Kannaduki no Miko Review (spoiler free):
At first glance, this anime was a recipe for disaster, everything from the tackily designed mechas to the predictable twists screamed mediocrity and seemed to lack any semblance of originality or coherence. It was like the writers had a love story in mind and every time they needed to advance it, they would take the most convenient plot device and hastily patch it to the main storyline.
So is this anime a total dud to be avoided at all costs? Amazingly enough, my answer would have to be a resounding no. This show is almost jarring in its blatant use of numerous clichés and incompatible genres and by all counts should have only worked as a parody. But this series takes all its various elements very seriously and clumsily blends them into a surprisingly effectively executed and well thought out effort.
The wonderful thing about this anime is that the creators respect the viewers. It boasts a fairly tight plot with few discernable loopholes and moved at a fast pace, feeling no need to belabour every story development. There were neither excessively long drawn out explanations of character motivations, nor obscure and incomprehensible hints of things to come.
When a point needed to be made, there would be an efficiently edited flashback, or a cut to a character’s reaction, an uttered phrase, something that gives the viewer exactly what they need to know with little ambiguity. The anime tackles every issue with unabashed dramatic alacrity and moves on at a fast clip.
It also makes very clever and apt use of symbols and words with very subtle multiple meanings, making everything the characters do and say take on more depth and colour. For example, let us take the title of the show, Kannaduki no Miko. Looking at the kanji, it can mean either “Maiden of the deity forsaken month” or “Priestess of the Godless Moon”. Watching the show will prove that either interpretation is uncannily appropriate and knowing both meanings really makes the show that much more profound and intriguing. A surprisingly thought provoking show.
But despite all these favourable factors, this anime really has nothing immediately outstanding to recommend it, simplistic illustration and character designs, unremarkable action sequences, lack of snappy dialogue, typical love triangle and gratuitous fanservice. There are much better shows around, why should time be spent on this seemingly barely adequate anime?
There is only one good reason to watch Kannaduki no Miko: it contains a rarity in anime and actually television programmes in general, and that is an honest-to-God romance between two girls, not just subtext or innuendoes but a well developed love story that the entire series revolves around. If this not your cup of tea, then watching this anime would only be a waste of time, and possibly offensive. However, if you want a good shoujo-ai or yuri story, with incredible character and relationship developments, then by all means, give this a try, you will be pleasantly surprised.
Footnote: While watching this anime back in order to do the episode recaps, it seemed like there were more than one main illustrator working on this show. Some of the character drawings varied so greatly from one scene to another, not just the characters but the mechanical designs on the robots and Souma’s motorcycle, the way the fight scenes were depicted, the buildings and architecture, the landscape and items displayed.
But the most glaring differences were still in the characters, their expressions, the way the hair was drawn, the clothes they wore and the way the clothes hung on the characters, the accessories used, the eyes, the body language, the colours and shadings, the lighting palette, there are marked differences and it was disconcerting every time there was a switch in illustration style.