Final Impressions / First Impressions / Kami-sama Dolls

「隻・枸雅匡平」 (Seki, Kuga Kyouhei)
“Kuga Kyouhei, the Seki”

Well, it looks like Hibino’s damsel in distress role has finally been upgraded to emotional support, after she took the initiative and thanked Kyouhei for saving her. I just love the way she went about it too, by first telling Kyouhei that she’s nobody’s property to put him on the spot for crying out for her in his sleep. I really wasn’t expecting their relationship to go anywhere this late in this adaptation, but I’m really glad it did as this is easily one of my favorite kisses in anime.

It happened so naturally and made me kind of jealous of Kyouhei for winning over Hibino the way he did. The smile on her face after she kissed him, her thanks for saving and screaming out for her, and her willingness to kiss him again — it sure beats the type of developments seen in high school romantic comedies. The lead-up really added to the lasting impression, as it was pretty easy to see that Hibino is happy about Kyouhei’s earnest feelings for her, even though she doesn’t fully understand to what extent. It was really sweet to see Kyouhei reciprocate her loving gesture with a heartfelt hug — something that really cemented the idea that he really cares for her. I’m definitely envious of Kyouhei, not so much because of Hibino in particular, but because of how perfectly things worked out for him. He stayed true to his feelings and they eventually reached Hibino.

Even without Kyouhei reclaiming control of Kukuri in this final episode, it didn’t disappoint whatsoever. After all, Kukuri’s hymn did suggest that it was acting in accordance to Kyouhei’s pent up emotions, and there was a climactic finish with the destruction of Magatsuhi. The most satisfying part was the aftermath, with both Kirio and Mahiru at a loss on where to go from here. There was also more of Kyouhei’s past involving Chihaya, where we finally got a good glimpse of how he lost it and was on the verge of slaughtering the villagers himself — the side of him that Aki’s been trying to uncover all this time. We learn of how Utao stopped Kukuri and subsequently got all of Kyouhei’s Seki responsibilities dumped on her, which served as a big step forward for Kyouhei to confront the demons of his past.

Those demons are none other than Karakami Village and Amaterasu, the latter of which Aki confirmed has regenerated on its own and is in the hands of Sahei (who seems to be trying to make Ayame the Seki for it). That served as an awesome teaser of things to come, especially with the preview suggesting a second season is in store where Kyouhei takes matters back into his own hands with Kukuri (woohoo). As far as this first adaptation goes, I don’t think they could’ve ended things off any better here than with Kyouhei and Aki reminiscing about their childhood and laughing about it. The smile Aki left Kyouhei with also emphasized how he’s also a victim of their village and had me hoping that the two of them would be freed from it someday.

 

Epilogue

Final Impressions:

Kami-sama Dolls started as one of my most anticipated shows for the summer season — and as one of only two that I committed to blogging — so I’m really happy that it turned out to be everything that I had hoped and more. Things kicked off on a strong note in the premiere and lost a bit of steam in the next few episodes, but the series completely redeemed itself once the middle stretch about Karakami Village and Kyouhei’s past rolled along. Episode seven was a series-defining turning point, touching upon Kyouhei and Aki’s unfortunate past. From that point on, the characters and story really started show their multifaceted nature, which made me appreciate the developments in the earlier episodes more. It was like a form of backwards storytelling up until the midway point of this adaptation, where everything was put into a proper perspective after the flashbacks. The characters quickly establish their personalities, we learn why they’re like that, and then we move onto the next part of the multi-layered story.

The second half didn’t fail to impress either, as Kami-sama Dolls showed how it can combine both plot and humor masterfully. I don’t know if this is primarily attributed to mangaka Yamamura Hajime or director Kishi Seiji, but it was awfully reminiscent of the latter’s work in Angel Beats. Mahiru single-handedly took the series to a whole new level of enjoyment for me, while Kuuko backed her up as a fail-safe. Their absolutely insane personalities stole the spotlight on more than a few occasions and left me wanting to just see more of them. At the same time, their crazy antics never once took away from the main story. The seamless injection of humor was quite unlike anything I’ve seen before, and for good reason, will go down as something that I’ll always remember this series for. I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d consider recommending Kami-sama Dolls to any potential viewers for the comedic value alone. It’s pretty easy to do considering that there is a complex story to go with it. Brain’s Base has done a wonderful job with this adaptation and is really deserving of a sequel. Here’s to hoping they get the green light on one.

