Saving the world from bouncing balls and spiders!
When the new fall 2008 anime line up first came out, Kannagi was one of the animes I thought sounded the most interesting. So why I ended up pretty late in the game (tis sad when it is late in the game 2 weeks later….) is beyond me. But tonight I did finally sit down and watched both available episodes. My experience was less than thrilling.
WTF did i just watch?!
My review is just one click away
The series starts off with a "back in time" scene with a young boy catching a spider. A shrine maiden appears before the boy briefly and then she and the spider disappear. Fast forward to the present day and the young man finishes the last carvings on his statue. He sets the statue on the ground to get his bike and when he returns, it has taken root into the ground. It grows instantly and the statue breaks open, revealing a girl (Nagi). The boy (Jin) freaks out, but allows the girl inside the house. The condense version of the girl's story is she is a land deity and basically the mother of the land. She questions why she was allowed to take shape, so Jin takes her to the area the tree USE to be, as it now has been cut down. She has a freak out and suddenly, a bug crawls on her leg and burns her. Jin is able to get rid of it, but Nagi is upset. She explains how the tree that was cut down was her vessel and without it, impurities would take over the world. Later, after a quick trip to the store, they go back to the area and she is able to get rid of more impurities with her "home maid" magically girl wand and Jin's ability to touch the impurities. They finally introduce themselves to the other and they return to his house to have a very interesting night.
Run...before it is too late...
The first thing one notices about this show is the very The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya like opening theme song/scenario. How long is the MOHS gravy train going to last? I realize that if the same people work on different shows, things sometimes appear to be the same or they use the same techniques. Still, can't they be a little bit creative?
No, this is not familiar AT ALL!
I found the opening supernatural element pretty unique. I don’t think I have seen a statue take up roots in the grown and grow a human being in under a minute before. Jin’s reaction to the mystical scene was actually believable. In some supernatural animes, normal people witness something beyond strange and they handle it way too calmly. Personally I would be freaking out, passing out, or something other than you know, diving into the crazy event that I fell into. Jin’s reaction was classic, it should be done more often. You boys aren’t that brave!...I wonder what is going to happen now that he doesn’t have a project to turn in…and how he is going to explain the left over roots all over the place.
This happens ALL the time to me!
This is how boys really act!
I don’t really like Jin. Sure, parts of him resemble the reluctant guy stuck with the eccentric crazy girl and we are to feel bad that his life is now upside down and woe is him. However, you cannot be perving on a sleeping girl one second, then wanting to kick her out of your place the next moment! You either have to be interested in the girl or you hate her and want her gone. He seems like such a big bully. Where does he want her to go, the streets?! So she actually glued a magical stick to your table and SURE she actually talks back to him. That is no reason to throw a hissy fit after like 24 hours, someone needs to CHILL OUT!
HIT HIM HARDER!
AGAIN!!!
I enjoyed Nagi’s random act of violence. Sure she is Mother Nature or some crap like that, but she still has not had a lot of opportunities to work on her people skills. I probably would not be happy with some snot nose kid giving me crap after my sacred tree was cut down. I also enjoyed her lying about having a split personality and others believing it. I find enjoyment in confusing and deceiving of others.
Very believable.
As the show progresses, I hope there is a more solid answer to what Nagi truly is. Can’t a person just come out and answer what they are? No, it is always ‘you humans can’t begin to understand me, so I will skip over the details”. Is Nagi really the one who created all living things or just a tree spirit? Are her powers affected because the tree is gone? She can’t handle the impurities on her own, but she can suck in the souls of POOR INNOCENT DEAD KITTENS. And how does a sacred tree keep people’s negative emotions at bay? I read from a source that this series only has 13 episodes currently planned. I hope they are not going to gloss over the details and forget to explain things. Sometimes with shorter series, they just BAM things on you and the viewers are forced to just accept things.
And this is why my husband kills all the bugs.
And this power is...?
I know I have said my peace about big boobs trying to take the place of a good plot to draw viewers in. The same goes for pointless pervert scenes. Of course, in my mind all pervert shots are stupid and pointless, but at least SOME are done with a little bit of humor. Jin started to perv on her the moment he met Nagi. He didn't even know her but a few hours before he tried to grab her boobs! Then there was the wonderful sleazy music when he was looking at the panties. How do panties turn a boy on? Shouldn't a girl WEARING the panties turn boys on? The scene with Jin covering himself with the hand towel was unnecessary and only done for shock value. Nothing was gained from that scene as Nagi was not embarrassed and the viewers are left rolling their eyes. The second episode doesn't get much better, as he SNIFFS her bedding as he puts it away. Do freaks really do that? Do men enjoy creating stupid scenes like this just so we can make fun of their gender? Because there is no way a woman would think of something so stupid
I hate your presence, but let me molest you anyway.
This scene has been edited for stupidity.
What the hell was up with the kittens? I can almost understand a guy being a jerk and not taking care of animals, but NAGI?! She is supposedly to be Mother Nature or something crap like that and she just LETS the kittens die in the hot sun?! What kind of nature god is she for allowing that to happen?! Couldn’t she sense the kittens were in danger and not in good shape? She wasn’t taking Jin’s crap anyway, so why not just feed the poor things?! That was totally unnecessary. If they wanted to show her using her absorbing skills, she could have absorbed the dead mother (cats getting hit by cars is very sad too, but nothing is as inexcusable as ALLOWING an animal to suffer and die when it could have been saved). It seriously put a damper on the rest of the second episode. Jin and Nagi come off as real jerks. You cry over a tree, but do nothing to save kittens….-__-
DO THEY LOOK OKAY TO YOU?!
So feeding them a little bit and putting them in the shade is too much to ask?!
OH LOOK THEY DIED! SURPRISE SURPRISE!
Before the DEAD KITTENS and IGNORING the perv scenes, there were some parts of the show that were enjoyable. I can see a tree god, one who is stuck inside of a tree, being totally amazed at the simple joys of watching TV. Granted, it would have been better to show Nagi watching hours of that magical girl show and THEN wanting to emulate it, but it was cute none the less.
In the name of love and justice!!!
They make such cheap magical girl wands these days....
The drawing was only so-so for me. There were a few moments where the characters were talking, but their mouths were not moving. Then it was followed up with very jerky movements, not very fluid at all. And it wasn’t the quality of the downloading program, it was the show itself. The wound on her leg was a little lame as well. :( The kittens were not very kitten like either, but maybe that was because they were DYING! And the show could stand to work on details a little better. The opening song was colorful enough, even though it was familiar and really has nothing to do with the show.
This scene was BEYOND jumping and jerky.
WTF is wrong with this kid's head?!
So yes, I was a little disappointed. I was expecting more out of Kannagi from the information I read. It seemed new and different, what with a girl being carved out of a sacred tree. Instead I get a show full of unnecessary perv scenes and DEAD INNOCENT KITTENS! However, Nagi’s personality is fun and I enjoy her threatening people with lightening. Perhaps I can put up with the cheap antics for the next 11 weeks, but that seems rather negative. One should watch an anime because it draws them in, not because they can put up with it. I guess we will see, but Kannagi did fall below my expectations. I suppose it can only improve from here?
Perhaps I will grace them with my presence next week....
Thanks for reading!
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