things that have nothing to do with their personality in the first place. I'm talking about the fact that the village that raised our main character is brutally murdered, and what does she (the caring and loyal Ai) do? She of course goes with the man who killed her village. Makes perfect sense! There are numerous instances of this, and it got very annoying very quickly.

The biggest travesty to the characters is that they all act so happy all the time. I get that the main character is that way, I will not complain there. But many of the others are just happy for happiness' sake. It's unreasonable to think that in a post-apocalyptic future that no one would be experiencing extreme depression or despair- that's just not possible. This campy feel added with the slice of life tone, just ruins much of the interactions of the characters.

Enjoyment 5
Overall 6

Overall, I don't regret purchasing this series. It's not terrible. It has many very touching moments and the colors and animation are very pleasing to the eye. I just didn't like it from a technical standpoint. Despite my negativity, this show is not awful. It definitely has some problems in it, but for what it is, it's not bad. I just hoped for more out of a series with such amazing animation, a great premise, and an opening sequence that was inventive.