Kannagi

To be honest, I didn't expect much from Kannagi when I saw the anime list for Fall 2008. I thought it was another cliche anime where boy meets goddess shit.

When it was released, I only checked it out after I downloaded the third episode and oh boy... the OP! It got me hooked right away. That was the first time anything like that ever happened to me. I mean, I was shamelessly imitating her dance moves for fuck's sake! LOL

After I finished watching the first episode, I know that I was positively addicted to the show and Kannagi quickly becomes one of my favorite female characters (besides Rukia, Haruhi and Shiki). Due to my addiction, I quickly checked out onemanga and was thrill to find that the manga is in publishing.

But lets talk about the manga here. Lets now dive into the world of Kannagi, the animation.

Mikuriya Jin, our protagonist accidentally encounter a goddess called Nagi who has taken a vessel out of a carving he made from a sacred three. The story progresses as Jin helps out Nagi to find out who she really is since she can't remember much about her past as a goddess. There are misadventures and slight romance going on in the process. Kannagi has supernatural and romantic aspects to it but I must say that the comedy is the main driving force of this show that makes it such an enjoyable series. From the subtle reference that only an otaku would understand to the outlandish slap-stick comedy anyone could laugh to, Kannagi is made with a diverse audience in mind.

The protagonist is a completely normal character. He is not self-righteous, he is not an annoying arrogant bastard, he is not brawn-over-brain idiot, he is just... Jin, a pretty damn normal high school male student. That makes him a lot more relatable than most of the losers we usually found in this kind of genre.

If comedy is the driving force of this show, then without Nagi, there would be no show. Sure she is based on archetypes character but her hot, foxy attitude is what makes her so entertaining to watch. To me Nagi in Kannagi is the one who brings life to such a dull premise. Her interactions with Jin makes me glued to the screen. They are definitely the highlights of the show. Nagi and Jin FTW!!

Kannagi has a great cast of supporting characters. Meguru, Zange, Daitetsu, Takako, Shino and Tsugumi, help drive the plots with comedic devices. Even though they do not received a lot of character development, the difference dialect between them shows us plenty of their personalities. I personally not a fan of Zange-chan but only because I am slowly turning gay for Nagi. Not a fan of Tsugumi either because my OTP for this show is obviously Jin and Nagi. She just gets in the way and I hate her for that. Now don't start hating me for that XD

The animation is another strong point of this series. It may not be clear cut state-of-the-art work but its high quality animation that flow seamlessly together makes it great. They also give great details to character animation. They really stands out. Each scenes has many small intricate movements from a flick of hair waving about to the sleeve of a shirt moving according to the wind. This not only brings the characters to live, it also makes the scenes appear to be natural, not stiff and lacking.

I have mentioned the dialect of the characters. It just goes to show that the seiyuu did a good job at adding life and personalities to the characters especially when you don't have much of character development going on. Kudos to Haruka Tomatsu, who is the voice actor for Nagi, who is able to pull off the most unique one-liners resulting in some truly hilarious moments. She also sang both the OP and ED of this series which can be compared to the likes of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, as they both have memorable OP and themes.

Kannagi is not without fault though. The end is rather disappointing and would leave you with more questions than answers but luckily I'm a manga reader so I get to see the continuation of everything.

Overall, I totally enjoyed it. Kannagi has proven its worth as one of the most entertaining show of year 2008. One that should not be missed.



Art 10/10
Sound 10/10
Storyline 8/10
Characters 10/10
Enjoyment 10/10
Overall 10/10