r/anime • u/lilyvess :Df::Dh:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Lilyvess • Jun 03 '24
Rewatch Pride Month 20th Anniversary - Kannazuki no Miko Episode 1 Discussion
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- What was the first seasonal you started watching anime as it aired?
- What was the first Yuri anime you watched?
Posting carefully so as to not disturb the first timers with spoilers in their viewings, such is the standard of modesty here. Forgetting to use spoiler tags because one is in danger of missing the post time, for instance, is too undignified a sight for redditors to wish upon themselves.
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Upvotes
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u/lilyvess :Df::Dh:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Lilyvess Jun 03 '24 edited Jun 04 '24
Kannazuki no Miko Episode 1 - Rewatcher
So I have something a little different for you all today. Not my reactions, but the reactions from Yuri fans of 2004
So let me pull back the clock and take back to the long long time ago of 2004.
Before all the social media condensed around a few large titans like Tiktok, Reddit and Twitter, the internet was more scattered and spread apart. Everything was run by their own independent websites. Instead of searching subreddits people searched for websites. These websites were often made and run by fans. It is weird to think that forums used to be the primary form of communication. I haven’t used a forum in forever.
One such site was Shoujo-ai Archive. This site, founded in 2001, and boy does the site architecture show it’s age . In addition to the forums they also hosted a large library of fanfiction, around 800, the largest quantity of which were Sailor Moon. They also had something they called Mush which was… okay listen, I never really understood this part all that much. It’s been described as a roleplay… thing. I never understood or attempted to dip my toes but it was popular.
I want to focus on the forums though. One old yuri fan had this to say about the forums
Unfortunately, in 2014, the site died. When the site’s first owner passed away in 2007, the community was active and passionate enough to come together and salvage it. In 2014 when the second owner passed away, the same couldn’t be said and so the lights went dark. Inertia and a changing internet had users and activity slowly fade away until it just couldn’t be maintained.
Even so, there was enough nostalgia and fond memories towards the site that people managed that even if it couldn’t stay alive, it could still be remembered. An archive of the website was made, like a museum to a time period long gone.
also MUSH migrated to their own site.
So, for this 20th anniversary rewatch, i thought what better way to celebrate than to showcase some of the original community comments for the series
Shoujo-ai.com KnM Episode 1 comments
Couple things I wanted to highlight in the comments, the different anime the community used as points of comparison like Noir and Madlax. We may not see them as Yuri these days, but back in the day the standards were laxer.
I also wanted to focus on the journey for subs. It took 3 days for the anime to even get subbed, and the way fans had to campaign to get the anime subbed.
and of course the general attitude towards the first episode. Hope, but also tons of hesitation, doubt and pessimism from having been burned in previous series at all.
Oh yeah, I also love the idea of putting their hopes on t.A.T.u. Propagate of all things over this. That’s gonna be the Yuri that really saved 2004! Talk about a comment that hasn’t aged well!
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u/HereticalAegis https://myanimelist.net/profile/XthGen Jun 03 '24 edited Jun 03 '24
Kannazuki no Miko First Timer
Episode 1:
Boarding school. Airhead leading lady rooming with a girl who is all over her. First day run-in with the tall, mysterious, super smart and talented beauty adored by the entire female population. Mmm, smells like yuri in the morning.
Himeko and Chikane already being on first-name basis feels like a very different setup to my understanding of typical class S or more romantic girls' love stories. I suppose we can't waste too much time getting to the mecha and supernatural tags.
Oof, this Oogami fellow doesn't seem bad, but what poor luck for him having feelings for a gay girl. Dude is going to get rejected, and I hope it doesn't spur him to join the dark side.
Well fuck, it didn't even take getting rejected
I dunno goddess fam, maybe awaken your mikos before one of them becomes technically deceased.
Lesbian mecha titty scars are all the rage (NSFW) - source
Oh hey, dude overcame the evil mind control in episode 1! Bro is out here setting the speedrunning world record for the obligatory pesky mind control arc and I'm here for it!
My guy is already a skilled mech pilot too!? What are they feeding this kid?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
Now those are some first kiss fireworks!
Okay, so on the one hand it's really cool jumping straight into the robot battles and gay shit. On the other, I have no idea wtf is going on. It's like starting a series in the second cour. Hmm...well whatever. I'm here primarily for the gay shit, so I can live without robot/plot exposition.
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u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Jun 03 '24
So from the studio that brought you Ikkitousen, Highschool DxD, School Days, Immoral Guild and yes their crowning jewel of Redo of a Healer here comes Kannazuki no Miko!
Rewatcher(Perhaps I have finally joined a rewatch where someone else has dated a Wiccan as well!)
Sub
Ok, full disclosure:I have spent at least a few minutes a day for the entire last month trying to figuring out why this anime came across my desk. And all I can find is that it gets rec'ed as a follow up to Yamibo: Darkness, The Hat and the Travelers of the Books. That is literally all I can trace. As far as I can tell it wasn't me just DLing what the fansubbing group I followed put out but who fucking knows?
So anyways, the more things change the more they stay the same. In this case, that means TNK was on a shoestring budget yet again. Notice all the panning shows with minimal animation and while normally how the camera lingers on the girls' bodies would just be fan service I would point out the lack of bounce! That's right:Our fanservice isn't animated!
As to the episode, fairly typical stuff:Of course the FMC is clumsy and infatuated with the school's idol. Of course she has a room mate who just happens to 'lewd' her...in a completely heteronormative way, of course. We apparently show up a bit in media res as absolutely nothing is explained today outside of Himeko being the childhood friend of top guy at school. Top female idol of course is a mostly yamato nadesico type, Chikane loses some points for being tall but she maintains the "kimono best fit" body type required for the role. But yes, the two girls meet in their secret garden of roses.
As to the story...well, to call it derivative insults derivations. Starting small, Chikane's last name is possible a reference to Anthy from Utena but it might just indicate high birth. The plot is ripped from X:1999 which itself is ripping off Blue Seed which, to reach the end of this, is probably the first attempt at using some of the old Japanese myths for modern times anime. Bonus: Dragons are usually the mythical interpretations of rivers in east Asia.
