When Kyouhei moves to Tokyo, he thinks he's left his old life behind. But when he discovers a bloody corpse, he also discovers that the past isn't easily left behind, especially when the past is as unusual as Kyouhei's. You see, back in his home town, Kyouhei was a "seki," an individual able to control "kakashi," ancient wooden "gods" capable of incredible feats, with his mind. Now there's a kakashi loose in Tokyo, and it just may be up to Kyouhei to stop it AND its seki in Kamisama Dolls!
(Source: Sentai Filmworks, edited)
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Archaeon
Since time immemorial the worship of higher powers has been a cornerstone of human civilization, but as mankind's understanding of the universe grew, so did his technology, and many ancient beliefs were gradually replaced or discarded by one means or another. Not all of them fell by the wayside though, and while some religions adapted their rituals and practices in order to survive in the ever-changing world, others were carefully hidden to keep the old ways alive, or to protect their secrets from being misused by humanity. Originally a manga by Yamamura Hajime, Kamisama Dolls begins with a rather nightmarish scene in which three children arebeing chased by a strange creature that can fire beams of energy from its mouth. The kids appear to have some kind of "robot" that tries to protect them while the brown-haired boy tries to carry the little girl and his friend to safety. Unfortunately the creature is too strong, but before it can land the final blow the brown-haired boy and the "robot" somehow manage to destroy it.
Years later, Kuga Kyouhei moves to Tokyo to attend college, and to escape his traumatic past.
It all sounds very exciting, but while the rather dramatic opening suggests that Kamisama Dolls is an action series, that isn't actually the case. Although combat does play an important role, it's often incidental to the main thrust of the narrative, and the plot is geared more towards character drama than anything else. In addition to this the series is refreshingly straightforward, but alongside this simplicity is a surprising degree of depth as the personal histories of the leading characters and the politics of the three priestly families play a major part in the story.
That said, while the simplistic approach makes everything easy to understand, it also exposes the fact that Kamisama Dolls can sometimes have difficulty deciding what it should be. This is mainly due to the rather slipshod manner in which the action and drama are meshed together, but the addition of some rather inane comedy and the inability to maintain a steady narrative progression don't help the show at all. To further compound matters there are several scenes that don't actually fit anywhere in the story, and because these all seem to include Shiba Hibino in some kind of compromising position, it's more than likely that they're only designed to promote merchandise involving her.
There's a surprising mundanity to the visuals that may cause some viewers to assume that Brains Base simply didn't care care enough about the series to make it look good, but it should be pointed out that a part of this is due to the limitations that come with any adaptation. The characters, background imagery and settings are decidedly "average", and there's a startling lack of anyone who is truly outlandish or flamboyant. In addition to this the animation is rather utilitarian, and while the basic ranges of movement are handled well, it's the combat between the Kakashi (the "dolls" that are considered gods), that really steals the show.
Which brings up an interesting point.
For many viewers it can often seem as though all of the creativity and imagination has been applied to the Kakashi, but Kamisama Dolls has a surprisingly subtle visual contrast at work that suggests that the somewhat bland designs and the straightforward animation are purposeful measures. Many studios feel an almost habitual need to exaggerate the characters in some way, but in order to promote the idea that everyone in the series is an average human being (including the Seki - the "priests" who control the Kakashi), Brains Base have approached the design with normality in mind. Sadly, they went a bit too far with the everyday look, and without anything extravagant to balance things, many people may find this a visually dull series.
Thankfully the same can't be said of the acting.
At first glance it may seem as though much of the dialogue is rather bland, but in truth this is nothing more than a continuation of the drive to depict the characters as normal, if flawed, human beings, and in a very real sense it works. The script is filled with conversations that only peripherally include the viewer, and although explanations about past events can sometimes become a little heavy handed, there's a logic to the serious parts of the dialogue that is missing in many other shows. The seiyuu are thus able to deliver some good performances, and the usual elements of cheese and ham have been toned down in favour of "normal" reactions.
That said, the slightly banal comedy does cause a few problem, and some of the actors seem to have difficulty coping with the rapid change from seriousness to humour.
One of the surprising things about Kamisama Dolls is the musical choreography, even though the majority of the series is free of any instrumental accompaniment. The few tracks on offer are usually reserved for tense scenes, comedic moments or action sequences, and their usage is generally rather subtle - by necessity. The haunting, ethereal songs of the Kakashi add an extra dimension to the background music that, at times, is almost religious in its effect, and the inclusion of these strange little pieces adds a completely different element to certain scenes. While the timing of all of these different audio strands isn't perfect, it's clear that attention has been paid as it would be all too easy for everything to degenerate into a cacophonous mess.
