Kannazuki no Miko Review

story 7.5/10

The story revolves mainly around two girls: one is Himeko, a quiet insecure crybaby, and the other is Chikane, a graceful confident and capable, albeit quiet, person. These two share the same destiny, for they are the Sun and Moon priestesses who have the role of protecting humanity against the evil Orochi and his eight henchmen (who want nothing more than to drown the earth in darkness).

The story is quite simple, but also complicated. Here we have two priestesses, and they are to protect the world from evil persons who have some sort of mecha that they can call on during fights. What they are or how they work isn’t explained at all and the mechas end up feeling out of place in this show. Something more along the lines of spiritual power or magic would’ve been more suited in this show.

The complicated part is the relationships. It appears that there is a lot more than meets the eye regarding this theme and it isn’t just about two priestesses protecting the world. Chikane, who holds Himeko more dear than anything in the world has developed feelings of genuine love for her -- yes, this show has its piece of shoujo-ai. This brings us to the third main-character, Oogami, who is the male version of Chikane when it comes to handsomeness and capabilities. He has feelings for Himeko as well and this brings up quite an interesting love triangle: what does Himeko feel?

"The most dangerous man is the one who has nothing left to lose". Take away a person’s most valued things, rip apart dreams and fantasies, induce a little bit of "what-if" reality and give the person in question a little bit of power and you have created a merciless monster. This is taken to its limit in this show and I loved every moment of it. It’s not that I like senseless violence, but rathe,r how a character can change if all hope is lost.

I liked this show from episode one. I’m, frankly speaking, a sucker for these kind of shows and I didn’t think I’d find something which resembled "Yami to boushi to hon no tabibito" even remotely in a while. The elements of this show are not original by themselves. We have seen priestess shows, shoujo-ai, strange mechas, love triangles & Co before, but I have certainly not seen all of these brought together into one show. It works unexpectedly well and the story is fairly unpredictable with twists and turns. BUT, 12 episodes were too short to explain the bits and pieces in this show. They had a lot of things going, but only a couple of things were thoroughly explained.

The show is fairly well executed with an even tempo and story build up. The ending section was one of the greatest things with this show; it spans over three episodes, which is a lot for a 12 episode series. I’m not complaining -- I liked it immensely and it left me with a feeling of satisfaction once the show was over. This doesn’t, however, remove the fact that the show should’ve been longer.

animation 8/10

The visuals are clear and crisp and the character designs are fairly generic, and look like most other modern shows within this genre. There is a bit of CG in this show that was integrated nicely into the 2D animation. The character designs fit the character roles really well.

sound 9.5/10

The OP and ED themes were amongst the best I’ve heard in a while. Kotoko performs a couple of catchy J-pop/techno like tunes with lots of ambient sound going. I ended up basically watching every OP and ED sequence of this show; I simply couldn’t get enough of these tunes. The in-show song, also by Kotoko, which is played once is of a more progressive techno character and certainly fits the scene well. The general background music in the show is of a more quieter character and is composed of classical music. The choice of music is good and fits the mood – scene – set mood.

The voice actors are good and perform well and really make these characters come alive.

characters 7.5/10

This section is definitely a mixed bag. Chikane and Himeko’s relationship is well explained and at times we see flashbacks that explain their backgrounds. None of the characters have their background individually explained, except for Oogami whom we get to know a little bit about. The relationship between Chikane and Oogami isn’t explained either which makes it hard to fully understand the way they act towards each other. This is the weak point.

Backgrounds aside, the strong point of this show is the character interactions during the time the show plays out. The main character cast of this show certainly evolves throughout the show. The interaction between Chikane and Himeko (and Oogami) is the strong point and is handled superbly. I felt a lot of empathy towards these characters.

I’d love to give more than 7.5 here, but the lack of character backgrounds take away a bit of the overall viewing experience.

overall 9/10

This is a love or hate show, and I loved every single moment of it. A lot of things happen throughout the show and it goes from a lighthearted romance to a very dark emotionally cruel piece. I will probably rewatch this show in the future, and if nothing else I’ll rewatch the final part of the show which is one of the better ones I’ve seen in a while, even more so when I think of how emotional it got – and I like emotional shows, especially when I feel empathic towards the characters. This show has gotten itself a special place on my favorite list. It’s got its weaknesses, and at times the plot gets downright silly, but I like it as a whole.