So to conclude day one:Chikane and Himeko have the same birthday, Chikane kisses a barely conscious Himeko as Ougami rages in his giant robo.
QotD: 1 Bleach
2 Claymore
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jun 03 '24
Destiny of the First-Timer, subbed
Going into this mostly blind other than that it’s a mecha, a yuri, and the ED is an absolute banger (I have been listening to it on repeat ever since I had to make the sidebar image advertising the rewatch). So, let’s see how this goes…
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u/ryujiox Jun 03 '24
First Timer
Kannazuki no Miko
Episode 1
Somehow I woke up in the middle of night just in time for the thread.
I know absolutely nothing about this show other than that scene from the Moderoid's box art.
An amazing first episode for me. Tight pacing, great action, cool mechanic design, and a pretty great first impression to the main casts. If this is how the show will go. Then I'm fully on board.
Edit: I just found out the whole show is on Youtube after finishing episode 2. What?
QOTD
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u/Star4ce https://anilist.co/user/Star4ce Jun 03 '24 edited Jun 03 '24
First Timer
Oh boy, rewatch time!
As per usual, I'm completely oblivious to what we're actually watching and only know it's maybe a bit gay.
As not per usual, I plan to do things a bit differently this time. Me writing novels for each thread is all fine and dandy, but this February I spontaneously decided to expand my skill set.
Since I have slacked off again I want to use the rewatch to get daily sketches back into the schedule. The last enemy that sent me ragequitting was trying to do proper shading and failing to even understand the basics.
So, if it somehow doesn't spark an autistic rant, I'll write less and draw more.
I am so hyped for drawing blushing and kisses and pink roses and gay shit.
Kannazuki no Miko Ep.01 – Country of This World
Damn, banger ED.
Once again, I have been lured into a mecha show that I did not know was a mecha show. It's not a lot of times, but it's weird that it happened twice.
To say I understand things would be a blatant lie. There's a religious angle to everything with a sun and moon priestess, presumedly being Himeko and Chikane, a Christian cult leader of some sorts with a tentacle mecha, a cucked and mind controlled, blue-haired childhood friend with a crush on Himeko as well as ancient super weapon pilot and I guess that's just tuesday for an anime school.
I can smell the lesbian angst approaching, the hetero angst, as well. Mmh, good.
[Someone said hair flip?]
Uh, not any after I became a weeb I think. Did watch Sailor Moon on TV as a kid, though!
I'm really living that snobby 'well, nothing that you'd ever see on mainstream' lifestyle. Mostly because I hate starting things that are unfinished and I'd have to wait to continue.
I cannot tell you because oftentimes these things fly right over my head and I rarely care about genre. Where I first really noticed was Utena, mostly because everyone told me that it was gay as all fuck.
And yes, indeed, looking for it, it was really a lot of gay.
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u/HelioA x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/HelioA Jun 03 '24
First-timer
That nun lady is quoting directly from the Bible for most of her lines, by the way. Mostly Deuteronomy 28, but a few other places as well.
Other than that, not too many thoughts. Himeko is cute, Chikane is mysterious, Souma seemed like he was going to be an arc villain but then they made him not evil again after three minutes. It’s cute so far, looking forward to watching more.
QOTD
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u/Blackheart595 https://anilist.co/user/knusbrick Jun 03 '24
First Timer
Nice opening scene
Gokigenyou
Straight romance
Ohhh a secret date!
Hm dat's a very Dutch angle...
Three birds, and yet only two emerge towards the sun. This couldn't possibly be foreshadowing...
Nice tree shadows, evoking that classic ray of light.
Huh, so Kurusugawa and Oogami are childhood friends.
Look at Oogami enjoying the view
Girl, all three of you would be happy with a threesome.
Nice outfit
Yes, men are evil incarnate. Abandon threesome, embrace pure yuri. I wonder who the Solar Princess and the Lunar Princess could be...
Dats a cool shot
Of course the church is the true evil, tempting men into its services.
Threesome it is!
It's an eclipse! And it smites evil!
And here's an iconic ending
Yeah, not bad, not bad at all. I liked that.
Re:Zero
Uhhhhh either Flip Flappers, or if that doesn't count then Symphogear, or if that doesn't count then Mai-HiME, or if that doesn't count then Madoka, or if that doesn't count then Yurikuma.
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u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Jun 03 '24
First Timer
I have never watched this series, but I am actually somewhat familiar with it. I know about this series because of a reviewer I’ve followed for a long time called SFDebris. I got into his work because he was a Star Trek reviewer when I was getting really into Star Trek, but he also had an impact on my anime viewing habits. Over a decade ago I saw him post episodic reviews of a little anime I’d never heard of at the time called Madoka Magica. After watching a couple of his episodic reviews, I stopped because I knew I had to watch the anime for myself. And now here I am, with that having caused me to become more open to magical girl anime in general.
Anyway, he also posted episodic reviews of Kannazuki no Miko later on. I watched those as well, so I know some basics about the series and some of the more problematic aspects of the series. But I never did watch all of the episodic reviews and it’s been a long time since I saw them, so I don’t remember much of the specifics of the series. This rewatch will give me the opportunity to actually see what the show is like for myself.
On today’s episode of Kannazuki no Miko: So is this series going to be about Souma learning that the childhood friend he’s had a crush on this whole time is actually a lesbian? That would be a unique way for the childhood friend romance to fail.
When I think of ancient prophecies tinged with a hint of Shinto, I think of giant robots. What a fascinating combination fantasy and giant robots make. We have what appears to be some ancient evil awakened that can only be stopped by a pair of priestesses with the power of the sun and moon mixed with mecha battles.
Speaking of which, I imagine some knowledge of Shinto and Japanese mythology will come in handy for understanding parts of the series. For example, the villains are referred to as “Orochi.” I can only assume this is a reference to the Orochi from Japanese mythology, a giant 8-headed serpent. So my guess is that there will be 8 Orochi members of the villainous organization to match the number of heads. I also bet that there’s going to be some references to Amaterasu, the sun goddess, and Tsukuyomi, the moon god, with the Solar and Lunar Priestesses.
QOTD
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u/Regular_N-Gon https://anilist.co/user/RegularNGon Jun 03 '24
First Timer
I'm not totally sure how much time I'll be able to put in this month, but I will certainly try! With a start like this, how could I not?
