Kamisama Kiss

Plot

Nanami Momozono dreams of living an average school life just like any other high school girl does. Instead, she must cope up with the fact that her father, who is a constant gambler, has accumulated a bunch of gambling debts on her. As she can't afford to pay the rent, she gets kicked out of her apartment and is now homeless. Despite this unfortunate turn of events, she still maintains a kind heart.

While sitting on a park bench collecting her thoughts, Nanami meets a strange man hanging from a tree because he is being chased by a dog. After saving him from the dog, she learns that the man's name is Mikage. Upon learning about Nanami's current situation, in a perfect example of how good deeds are rewarded, he gives her his home as a token of his gratitude. She accepts the offer because she is homeless. When Nanami arrives at Mikage's home, she is shocked to see that it is not a normal home but a shrine for worship. After being greeted by both Onikiri and Kotetsu who are the keepers of the shrine, she meets Tomoe, Mikage's familiar, and she learns that Mikage used to be the Earth Deity of the shrine and has bestowed upon her his mark so that she may be the new deity. At first Nanami is reluctant, but as she lives with Tomoe, Onikiri and Kotetsu she begins to understand and works hard in her new position as the Earth Deity. As the story progresses Nanami finds herself falling in love with Tomoe, but he rejects her because the love between a human and a yokai is taboo. Despite saying that, Tomoe finds himself falling in love with her too.

Main characters

Nanami Momozono (桃園奈々生, Momozono Nanami)

Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori (Japanese); Tia Ballard (English)A teenage girl whose father ran out on her because of his gambling debts, and she was often mocked for her poverty by her classmates. She becomes the local land god after Mikage transfers his position over to her. Nanami begins with very little spiritual power, but she works hard at balancing her godly duties with her schoolwork and eventually becomes adept at purifying Tomoe within their present era, successfully nullifying his curse and becoming engaged to him after five hundred years of waiting. After Tomoe is turned into a fox, she tries to stop Akura-Ou from getting his yokai body back and to save Okuninushi so she can ask him to turn Tomoe human. However, Nanami does not have time because she has only six months to live. This is because her life span was taken from her by Akura-Ou. In the second season, Nanami became an expert using her only godly weapon called white talismans, with which she can do many things as long as they do not exceed her in strength. She also used a "shikigami" called Mamoru. He is in the shape of a small monkey that can fit in the palm of her hand, but he can take the shape of a young boy. With him she is able to create barriers against evil that can do various things that range from purification to banishing of yokai.

It is later shown at the end of the manga, that a 10 year time skip happens, she gets married to Tomoe, who is now a human. She works as a kindergarten teacher, but retired as she bears the baby boy she and Tomoe have created. She and Tomoe later goes back to the Mikage shrine after fulfilling of being an adult.

Tomoe (巴衛)

