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「降臨の日」 (Koorin no Hi)
“The Day a God Descended”
Premise
Youta is some random high school kid studying for his college entrance exams. But one day, a pink hair girl in religious attire proclaims herself to be the god Odin, and ominously tells Youta the world is set to end in 30 days. At first, he does not believe her. But as the day goes on, she correctly anticipates almost every incident – including the onset of rain on a sunny day, the fact that traffic would hold up a bus, and the exact order in which horses would finish in two televised races. He might not like to admit it, but maybe there is some truth to this girl’s words. Maybe she is a god, and perhaps the world will come to an end in 30 days.
Initial Impressions
If I was told that the world was going to end in 30 days, on top of the fact I could have any wish granted, it seems rather obvious what the wish should be. To prevent the world from ending in 30 days, no? In other words, Jun Maeda’s back at it with another PA Works collaboration. Angel Beats remains an incredible classic to this day. Charlotte was alright. And years later, along pops out Kamisama ni Natta Hi. As always when it comes to Jun Maeda shows, the visuals look noticeably pristine even by PA Works standards, demonstrating the love, care and respect those at the studio have towards his works. And in terms of music, he’s back at it again with Nagi Yanagi, collaborating with her to produce both the OP and ED theme.
In terms of the first episode’s substantive content, I really disliked how loud and obnoxious Hina was behaving. The jokes weren’t hitting their marks, and her mini tantrums rubbed me the wrong way. This really surprised me, since I’d always remembered dialogue to be a traditionally strong aspect in Jun Maeda works. However, the dialogue improved as the episode went on. Her loud and obnoxious behaviour progressively tone down, and she became increasingly introspective, ominous even. And that tonal shift helped convey this sense that a supernatural element could be at work, when it came to her predictions. Her bickering with Youta also became funny, because she broke down Youta from being this cool-headed young man to a heartbroken boy rejected by his crush. These two might just grow on me. Who knows.
Seeing the shift in their conversational dynamic, where he behaved like he held all the cards conversing with a little kid, to being at the mercy of her frighteningly accurate prophetic whims proved to be quite a reversal in fortune. That said, Youta is a bit of a flat and uninspiring character. While I found his miseries amusing – especially the baseball scene and failed confession, I couldn’t really care less about anything he got up to on a personal level. It’s hard to remain invested in the mystery premise posed by this series if I’m struggling to engage with the characters. So I hope they’ll sort out some quality character development in due course. Otherwise it will be rather difficult to continue watching this show.
Concluding Thoughts
So, what is there to unwrap here? Here are some questions I want answered. Why is the world set to end in 30 days? Who is Hina? Where does she come from? Why does she have these prophetic powers? Why did she choose to associate with Youta? Do other deities like her exist? If so, do they have the power to stop the world from ending? As usual, Jun Maeda shows lead with many unanswered mysteries (The Winged Maiden in Air, Yuuichi’s Lost Memories in Kanon, The Little Girl and the Robot Doll in Clannad, The Secret of the World in Little Busters) – that I expect to be highly relevant to the plot and continually resolved as we work our way towards the end. Maybe my expectations are unreasonable, but considering how high Jun Maeda has historically set the bar when it comes to packing an emotional wallop into his stories, I will be pretty disappointed if I haven’t cried once by the time Kamisama ni Natta Hi reaches its conclusion.
Anyway, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thanks for reading this post and see you next week!
End Card
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https://randomc.net/image/Kamisama%20ni%20Natta%20Hi/Kamisama%20ni%20Natta%20Hi%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2024.jpg
Next time they use this CGI Race Horses, let them run in a strait line. Not inside an curve. You can see what i mean
Also, if we know Odin, we also know of Loki
And we know what Loki is capable of
Or she might just know this because of some sort of Advance Machine Learning AI that forecast the future.
1.) Learning its going to rain using weather forecasting
2.) Bus traffic
3.) Horse statistic
4.) Top 1 web result of Natsume Sōseki
5.) Learning a girl’s hobby via network search
6.) Habits of baseball player.
Also fun fact Hina VA(Ayana Sakura) also the same has Nao Tomori from Charlotte. The annoyed voice just fit both roles for the VA.
I preferred annoyed sassy for Nao Tomori over annoyed obnoxious from Hina.
Izanami is totally bae. So I hope we get to see more of her, even if she did reject Youta with no room for further interpretation.
What I can’t wait to see is Youta’s sister, Sora, who’s has hot passion filming and would stuttering a lot. Who has a lot of funny expression like Hina. Yoi~ Akushon
Don’t worry Zaiden you’ll get your tear jerking latter to the point you’ll say “How will this comedic gag turn into a tear jerking now?! “
Certainly have something to do with tech.
Theres the CEO of IT company “Fenrir”.
And a genius hacker.
2 more characters coming in aside from the merry friends and parents.
I didn’t realize the pedigree of this Anime until you mentioned it. Angel Beats…
I agree with you and Youta is acting more like a sidekick character than the
story’s main protagonist. Right now they’re like a comedy duo.