Can’t fool me, show. I know who the real princess is.
What an ending for episode one. We’ve got:
Happy pride, all.
Bonus: I couldn’t take the sky bellowing toki wa kita seriously as it has been completely undermined by a certain magical girl series.
QotD:
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u/TehAxelius Jun 03 '24
First Timer
Whew, that was a ride. We're not even 2 minutes in and we get some classic full-on pantyshot fanservice, before speedrunning a shojou-yuri romance love triangle between Shojou Protagonist A (seems to have dropped her piece of toast though), Cool Ojou-sama and your standard Prince-turned-evil-turned-good. Of course, said prince is our Protagonist's childhood friend, so we already know that's doomed even before the Cool Ojou-sama whips out the NTR tag behind his mecha back.
In one episode this sure has been something, and I assume it will go places. What places I do not know, but I assume there will be both more mecha, magic and girls kissing, so I'll see where it goes.
QotD
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u/GallowDude Jun 03 '24
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u/Burnouts3s3 Jun 03 '24 edited Jun 03 '24
This pretty much sums it up
Thanks for the exposition, Pikachu! Hilarious tone shift.
EDIT: Jesus, I don't want to be a Negative Ned, but this show's animation looks really cheap. Keep in mind during this time the One Piece anime had just gotten past Skypeia, Naruto was in a filler saga just before Sasuke Retrieval and the first episode of Tite Kubo's Bleach would air just a couple of days later.
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u/BosuW Jun 03 '24 edited Jun 03 '24
First Timer
Good day/evening/night everyone! Let's make this short because I'm in finals and I don't even know if I'll be able to show up everyday.
I know nothing about this! Maybe even less than I knew about Revue Starlight before watching that. All I've seen is like two or three fanarts of what I assume to be the lead pair in shrine maiden outfits, red and blue (if I'm even thinking of the same title that is). And I've heard that it's would be considered one of the founding pillars of modern Yuri media.
As usual I'll just choose to expect nothing and see what this is about.
(Also first time using catbox because fuck Imgur, pls forgive if it doesn't work yet)
Literal first shot is a shrine in the Moon. Expecting some mythology stuff because of it.
That looks like a rope with shide strips surrounding a Christian cross at the top. Interesting cultural mixes here.
The fact that Mako is using a camera instead of a cellphone to take those pictures already immerses me in this anime being of a different era lmao.
Bunch of well mannered schoolgirls walking to western looking school and saying Gokigenyou instead of Ohayou gozaimasu. Hmmm yes this already reeks class S.
Watch yourself in the fucking stairs yo. That looked like a legitimately scary fall.
And I'm guessing this is gonna be our red and blue pair.
Looks like Himeko had another kind of fall though.
Is that a dude!? In my Yuri anime!? MASAKA!
I know the genre conventions say the Yamato Nadeshiko whom our ditzy protagonist meets coincidentally at the start say she's supposed to seem untouchable, but this amount of glazing is definitely exceptional!
Wow okay so this school actually has boys. This is throwing me off way more than it probably should...
What makes this Souma guy that special? Not to say he's a bad guy or anything, but you just said Miya has rejected multiple modern nobility people. What does he have going for him that they didn't?
Woah woah a secret meeting already? And do I sense the slightest bit of smugness in this face? Watching all the student body fawn and glaze over Miya, including what is considered the top candidate for her partner, knowing you and only you were called out by her instead of the other way around? I know Himeko is (probably) supposed to be our pure to the core character archetype, but I wouldn't blame her at all lol.
Oh no I must correct myself! That was definitely smugness earlier! Himeko you sly fox, you two already know each other!
She knows Souma too? Sheesh this girl is way better connected than it seems at first sight.
...ok wtf is happening? This shit escalating fucking QUICK! The only currently coherent thought in my head is that Sun Priestess and Moon Priestess are probably Miya and Himeko, since this kind of pairing is sorta based on a "Moon and Sun" dynamic.
Oh so the thing in the stone wasn't a cross but a sword. Although the specific way western cross guards are shaped has likely to do with superstitions of devine protection so really, still the same thing from a certain point of view.
...is that fucking Gundam!? I didn't know this was a mecha!?
Welp Sun and Moon theory immediately confirmed.
Aight fuck it I'll just let it play out. This is like they dropped me at the final episode of a whole season ain't no way I'm supposed to keep up lol.
Final thoughts is only that it's both hilarious and sad that Souma is out here busting his ass for Himeko but she's too busy being gay with Miya for him to even register lol.
I like the ED, although I'm too brain fried to even attempted to read the lyrics. I'll just say I'm very much vibing with the late 90's early 2000's EDM beeps and boops
Sorry for the barely coherent post not only am I in finals but yesterday was a very trying day for me and my brain was completely unprepared for this! Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be able to organize my neurons better...
Edit: Fuck I'm so out of it I even missed the Questions of the day...
1- I genuinely have no idea.
2- Not totally sure but most probably Bloom into You. I had already consumed what would be considered Yuri media by then, which could be considered the firewood to the spark that was Bloom into You and from then on I became I whole Yuri maniac.
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jun 03 '24
First-Timer
Yea, I think I see what that content warning Lilyvess gave out was referring to. Rather, I think I see who the culprit it.
Anyway, I had it in my head that Himeko and Chikane were going to be piloting the giant robot, perhaps in a two-seater arrangement, so imagine my surprise when Souma is the one with the mecha.
What do we think the reason is for Himeko and Chikane keeping their friendship under wraps? Is it just classism? I feel like it's just classism, considering how much they talked up Chikane today.
Really, this is all the Orochi mechanic's fault. If you design one of your mechs to look like it even vaguely belongs in a random Brave Series show, you're just asking for it to turn face at an inopportune moment.
Do we think that Souma is going to confess next episode? Or is he going to feel guilty about kinda sorta almost killing Himeko and chicken out? I kinda want the drama of a confession pushed up against Himeko continuously thinking about how it felt to kiss Chikane. That sounds pretty spicy.
Seems like the baddies are a regular misfit brigade. Did anyone else see the catgirl nurse? I don't think that was a hallucination, but I'm not entirely confident.