 

Season 2 Preview…?

91 Comments

  1. One of the best show and the biggest surprise of this season (S;G was a big one before it started after all)
    Lot of good characters, some cliché but not too much.
    It’s nice to see love between the 2 characters before the end of a serie (well it’s just the first season after all)

    Can’t wait for the 2nd season! This was awesome \o/

    KTNO
    Reply

    3. That’s why I wait ’till after watching before reading here…

      Well done series – really hope those teases are for a real 2nd season…

      Shirocat has a point (see below 4:28 PM), but I’m willing to wait for this kind of quality!

      mac65
      Reply

  5. my fav show of the summer n i cant wait for the next season.
    ps on the season 2 preview who is that girl on that bird like thing i what to say its hibino but the hair looks different n the boobs look smaller?

    Acruz
    Reply

  6. I liked the kiss scene… very well played… :3
    The second half of the series went so much better 🙂 Glad I stick to the show now 🙂
    And I got to say, if that blue-eyed guy is indeed kyouhei, then he sure looks creepy there… (reminds me of Satan from AoEX…)
    Can’t wait for season 2, and again, thanks for the posts, Divine!

    jrj
    Reply

  7. Yeah Kyouhei!!!! get u sum, but seriously, WHAT A ROCK SOLID show this was! I went from putting it off for a few episodes in the beginning to taking a chance and being thoroughly entertained. it turned into the “gold nugget” show i waited for each week. awesome! and there might be more???? Cooolz. thanks fo blogging D!!!! a fine job as always.

    btw- this show really did well with the characterizations and the constant changing facial expressions/reactions…hehehe, although they used the same “angry eyes” expression on the cast often..BUT ITS ALL GOOD BABY! to the archives, next!!!

    BROOKLYN otaku
    Reply

  8. I also hope for second season, but damn the episode 13th ended at about beginning 8th volume ( okay at nearly 40th page ) and only 9 volumes is out. So even if second season would get the green light, then we still have to wait loooong for more material from manga to come…
    As for 13th ep, Hibino is cruel for not worrying about Kuuko ( after all she doesn’t know what happened with her ) and the preview is really teasing to fans

    Shirocat
    Reply

  9. What an effin drag!!…. I waited friggin 13 eps for the useless Kyohei to go ape-shit bad-ass, and bow they delay it to a second season.

    *Note to self: go back to watching only completed series, comedy being the only exception*

    Litho
    Reply

  10. Man, I hope that a second season wasn’t going to be dependent on disc sales, or we’re screwed on that front. The first volume was released last week and didn’t even rank (granted the threshold was high, but that means that it sold under 3000 BDs, which is not encouraging, but we should know the exact number by thursday)

    Fencedude
    Reply

      1. The first volume just came out last week. If the second half of the show increased sales, thats already been accounted for. The first volume always sells the most. Barring very unusual circumstances (like the clusterfuck involving Tiger&Bunny volume 1)

        Fencedude
        Reply

  11. As for whom to credit the mix of humour and plot so would I give it to the mangaka mainly, even if the director obviously did his part in transferring it to the anime. They even cut out a bit of Utao self ownage in the end scene there. She didn’t succeed in climbing down head first, but ended up tumbling forward despite desperately trying to hold on and looking silly as usual 😛

    They cut out one kiss as well, but I guess it came through anyway which ship was the winning one 😛

    Znail
    Reply

  13. What a great series. I hope the second season comes soon next year, I can´t get enough of this crazy characters, specially Aki. The good thing is that Brain´s Base has a lot of material left to work with and I heard somewhere that the manga is reaching it´s end already.

    haseo0408
    Reply

    1. On the contrary, there is very little material left. These 13 episodes finished the first 7 volumes of the manga. That only leaves volumes 8 and 9 as currently released. No less then 5 more volumes would be needed for a second season at the same pace. At a rate of about 2 volumes a year so can you figure out yourself that we can expect a bit of a wait for the next season.

