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Kannazuki No Miko is a Shoujo anime filled romance, unrequited love, and heartbreaking sacrifices. It is also a Shounen anime, with plenty of mechs, sword clashes, heroic “I will protect you!” pronouncements, and Super Dragon Power Kick’s. The way these two supposedly incompatible genres blend together is one of Kannazuki’s greatest strengths, along with a Shoujo-Ai relationship that is well written, pulls no emotional punches, and will leave all but the most emotionally hardened crawled up on the floor, bawling tears of both sadness and joy. If you’re one who enjoyed Mai-HiME, Saikano, Evangelion or any other series that opens with happiness and gets consistently darker as they progress, then Kannazuki No Miko is must-see anime for you.
Kannazuki’s animation, while not particularly fluid, is beautifully rendered. Characters faces and outfits are drawn attractively, and with great attention to detail. Backgrounds vary greatly, from the oil painting of a secret rose garden, to the harsh environment of the Earth’s moon. The shoujo scenes favor still frames over fluid movement, which, though mildly annoying, is quickly forgotten after the first few episodes. The mechs used in the shounen scenes are animated more fluidly, with only a handful of re-used footage used overall.
The mechs themselves leave something to be desired, with a pretty standard Gundam/Macross design, but their clichéness does not detract from the action scenes, which are fast paced and exciting. The early episodes use a unique editing method, where an event will play out while being inter-cut with short scenes that explain what brought the story to that point. This is an editing trick to make normally mundane scenes seem to go by faster, and it works well.
The music is, for lack of a better word, perfect. The opening song,
RE-Sublimityby Kotoko, is a fast paced techno-mix, with a beautiful female vocalist and chorus that reminded me of Origa’s
Rise, currently reigning champion of opening themes from Ghost In The Shell – Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig. The ending theme, also from Kotoko, is
Agony, a quieter piece of Techno/Industrial that swells up during the final moments of each episode before breaking into the ending credits riding a giant wave of emotion.
Kannazuki No Miko marks only the second time in my own personal anime history that I have sat through both the opening and ending music of a series in each episode, the first time being when I watched Fantastic Children. The music during Kannazuki is excellent, though less noticeable than the OP/ED. The few times that the music became noticeable were during pivotal scenes of emotional turmoil, which the music enhanced effortlessly. The sound effects did not stand out, which is a good thing. Suffice to say, the music of Kannazuki did a fantastic job of carrying the weaker moments (some of the less inspiring mech fights) while enhancing the great ones (most of the Shoujo-Ai).
Don’t let the cover art fool you! The cast of important characters in Kannazuki is very small, with only three in particular being of any real importance to the story. Himeko is your typical clumsy anemic girl, who rises above such clichés with her innocence and gentle naïveté. She is beautiful and lovable, which makes the second half of Kannazuki even sadder, as her world slowly falls apart.
Chikano Himemiya is the princess of the school, perfect in everything; a truly powerful presence. She is treated as nobility by her classmates, who refer to her as Miya-sama. Miya-sama’s heart is stolen by Himeko, when she naively refers to her as Chikano-chan. For those who have seen the Crest of the Stars/Banner of the Stars series, this relationship and its early progression is very reminiscent of the relationship between Jinto and Lafiel, another romance that began with a commoner treating a noble as an equal before realizing the nobles status.
Then there is Souma. Souma is in love with Himeko, while at the same time plagued with the blood of the Orochi (The Dragon), which is telling him to kill her. With so much time given to the three main characters, especially to the growing relationship between Himeko and Chikano, the supporting cast, made up mostly of villains, is seen little and talked about even less. However, they are entertaining and fun when they’re on screen. They’re barely given names, and yet their personalities, whether they are wretched, as in the female priest, or cute and cuddly, as it is with the cat-like nurse, make them enjoyable to watch.
The story is a an epic tragedy, filled with suspense, heartache, and joy. Long ago, an evil god ravaged our world. Two priestesses, the Solar Priestess and the Lunar Priestess, combined their powers and sealed the evil god in a temple on the moon. Every so often, the reincarnated descendants of these priests are called upon again to reseal the evil god before he can break free and wreak more havoc on the Earth. This time, the priestesses are none other than Chikano and Himeko.
Their task is not an easy one, however, for when the evil god begins to stir, eight disciples of Orochi (the eight heads of the dragon) awaken on Earth to kill the priestesses before they can reseal the evil god. One of those disciples is Souma, who fights against his Orochi blood and instead defends Himeko, the Solar Priestess, whom he loves.
The first episode feels like an episode of Kareshi Kanojo No Jijou (His & Her Circumstances) in the way it crams in an incredible amount of information into a mere twenty-two minute episode. The series chugs along after that, with Souma defending Himeko and Chikano while they attempt to resurrect their powers. There is a big twist at the halfway point, which I will not spoil, except to say that I was completely blindsided by it. The second half is much darker than the first, as circumstances and events begin to spiral into chaos. The ending is heartbreaking yet satisfying, leaving no question unanswered.
While I have not seen many Shoujo-Ai anime (there aren’t that many to see yet), of the few I have, this is definitely the best of the bunch. A spectacular music score, an engrossing main cast, and an epic tragedy with a twist that will leave your jaw on the floor. Kannazuki No Miko is great fun for any lover of Shoujo, Shoujo-Ai, and/or Shounen anime.
Final note: If you are not a fan of Shoujo-Ai, stay far away from this title. The Shoujo-Ai elements are very strong in some of the episodes, and will likely upset those who find Girl love disturbing.
