Series Recommendation: Kannazuki no Miko
No matter how many lifetime, I will remember you…
What if we combine Japanese myths with mecha? We’ll get Kannazuki no Miko – a tale about ancient evil that uses giant robots to dominate the world, and the priestesses that use another giant robot to combat the dark god. Kannazuki no Miko is sorta famous in the mecha community for being a reverse yuri-bait series, while that is true in some way, the anime’s execution is still very decent, albeit a bit cheesy. But it makes up for it with some awesome 2D mecha action.
Legends foretold the return of the Orochi – the 8-headed evil serpent God that aim to rule over all. The only thing that can stop it is the divine sword of god – the Ame-no-Murakumo. Before Orochi fully awaken, it summons 8 servants – each represent one of its neck – to do his bidding. That is also the time the Solar and Lunar Priestess assume their destiny. Himeko Kurusugawa – a shy and reserve girl – is the Solar Priestess; and her Lunar counterpart is Himemiya Chikane – a talented girl who is idolized by many. When they struggle to fight back against Orochi’s servant, an unlikely ally come to their side – Souma Oogami – an Orochi’s Neck himself.
+ PLOT: While the settings utilize many elements from Japanese’s myth, there are many original ideas incorporated into it, which makes the series unique in its own way. The characters are quite lifted out from a Shoujo manga, with many familiar stereotypes such as the all-perfect princess, the shy and clumsy but good-natured girl, and of course, the chivalrous hot-blooded boy. In the first few episodes, you can feel that the Orochi stuff is mostly a side-piece to develop Himeko and her relationships with Himemiya and Souma, but in the latter half, it quickly pick up in terms of action as well as drama. Some might feel a bit confused with the twist in the end (well there are actually multiple twists), but anyone who is familiar with the franchise (yes this is an entire franchise with sooo many different series), you will understand the overall point of the story after all this time. The concept of reincarnation in this series is quite similar to Aquarion – just not that far apart.
The side characters are also unique as well, mostly the Orochi Necks. Some of them are just funky comic villains that…don’t look like villains as well. You have a delinquent (ok so he can be one), a nun (lol), a cat girl (yes!), a teenage model, and a manga artist. Well they are all unique in their own ways as well as their personalities. They really bring some extra flavors to the anime to spice up the main story a little bit, since it is quite basic romcom stuff.
+ PLOT: While the settings utilize many elements from Japanese’s myth, there are many original ideas incorporated into it, which makes the series unique in its own way. The characters are quite lifted out from a Shoujo manga, with many familiar stereotypes such as the all-perfect princess, the shy and clumsy but good-natured girl, and of course, the chivalrous hot-blooded boy. In the first few episodes, you can feel that the Orochi stuff is mostly a side-piece to develop Himeko and her relationships with Himemiya and Souma, but in the latter half, it quickly pick up in terms of action as well as drama. Some might feel a bit confused with the twist in the end (well there are actually multiple twists), but anyone who is familiar with the franchise (yes this is an entire franchise with sooo many different series), you will understand the overall point of the story after all this time. The concept of reincarnation in this series is quite similar to Aquarion – just not that far apart.
The side characters are also unique as well, mostly the Orochi Necks. Some of them are just funky comic villains that…don’t look like villains as well. You have a delinquent (ok so he can be one), a nun (lol), a cat girl (yes!), a teenage model, and a manga artist. Well they are all unique in their own ways as well as their personalities. They really bring some extra flavors to the anime to spice up the main story a little bit, since it is quite basic romcom stuff.
+ Animation: The animation is pretty standard for the time. But something really stand out is the pace of the combat. While the main mecha is quite bulky, and most of the other mechas as well, the fight scenes are very fast-paced and extravagant. The light VFX are very well done, with pretty particle effects. For a hand-drawn anime, this is pretty decent. There are not a lot of smear frames, instead details just got glossed over at times. But when we need sakuga, they did show us sakuga (especially the scenes between Himeko and Himemiya iykwim *wink *wink).
+ Mechanical Design: The mechas in this series is very 90s Super Robot. The main mech follow the normal humanoid design with very bulky proportion. While the other Orichi Necks all use very highly-specialized robots, only the a few use humanoid style to create variation. The Take-no-Mikazuchi – Souma’s mecha – is very reminiscent of martial art mecha like Daimos or G Gundam but with a more macho style, but it still moves like Domon on steroid. I kinda like the special gimmicks hidden throughout its body, which is actually quite unique.
+ Mechanical Design: The mechas in this series is very 90s Super Robot. The main mech follow the normal humanoid design with very bulky proportion. While the other Orichi Necks all use very highly-specialized robots, only the a few use humanoid style to create variation. The Take-no-Mikazuchi – Souma’s mecha – is very reminiscent of martial art mecha like Daimos or G Gundam but with a more macho style, but it still moves like Domon on steroid. I kinda like the special gimmicks hidden throughout its body, which is actually quite unique.
+ Music: Well, half of the show is Shoujo, but the other half is mecha – so it dictates that it must have a pretty banger soundtrack + a sombering one. The opening is actually very hype and fast-paced, while the ending is your usual slow and gentle ballad with a slightly melancholic lyrics. There’s not many OST that actually jump out at you, but I’m really impressed with the OST played during emotional moments between the priestesses.
+ Conclusion: Kannazuki no Miko is quite notorious in the mecha community as a “bait and switch” series. But in actuality, it didn’t really feel that deceitful. There’s subtle hints scattered around the series and they aren’t very subtle. So you can actually see it coming. The action is nicely done, the art is good for a 2000s series, and the mecha design is very interesting. Kannazuki no Miko is the only mecha entry in the entire franchise, and the franchise’s way of using reincarnation is also pretty interesting, so if you’re a fan of the series in general, you should check out this one. And if you’re a mecha fan, you can watch it for the intense action where Blade from Zoids shout his lungs out for love.
+ Conclusion: Kannazuki no Miko is quite notorious in the mecha community as a “bait and switch” series. But in actuality, it didn’t really feel that deceitful. There’s subtle hints scattered around the series and they aren’t very subtle. So you can actually see it coming. The action is nicely done, the art is good for a 2000s series, and the mecha design is very interesting. Kannazuki no Miko is the only mecha entry in the entire franchise, and the franchise’s way of using reincarnation is also pretty interesting, so if you’re a fan of the series in general, you should check out this one. And if you’re a mecha fan, you can watch it for the intense action where Blade from Zoids shout his lungs out for love.
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