The introductory song, "Fukanzen Nenshou" by Ishikawa Chiaki, has a decidedly Latin flavour that fits rather well with the stylized character montage used to open the show. In contrast to this the ending theme, "Switch ga Haittara" (by the same artist), is a bittersweet yet melodic piece that plays out alongside a rather interesting take on the traditional closing sequence. While the ED does feature images of the more prominent character, some of them are merely patterned silhouettes until they appear in the series proper. In addition to this a few of the more important scenes from the episode are recapped in the "eyes" of the Kakashi, which may be a metaphor about how the "gods" view the actions of man, or it may just be a case of aesthetics.
At first glance many of the characters may appear to be nothing more than bland variations of certain stereotypes, but while there's an element of truth to that perception, it only really applies at the beginning of the series. There's actually a decent amount of characterisation from the outset, especially where the lead roles are concerned, yet while these do make a reasonable platform upon which a character can be "grown", many anime fail when it comes to the underlying logic of this process. In that respect Kamisama Dolls deserves a little praise, in particular for the manner in which Kyouhei's apathy and Aki's desire for revenge are justified as both mesh with a few small, but important, threads in the plot. In addition to this the supporting characters offer a nice mixture of personality types, and there are occasions where they are used to cleverly foreshadow some event that will happen at a later time in the storyline.
That said, certain developmental aspects fall on the shallow side because the show has difficulty getting to the point, and more importantly, sticking to it. More often than not a scene will offer some insight into the reasons for a person's actions or behaviour, but this is quickly ruined by unnecessary fanservice and bland comedy. While these moments do visibly decrease towards the end of the series, they do a lot of damage to the viewer's perception of the characters.
Kamisama Dolls is one of those anime that tries to give the audience a little bit of everything, and because of that it fails to deliver on some of the more important aspects of the story. As a concept, the series has a lot to recommend it, but at a mere twelve episodes there's simply not enough time to develop the plot or the characters to the degree necessary to make the narrative work. In addition to this the emphasis on "normality" may cause people to assume that the show is nothing more than a healthy dose of tedium.
Patience is a virtue though, and the rewards can sometimes be surprising. The series really does take things up a few notches towards the end of the show, and the clarifications and justifications begin to make much more sense. It also becomes clear that the first twelve episodes are merely the first portion of a larger story, and in all honesty if the follow up maintains the pace and progression that occurs at the end of the first series, then the second season could well be one to watch.
While this anime does have many flaws, unlike many other shows it can also redeem itself, but only if the next installment lives up to the true potential of the concept.
Veldimburg
I just read some review about Kamisama Dolls, and, yeah, I saw the score too. It was quite funny so I'll talk my mind here. Kamisama Dolls, at first it seems like a good anime. Art okay, Sound that you don't even hear -which is neither good or bad-, story seems great... Well, the characters are pretty shitty but Aki is here so you kind of find some comfort. That's what you think when you've finished to watch the first episode. But... You keep going on to just find out that while Kamisama Dolls makes 13 episodes, it could have be only 4. You're overbored most of thetime, you have episode who just shows the characters who aren't even worth a penny, others that are just here because of some psychological disorders from most of the characters, other are here to show us a new guy come in the game.
The thing is, all this don't even have a point.
The hero is a dumbass who goes all red for nothing, his sister have a brother complex and in the first episodes she makes all sort of sound (what is she thinking?), the hero's lover is limited to a pair of tits, etc, etc...
You know what is really sad ? It's the story. It isn't that bad it's just that when you don't know how to use the interesting points of your anime, you don't make it.
It can be a good anime to watch, but in this case, just watch the first, sixth, tenth and maybe the last episodes. The rest is just trash and even the end isn't a end. Kind of religious guy the producer to hope a second season when he has such an anime.
qvnsq
I have finished this series and this is an update on my original 4 ep review Story: 8/10 The story is pretty good. Though i admit when i first read the summary i didn't think it would be. I expected more of a chill anime without any killing, mass murder, psychopaths, and rival clans but i was wrong. It moves at a good pace and development has been very good imo. They're cliffhangers so it makes you want the week to go on by faster. All 13 episodes are either decent or pretty good. The main plot is kind of vague though and that's one thing idon't like about it.Even though the plot is vague the story is still going somewhere. It isn't the best story out there but it is unique and interesting though sometimes the fights that happen in the anime are provoked by really stupid reasons or something really cliche happens.All in all the story is something that makes you wanna watch it even if there are some obvious faults to it but nothing is perfect.