Voiced by: Shinnosuke Tachibana (Japanese); J. Michael Tatum (English)A fox yokai who serves as the familiar of the land god Mikage. When Nanami becomes the new land god, she makes a contract with Tomoe to turn him into her familiar, much to his displeasure. He is very hostile and condescending to Nanami at the start of the series, but this changes as the series progresses.He has a very cynical and often mocking demeanor, partly because he is distrustful of others, but he can be very charming when the occasion demands it. He is also extremely powerful, and is apparently able to disable other familiars, independent demons and, as a yokai, even some deities without much effort. However, his power is restricted by Nanami's words, which means if she orders him to do something, he must comply. He can transform himself and others with enchanted leaves, but his real power lies in the use of his Fox-Fire, which can hunt down any foe relentlessly and even manipulate other flames. Tomoe worries a great deal about Nanami and is very aware of how delicate she is as a human, threatening anyone who harms or speaks ill of her. Further within the manga, Nanami takes a journey to the past in order to save her beloved Tomoe from a deadly curse bestowed upon him after he formed a contract with a fallen god in order to live as a human. It is strongly emphasized that he was once in love with a human woman who was very sick named Yukiji. However, it is later revealed to be Nanami herself when time-traveling. When she arrived in the past Tomoe had been injured by some villagers. She rescued him and took care of him in the real Yukiji's house. She prevented anyone from telling him her real name, so when he asked the name who was caring for him, he was only told he was in the house of Yukiji.It is often implied that he loves Nanami, such as doing random acts of kindness for her and refusing to kill in front of her. He often gets very jealous of other boys who hang around her. He is also very loyal to Nanami, as shown by him kissing her to seal their contract again after it had been broken. It is later revealed that he is just as in love with Nanami as she is in love with him, but Nanami is unaware of this fact because he already rejected her. After Nanami goes back in time to save him, he accepts his feelings for her and they renew their engagement that they made 500 years earlier. Soon after, Tomoe meets an old shrine maiden that he once met as a child and it frightens him how fast humans can grow old and die. He wants to become human so that he can grow old with Nanami. He takes a potion from Kurama, which he mistakenly believes will turn him human, but it is actually the Potion of Origin, turning him into a fox. Nanami prepares to stop Akura-Ou from regaining his body and to save the god Okuninushi so she can ask him to turn Tomoe human. Later Nanami receives a flower bud which will bloom when Tomoe learns how to feel affection for humans. If he were to eat the bloomed flower, then he would return to his normal form.It is later shown at the end of the manga, that a 10 year time skip happens, he gets married to Nanami. He becomes human after their marriage ceremony happens by going to Okuninushi and did some bidding. He works at a company which he pleases to work at. Nanami bears the baby boy they have both created. It is later shown that they come back to the shrine after Nanami fulfilled to become a complete adult.

Mikage (ミカゲ)

Voiced by: Akira Ishida (Japanese); Joel McDonald (English)A mysterious man who was once the land god of the shrine, and who left twenty years ago for unspecified reasons. He met a newly homeless Nanami and bestowed the land god mark on her, saying that she was better suited to be the god than him. He has light hair and glasses and wears a trench coat and hat. Throughout the manga he is portrayed as someone shrouded in mystery on what his true motives really are, but it is hinted that his plan has been to show Tomoe that humans and yokai can fall in love and that Nanami may be the one who can reach Tomoe. Yet, it is not clear if this is his only reason for the circumstances and events he set in motion. Although he did not appear much in the beginning of the manga, he has since recently returned back to his shrine, but he accepts Nanami as the land god and not him.

Kurama (鞍馬)

Voiced by: Daisuke Kishio (Japanese); Sean O'Connor (English)A wildly popular idol with the gimmick of being a "fallen angel" with goth makeup and a bad boy attitude. He is a crow tengu from the Kurama mountain, who initially wished to become the land god by eating Nanami's heart. After being thwarted by Tomoe and subsequently saved by Nanami, he gives up on this scheme and regards her as a friend, even allowing her to stay at his apartment when she temporarily loses her godhood. He has a lingering dislike for Tomoe, and the two are prone to insulting each other whenever they meet. He left Kurama mountain seventeen years ago and has been living in the human world since then. He is also shown to have a more human-like attitude compared to Tomoe and Mizuki. He also has feelings for Nanami and always tries to flirt with her, but he seems to have accepted her relationship with Tomoe. His real name is Shinjūrō (真寿郎).

Mizuki (瑞希)

Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto (Japanese); Micah Solusod (English)A lonely snake familiar of the abandoned and submerged Yonomori shrine. When Nanami saves his life from her cruel classmates by releasing him out a window, he falls in love with her. He abducts her soon after, intending to marry her. In spite of this, Nanami takes pity on him and promises to visit after Tomoe rescues her. He hates Tomoe, evident to his constant mocking and bantering. He even goes as far as to manipulate Nanami various times through the act of "helping" to try and deter her feelings towards Tomoe, though she is unaware. He later becomes Nanami's familiar to save her from a sea demon after she inadvertently sacrifices herself to save Tomoe. He has the power to make wonderful sake. He also says that he can be himself whenever he is with Nanami.

