|
|
||||||||||
| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watch | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
 Ggultra2764
|
[series:2465#1552] |
|
(Watch-/ Avoid+) Kamisama Dolls attempts to be a action-drama focused on college student Kyouhei attempting to distance himself from the traditions of his village involving the powerful dolls known as kakashi. While elements of the story have their potential at creating some engaging action and drama with Kyouhei's struggling with his past in the village and clashes between kakashi, the series is sadly marred by the lack of greater depth on its plot and characters, some characters being rather unlikeable with how they are portrayed, the awkward addition of comedy into serious storytelling moments, and the open-ended ending for a second season that doesn't come along greatly kill the overall quality of the series. Definitely skip this one if you are looking for something of better quality. Last updated Monday, June 19 2017. Created Monday, June 19 2017. | ||||||||
| Rent |
 Stretch
|
[series:2465#628] | ||||||
|
(All episodes watched--twice): Fortunately, in spite of my lukewarm reaction to episode one, afterwards KamiDolls shaped up slowly but steadily, and ended up as one of my favorite shows of Summer 2011, which as a whole was surprisingly good for an ‘off’ season. After watching episode one I was left uncertain how this show would shape up, but thinking that the basic premise might work: people from a strange village are somehow able to psychically control odd mecha that they call 'Gods', or less formally, 'Dolls'. Episode two delivered a good deal of character development, plus added the humorously nutty character, Yuuko, who would be fun. The plot didn’t become overcomplicated yet was fairly unpredictable and entertaining. It soon became clear that Kyouhei and Aki have some sort of secret, which was intriguing. The OP song is snappy and the OP visuals are creative. The jokes are pretty good, and the characters have some soul to them and therefore are fun and likeable. Aki isn't just a pure-black 'evil' character; the interplay between him and Yuuko in episode four had me laugh out louding. To paraphrase an old quote, I can't define anime quality but I know it when I see it, and I’m seeing some now. Again, I am glad that I am able to keep completely (or almost completely) up to speed on the plot. The quarrelling factions back in the village have sent at least two additional 'Seki's to hunt Aki down. The freaky combat scenes between dolls are interesting. It would be easy for Aki and Kyouhei to have a humdrum fight each time they come across each other, but that doesn't happen. Sometimes there's no fight at all, and sometimes they fight with nothing more than their fists. In general I looked forward to each episode of KamiDolls and it was the first Summer series episode that I watched each week. In episode five the story shifts to a new locale and yet more characters are introduced. The size of the cast and general complexity of the story grows like a mushroom. KamiDolls takes its time answering some basic questions; for example, what exactly is at stake here? Hopefully that was intentional, since I remain interested and able to keep a good track of what's going on. Could it be that the thing Kyouhei and Aki have in common is a resentment of being booted from their roles as Sekis (Doll handlers) as a result of a certain miraculous event at the village? The very fact that I'm able to make a reasonable guess is another indicator that the story is being told in a manner which is both understandable and interesting. Episode seven finally explains what happened long ago back at Kyouhei and Aki's hometown, and left Aki a wanted fugitive. It was something that got out of hand and became a nasty, bloody business. I liked this episode; the fact that the usual OP sequence was omitted gave an ominous foreshadowing of what was to come. It wasn't perfect, but it was plausible, it clarified a lot of things, the characters were likeable (or hateable), and next we'll be going back to Tokyo to pick things up where we left them off. In another episode we relive yet another terrifying incident that resulted Kyouhei renouncing his role as a Seki and becoming a semi-outcast. All of the intermeshing plot strands do get confusing and I can’t claim to have grasped all of them firmly. But the jokes are funny, the action is neat, and the characters are likeable. I think I actually like Aki more than Kyouhei, in spite of the things he has done—or maybe because of the things he has done. Kyouhei has never really done anything terribly wrong, so he’s kind of a do-gooder while Aki has a more three dimensional personality. Of course, Kuuko is my favorite character of all. As the plot of KamiDolls continued to grow rather than showing signs of reaching a climax and winding down, I couldn’t help asking myself, ‘can this really be finished in a mere 13 episodes?’. It isn’t—it doesn’t even try. The series ends in a decidedly incomplete manner, with a sort of cliffhanger as Aki and Kyouhei decide that there’s a challenge they must meet. But how things will work out is left to the viewer’s imagination for the time being. I would assume that the manga is incomplete, and what sort of ratings that both it and the anime get will decide whether a second season comes along. That was frustrating, but KamiDolls turned out to be much more fun than I had originally expected. A fresh take on mecha--mystical mecha made of wood—a complex plot, and interesting characters. I hope to see how it ends. During the Winter 2013 season I rewatched KamiDolls a second time. I knew there wouldn't be any definitive ending, but I remembered that the show was fun and a dozen or so episodes wasn't too great of a committment. There's something funny about the Dolls; they can sometimes go wild and operate on their own, furiously destroying things, without a Seki. However, the manga seems to be the only way to find out what the secret is. There are, however, five 'Kamisama Dolls Specials', which are amusing shorts that poke fun at various characters. Perhaps because I knew there would be no conclusion, I couldn't get as excited about the series this second time around, and noticed some problems. But it was still a fun show, and much better than most, if not all, of the new series running during the current season. I really wish a second season had come around after all! Last updated Saturday, March 02 2013. Created Wednesday, July 13 2011. | ||||||||
Other Sites
| Name | URL |
|---|---|
| Official Website (japanese) | http://kamisama-anime.jp/ |