Art: 7/10
Not much to say here. I'm not really bothered or pay attention much to the art style. All i can say it's average. The art looks pretty good for me and there is nothing annoying about it.I have notice that the animators have used a couple of very creative tricks to minimize their workload. For example in the OP it isn't animated much but they use moving lines to make you feel that their is more to it than still shots of characters and some animation.Imagine the OP without any of the lines and you can see that it would be boring.
Sound: 6/10
Again not much to say. The characters sound okay. There are a couple high pitched screams that might pop some eardrums but there seems to be no one with an annoying voice so yay. The bgm's does help with atmosphere and as for corny music i haven't notice any since I'm really tolerant of sound. The op and ed sound good but nothing special.There are also themes to each "doll" (depending on the character that uses the "doll") that the "dolls" sing and they sound really catchy to me because it seems that the tune represents the characters personality.
Character:9/10
The characters are pretty damn good. I would say they have depth in them and character development have been good too imo. There are badasses ,weirdos, and sissys. Our main character kyouhei (not sure if i spelled it right) is a sissy on the outside but glimpse of his past and a couple of character development scenes prove otherwise. Some characters might seem useless but after a few episodes you see where they fit into the story. The main characters do develop a considerable amount towards the end of the story and they go a bit deeper within our main character Kyouhei.
Enjoyment: 9/10
I love it. It's very enjoyable and something to look forward to watching. Most people will like it unless you are really particular about the anime you watch. I believe that enjoyment is the most important factor so i will describe my experience. The first episode was enjoyable though i look at it and said ok where are you going with this. As the story goes on i notice that the dialogue is a bit awkward and some scenes are really unnecessary, for example some of the comedic moments seem really out of place. The end is a cliffhanger and i was disappointed but itching for another season. Not the best ending in the world and kind of sucks imo. Even with all of its faults it was a enjoyable watch so I will guarantee that you most of you would like it so give it a TRY.
Overall: 8/10
If i could compare it to another anime it would be like higurashi no naku koro ni. Why? Because there is also a messed up village with some weird traditions, moe girls, and lightheartedness followed by blood or anger but it isn't as extreme as higurashi. So it's higurashi to a lesser degree. Some people might actually find it generic (in some ways it is) but it isn't. It's above average. In a sense that it's not in the "DAMN this is good" category but in the "hmmm this is pretty good" category.I liked it because even with a restricted budget the studio was able to produce a wonderful but not perfect anime.
So yeah it is an above average anime with a pretty good story, okay art and sound, interesting characters, enjoyable, and overall pretty good.
I would recommend this or at least try one episode and you would be hooked. Its better than most anime in its season (maybe the best) imo. Manga time =) no cliffhangers for me.
shrimpgeek
I thought the anime had the perfect amount of highs and lows. It was a very well balanced show with the right amount of drama, comedy and action. The main protagonist, Kyouhei, is actually older than your typical protagonist in action anime. In this case, he is a college student who is making ends meet. Underneath the plainness, there is a secret and a emotional baggage that he harbors. It is this struggle to come to terms with his past that makes him interesting since it shows that we are all flawed in some way. Moreover, the show neverdrags on as it constantly introduces new characters and relationships that galvanize the story. I have read some of the manga and the anime follows most of it. This anime is categorized as a seinen and I highly recommend it if you're tired of watching the same old shounen anime such as Naruto or Bleach. The characters are the highlight of the show and that is what makes it so endearing to me.
angelsreview
So, the name of this show was Kamisama Dolls, so I thought it would be light hearted like how Kamisama Kiss was. Boy was I wrong and looking back on it now; I’m not sure why I thought it was like that. We started out with a really haunting depiction of a chase scene that had a large monster going after what I thought to be three children. It was surprising but also a little intriguing in the sort of morbid way. Then again, after the title screen we were into a bar with people drinking. These sorts of jumps just make me wonder whatI got myself into.
Our main character, Kyouhei Kuga (Generic first name is generic), is pretty much a normal guy. At least, normal as a main character can be. He’s clueless, bland in his personality, considered a wimp, all the things that seem to make up a good main harem love interest… I mean main character. Sorry, but he just doesn’t stand out except when he is looking back at his tragic past. Sadly, because of this tragic past, he acts like a tragic hero. The only thing that seems important to him is his little sister Utao. He is always trying to train her so that whatever happened in the past wasn’t going to happen in the future. Now whatever that one thing in the past was is a spoiler because they never come right out and say it for a long time. I do wonder, how is it that in a guy from a village where there can be names like Utao and Hibino, names that are actually not normal at all, how the heck did he get one of the most generic names out there?