      It’s a very visual manga in that for instance the bit with Utao brushing her teeth is a full page of her funny faces. This makes it translate very well into an anime with a lot of funny and cool visuals. But it also means the ratio of pages to minutes of anime is very high compared to less visually detailed mangas.

      Znail
      Reply

      1. Damn… That’s a depressing statistic… 2.5 years until the earliest season 2 can be released? Any chance of the mangaka speeding things up a bit? I don’t think I can wait that long.

        Shinigamibob
        Reply

  14. I’m pretty sure Kyohei has and did gain control of Kukuri at the end/start of last/this episode. Its his song, it doesn’t listen to Utao, and he talks to Aki/himself as if he knows he has control over Kukuri, or at least I have that impression. If anything it was probably his will driving it while he was out cold, hence why it lazily followed the group back, and when he came to it shut down and he assumed full control… or something.

    Also, did Utao really stop Kukuri in the flashback?

    Vena
    Reply

  15. Thankfully there’s a 2nd season. Because when I realized that the manga had no “cut-off point” as I was reading it, I was quite afraid the anime would make up an ending for the sake of it.

    baubo
    Reply

  18. I really don’t know how I feel this series. This started out as one my favorite series beginning in the summer season, and it stayed up around there for about 4 weeks. After that, it had some incredibly high highs and some absurdly low lows. And about blending the humor in with the plot – I don’t think that it was too seamless. Many of the gags were either huge hits or total misses, and some of the gag scenes in episode 10 were such duds and had such bad timing that I actually got visibly upset. But on the plus side, the series managed to tie up many of loose ends in an interesting fashion all while showing off plenty of the character’s interesting and colorful personalities.

    Looking back on the whole experience, I can definitely say that I had a lot of fun with the series. But despite enjoyment, I got annoyed plenty of times in the latter half due to some dud gags which had some awfully poor timing, which in the end made me experience a drought of tension during most parts. Kami-sama Dolls is good – but that’s all it’ll ever be.

    Here’s hoping to a second season 🙂

    Click
    Reply

  19. That was a probably the best finale(cliffhanger?) I’ve watched this season. The fight was short, but all the character development packed in the rest of the episode was worth it. The romantic tensions was solved neatly, and Kyohei finally accepts his past. This also the first time I actually liked Aki. And of course they provided an exciting stinger, of another season which will probably not be made. How sad.

    Overall a great watch, its too bad not many people watched and appreciated it.

    fragb85
    Reply

  20. Damn it !!!, for the episode title 13, kuga kyohei, the seki – made me expected kyohei taking the spotlight in battle but it turn up, he lost consciousness and kukuri took over (berserk) on the first half. but at least the fight is better than utou controlling. as for the second half, childhood flashback and aki motive ? that really doent impress me alot (it seem that they really follow the manga) .and finally the ending credit which somehow blow u away with kyohei (devil mode) in controlling kukuri without , one – one battle with amaraterasu which least u to excpeted to have second season, ova or movie. lets hope they dont troll us and so i demand a better ending where is solid and happy ever after and try not end up star driver( where both of main character stuck in the space like gundam 00).

    shinkirou
    Reply

  23. I got a huge whiff of condemned the video game AND Berserk from this… Because they basically hinted that S2(oh there’s going to be a season 2) will be where the sh*t really hits the fan and everything up to this point serves as nothing more than a prelude of the chaos to come. Condemned had you figure out about the supernatural beast at the end VERY end that made the sequel crazy where you started confronting the true enemy. And berserk in that all just a flashback of what Guts has been through and now hes an uber bada$s fighting deamons!?!? And now this whole season will have been a memory and kyohei is now in a battle ground where true problems are confronted…at least that’s how it felt. I’m excited! Really sweet show. Feel S2 will be darker and more action orientated.

    Relic
    Reply

  24. Definitely one of my fave series in the spring season. I was worried about where they’ll end the episode relative to the manga. Thankfully, at least in my opinion they did a decent job of the finale.