Onikiri (鬼切) and Kotetsu (虎徹)

Voiced by: Natsuyo Atarashi (first season), Naoko Matsui (second season) (Onikiri) and Chika Ōkubo (Kotetsu) (Japanese); Jād Saxton (Onikiri) and Josh Grelle (Kotetsu) (English)The two bald, childlike yokai attendants at Nanami's shrine who wear masks. Just like Tomoe, they are able to shapeshift. They are extremely fond of Nanami, Tomoe, Mizuki and Mikage. It is implied that there is an unpleasant sight underneath their masks.

Yokai

Himemiko of the Swamp (沼皇女, Numano Himemiko, lit. "Swamp Princess")

Voiced by: Yui Horie (Japanese); Monica Rial (English)A catfish princess of the Tatara Swamp who lives in a palace with her many fish attendants. Ten years ago, she fell in love with a young boy named Kotarō Urashima, and she asks Nanami to help her reconnect with the boy once again. As repayment, when Nanami visits her palace, she allows her to wear one of her luxurious kimonos so she will look her best in front of Tomoe. When Kotarō finds out she is a deity, he is initially disillusioned by it, but later realizes he loves her and apologizes much to everyone's delight.

Dragon King (龍王・宿儺, Ryūō Sukuna)

Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (Japanese); Robert McCollum (English)Dragon Lord of the sea, who has a been waiting to seek revenge against Tomoe for 526 years for ripping out his right eye and attacking the north gate of Ryūgū Castle. He found Tomoe after he saved Ami from drowning in the sea. The Dragon Lord's eyes are known as the Longevity Elixir and are said to give great power to whoever has drank them. Though aggressive and temperamental, he is afraid of his wife's anger. He is forced to give up his grudge against Tomoe after his wife befriends Nanami.

Kamehime (亀姫, lit. "Turtle Princess")

Voiced by: Akemi Okamura (Japanese); Anastasia Muñoz (English)The wife of the Dragon King. She disapproves of her husband's fights with Tomoe.

Akura-Ou (悪羅王, Akura-Ō)

Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe (Japanese); Brandon Potter (English)

Akura-Ou, also known as Kirihito, or the evil king, was an infamous yokai that has been living for at least 600 years. He worked with Tomoe, wreaking havoc to the world. They were unstoppable until Tomoe fell in love with the human Yukiji. After being captured, he was sent to Yomi-no-Kuni and lived there for a long time until the soul of a young, recently deceased, boy named Kirihito Mori came to him and asked him to send an apology to his parents because they had fought just before his death. Akura-Ou accepted out of boredom and curiosity and hence took up the boy's body, waking in a hospital room and being hugged by "his" mother. After some time, Akura-Ou regained some of his followers despite being in Kirihito's body. Two of which were two cat-masked shikigami. He soon decided he wanted to get his original body back from Yomi-no-Kuni. Kayako fell in love with him sometime after and he used her to try to get into the God's Summit. When she failed, he left her, finding her no longer useful.He first met Nanami while she was being chased by the fallen gods. They were angry at her for being a human yet dared to accept the invitation to the God's Summit. Akura-Ou then insulted them as being a lower status than her causing one fallen god to hit him, giving him a serious injury. This angered Nanami, who then used Mamoru to repel the gods. She attempted to tend to Akura-Ou's wounds, but he refused her help and attempted to kiss her, making Nanami panic and flee. He then went to Yomotsu Hirasaka and opened the Kyo Gan Mon in an attempt to get his body back. However, Nanami and Otohiko came to guard the gates since the original guard was currently at the God's Summit, disrupting Akura-Ou's plans. Tekkimaru, one of his yokai followers, immediately held Akura-Ou hostage in defense so that Otohiko would not attack them due to Akura-Ou being human, though they did not know of him being Akura-Ou. Tekkimaru then jumped into Yomi-no-Kuni believing it will give him an immortal body, bringing Akura-Ou together with him. Immediately, Tekkimaru rotted due to not being a god. Akura-Ou's human body began to rot as well. In fear for his safety, Nanami jumped in after him.He woke up before Nanami within the Yomi-no-Kuni. He got a lock of her hair and wrapped it around his wrist to protect him from rotting. Soon they were fetched by the servants of the god of Yomi-no-Kuni named Izanami. Nanami asked Izanami to send them back, she replied that only Nanami could go and that Akura-Ou could not due to his body already being dead. After which, Akura-Ou was snatched up by a giant hand and disappeared one of the cells. He had flashbacks in the darkness and wondered if everything that had happened was only a dream.He was soon rescued by Nanami but could not understand why she did so. He hugged her fiercely, marveling at her warmth. She pulls away, saying she belongs to Tomoe, to which he is intrigued by. She led him to the entrance but it was blocked by Ikusagami, the war god. However, they were soon rescued by Tomoe and brought back to the world above. There, he attacks him, but then looks at Nanami and decides to do it another time.When he is suffering as the human body he is using cannot sustain him for long, Nanami gives up a part of her life force to help him, but he takes much more reducing her life span. It is here when Nanami sees Akura-Ou in him and realizes the truth. He leaves her alive barely only because she might be useful later but it is assume he has slight feelings for her. This idea is reinforced when she says that she and Tomoe belong to each other, and he wonders why those words "pierce" him.