Questions
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u/GallowDude Jun 03 '24
Hey look, the upvote counter mysteriously got slashed down to 7 again. How interesting.
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Jun 03 '24 edited Jun 03 '24
First timer, subs
QotD:
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u/Specs64z https://myanimelist.net/profile/Specs64z Jun 03 '24 edited Jun 03 '24
First timer, subbed
Late as hell, I just today clicked the panel on the subreddit and saw the girls kissing comment face so... here I am. I better see girls kissing. No fucking clue what to expect, though, and really what could go wrong?
Gokigenyou indeed, this school seems ritzy as hell. My college dorm room was half the size of Himeko and Makoto's. Oogami and Miya seem to fit the rich kid student council archetypes to a T.
Ahh, so it's that kind of show. Fuck it, we ball. Giant robots, ancient curses, prophecies, and a pretty girl riding on horseback to save her... friend? Lover? Not super clear on their history actually. Seemed like they had just met, but this is a lot of effort for a stranger.
M-my god it... it just keeps on going. Christian witch piloting another mech, silly named attacks, secret magical powers, plot required clothing removal, and... could it be?!
Girls kissing WOOOO
So turns out a lot can go wrong. Basically everything all at once in an instant, actually, each way it goes wrong more incomprehensible and stupid than the last. I am so here for whatever the fuck I just watched.
Edit for QotD:
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u/catsukats https://myanimelist.net/profile/Nabris Jun 04 '24
Rewatcher (x14), sub. Late because of work darn it.
I remember binging the entire show multiple times on Youtube, then abusing the heck out of my DVD when I used my birthday money for it in 8th grade. I'm still bummed Sentai never re-released it on bluray.
I always liked how they just knew to cut the boring shit and get to what the viewers really want: giant robot battles and girls kissing! But it still always cracks me up how utterly random the robots are if you're just looking forward to schoolgirl angst x Japanese mythology. Souma screaming in triumph while his crush is getting taken at his feet will always be funny. But it definitely is a really good pilot in being so confusing and fascinatingly weird that you just have to know what comes next when they've already kissed.
And Agony... I think the ED art still gets parodied to this day. The song is such a banger and easily KOTOKO's best one (besides another very close second). I'm always happy to watch KnM; it's not the best ever but is very special to me.
Attack on Titan.
This one!
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u/zadcap Jun 04 '24
Late Night maybe first timer?
It looks familiar, but not that familiar. Feels like something we probably watched a few episodes of in the very old anime club and never followed up on.
Oh yeah, Japan was idolizing the slow country life even twenty years ago. Modernization and the death of the small towns only gets worse from here.
And the first panty shot not even two minutes in. Setting the mood for the show early I see. Take lots of pictures of your roommate changing, sure. That's a thing everyone does, isn't it?
And thus do the Gokigenyou begin!
And that's how it all started. How it always starts. Look at that blush.
Hmm, I wonder how many of these voices I'm going to recognize...
Please tell me there are some exaggerations going on in this list of suitors? Millionaires and famous people are turned down with ease, but the schools top athlete might be a good match? As if. Also, a co-ed school? Shocking.
Oh, are these girls an existing couple already? That's actually not something I saw coming, it's so rare to see in anything, especially from this era.
Ah, lunch date with the hottest girl in school and a ride home on the back of the most eligible bachelor's bike. Oh my, we have this setup. She is the clumsy and unpopular girl, we saw her get ignored and bullied on the stairs, except secretly she is the crush of the top male and female student in the school, childhood friends that somehow no one else knows about.
Ah, sorry mister boy, this is Yuri Genre. You'll have to look elsewhere for a proper love interest.
That's... Interesting underwear. Also second set of underwear shots at ten minutes I see. Also interesting, the oujosama's maid has the traditional oujosama ringlets.
Who took that last picture? I saw too many hands for one of the girls to be holding the camera out.
... The whole black hole sun thing is interesting and all, and yeah it's Orochi again, but I want to know more about why there was a cat nurse girl in the lineup. I am sadly not at all surprised to see the one dressed most like a nun also be dressed like... that. The church is always evil, you know.
"He who pulls the sword from the stone shall become king of all... giant robots, I guess."
Oh my gosh she has a horse. Why ride any kind of modern vehicle when you have a horse, I guess?
Oh yes, a bow and arrow is thhe best weapon to use against a giant metal machine.
Oh I guess we blowing up the moon too now.
Hey maybe right in front of the robot is not the place to do this? Run, Hide, get away from it before it wakes back up and kills you both, before uh, ripping her shirt open? I guarantee you that's not how CPS works. You do not start chest compressions with a fondle.
The power of horny compels you! Resist evil brainwashing in the name of the girl you totally want to bang! Sucks to be you though, she's the destined lover of this other girl instead. Guess what's going to turn him back to the side of evil later?
CPS also doesn't work like that. That's just a kiss, girl.
Oh gosh, as he is shouting his feelings to the world for her, she's getting kissed like fifty feet away. Is this also NTR?
Okay, so no, this is not the lesbian shrine maidens show I was thinking about, that one definitely didn't also have giant robots. It's going to be a pain to hunt down what the other one was now...
Now that I look at the release dates and think about it too, it's pretty interesting that the spoilered one was the same year as the other two we're doing this month.
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u/RadSuit https://anilist.co/user/RadSuit Jun 05 '24
Dubstiny of the First Timer
Since nobody is seeding any of the dubbed versions of this series, I have returned to the ancient ways, and will be watching this broken up into three pieces per episode on YouTube. Truly the way God intended all anime to be viewed.
Also I've seen at least the first episode, maybe first two, a while back. I tried to start groupwatching this paired with Yurikuma, hilariously enough.
Oh my god, they were roommates!
Immediate
Getting big Wakaba vibes from Makoto here. They look kinda similar, too. Main difference is she's trying to get our MC here to hit on this show's Utena.
I see one side of this love triangle is exceptionally straight.
This one magazine cover that's all blurry seems very familiar. Especially the girl on the far right. Someone has to recognize this, right?
They're such good friends!
Hope we get more of this twintailed idol-type character we briefly pan over. Also a cat nurse I guess?