    I think a second season is very likely since they hinted a continuation at the end of the episode. All there’s left to do is wait until they announce the release date.

    jackxu
    Reply

  25. That preview was very cool – this show has had a great sense of style and flourish from the beginning. But I sure hope they aren’t giving fans the wrong idea, as there’s not enough material for a second season yet and we have no idea where the BD/DVD sales will end up. But if you didn’t know any of that, you’d swear S2 was a done deal and right around the corner.

    Mind you, I’ve rarely wanted a sequel more. This was a terrific season, and you really do sense that we’ve barely scratched the surface of what this massively clever and complex premise has to offer.

    Guardian Enzo
    Reply

  27. @Divine: You mentioned that Ayame might be the Seki forced by the elder Hyuuga, but was she ever introduced before? I have not seen her before in the series at all, and I tried to look up some character info in wiki but no info about her. I would appreciate it if you can share some info about her, thanks.

    I actually love series like kami-sama dolls where I didnt really have great expectations about it, coming with low expectations, I was completely blown away and satisfied about how it turned out! I love this kind of feeling, way more than series where you started off with high expectations, but to only end up with unsatisfied feeling or get’s tiring to watch after like midway of the series.

    Kazuma
    Reply

  33. Sweet kiss FTW. =D

    Had no qualms with the two interruptions though, since the trend of Kamisama Dolls has always been like that – injecting humor at the most unexpected moments.

    Yet another good ending for another series. It feels as though episodes 12 and 13 were meant to be watched in a sitting though, since the climax came with Kukuri returning to action and pummeling the life out of Magatsuhi. Still, it ties up the series pretty well and sets up season 2 as well with the penultimate unanswered question for the characters and (some) viewers alike: Who is the Seki for Kukuri now?

    The preview looks interesting as that’s yet another Seki we haven’t seen. Plus the possibility that Ayame could be the Seki to move Amaterasu plus a new look Kukuri. Or is that an old look, and we’re actually talking about a PREQUEL here? Either way, both concepts greatly interest me.

    Again, the expositions by the characters and the flashbacks provided were done pretty well, and on the whole this has been pretty much THE sleeper hit for me.

    Here’s hoping for a good and maybe even better season 2 – Whenever they are ready to produce it. =)

    Owaranai
    Reply

  34. Kyouhei, that lucky bastard. He better treats Hibino real good :3
    Kamisama Dolls is my favorite anime of the summer by a large mile. The manga’s still ongoing so hopefully a second season is in the pipeline. Even without sufficient material from the manga, I can see the anime team coming up with a decent anime original ending since the settings and direction have been lined up pretty nicely. So gonna miss my weekly dose of Hibino fanservice…

    Seishun Otoko
    Reply

    1. ya i wish too, better yet is the trio (kyohei/kukuri, aki/ Kuremitsuha and mahiru/Magatsuhi) battle again with amaterasu. if they going for season 2 , i hope mahiru got more screening time and her Magatsuhi able to revival. as for other seki character doesn’t much leave impression on me

      shinkirou
      Reply

  36. When I first watched KamiDolls, I don’t know what to expect because all I know that it is one of the series produced by Brains Base for this season. I thought I’m going to bag it after 2 eps and throw it off the window.. or something like that.. :p But I stayed on, and I am so glad I give KamiDolls a chance because it totally deserves it.

    Like any other shows, it has its ups and downs as well.. there were times when I think the story isn’t fully executed to its potential. But after awhile it improves and I just love the eps where Kyouhei-tachi went back to their village and his past with Aki was revealed. Aki is definitely one of my most favorite characters this season. After Mamoru Miyano’s mad scientist Okarin, Kimura Ryohei’s Aki came in second for great voice acting. Hanazawa Kana also managed to impress me for that crazy performance of hers as Mahiru.

    The ending? Well, when they showed that Kyouhei unconsciously controlled Kukuri and destroyed Magatsuhi, I thought “has it been 24 minutes yet?” because I predicted that the series will end up to the part where Hibino was saved etc. But this show has the tendency to sneaking up on us when we less expect it and give a good twist. Love the kiss and their interactions! And I absolutely love it when both Kyouhei and Aki laughed themselves silly over childhood memories. They may have severed the bond in the past but it was never been broken in the first place. Conclusion? KamiDolls was a good series altogether. But I may not be giving it a perfect 10 though. 8.1, perhaps?