The comedy was definitely edgy as he played along with her and she played
along with him — how could she know about the baseball pitch types and not
understand three strikes is an out — the end of the contest! That made it all
the funnier!
The episode did touch on something serious when he called his mom to ask
if she could come home with him. She seemed like she was expecting that
call and because of that dynamic, I’m really waiting for the next episode to
see how that whole thing plays out… I hope it doesn’t turn out to be something
silly or never mentioned again but it definitely hints at something deep.
(Also, the end card seems to be bursted 🤢…)
End card fixed!
Yeah, with this show it definitely feels like we can’t make any real judgement yet, since we haven’t been given anything substantial to go by. Any other show and I think we’d have people complaining or giving up. But with the Jun Maeda pedigree, I think most of his fans will be in for the long haul – myself included.
This might have been the weakest 1st episode compared to Angel Beats and Charlotte who featured more interesting male protagonists and less annoying female one’s.
Though if I hadn’t known that Ayane Sakura is voicing the bratty girl, I wouldn’t have recognized her.
Calling Angel Beats an incredible classic is a bold choice of words. Certainly the first time I’ve heard it described like that.
Angel Beats had a couple of solid episodes, but for me, the music really,
really helped make that series. Episode 10’s insert song was exceptional,
IMHO. But incredible classic is definitely subjective; but that’s just me…
Have people forgotten about the earlier Key works? Clannad/After Story, Kanon, Air, Little Busters? all were done by Jun Maeda but by KyoAni and LB by JC Staff
Angel Beats was good but could have been great if more episodes were given, same goes for Charlotte
Main scenario writer for Kanon was Hisaya Naoki.
ah i didnt know that part, but my point was on this article and comments only really Angel Beats and Charlotte by Jun Maeda is being mentioned (i know cause of same animation company ) and I’m pointing out the earlier (more better ones imo Clannad and LB)
I certainly agree he’s done better work by far than his PAW collabs, yes. I like LB far better than Clannad myself but both put AB and Charlotte to bed and turn out the lights.
The Kanon thing is a common misconception, and as that’s my favorite Key work I feel compelled to point it out when I see it. I like to see Hisaya get his due.
There’s something familiar about these shots… Oh right, HaruChika! (Also animated by P.A. Works. No wonder the art style was familiar–despite not watching that anime yet!)
Random thoughts:
– Ah, glad to see Ayane Sakura back in a (somewhat[1]) comedic role this season after previously hearing her as the seductive Iron Blood kansen, Prinz Eugen. (Still have flashbacks of Nao Tomori’s disgusted meme face, though.) At first I thought Hina (a.k.a.: “Odin”) would be a useless goddess like KonoSuba‘s Aqua, but not so with those prediction powers. On the other hand…yeah, Hina is useless when it comes to knowing the rules of Earth’s sports (basketball and baseball). Had a chuckle with her “Is it love?” face, though. (Guess Ayaneru’s still a gadfly.)
– Youta Narukami… First thought upon hearing that last name: “Is he related to Persona 4‘s ‘Chad of Chads,’ Yu Narukami?” (“♪ BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY… YEAH! ♫” Yu’s so chad, he uses his predecessor’s battle theme when in pimp mode!) Eh, probably not, with how Kyouko friendzones him. Twice. (*Presses “F” to pay respects*)
– Also, those references to Izanagi and Izanami… Good old Japanese Mythology. Wait…(*looks at title*)…wouldn’t Youta’s and Kyouko’s last names count as meaningful names, then?
– Could have sworn that baseball team pitcher looked like OreSuki‘s Taiyou “Sun-chan” Oga.
– Got flashbacks of Persona 5: The Animation from those CGI background walkers, even though they don’t stick out as much compared to the former series. (And P5A‘s English dub makes it bearable.)
– Yamanashi Prefecture… Isn’t that also the setting of Yuru Camp?
– All that talk in the episode about the world inevitably(?) ending in 30 days immediately reminded me of one of the themes of Berserk: Man’s struggle against destiny. (Or causality, if you prefer.) But considering that opening scene where Hina seems to reminisce about good times(?), yeah, it’s probably not one of those stories where the main character does defy fate. Damn if Youta doesn’t try, though.
– That said, I do wonder how the world will end in Kamisama ni Natta Hi? And if Hina is to be believed, what kind of choices will the rest of mankind make that would lead to the end of the world?
(Note [1]: Just waiting for the tear-jerky drama to kick in.)
what it is with Odin this year? He’s in two different anime!
No one ever: “Do you want Odin to be a Shota or a Loli?”
Anime Fall 2020: “Yes”.
That mother seemed rather quick and excited to have an “elementary schooler” in “cosplay nun” outfit come to live with them…
Hmm…
Theres still the CEO of an IT company ‘Fenir’.
And a genius hacker character.
A game console at the end of the OP.
The techno feel of the ED.
All the ‘gods’ coming together, Ragnarok?
All the tech stuff, Matrix?
Yota’s parents know something…
The world ending?
Her world? If she is sick?
Or really the whole world?
The real world? A simulation?
Very intriguing.