Utao is his rather cute little sister, and for some reason she is seen as the one that has the most to lose more then any of the other kakashi controllers. She is clumsy, ditsy, and a little bit selfish but is pretty much the normal young girl that is in every show. The only odd thing is that she is the character that I would have considered to be the main character as her dealing with controlling the massive Kukuri would have been more interesting. Sure the whole back story about what happen with Kyouhei is alright, but it’s been done before. The wars between a small town and its religion, also been done. Little girl with a surprisingly strong power, been done but I have never really seen it with something that is so close to being a god like this. The only thing that I don’t like is how the ending segment is basically puppet her and Kukuri puppet being goofs.
His love interest, Hibino Shiba, seems like an average girl herself being a very old childhood friend from the small village that Kyouhei is from. She is surprisingly calm about everything that is happening… except when someone asks if she is dating Kyouhei, then she freaks out. Geeeeee… wonder why? Anyway, I consider her more along the lines as a filter for us viewers since she knows nothing of her village or the temple (which seems really surprising since she is from the same village). Kyouhei and Utao feed her the information and then spoon feed it to us. It is my belief that is all that she is for since she seems to force herself to be in a lot of different situations where she really doesn’t have to be. Oh, and FWI, get used to everyone calling her the stupid woman with the big tits. Everyone calls her that throughout the whole show and they don’t even try to hide them.
Aki is basically our main villain of the show… at least I first thought he was. This is partly where the story gets to sound like every other story before it. The main character is betrayed by his friend and so moves away, his friend seeking revenge goes after him. It doesn’t really matter that Kyouhei isn’t the one controlling Kukuri; Aki just goes after him and kills anyone in his path. And then there are some odd things that happen that make me wonder exactly what he is. Again, he is another character that I would have been really happy to have as a main character then the one we did get. I think his back story would be more interesting and have enough action to be fun.
The village that these characters came from has a large secret and no, it’s not a spoiler. They come right out and say it mostly in the first episode. They have Gods that they can control although I believe them more to be living dolls with strong spiritual powers. I guess that is a really awesome idea if the episodes didn’t always seem to end up with a slice of life bit thrown in. I can understand that they were trying to show how different the characters were to one another, the way they grew up and so on.
The animation is actually very interesting, I wouldn’t say the same as most of the stuff out there in this time frame, but on the other side it does have its own takes. I don’t know if it’s just me ending up watching all the childish bubbly sort of anime that makes this one feel different, but it does. The designs of the Kakashi (The dolls with god powers) are actually rather unique and I really fell in love with the cute Kukuri the first moment I saw him/her/it. This was made by the same people who created ‘Durarara!!’ And ‘Baccano!’ so the art style has picked up a lot of that design. Since I liked that design from them, I also did like this one. Unfortunately, with that also comes the less awesome parts. Some action scenes actually seem to lose all manner of design every once in a while, characters lose some movement, and so on. This does not happen very often and most of it is really good, but once in a while you do get a hiccup in animation. The ending segment was a little out there, and I did not like it one bit. It was a small segment after the ending credits that are called ‘Kamisama Dolls Corner’. I don’t know what that was all about but it was seriously disturbing. Basically we got live action hand puppets of Utao and Kukuri moving about. You could actually tell where the hand was underneath Utao or the stuck under Kukuri because of how bad the green screen affect was. It was basically a slap in the face to the whole show. It broke the tension that the show had and I almost didn’t finish it because of how badly it took me out of the show.
The music doesn’t really stand out that much. Though I did like the opening song, it would be hard for me to pick it came out of no where like other animes such as Fullmetal Alchemist or Hellsing. It was cute and sweet but again, nothing that stood out. I also liked whatever cute and soft song Kukuri was singing whenever she started moving about. It was very sweet and almost had a calming affect against the harshness of some of the scenes. The voice acting was actually rather good, and I was surprised to find that one of the male characters was played by Luci Christian. She actually sounded like a guy that was the right age instead of a girly guy. I can’t tell you who it is that she voices as that is a spoiler but just trust me that it works. Aki’s voice actor, David Matranga, did a really good job having this really crazy point and then making sure it calmed down enough to sound methodical. The rest of the voice actors are really good but didn’t stand out. When everyone has a pretty good voice, then nothing really stands out over the whole.
Overall, the show is actually really interesting and I like the twists and turns of the show. The sad part is that I feel this had an ending that yelled out ‘read the manga’ with so many questions left unanswered. The series was either to short or it decided to goof around to much to give us enough information. I still have questions left unanswered and still am confused as to many things about the village and the Kakashi but since there is no second season and the manga seems to be hard to track down, I don’t know if I will have a actual answer. One last thing, the ending credits are really stupid when they show scenes that were not in the show and yet it’s the last episode.
