Destiny of the Shrine Maiden

DistMan Jan 26, 2005

9

StoryThe 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. AnimationThe 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.SoundThe 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. CharactersThis 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. OverallThis 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.

Galadriel Nov 13, 2009

9.7

Kannazuki no Miko (Destiny of the Shrine Maidens) Plot: "Gentle Himeko and reserved Chikane were born into very different backgrounds, but still became the best of friends. Their fates, they would soon come to discover, are intertwined in a fashion that they can't possibly imagine -- they are the reincarnations of two priestesses who once sealed the god of darkness Orochi in their past lives. Set to revive again, his giant robot-riding agents have set out to destroy the girls, one of whom is Himeko's friend who is in love with her. Riddled with memories of their past lives, the two try to survive long enough to cast the seal on Orochi again..." (site synopsis) Before starting with the review i want to say a few words as an introduction/opinion about Kannazuki no Miko.This anime officialy enters in my top 3 shoujo-ai animes and for sure in my top 10 favourite animes.Its not to good like other shoujo-ai animes but its still very well made, very touching and with a strong, emotional and captivating yuri aspect. Story: In terms of story this anime isnt quite that good (dont get me wrong, this anime has a story to begin with and to end with but at some points it gets rather complicated, confusing and with stuff that dont have connection but this is just around the begining because near the ending it clears up kinda fast, like forced ending).Whatever, the story is centered on a beautiful and gentle girl named Himeko.One day she gets to meet Chikane one of the most popular girl in high school who is a member of an important and wealthy family.Of course if we watch the first episode we see that Chikane and Himeko were born in different backgrounds with different life styles but who would have thought about the connections between those two.Who would have thought that Chikane and Himeko are the reincarnation of two priestesses, who in the past they sealed the god of darkness Orochi.Due to some unpleasent events like the revival of Orochi, Chikane and Himeko are informed that they possess the powers of the Sun and Moon Priestesses and they are the only ones that could stop Orochi from destroying the world.However this task didnt prove to be so easy, Oogami one of Himeko's friends is the seventh neck of Orochi who plots to kill the priestesses but because of his strong feelings towards Himeko he doesnt obey Orochi and decides to fight against him to protect Himeko.As the story develops more characters appear who have a significantly influence at the ending and more events take place that endangers the relationship between Himeko and Chikane.The thing that makes this anime interesting is that Chikane developed love feelings towards Himeko but because girl x girl love relationships were forbidden she kept her feelings locked inside of her in order to not cause problems.But this also didnt prove to be so easy to bear since Himeko and Oogami were dating very often.The story of this anime is engulfed with drama.It is nice at some points enjoyable but around the ending it gets realy dramatic, almost tragicaly.The thing is that the ending isnt that sad, but i recommend to you guys that if you happen to watch this anime be sure to check after the credits because it ends in a nice and happy way. Animation: Not bad, not bad at all, Kannazuki no Miko isnt a masterpiece in terms of animation but it isnt of a low level also.The character designs were very well made i realy liked how Chikane, Kazuki and Tsubasa were designed which realy fited their role.Im not a big fan of mecha animes, but i dont hate them also i enjoy animes that have mecha aspects but not placed randomly and too often. Sound: Well in terms of sound this anime is briliant.The opening song and the ending song were realy on my taste, i didnt like them from the begining but after listening them like two, three times i started to like them.The background sounds also arent that bad as well because it realy fits the anime environment. Characters: Related to characters in this anime we can speak about a good character development but under my expectations.At the begining we see new characters appearing but as we pass throught episodes no more characters show up.A thing that i need to say here is that individualy most of the characters werent developed.Except for Himeko and Chikane and something trivial about Tsubasa and Oogami, the other characters were completely left behind treated like side characters. Overall: Watchable, enjoyable, funny and warm at some points with a nice shoujo-ai aspect, sad, dramatic, almost tragic at the ending but it didnt proved to be that way, infact it ended in a nice, i can say even happy way (again i mention that it is wise to watch after the credits because if you dont then you will think that this anime is unfinished, uncleared, unsolved and confusing).For shoujo-ai fans this anime is a must to watch, but i recommend it to other anime fans as well since this anime in my opinion is kinda hard to hate.Rated it abit more because i realy enjoyed watching it. ~Enjoy and Cya Around~

xMaster Mar 30, 2012

9

ADVISORY: Destiny of the Shrine Maiden (Kannazuki no Miko) is a series that features mature subject matter. I would not reccomend the show be watched by anyone under the age of 16. I'd say 17 just to be sure. It is most definetly not for young children. This is a show I should have never enjoyed. A show that had such a weird case of false advertising it wasn't even funny. With a theme song by KOTOKO and mecha, what could have gone wrong? Easy. A lot of things. Destiny of the Shrine Maiden, or Kannazuki no Miko (Preistesses of the Godless Month) is a show based on the manga by the duo Kaishaku. Yes, the same Kaishaku that brought the world things like Steel Angel Kurumi and UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie. I came in expect a Super Robot show with music by KOTOKO and being based on a manga. What I got was more of a love story with loveable characters, incredible music and an all star voice cast on both sides of the Pacific with some mecha (midly awesome mecha designs too!) thrown in on the side. Now; when I say lovable characters, I mean it. Even though the show was only 12 episodes long, over the course of the plot, I saw characters develop, redevelop and develop again.One of the main leads in this show, Chikane Himemiya(CV: Ayako Kawasumi/ VA: Michelle Ruff) is a prime example. Chikane is one of the two main protagnists of the show and it shows. If anyone develops, it's Chikane. She's the every-girl. The girl every guy wants to date, the star athlete, the brainiac. Her relationship with our other main heroine, Himeko Kurusugawa (CV: Noriko Shitaya/ VA: Stephanie Sheh), a unconfident and shy schoolgirl, does show in the later half on our extradonairy levels. Over the course of the show, Chikane begins to like Himeko more and more. Yes, I mean that "kind" of like. This show has a boat load of yuri material. But that's beside the point. Himeko eventually becomes the most important person in Chikane's life. To that point, the girl gets the girl. The complete opposite of what I was expecting. My only complaint of this relationship was the later half of Episode 8. It was excessive. That's all there is to it. From stunning visuals (for a 2004 series) to the astonishing soundtrack by KOTOKO, lovable characters and a plot that explores Japanese mythology to true love, no matter the gender, Destiny of the Shrine Maiden is a show worth watching. Don't take reviews or my word for it. Check it out and see for yourself. Opinions may differ as some people call this show crap and others say it's decent. I found myself midly enjoying myself.   Overall, Destiny of the Shrine Maiden recieves my thumbs up. Well, swords up. Get it? Swords. Shrine. Maiden. Robots. Nevermind.                Boot to the head on anyone's thoughts but my own! V Destiny of the Shrine Maiden is avaliable streaming online from The Anime Network in English or Japanese Audio (Subscriber-only). The DVDs have been released as a box set by Sentai Filmworks.