Kamigami no Asobi is an anime that is also an otome game. I’m still watching Noragami and Black Butler so those will be the next two I will review. This review here is going to be pretty long and thorough. It’s quite long, so I have decided to post two parts of this anime. There is just so much to each story in the series, it’s hard not to talk about it.So enjoy!

Kamigami no Asobi is one of those anime series that you either love immensely, or despise it. Most people seem to enjoy it, with a few hate or neutral. It’s actually a very good anime, but it is only based off the game and doesn’t follow it completely. Each episode apart from the first three actually focuses on one god. What gods you might ask? Well, let’s introduce them. There are two Japanese gods, three Norse gods and three Greek, and two Egyptian. The gods are just like in the game: Thor, Loki, Balder, Takeru (Susanoo), Tsukito (Tsukuyomi), Apollon, Dionysus and Hades. But also in the anime are Thoth, Zeus and Anubis. And then there is the human girl: Kusanagi Yui. Basically everyone in the game…is in the anime. The voice actors are all really well-known actors that have been in really popular anime.

           Episode One

Kusanagi Yui (Saori Hayami) stumbles upon a sword in her family’s shrine and after touching it, she is taken to a strange school. She stumbles across each god while wandering around the schoolyard. Hades is the first one she comes across, and he is such an emo character. Hades is voiced by Daisuke Ono, who most people might know him as Sebastian in Black Butler and Erwin in Shingeki No Kyojin.

Yui begins wandering around more and she finds Tsukito (Yuto Uemura) and Takeru (Toshiyuki Toyonaga). Takeru of course frightens her because he’s so temperamental.  He walks away with Tsukito, telling her not to follow them. So she continues on alone, feeling like meeting these gods has been a failure. Yui almost collides with Loki (Yoshimasa Hosoya), who then asks her if she had seen his friend Balder. I think from right in the beginning you can tell something is not right with Balder. Loki runs away saying goodbye when she admits she had not seen him. Balder…is a whole other story, but I’ll talk about that later.

 

The only god that warms up to Yui instantly is the Greek god Apollon (Miyu Irino). Yui falls to her knees, unsure if she can do what Zeus asks of her since all the Gods she met basically treated her like crap. Apart from Balder and Tsukito. It’s pretty much the end of the episode when Yui finally meets a very sweet, kind god. He kisses her hand, and introduces himself like a prince would. Apollon tells her everything will be okay, and lifts her into the air, holding her close to him. The episode ends showing Apollon leaning in to kiss her.

 

            Episode 2

So now that the viewer has been introduced to the characters of the series, the story really starts in episode two. At this point, only Apollon, Tsukito and Balder have agreed to attend classes; Apollon is really, really excited. They learn they will have an opening ceremony and Yui explains what it is. The gods and Yui decide it wouldn’t really be much of a ceremony if the others weren’t there. Tsukito has no luck, Yui finds Thor and he gives her an answer basically he won’t go if Loki doesn’t. She also finds Loki and Takeru. That doesn’t go well. The only one that was successful was Apollon. Enter Dionysus.

I wouldn’t really call Dionysus (Nojima Hirofumi) a bad god, or a rebellious one. He goes along with the whole school thing after Apollon convinces him…yet he sleeps all the time in the class room and he drinks wine a lot (obviously). When Apollon introduces Dionysus to Yui; she is relieved to see him come along.

The small group prepares the auditorium for the opening ceremony and Zeus begins the ceremony. Apollon is the student speaker and after his speech….it all begins.  I really like this episode because it’s finally sinking in to all of them (apart from the rebellious gods)

that they are stuck at the school for a year and the only way to get out, is to go along with it. This episode is really similar to that in the game…except Dionysus is still stubborn in going to classes. At the end of the episode, Yui seems pleased that there is a positive outcome at last. It’s really good because we get to see more personalities from each god, and we are introduced to Dionysus a lot better in this episode.

 

 

              Episode Three

This is a funny episode in some ways. I really enjoyed it, and not just because of the guys’ swimsuits. First off, just after the opening ceremony, Zeus changes the weather to summer, so already the gods and Yui get a break from school. And we already have seen Zeus change the weather, so now we know he is unpredictable about how he intervenes in Yui’s bonding with the gods.

Tsukito, Apollon, Dionysus, Balder and Yui get together to try to find ways to get the others to attend school. This brings in humorous ideas from Apollon that makes you think: Wow, the stereotypical blonde. Yui comes up with two different ideas, either a camping trip or a beach trip. Tsukito thinks it’s perfect as Takeru loves the water.

Yui must not have known Dionysus and Apollon were brothers at first, because Apollon never told her until this episode. The dialogue between Apollon and Yui is always so cutesy. He seemed to have a crush on her right from the start. Yui tends to be confused by the behaviors of the gods. It’s as though she can’t believe that they are what they are.  Can you really blame her?

They decide to take them to the beach in the end, and most look miserable, annoyed, or stoic, like Thor naturally is. The most adorable and noticeable thing is Dionysus carrying a bookbag with a smile on his face. While the others are sulking. It makes you wonder what could possibly be in Dionysus’ backpack….