    Oh, I never skipped the OP because I love the sequence. And I had to watch the ED because of the preview.

    Would love to watch the second season! (tl;dr I know.. sorry Divine! And many thanks for blogging it every week!!)

    Izumi
    Reply

  37. Why? I was hoping Hibino wasn’t going to return Kyohei’s affections. And now Kyohei jacked Kukuri from Utao which is worse, didn’t want to watch another show with a male lead using ? power to constantly protect the girl he can’t confess to which this show didn’t do until this episode so this may be as far I as go if there is a second season. Don’t want to see Kyo and Hibi try to “bond” every chance they get then someone ruins the moment.

    jingoi
    Reply

    1. I dont think that will be the case, in the few moments there were “together” they really wanted to get it on(kiss or more?).
      THey’ve been through I dunno, THE WHOLE SEASON long enough to form a bond.
      K.D is too hig of a story to put TOO much time into a relationship that’s already doing good.

      omeganx
      Reply

  40. Finally finished this. Damn that last scene with Kyouhei looking so badass left me wanting for more. I’m so gonna miss the Utao faces and the batshit insane cast you always refer to lol. Thanks for blogging this and hopefully there’ll be a second season.

    Nhelraios
    Reply

  41. Putting all of the art-fails throughout the show, it was an amazing story. I hated the way they killed all the momentum they built up with a flashback. Hibino’s kiss made the ending all the more worth the watch. Her continuing affection was something to snicker at with perverted eyes. hahaha

    Can’t wait to see this anime come back around another season. 😀

    Shirt
    Reply

  42. I can see that a lot of the folks here really loved this series, but for me, it never gelled. The 13th episode felt more like the mid-break of a 2 cour show rather than the end of a season with unknown (?) prospects for a 2nd. Anyone know of anything definite?

    To me, the show basically set up way too many threads, and didn’t come to a satisfactory end to any of them. I liked the characters, and even liked most of what those threads promise to become, but I consider it mostly a failure to not consider the possibility that this might be its only shot.

    Zhiroc
    Reply

  43. Loved the way the fight between Kyouhei-influenced Kukuri and berserk Magatsuhi went… Where previous fight was catfight, this was straight boxing slugfest to the k.o. – or rather beating enemy to the bloody pulp. As for the ending leaving us waiting for more, I’m sure many of us feel cheated, but after all how much they could do in a 13 ep 1-season show? At least there is promise of second series. Finally, on an emotional front, Kyouhei finally made a breakthru with Hibino, and rightly so. I also liked how he and Aki managed to stay friends still, thus keeping the promise to that village sensei with cougar streak…

    ewok40k
    Reply

  48. One of the worst shows this season, I eventually had to force myself through the episodes after about half way through the series. I don’t see it’s appeal at all, it’s very bland to me, nothing stands out or makes a connection with me that makes me enjoy it, it’s just so mediocre,but I know a lot of people do like it so fair enough.

    3/10 for me.

    Kurofaise
    Reply

  49. Well, Kuro, just shows that it wasn’t for you, lol. As for the rest of us that enjoyed it, I give it a 9/10. -1 only because of the massive cliffhanger and not knowing about a 2nd season. The scans aren’t that far ahead, sadly, so I can’t really read much. =w=

    Silivious
    Reply

  50. I hate it when shows end completely open if it is not sure there will be a sequel. So there better be one, because Kamisama-dolls has certainly caught my interest. While this show has not solved the main issue of the village in the slightest, it has shown us some nice character buildup and history of the cast. I think they were successful in showing in how many ways the abusive society of the village can mess peoples life’s up.

    I’d definately watch the second season when it comes.

    Zreon
    Reply

  51. This series definitely turned out to be the dark horse of this past year. It remained well under the spotlight for the most part, but it turned out to be one of the better shows since Code Geass way back in 2006.

    Stranger
    Reply

  52. I really like this series, very well executed with very interesting characters and developments, really hoping for a season two… as always excellent job blogging this Divine, looking forward for Fall Season.

    kingdragun
    Reply

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