I neglected to talk about the opening and ending animations last time.  So for this post I will be sure to include that here.  Kamisama Hajimemashita is a light-hearted comedy series that is purely entertaining.  It’s great to have a show like this one that you can relax to–  Death Parade and Yuri Kuma Arashi are both thought-provoking, Kiseijū: Sei no Kakuritsu is intense, while Saenai is clever and Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is emotional.  So many series this season that range all across the board in intriguing the viewer.  For Kamisama to be uplifting its very refreshing.  Considering how it lacks in building up the characters outside of her deity life, it might not be one of the top series of the season but an enjoyable one.

So Nanami decides to go to Izumo for the God’s ceremonies–  how this irritates Tomoe is reflects his position as yokai quite well here.  He’s always wanting to protect her but here we get to see the roles reversed!  Out of not wanting to harm Tomoe, she gets Mizuki to go along with her and Mamoru.  That was a hilarious shogi match between Mizuki and Tomoe in hopes to go with her!

Nanami is in one mess after the other here, fending off disregarded gods frustrated that a human receives the title of Land God–  introduces Akura.  Whom happens to probably be the villain of this season.  As he is mistaken for a human by the former gods and even Nanami introduces a big picture on god’s that lose their powers. He’s not in his proper body and to gain control of the world he must attain it.  Nice direction using angered gods to distract the viewer with a human sitting on a park bench:  such subtlety on his character here!

The balance between Nanami’s worrisome composure when she’s at home with Tomoe and when she arrives to Izumo is vastly different.  I like how we get to see what she is really feeling once she arrives at the entrance to the Divine Assembly without her shikigami nor her bag of talismans and barriers.  Frightened and being useless here provides once again the light-hearted comedy this show pulls off constantly by the tripping and falling.  It’s too bad we didn’t get to see the full annual meeting-  however, I like how the head lord of the gods picks her because of her unclouded eyes at the end of this episode.  She’s not tempted by evil and this ultimately shows in her relationship with Tomoe and the other yokai throughout her land. I do have to wonder if that guy behind the curtain is Mikage, he certainly has some similarities to him and it would be very funny if it was him.

Toshio Masuda one of my favorite composers in the industry solely because of his work on the Mushishi series.  He returns here with the soundtrack for this series and after having seen a lot of Mushishi Zoku Shou I can clearly see his influence in this episode–  especially with the use of bamboo flutes, shamisen and the koto, which is the national instrument of Japan.  Probably not his best work as I loved the music to Mushishi but it does capture the calm and overbearing weight of the gods, spirits, yokai and demons that are depicted throughout the first season and now this one.

OP: “Kamisama no Kamisama” (神様の神様; God of God) by Hanae

The filter they used on top of the animation works really well.  The kawaii-drawn characters as they are walking and dancing illustrates the humorous aspect of this show.  A carefree song with Nanami and the various gods and whatnot dressing up provides the overall tone of this series:  a romance between human and yokai.  Hanae’s softly sounding voice really works out well here.  It’s not over-the-top as it remains very calming.

ED: “Ototoi Oide” (おとといおいで;Come Another Day) by Hanae

Similar to the ending of the first season with almost a fabric-like animation style illustrates the delicate charm this series displays to the viewer.  Another soft-sounding song by Hanae that is relaxing just as this anime is.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 7/10

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My first anime of the winter 2015 season is here!  Two more episodes of Mushishi to finish up, a few more of Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso among others, I’m going to be quite busy for the next couple of months.  Perhaps I should have said until summer hits considering we’ve got some great series lined up for April as well when the Spring 2015 season begins too with Punchline, Arslan, Trigun author’s Kekkai Sensen are to name just a few!

Looking back, 2012 was a great year for romance series with Sakamichi no Apollon airing in the spring season, Natsuyuki Rendezvous [this series had some of the most realistic dialogue I’ve heard in recent years] in the summer and four very well-done comedy romance series.  Bakuman season three, Suki-tte ii na yo, Kamisama Hajimemashita‘s season one and last but not least my favorite comedy of the Fall 2012 season Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun.

However there is a lot to love about an anime that uses supernatural elements to develop comedy–  it knows when to pull the punches and when to stop.  Fans of the first season will enjoy this second season’s introduction episode a lot, as there is only one small quick recap or rather a rundown with a grainy video told from the spirits Onikiri and Koetetsu.

What was even more surprising here is how quickly the writer for this episode utilized every minute of establishing the Shikigami Mamoru, Mikage’s disappearance still bearing a weight on both Tomoe and Nanami and Otohiko’s [the english voice actor for him in the first season is to my shock Ian Sinclair that does the voice of Dandy from Space Dandy!] return!

While this was returning to its roots of gods, demons and the romantic and sometimes comedic situations between Nanami and Tomoe it provides a nice backdrop in bringing in new characters.  Although as rushed into its first half might’ve been here especially at the shrine with Mizuki showing up from time to time this episode was a nice refreshing re-entry into this supernatural shojo series!

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 7/10

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