DiamondDustEX2
Hello everyone!! This is my very first review so don't expect too much from me :) Today I will be reviewing Kamisama dolls (神様ドールズ) Story: It was good but it is easy to predict on what is going to happen next and because of that the story suffers from not being able to surprise anyone, It also depends heavily on flashbacks about the main character (Kuga) past. Art: It was not bad but it was also not great. The colors were dark in the actions scenes but sometimes it brightens up for the comedic scenes. Overall a decent job. Sound: Opening: Very unique and it fits the story butwhat I didn't like is the chorus, the chorus starts after around the 1 minute mark which irritates me so much.
Ending: The song was good but the animation was plain and simple.
Background music: It was good and fits the scenes nicely so no complaints from me.
Characters: The voice actors did a good job at bringing out the characters emotions.
Kuga Kyohei: A basic character who wants to runs away from the past but karma strikes back at him with vengence.
Kuga Utao: She can be classify as a Tsundere. A good cute character overall. She also has some sort of brother complex. She deals with most of the comedy in the series.
Kuga Aki: He is sort of the villain in the anime but I can see him as being a good guy in the end. He also has some sort of mental issue will clearly the anime states at episode 7 why does he have that issue.
Shiba Hibino: To me she is sort of a fan service character with the big breast but she is important to the story near the end. Very kind and beautiful character but when shes with Utao, she gives off a older sister vibe.
Enjoyment: It is very enjoyable to teens or young adults but for children not so much as the anime is very serious and somewhere in between there is some blood and gore.
Overall a good series to watch with a decent plot and good characters.
Recommended age to watch: 13+
triangulor
Decent enough time killer but it has a few problems. So Kamisama Dolls is kind of a Meca action/drama with a bit of harem thrown in for good measure. Some of the characters are "seki" which means they can control the meca with their minds. The premise is reasonably interesting and the action kind of proceeds how you would expect but the show does have a few issues. Well first of all one of the things this show does well is the sound. The background music was pretty good as well as the cool singing that the mecha does when its fighting. I personally enjoyed the introand ending song and the intro animation was one of the highlights of the series for me, kind of simple but symbolic and punchy. Although if the intro is a highlight it doesn't bode well for the rest of the show.
The art is a bit on the boring side. Its modern and all that so those of you just looking for accuracy will be happy enough. It has maybe two or three cool moments in a couple of key scenes and I will admit the mecha seem different to your average mecha. But the human characters are a little boring looking and they haven't tried to do anything interesting with the art. But like I said those of you looking for decent quality modern animation will be happy enough with the show.
Essentially for me this anime suffers from being married to the harem conventions. For example the conventions that state that the male insert character must be boring. I don't hate him, but he is the main character in an action anime but he just spends most of the series not doing anything but being turned on by his incredibly busty love interest. If you choose to watch this show it will become very obvious that the writer is a boob man and all the risque situations involving boobs and other nudity sometimes undercuts the drama of key scenes. It is hard to take it seriously when the characters are more worried about seeing her underwear than the imminent danger, but not only that the boobs themselves are somewhat comical I did have a hard time getting into the story. Then of course there is that Japanese classic that gets a little "lost in translation": the little sister love interest. In this she is literally his little sister and it is quite hard for those of us who trying to pretend its not there because she keeps calling all the girls her rival.
But despite these problems it is a reasonably entertaining way to spend a few hours. It only has one season and it is hard to tell if that came as a shock to the writers because the ending is quite abrupt. Perhaps it is supposed to be left implied and unsaid. It is hard to tell, one thing is for sure, if you need closure in your anime you might need to think twice before starting this one.
All in all I gave it a five by which I mean its not a bad way to spend time but its also not something I would go out of my way to watch. However this rating would definitely increase if I was more into harems, so if you are a boob man (and I mean really big) maybe put it up to a 7.
BunnyBunela
Prior to watching this anime, I had already known about the events that would take place due to reading the manga. Nevertheless, it showed great promise having the opening minutes be with a scene filled with action and also one surrounded by suspense. The anime is about a few selected people within a village who are chosen to have a Kakashi (god doll) due to their capabilities of controlling them. The main character, who is from the village, tries to escape from this life by moving away. Little did he know that he could never escape the village and he would be trap within its grip.While seeing several school mates being murdered and his sister who is a seki visits him from the village, the story began.