Jirō (二郎)

Voiced by: Wataru Hatano (Japanese); Andrew T. Chandler (English)Jirō is currently the fourth chief of Kurama Mountain. The tengu leading all other tengu due to his unsurpassed strength and speed. When Sōjōbō, the third chief, fell ill to an unknown, incurable sickness, Jirō stepped up and took his place. On the first few parts, Jirō was known as a cruel leader. He was merciless and banished many other tengu when they showed any sign of weakness. An example was how he had treated Kurama when he had been younger.After he met Nanami under the Thousand Year Old Sakura Tree he seemed to develop a crush on her though he refused to admit it. He got distracted thinking of her, hence letting the wards he placed around his temple weaken. According to his servant, Yatori, this was due to chaos within his own heart. After discovering Yatori's betrayal, when Nanami was being attacked by the Raijiuyu, he sacrificed himself to save her and confessed his love to her in what he thought were his last words.

Deities

Otohiko (乙比古)

Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (Japanese); Ian Sinclair (English)A feminine male wind god. He initially disapproves of Nanami as the land god but acknowledges her after she successfully dispels the miasma that he had released on the shrine.

Narukami (鳴神)

Voiced by: Hyo-sei (Japanese); Lydia Mackay (English)A bratty, selfish sky god who has an unrequited crush on Tomoe. She steals Nanami's mark, shrinks Tomoe into a toddler, and takes control of the shrine for a short period. She is very demanding and apparently goes through attendants at an unheard-of rate and seems to take sadistic delight in abusing her familiars.

Ookuninushi (大国主, Ōkuninushi)

Voiced by: Showtaro Morikubo (Japanese); Tyson Rinehart (English)The God of Wealth who owns a large shrine in Izumo. He is in charge of the Divine Assembly held every year for deities.

Takehaya Ikuzagami

The War god who is reluctant to acknowledge Nanami, a human to be a Land God.

Other Characters

Ami Nekota (猫田 あみ, Nekota Ami)

Voiced by: Satomi Satō (Japanese); Alexis Tipton (English)The first friend Nanami ever made at school. Originally, she found Nanami to be weird, but she also took a liking to Nanami. After Nanami, or rather Tomoe disguised as her, rescued her from a demon, she began to hang around Nanami more and officially became a friend after she helped her talk to Kurama. She made a promise with Kurama to not tell anyone about any of the strange occurrences that happen with Nanami, though it was Tomoe in disguise. Ami believes Nanami is a miko, or shrine maiden. Overall, Ami is a naive but bubbly and gentle girl, and a very reliable friend. She and Kei later find out that Nanami is a god and all the others are yokai but they accept it quite well. Ami also has a huge crush on Kurama, who has slowly started to return those feelings, but they are not yet in a relationship.

