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.