The time distributed to the events within the anime focuses more time to trivial events, like how the main characters are living their lives away from the truth of the village rather than why they want to live away from it.
The story is driven on battles to get across on one point but instead focuses a bit too much about a little girl trying to handle herself having being pampered as a seki (the person who have the ability to control a kakashi) since childhood.
The character who appeared to be the villain on first impression became misguided and confuse not really having much of a role within the anime. People later unveiled to be the true villain had not much time to demonstrate what their plot was.
Things are left unexplained within the anime due to it not covering the entire length of the manga. Certain things that needed to be explained were left out and left confusion if you havent read the story.
The anime was still enjoyable having some weak points, it allows you to enjoy some action while slipping away from some seriousness. I would have liked for it to had continued having so much potential in the story.
I would recommend whoever watches the anime to read the manga to know how it ended. There is a lot that needed to be done in the anime and didnt had its time.
ColibriTheBird
*English is not my mother tongue. So, I hope everybody can understand this review. * Starting off, I would say that this anime is what you can call "underrated". This anime is wonderfully writen and directed. Not only fot It's story, But also for the character line up. You will hardly ever find another anime with such an evolving antagonist. I always like comparing "Aki" with "Shogo Makishima " from Psycho-Pass. Those characters are what it is commonly known as "anti-hero". Besides, the story disinvolve in a way that step by step it show us more about the psycology behind them. I say this because, fromthe very beginning it is shown how Aki's mind works. Indeed, in certain point of the story he make us pose "Who is the real villain?". On the other hand, the contrast with Kyouhei is sensational. Not only because he shows the most humman side from this story. But, it also deletes any idea of him being the "hero" from this story. This is why it is so similar to Aki (shearing the characteristic of persuing their goals until believable frontiers). However, the way they achieve their goals is completely different. This contrast is even shown in the opening when they are facing each other. In the opening, Aki is leapt by sunlight. In comparison with Kyouhei who is surrounded by the night.
In addition, although the story and the character line up is awesome, the OST do not get behind. The songs from the Kakashis are simply enigmatic and the opening and ending are really beattiful. However, as well as the OST, the art design from the characters, especially from the Kakashis are very well achieved.
To sum this up, if you are looking forward a refreshing mecha-style show, you should make time in your schedule to watch "Kamisama Dolls". Hopefully, it gets S2 someday.
anonymousguy1212
Do you ever feel like it's somewhat of a chore to finish an anime? After investing your valuable time in a few episodes, you struggle to find the strength needed to continue watching something that has shown its mediocrity... If you are considering Kamisama Dolls, I have good news for you. While Kamisama Dolls may not have strongest plot, it is still very unique. I found myself engaged in each episode and actually binge-watched the anime. The main characters are well written. You are provided enough information through dialogue and backstories to understand the motives of not only the protag/antag, but also other characters.While the fight scene animation wasn't the greatest, I was generally impressed with the anime's animation. I actually double checked its release date, to confirm that it in fact aired in 2011. It's a shame that this anime hasn't garnered more attention; it's very underrated imo. Overall, it has its flaws, but I really liked it. I'm kind of bummed that it doesn't have a second season, but I assure you it's worth the watch.
rmremail
First of all, this is a Seinan Anime. It's not about a kid training to be better at using a fighting robot, or about the MC secretly being more powerful than everybody else. It's about being responsible. Kyouhei Kuga is a Tokyo college student who comes from a little village up in the mountains where the dominant families have magical robots. In the past, he had control of one as well, but he has given it up. The story starts from a conflict between Kyouhei and his step brother brother Aki, a tough who was in prison for murder, and then spirals out as various people come fromthe village to try to find and capture Aki, including Kyouhei's sister, who now controls the magical robot that used to be his. All of this is complicated by Hibino Shiba (Kyouhei's love interest) getting caught up in the middle
The main thrust of the story has to do with Kyouhei acting as a mentor to his sister, wooing Hibino and trying to act as the one sensible adult while all the other characters are going through their melodrama. He doesn't always succeed.
luvsdaheat
This is not so much a review as a warning: There's no damn second season! This show is engaging enough such that given what little is wrapped up, and the large amount of unfinished business left dangling right in front of our eyes at the end of episode 13.... am I better off having watched it all the way through? maybe. I just wanted to warn unsuspecting viewers before they commit to watching the thirteen episodes. Oh, and as I write more words for filler, I noticed the similarity to "WorldTrigger" design elements here - both in mechanical and facial.