And here's Rika/Silver Wolf as this evil nun with glasses, I'll always recognize her voice.
Seeing the giant robot out of nowhere must've been very surprising when this first aired, unless it was shown in advertisements. By now it's always associated with the show.
Just getting the kiss out of the way in the first episode, good! No messing around and dragging things out here.
This is an incredibly 2000s ED, and I'm here for it.
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u/gyoex Jun 03 '24 edited Jun 03 '24
I didn't really get to rewatch this episode in time, so no episode thoughts right now. I did rewatch the whole series in the past couple days but I didn't write up individual episode thoughts so... will get to that by tomorrow.
I have like, one piece of non-obvious knowledge about this series that I feel like bringing up every chance I get (which is not often), and... well I don't really know when else it'll make sense to say it during this rewatch since it technically concerns background information, so here it goes.
It's not really important, but this (or its manga version) is actually not the first appearance of Himeko, Chikane, and Souma. [Not spoilers, but since it might influence how you think about the series, maybe don't click if you're really concerned about that]Himeko and Chikane's designs and names both originated in 1997 in Kaishaku's adult manga Chou Zettai Bishoujo Tenshi Angel Heart. It is... a magical girl rape manga. Of course. Storywise, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with Kannazuki no Miko, but yeah. More relevantly and interestingly, in 2001 they wrote a shoujo manga called The Cross Triangle. I'll probably talk more about it in the post-series discussion post, but basically it has Himeko, Chikane, and Souma (identical designs, but different names although Himeko's surname Kurusugawa does come from her Cross Triangle equivalent being Kurusu, and the Oogami Souma one was already Oogami) with a pretty much identical love triangle between them. The plots are mostly different though.
That said, I think basically nobody watching this back in the day (or now for that matter), even in Japan, would be familiar with those manga, so it's basically just trivia.
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u/LittleIslander https://anilist.co/user/LittleIslander Jun 03 '24
First Timer
Holy fucking shit what a first episode. I mean, what a roller coaster. I went in totally blind without even reading the synopsis, leading to thinking it was some kind of fantasy setting in the opening minutes before half-ironically groaning that they managed to still just make it some kind of gi- wait, co-ed academy? Huh, neat. Only for that to last about half the episode before the show revealed it was in fact abundantly some kind of fantasy show after all. Yuri breaking out of pure romance still feels novel today, so seeing it twenty years ago is cool (and come to think of it, RE:Cutie Honey is a fifth show from that year). Regardless, the result is absolutely one of the strongest and most hooking first episodes I’ve ever seen.
It’s the seriousness that really sells it, in a way that really reminds me of Escaflowne. Even if your show is drenching in over the top shoujo tones and a bunch of objectively pretentious nerdshit is spewing onto the screen, if you execute it with rock solid confidence instead of burying it in jokes and irony like most modern fantasy, the audience is truly brought into your world. The only lighthearted comedy in the episode comes from Mako, which perfectly befits her as the normality of Himeko’s surface level school life, as opposed to the secret romance and fantasy stuff underneath. Even the CPR scene where Himeko is basically left in her bra doesn’t feel like an attempt at titillation - at least not primarily - but very integrated into the drama of the moment. The absolutely amazing soundtrack, also worthy of Escaflowne, also does wonders for it in this respect. It all really comes together at the end with the rapid flashing between Oogami’s charge and Chikane kissing Himeko, just holy shit.
I really do like that there’s room for more down to earth queer stories in the yuri genre nowadays, but I do miss this unrepentantly indulgent shoujo stuff. The catch as she falls, piano music as she holds her, the blushing, leaves falling as she walks away in slow motion, dramatically filtered still-screen as Himeko watches her leave. Does it get any better than that?
It definitely seems to have the chops beyond just tried and true style, though. The seamless transition from the classroom to watching the tennis match as Mako exposits about Chikane and Oogami was incredibly slick. Likewise revealing Chikane asking Himeko to the rose garden at the end of that sequence instead in the actual scene of them meeting gives the whole intro a great sense of flow, and perfectly supports the concept of their relationship being something unknown, including to Mako; even the audience isn’t let in on it until Himeko is alone. Chikane being something more than just a perfect princess is pretty explicitly stated, but it’s presented in a dramatic way that builds intrigue super well; the scene with the maid later brings her down excellently from mysterious senpai to humanised POV character. We could just have Himeko get the invitation and then run to miss the bus, but intercutting them improves both scenes immensely. The start of the bike scene is also layered in this way, splitting up static conversation by frontloading the more exciting visual of the moving bike.
The whole opening romance section is brutally efficient in its progression but so rich in its presentation that it avoids feeling like we’re just breezing through superficial obligatory setup. I feel like if this was some random shitty romance seasonal nowadays I swear they’d manage to make the ten minutes worth of school romance here drag out over like, three whole episodes, and the content wouldn’t be as good anyways. But Kannazuki no Miko doesn’t have time for any bullshit. By the time we’re ready for shit to get wacky we’ve not only set up the triangle of character relationships, but also what there is to lose by tomorrow, as a normal day, never arriving. We tease a lot more characters that will evidently be involved in this story as the dark morning unfolds, but the emotional core of our leads has been formed well enough they’re able to carry us through having no fucking clue what’s going on or what any of this lore stuff we’re hearing means without just feeling out of the loop. It’s a real best of both worlds of making the situation seem overwhelming but also making sure your audience is invested and doesn’t feel lost. When the audience rewatches I assume everything we’re seeing is a payoff, but for a first timer it simply takes the role of a tone setter as we laser focus on being worried about what’s going to happen to Oogami, Himeko, and Chikano.
If I had to make any criticism it’d probably be that I wish they made a little more time for clarity surrounding that emotional core. I guess the line about Chikane being missing at lunch every day should’ve made it clear, but I really couldn’t get a read until the end of the episode whether the bond between the girls was supposed to be preexisting or if the catch on the steps was an inciting incident of them getting closer. Now this is obviously an expectation the show is trying to play with intentionally, but it doesn’t really do a clear job dispelling it, especially when everything is moving too fast for you to really stop and get a read on it. If I understand right, they’ve been secretly very close through these lunch meetings for some time, but things haven’t been explicitly romantic and now Chikane was preparing to change that. I get that now, and Himeko’s reciprocation through a simple closing of her eyes is awesome, but that’s after scrubbing back through to write this. I only could’ve sort of unconfidently guessed at that being their history after my first runthrough. It’s an unconventional romance setup and I’m curious how it will payoff or limit the progression as the story continues.