The whole way down Takeru and Loki complain about everything.  Loki complains how sweaty he is, and Takeru complains about having to walk all that way to the beach. And that actually doesn’t make sense because he is an athletic guy; running all the time. You would think he’d be able to walk a good way. Once they get there…Yui is startled by Apollon taking off his pants. He had swimming trunks on under his pants. Yui blushes as everyone literally rips their clothes off.

It’s at this point Zeus intervenes before Yui can even change into her bikini. He turns it into fall, causing the gods to be freezing cold. Hades blames himself for the weather change, and Apollon (another blonde moment) decides to go swimming anyway. Tsukito joins him, as he says it was his mission to go swimming and he sticks by it. They go inside after Apollon and Tsukito turn blue, and Loki and Takeru start complaining again.

Apollon is disappointed by the outcome and runs out to go find something that will make everyone happy. It’s really nice to see there is the one character that is kind of overly friendly, but not at all in a harmful way (unlike Balder, which I will discuss later in his episode).

Apollon is the kind of person that cares about everyone, no matter how they treat him. As viewers may see, he comes across if he’s perfect, but he has a troubled past like Takeru does. Yui and Apollon eventually come up with an idea, and it turns out to be and it turns out to be fireworks. Of course these are things that not one of the gods know about, so when the fireworks start, all of the gods literally jump out of the door to see what is happening. Loki is completely in awe…Balder catches him smiling, and then Loki scowls just slightly and blushes. This whole event is a success and because of this, Loki, Thor,Hades and Takeru start going to classes.

 

 

         Episode Four: Hades

Hades causes a lot of grief to Yui right from the beginning. He’s moody, he’s not happy to be at the school, and he has some kind of issue with Zeus. What gets me, is that Hades is actually older than Zeus and is a suitor for Yui’s love. It’s actually quite cute, but Hades has adult mannerisms that the other gods don’t have.

So the focus on Hades begins with episode four. Yui wants to get closer to him after all the “rebellious” gods are lured back into the classroom. So the topic in class is club activities, and we find out that Hades has an interest in the stars and wants an astronomy club. This actually follows part of his route in the game. After several times trying to get close to him, Yui finally gets advice from Dionysus and Apollon. She learns he has a love for strawberries and daifuku. This episode is really adorable because we get to see the dark, gloomy god that is Hades with a really happy side that he keeps well-hidden. So Yui comes up with the idea of combining the two….and this blows Hades mind away.

What’s really sweet towards the end of the episode is that Apollon, Dionysus, Tsukito and Balder all ask to join Hades in his star-gazing. Of course as they get to the place Hades watches the stars, it begins to rain. So as Hades begins to pack things up and leave, Yui grabs his hand, and the others basically strip and run around in the rain in their swimsuits. Hades is so shocked by it; he appreciates Yui for what she has done for him. And if a viewer watches Yui’s actions in each episode, they can understand why they all become smitten, and fight for her…even Hades.

 

 

Episode Five: Takeru

This episode is actually my absolute favorite. Firstly, because it focuses on Takeru, and this god is just so adorable. He is a tsundere boy, and he really lets into Yui since day one.  He’s actually much, much worse in the game, dropping the f-bomb and calling people “shitheads”. They mellowed him down a bit in the anime, but he’s still pretty much a jerk. Thoth slams his hand against the wall, getting into Yui’s face and tells her she needs to work on the “failure”. Thoth actually comes up with some funny nicknames for the gods. For example: Thor is known as the “beanpole”, Dionysus is the “drunken one”, Hades, the gloomy one, etc. So Takeru is ultimately the failure because he basically doesn’t want to do anything.

Takeru can be very, very scary with his temper, and I give kudos to Yui for not putting up with his stubbornness and persists in helping him. Yui gets advice from Melissa, and she goes outside to practice her iai. Takeru comes across her, and he asks her if she is good at the sword. She tells him how long she has done iai for and it was important to her. Takeru seems to be interested, but then he basically tells her anyone can make up a story and only morons trust other people. Yui asks him to join a club again, and he gets huffy, but he finally gives in and tells her if she fights him in a duel with kendo swords, he’ll join a club. So she’s broken him down a little bit.

Unlike the game, where Yui wins the kendo match, Takeru postpones the duel for when Yui gets stronger. He offers her to run with him every day, and she happily excepts, fully knowing he’s finally letting her get close to him. Whether he appreciated her fighting hard against him or not, it’s hard to say. Each day they go running, and it’s very obvious they are getting closer and closer. Takeru has finally decided he can trust her. I love these scenes because we can see a completely different side of this tsundere god.

But an incident takes place, causing Takeru to break his limiter, which keeps the gods in check on Zeus’ garden. All hell breaks loose and Zeus suspends Takeru. He gets all angry and distant again, while Tsukito explains to Yui what happened in Takeru’s past. If Takeru would not apologize, he would be expelled and turned to stone. Thoth doubts he’d do so, yet he barges in. Yui comes in and saves the day, defending Takeru to the point she almost yells at Zeus. Zeus allows Takeru to come back to school, and Takeru is grateful for what Yui has done for him. This is one of those episodes that is really enjoyable because you see a character change drastically over time for the better.

Stay Tuned for Part 2.