Imdadinho
A very underrated anime ( which forced me to write a rare review). Kamisama dolls has everything expected of a great, enjoyable and thrilling anime. The story is interesting but it takes a few episodes to get everything going ( probably that is why hasty people rated it low). The story takes a few turns which keeps it interesting, it also has a mystery element attached to it throughout the show which keeps the viewer hooked. One of the strongest point of Kamisama Dolls is its characters. The characters are unique and all have some strong background stories particularly the apparent villain.Viewer gets attached to main charactersduring the thirteen episodes and it makes story more interesting
The art is great as expected of a modern anime and opening and ending are exceptionally good. Sound effects are pretty well done.
Overall a very enjoyable anime that keeps you hooked throughout (if you continue to watch it past first four episodes) its pretty sad to have a great anime rated so low even more when it does nothing wrong with the story and character development.
You wont be disappointed at the end of this show!
camay1997
Main protagonist with a mysterious past, check. Cute little sister with a brother fetish, check. Buxom love interest lacking the powers of other characters, check. White haired friend of our main protagonist turned enemy, check. New character with unexplained ties to our heroes, check. Cute mascot to sell toys, check. Character with unrequited love for main protagonist, check. As you can see it's very cliched and all that's fine. The characters are designed great and the animation is smooth and fluid. I enjoyed this anime way more than I ever thought I would. But I have two major issues with this anime that lower itsscore for me.
Issue one is Aki and Kyohei's tragic past being a secret. Hibino is the only character who shouldn't be aware of this tragic story. Everyone else was present in their village at the time, so even if they don't talk about it (and mind you people talk) it would have been hard to keep this a secret. This makes the secret for the sake of the viewer, which in the end is pointless as it's revelation holds no bearing on the story itself. It just justifies Kyohei's attitude towards being a seki which didn't need to be a secret from us. They could have told us in episode one and it wouldn't change our feelings to these characters one way or the other.
Issue two is the lack of any clear conclusion to this story. The end promises more, but I've yet to see it. It's like they have way more story to tell and don't. Again I ask why introduce these shadowy puppet masters if their story will never be explored? Not just the end, but also Kirio's origins are revealed, but never questioned, they just accept the explanations they're given and it's the next episode.
An interesting aspect of this show that's not explored enough is the amount of public attention and damage done over the course of the series.
Given the story they actually tell I'm certain this could have been summed up in one two hour motion picture
TheOtakuNextDoor
The beginning enthralled me. When making an anime, manga, or book, you need a good hook. That's the bait, it's the first impression. The story was very good, besides the fact that there was a male yandere and the main character was also very crazy. When you consider the other facts such as their emotion embedded into that first scene, it was just amazing. The art, next up, was good. The detail wasn't all that beautiful, but the battle scenes were detailed enough. When you look at Utau's shrine-maiden dress, it's okay. When you look at their, faces, they didn't look all that... Original. Nowfor the sound. The music/noises that each individual doll made, and which changed depending on which seki controlled it, sounded pretty original. The opening and ending songs seemed to have a lot of emotion in it, making me give that a score of 9.
The characters... Each character was different in their own way, and including two psycho frienemies made it interesting. Utau was annoying at moments, but I couldn't blame her for being like that since she's so young.
I rate my enjoyment of this a 9, because it was unique. It put my concept of "dolls" into a different light. I know it won't be covering up it's plot holes with a second season but I keep wishing that there will be one in the future.
Overall, my score of this anime was 7. I loved it's soundtrack more than most of the other traits, but it was still good. Sorry for it being so short, but thank you anyways for reading my very first review on MyAnimeList.
JuneNephthys
Kamisama Dolls initially made me think that it was going to be better than it turned out to be. I’m going to preface this review by stating that the ending of the series is completely inconclusive, and it felt like there was a massive build-up for nothing. As well as weird plot conniptions that felt like you would only understand if you read the manga, but I don’t even know if the manga really explains anything else. • Much like Rahxephon, there are creepy mechas that sing and that add an eerie atmosphere to the series, which I liked. To be honest, most of thecharacters were forgettable other than one character trait, like: this one is the little sister character, this one is just tits, this one is the creepy glasses fujoshi, etc.
• The only two characters of interest to me were the main two, because they seemed to be foils of one another and at the beginning of the series it kept it ambiguous as to which of them was actually evil and which one was good.
• The interesting twist got turned on its head later though, and dissolved very quickly. It seemed like the series was manically trying to do far too much for a thirteen episode series, so of course nothing would be resolved. Because of this, a character that I was excited to see Mahiru, was added last minute and lazily explained.