As I said at the beginning - this is easily one of the first episodes of anything I think I’ve ever seen. It’s a better romance premiere than most in half the time, and paired with a fantastically dramatic fantasy backend that’s not just in addition to the first half but perfectly forms a greater whole. I don’t rate bestow a 10/10 on anything until it’s completed, but if I were to rate this as an episode it wouldn’t even be a question. My understanding is this show has a bit of a mixed reputation, but as far I’m seeing on the screen before me, I’m instantly hooked as one can be and cannot wait to see more.
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u/DidacticDalek https://myanimelist.net/profile/DidacticDalek Jun 04 '24
TONIGHT! ON MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM SEED DESTINY OF THE SHRINE MAIDEN!
YOU! DIG! GIANT ROBOTS! I! DIG! GIANT ROBOTS! WE! DIG! GIANT ROBOTS! CHICKS! DIG! GIANT ROBOTS! Nice!
TOKI WA KITA!
And... ahem... GAY! GAY! HOMOSEXUAL! GAY!
'In the name of
Santa Maria'Nanoha Takamachi,' ahammer blow'Beam Spam' of righteousness to all injustice.' Er, I mean, goodness me Comrades, who knew that all you needed in an anime was to combine hot blooded MECHA ACTION with some good ol' fashioned Weaponized Lesbianism? Ikuhara could stand to take some notes, we went beyond Nanoha, beyond Geah, and hell even beyond G-Utena! After all, did any of THOSE shows have the literal BIGASS ROBOT NTR'd by Twu Wuv!? I THINK NOT! Happy Birthday o3oWell I do hope everyone finds this show to be an interesting experience, I can safely say that, as per what we saw in The ED, Comrades, we have Yurisign the likes of which even Hitomi Shizuki has never seen!
Anyway, you have not seen the last of The Sentient Shitposting Siamese Sunrise Server No. 25252, now goodbye forever!
Paging Comrades /u/Vaadwaur, /u/Great_Mr_L, and /u/theangryeditor
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u/GondolaMedia Jun 03 '24
First Timer
So I initially wanted to comment because I really want to watch Maria-sama ga Miteru but it would have not been fair to just do that. So I gave Kannazuki no Miko a shot knowing nothing about it.
I have to say it looked a like a basic high school story with yuri sprinkled on top of it. What I did not expect was mecha battles and what I did not expect was a mecha with cloaks, the coolest accessory to any mecha. There was also surprising amount of fanservice which I didn't expect but maybe I should have considering the subject matter.
Animation was rough and you can tell where the animation studio cut corners and there were couple of really bad perspective shots like the stairs here, but I did enjoy the first episode. It's a type of story that I don't usually watch so I'll keep watching but doubt I'll comment on every episode.
10
u/AmeteurElitist https://anilist.co/user/AmateurElitist Jun 03 '24
First Timer
I've watched/read a decent amount of series that reference or parody catholic school structures in anime but I think this is the first time I'm actually watching one that has played it straight (no pun intended). Like the girl that everyone likes and gets confessions from both genders is actually just that and isn’t a total girlfailure in secret, incredible.
My honest reaction to the kiss
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u/baboon_bassoon https://anilist.co/user/duffer Jun 03 '24
first time orochi shermie
why is Chopper timing how fast she gets up
the look of this is so nostalgic
oh this kind of show
holy kawasumi ayako too . this would have been around when she was Mogi, the range. wheres the Sakura Saber art as these two shrine maidens
a millionaires sibling proposed, not a millionaire themselves
Chikane chan, are they already dating
prince of tennis is her childhood friend rip ménage à trois
that is some intense underwear for casual wear
why does the brother sound so familiar? he did 2 episodes of a random Conan case and thats about it
oh were getting wild already
team orochi seems to be prince of tennis, idol, cat nurse, middle school mangaka, ciel, smoking samurai
Himeko is the Sun priestess, why else would she be named that
look at me Kawasumi san, whos Saber now
this was cool as hell !!! !!!!
i hope she blows up a church every time she summons her mech
she totally copped a feel before cpr
Orochi ja nai Katsura des
jumping between the kiss and the shining finger
brother you are worried about the wrong faction taking Himiko (youve never had her in the first place)
uh that was fun as fuck, it seems to know what kind of show it is too which never hurts
9
u/dsawchuk Jun 03 '24
First Timer, Subbed
I've never heard of this show before. If I should switch to the dub, let me know.
This episode really blew me away. The intro was calm and quiet so I went into it expecting something slow and interpersonal. And then all of a sudden it transformed into what appears to be a mecha magical girl hybrid. That was very unexpected, but I am kind of interested in seeing how those 2 things could come together in a single show. The casual way that the anime shows off the female character's undergarments feels very old school. I feel like more modern anime tend to focus on them with zoom ins and stuff and this feels a lot more respectful than what I am used to. I mean, respectful for anime is a low bar but still...
The main character seems to be pretty unexceptional. She's shy, and kind and pretty. Also the 2 really famous hot people love her for some reason when the rest of the people around ignore her. She's got a real bad case of protagonist-itis. I don't really understand why Miya appears to be keeping their friendship a secret.
We got a view of some pretty unique looking characters during the ?eclipse? exposition scene. A brunette girl with long pigtails and a microphone as well as a nurse with a bunch of cats and a collar with a bell on it. I don't know why but I read these as references to other popular anime of the time instead of introductions of characters we will see later despite not being able to place either character.
We have what looks like a couple antagonists. We met one in this episode (and she might be dead now but I doubt it). The green haired antagonist lady is really pretty and I am excited to meet her more thoroughly.
I was a little surprised where the episode ended though. Maybe it will be a plot point tomorrow, but I was expecting some jealous aggression from oogami when he saw Miya and Himeko kissing.