Kei Ueshima (上島 ケイ, Ueshima Kei)

Voiced by: Kaori Shimizu (Japanese); Kristi Kang (English)Kei is Ami's best friend. After Ami befriends Nanami, she also begins to see Nanami as a friend. Among the trio, she is the most mature, but also the most hot tempered. She is intuitive and picked up on the fact Nanami liked Tomoe. Kei gave advice to Nanami on how she could get his attention. She is rarely ever seen without her cellphone, on which she constantly sends text messages at a rapid pace, of which most of the time she does not even bother to glance at the screen.

Yukiji (雪路)

Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori (anime), Fumiko Orikasa (Kako-hen) (Japanese); Tia Ballard (English)A beautiful woman with long brown hair that Tomoe had a relationship with in the past (though in reality it is Nanami, who time travels through Yukiji's body on one occasion, and stands in as Yukiji while time traveling in her own body on another, who Tomoe falls in love with). She barely escaped a yokai attack on her village, of which Tomoe in particular attacked her body when Nanami was in it, causing her a deep hatred for yokai. She is also the ancestor of Nanami, who actually helped her when marrying into another family. She later saw Nanami with Tomoe and eventually used their similarities in appearance to ask Tomoe for help when attacked by Akura-Ou. However, Tomoe does not see the eyes of Yukiji during the time that he spends with her, because Yukiji feared that he would know that she was not Nanami after looking into her eyes. She used his protection in order to save the next generation of her and her husband's bloodline. At one time she became extremely sick, so Tomoe went and carved out the Dragon King's eye to cure her. Since then, the eye resides within the host until they have a child, hence everyone who is Nanami's direct ancestor is a woman. As long as they eye resides within them, they are protected from any sickness and as such all of them are blessed with beauty. However, the moment they have a child, which is always a daughter, the eye passes to the child and they become susceptible to disease.

Manga

Written and illustrated by Julietta Suzuki, Kamisama Kiss has been serialized in the semi-monthly shōjo manga magazine Hana to Yume since February 20, 2008. The collected chapters were later republished in tankōbon volumes by Hakusensha with the first volume released on September 19, 2008. North American publisher Viz Media licensed the English language distributions rights at the 2009 New York Anime Festival. The series concluded on May 20, 2016.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation of Kamisama Kiss was produced by TMS Entertainment and directed by Akitaro Daichi. It began airing on October 1, 2012. The anime has been licensed for streaming by Funimation Entertainment. The series ended at around the 30th chapter of the manga volume. The opening theme is "Kamisama Hajimemashita" (神様はじめました, lit. "Nice to Meet You, God") and the ending theme "Kamisama Onegai" (神様お願, lit. "Please, God"), both performed by Hanae. There are two OVA episodes, which first aired on August 26, 2013, bundled with the 16th volume of the manga. One of the included episodes is based on the story from the 15th volume, while the other contains an all-new original story. The 17th issue of Hakusensha's Hana to Yume magazine announced on August 2014 that the manga series inspired a second anime season, which began airing on January 5, 2015. The opening theme is "Kamisama no Kamisama" (神様の神様, lit. "God of God") and the ending theme "Ototoi Oide" (おとといおいで, lit. "Come Another Day"), both once again performed by Hanae. A four-part original animation DVD (OAD) known as "Kako-hen" (過去篇, lit. "Past Arc") began airing on August 20, 2015, and is based on the "past arc" of the series, spanning from the 14th through 17th volumes of the manga series. The story follows Nanami as she goes back in time to find a cure for Tomoe's curse which he had placed on himself so he could become human and live out his life with Yukiji. A new OAD, titled Kamisama, Kekkon Zenya, will be bundled with the Kamisama Hajimemashita 25.5 official fanbook, which is scheduled for release on December 20, 2016.

Reception

Jacob Chapman of Anime News Network, describes the anime as a 50/50 cross between Inuyasha and Fruits Basket.