• She’s pretty forgettable on her own, she’s like a crazier Asuka from Neon Genesis Evangelion. There was also a weird twin reveal in the series that left me scratching my head. Luckily, the twin reveal wasn’t nearly as spastic as Zaregoto Series’ insane EVERYBODY’S A DOUBLE TWIST.
• The only character that has any merit or depth is Aki, and for the most part he seems wedged into the moody loner archetype, but I still thought his character was interesting. Brain’s Base did an excellent job with the visualsーit is a very pretty show. I would say that if you’re fine with an enjoyable series that leaves itself open-ended, then it’s worth a watch.
• Overall, this series has a lot of good ideas put into it. It’s an interesting brain baby, I just wish the execution had been better or that it had had twenty-six episodes instead of thirteen. Like I said, I have never been motivated to check out the manga, perhaps it goes more into depth with the plot. From the presentation in the anime, I give Kamisama Dolls a 4/10.
Hime-In-A-Box
Despite how it looks, this series is actually fairly dark. A lot of issues dealt with in this series have to do with murder, guilt, jealousy, hatred, revenge... and the list can go on. I'm not sure if this series will actually get a season 2, despite the last episode saying "To be next story" which I assume is a broken English version of "To be continued." I've heard that it didn't sell well, so a season 2 may actually never happen. Either way, I'm going to review this series with the viewpoint that it IS getting a season 2. (Honestly I'm just keeping myown hopes up.) Thus I won't be as critical on this series as I would have been if a season 2 was never hinted.
Story: 8
If I have to state my one and only real problem with this show, it's unexplained story elements. There are countless story elements that are introduced and are never full explained or dealt with. Actually, the story kind of went off track. At first, everyone was sent to the city to catch Aki, who is a Seki (One who controls a Kamisama Doll) and a murderer at that. Afterwards, around episode 9 or so, the story changes direction and aims itself more towards dealing with a new character, leaving Aki behind in a sense that he's not really the main focus anymore.
The reason I'm not going to be harsh on these missing story elements is because if a season 2 is ever created, which I'll keep in mind that it will be despite the fact that it's been two years since the series has finished, then the unexplained plot points can easily be... well, explained for us. Thus, when that happens, if it ever does, this series actually has potential to be something really, really special.
Art: 9
The execution of the scenes in this show, especially in the first few episodes, is something I really enjoyed. The animation was really good, and the art style was appealing. It did become a bit silly at times to lighten the mood but other than that, it has great animation. Even the CGI is tolerable. (I for one usually hate CGI)
Sound: 8
When it comes to the soundtrack, it wasn't anything special whatsoever. Nothing stood out to me, at all. The main character's voice actor is phenomenal, though. (He's the VA that voiced Rin in Ao no Exorcist or Accelerator in To aru Majutsu no Index). What I found interesting was the songs that the Kamisama Dolls sang. It was actually kind of eerie; whenever the dolls were summoned they sang what sounded like a traditional Japanese song with no lyrics, over and over again.
Character: 8
There isn't really much to say about the characters. Kyohei, the main character, wasn't very interesting until a few episodes in when he had his sudden outbursts of extreme anger. I've never witnessed a main character with that kind of temper before, and serious temper, at that.He has a good reason to act that way, though. Utao, his little sister, was a fun character to watch. She was awkward (In a cute way.) and obviously had some sort of strong attraction toward her brother. The main love interest, Hibino, isn't really all that special. Don't get me wrong, I liked her and how the show managed to portray her and Kyohei's relationship maturely, but she didn't have a really entertaining personality, or one that can even be described with interesting adjectives, at that.
Enjoyment: 9
I had a certain itch for a while... for something very specific. I'm sure we've all felt it before; the urge to watch a certain anime that matches your criteria right on the mark. Such as, if you're in the mood for a sci-fi, but not just ANY sci-fi, it has to be a sci-fi romance, with mechas, taking place in a futuristic city with an overall darker tone to it. Something along those lines. I had an itch for something, something that was actually fairly indescribable. It had to have romance, though. So here I came to Kamisama Dolls, and surprisingly enough, with it's unexpected serious vibes and good/mature romance elements, along with an interesting backstory involving murder, a main character with unique and justifiable trauma/anger issues, and large singing God dolls fighting each other... was able to somewhat help me with that itch. Not completely due to it's short length... but it almost got me right on the mark.
Overall: 8
TL;DR the only problems I had with this series was majorly unexplained story elements, which could possibly be explained in a possible season 2! (Which was announced at the last episode.) If you want something with good romance, murder, and fairly intense and well-animated fights between strange creature-like God dolls... then watch Kamisama Dolls. It's a lot more serious than it seems.