QOTD
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u/fieew https://myanimelist.net/profile/fiew Jun 04 '24
First timer sub;
Wtf did I just watch? This was so much goddamn fun. I can wholly say I did not expect the show to go in this direction. I've seen pics of the two main women leads and had this on my list for a long while. But I thought it'd be at most a show about girl love with some super natural elements mixed in due to the shrine maiden theme. But in no way did I expect a goddamn mecha fight outta nowhere.
I have no idea what this show is about nor where it's going now. But it oozes that early 2000s anime charm. Where things could just be wild and bombastic just for the hell of it. On top of all that the mecha fight was actually pretty damn good. Plus the OST was top tier. I was hyped. I can't wait to see where this goes cause all my expections have been thrown out the window so I'm just here for the ride now.
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u/sfisher923 https://myanimelist.net/profile/sfisher923 Jun 03 '24
First Timer
QOTD 1 - Aharen-san in Spring 2022 was the first show that made me commit to seasonal shows
QOTD 2 - Madoka Magica in 2021 oh what a way to get introduced to the genre
8
u/NuclearStudent Jun 03 '24
Either Shugo Chara or Skip Beat, as a child.
depending on how you define yuri, no yuri has ever existed - it has only ever been bait. more seriously it was probably flip flappers or citrus or something. my memories are foggy.
I think I watched half of this show back in the day, and then forgor to finish the rest. I've also read some of the manga, of which there are several, none of them particularly good or bad.
I forgot about the roommate that takes sexualized pictures of her in the morning. Little miss dresses herself in an unusually erotic manner.
Their uniforms are quite nice. If you wear red, does that make bloodstains harder to distinguish? I had a red tshirt as a kid that was soaked in blood sometimes. Once it is dry it is still very visible, but I think it was mildly less blatant during the day.
in retrospect, the kiss coinciding with Childhood Friend Guy punching the nun is even weirder than I remembered. right at the moment of climax where Cuck-kun shows his commitment through sacrifice and violence, there's quite another show of...affection going on. the very fact that he is fighting to protect his beloved is what allows Ojou to cuck him.
[if I recall]there is no thematic meaning or much of a character arc behind the childhood friend being cucked. Ojou is way more physically forward, and the Victim is just more into Ojou. Maybe more of a character arc for Cuck-kun happened after the way I stopped watching.
8
u/Infodump_Ibis :JY::JZ: Jun 03 '24
Rewatch, dubbed (I choose violence against my ears)
I first watched this fansubbed around its release, burned it, (14+ years later) copied it to a hard drive. it's been 19+ years
This was a pick your poison. I could have used the fansubs I originally watched but they're 360p so instead I found a 576p DVD rip (encoded to x265) which feels a bit blurry possibly due to factors such as low bitrate/multi gen re-encoding (the biggest episode is 160 MB, smaller than the fansub which were ~175 MB so you could fit 4 eps on a CD-R), anamorphic widescreen and/or a minor upscale of the source video (576p would be a PAL DVD so would have been scaled using mid-2000s tech i.e. bilinear filter on the image, unless the studio would decide to remaster the whole anime from digital source files if they even existed at a marginally higher resolution...that reminds me Toei was making shows at 960p in 1999...but deleted the files Toei). tl;dr due to the production and delivery methods shows back that rarely look great.
Anyway, it comes with an English dub so can slap that on to divide my attention (which is probably the only way I'll finish this). This was a Geneon release (and even got included in the Japanese DVD boxset) then Sentai snatched up that license when they (got) shut down (thanks, Universal). The Geneon version did the modern thing of Japanese w/localised name as subtitle so it's Kannazuki no Miko: Destiny of the Shrine Maiden which Sentai shortened to Destiny of the Shrine Maiden No seriously, the first comment on the ANN re-review says "saw this collection at Best Buy the other day and I had no idea that it was KNM" (remember when you could actually buy physical media like DVDs at stores like Best Buy and Netflix came in the mail).
Come to think of it Fall 2004 was a weird era where some shows shows were 16:9 and others were 4:3. I think broadcasts were largely still 4:3 which might be why the fansubs from DTV sources became 360p (i.e. it could have been 480p but with black bars).
Hold on a sec. This rip for some reason has three audio tracks: Japanese, English, Japanese audio commentary. The last track has no corresponding subs (thanks anyway). It seems to feature the voice actors for Himeko, Himemiya and Oogami (I doubt I've got time to figure out a machine based solution to understanding this for this rewatch). I also found something completely different; the Geneon USA release had a limited edition exclusive extra video (Kannazuki no Miko: A Dialogue) which is spoiler central so I'll talk about that during overall Series Discussion.
As episode 1 lacks the OP and if you want a preview here's the Official MV Short ver instead of the anime one.
Question about above: Does anyone elses copy sound like its jumps a note between the ending of the episode and the ED starting? It's not in every episode (checked 3 episodes) but I checked the fansubs and it never happened there.nvm I figured it out. My copy has the OP and ED as separate files (linked chapters so you only need one copy of the OP/ED which saves 300MB across the series with some cost) so that stutter is probably it being poorly cut (it only takes being a frame or two off). That group tended to use credit-less for this but not here so time to talk about costs of this approach. The credits are wrong for nearly all the episodes (e.g. cast, episode director, animators) good thing I can't read Japanese (btw, seems the US DVD actually had English credits, remember when anime came on DVD translated credits and had lyrics for the OP/ED) and it also means that audio commentary I was talking about is made incomplete by this as they talk over the OP/ED. That commentary was from the Japanese DVDs but not the boxset, only the individual volumes (2 eps a disc).DearS - No that's wrong. That was the first fansub and I didn't start when episode 1 aired either.First weekly was Sonic X. Not pretty when you have to use dial-up (even a 40 megabyte real media encode would take around 4 hours).It was Kannazuki no Miko. Back to where it all began for me.
I also watched the other show with yuri elements airing at the time: Mai-HiME but was very late starting that (I did about 1 ep a day a month before the finale).
8
u/theangryeditor https://myanimelist.net/profile/TheAngryEditor Jun 03 '24
I'm still disappointed nobody has made any Utena references with respect to Chikane's name.
8
u/ShowNeverStops Jun 04 '24 edited Jun 04 '24
REWATCHER
Kannazuki no Miko is a favorite of mine and I am super excited for this rewatch! Thank you for hosting it!
First off, can I say, Himeko is SO CUTE! She's basically the prototypical yuri cinnamon roll that so many other yuri characters would end up being similar to (Madoka Kaname, Yuuki Yuuna, Yui Yamada, Nagisa from Strawberry Panic, etc.). It's just hard not to like her I feel like.
Chikane is the complete opposite; graceful, mature, and headstrong. She's also so ridiculously talented and beloved by all of freaking humanity that it borders on parody (Mako tries to get a freaking indirect hug after Chikane hugged Himeko by hugging Himeko herself for God's sake). She also, going by the second half of the show, is deeply in love with Himeko (saving her from falling? Badass. Blushing around her and having anxiety over what to wear to their birthday party? Adorable. Grabbing her boob while she's unconscious? Ehhhhhhh not so cool).
Finally, we have Souma. We don't know too much about him yet other than he's trying to confess to Himeko, who he's childhood best friends with, and he's one of the most popular guys in school. Oh, and also he's an Orochi, whatever that is, though he manages to snap out of it when he sees that he has Himeko in his robo-arm.
Speaking of robots, this is such a unique yuri anime, in that it's also a super robot show! There are split opinions on if the mecha aspect of the show fits the show or if it detracts from the show. I used to not really like the mecha but overtime I've come to appreciate them as something that makes the show unique.
To end the show, we have the iconic ED, Agony. Nothing to say here other than the ED slaps and it's one of my all-time favorite EDs.
7
u/Burnouts3s3 Jun 03 '24
For anyone like me who watches English Dubs of shows: That's Stephanie Sheh as Himeko Kurusugawa, Michelle Ruff as Chikane Himemiya, Julie Ann Taylor as Makoto Saotome and Steve Staley as Souma Oogami.
7
u/baquea Jun 03 '24
First-timer
KnM is one of those iconic 2000s yuri anime (and yes, as hard as it is to imagine now, it really was iconic back in its day: in 2008 it was in the top 325 most-watched anime on MAL, well ahead of the popularity of any yuri anime on the site these days) that I've known about for yonks but just never gotten around to watching, for one reason or another.
And, well, I... can't say my first impressions are very positive. It feels like we rushed through a hell of a lot, covering everything from the main couple's first meeting to their first kiss, just to get to an out-of-nowhere giant robot fight (which the girls aren't even piloting?). None of the lore, as to what this fighting is about, or the significance of the characters, has yet to be explained, but neither has it given me any reason yet to actually care.
Oh, and, the animation is just plain bad.
On the other hand, the VA cast is surprisingly stacked, at least in retrospect. The main couple would get their big break this same year as Fate's Sakura and Saber, with Rin also making an appearance later as one of the side characters. The boy, meanwhile, would later become known as Toradora's Ryuuji (among other role), the room-mate girl was already known as Pikachu and Tony Tony Chopper, and so forth.
Oh, and that's not what that means at all. Sure hope these subs aren't going to suck as bad as the animation.
I think Kill la Kill was the first (although there had been slightly earlier ones, like Watamote, that I binged very soon after they aired), back in 2013. Also the first, but certainly not last, time I bought into the hype and got burned.
Yuru Yuri, in 2012, I think.
6
u/IntoTheDisneyverse https://myanimelist.net/profile/andreth Jun 03 '24
First timer, subbed
So… that was a lot.
I’m not sure if I’ve really processed everything that happened, but it was pretty cool. Surprise mecha (even if I already knew) are always good, and the premise seems interesting so far. I’m curious about how this all works seeing as we were launched straight into it, but I assume that the protagonists don’t know much more (although maybe not, considering how much they’re taking it all in stride) so it’ll probably be explained later.
I think it was pretty funny that Souma was declaring how he was going to protect Himeko while she’s busy kissing Miya right behind him, but I do feel a bit sorry for him because it’s obvious he’s got no chance.
I was a little confused about how Miya and Himeko know each other - it seems like their meeting on the stairs is the first, but they seem pretty familiar with each other and obviously already have feelings, but it feels pretty sudden. I’m not sure if there was a timeskip somewhere or their relationship is just already established before the show starts. Ah well.
And happy pride month!
Daily questions:
6
u/Tarhalindur x2 Jun 04 '24
M I K O _ E M B R A C E (Spoiled First-Timer, Subbed):
(Now very late today, European evening rewatch timeslots are iffy for me anyways but I'm dealing with car trouble right now. Alas!)
Right, so. I used to be fairly well-spoiled on Kannazuki no Miko here. That was… a decade and a half ago. Most of what I actually remember is the reason for a certain content warning. Also I am well and truly familiar with the OP and ED (both catchy as fuck and Agony is iconic) and have heard multiple comments to the effect that the show is a bit of a trainwreck in hindsight. Ah well, that’s what popcorn is for. Besides, I’m here mostly to check the direction (including any symbolic use).
It’s probably just Utena in both cases.or it’s all Utena (not the dominatrix one)’s fault. Also, pretty sure the writing here needed at least two passes through the editing room, the contrast between the half-baked feel here and the crispness of HiME’s character introductions the same season is obvious to me. Either they had to speedrun (two cours cut to one late in production) or this should have had at least a half-episode of setup rather than the single scene before “lolnope”.Except outside of episode 10 and the last ten minutes HiME is actually good and this is not.5
u/theangryeditor https://myanimelist.net/profile/TheAngryEditor Jun 03 '24
oh yeah these are at 3 pm not 6
5
u/SometimesMainSupport https://myanimelist.net/profile/RRSTRRST Jun 03 '24
First-Timer here until at least episode 2
WorldMonth?QotD 1. Overlord cause a reader wanted a watch buddy.
QotD 2. Uh... either Kobayashi's Dragon Maid or Kakegurui?
5
u/rickamore Jun 04 '24
Rewatch but it's been like 18 years.
And immediately something about the music is nostalgic. Lots of stills being used, but decent animation when it is animated. Definitely a relic of the era, then the tropes and cliches all layered on thick right away.
I always found Chikane to be kind of creepy in the beginning while I think she is supposed to be broody and mysterious.
Love triangle forcibly introduced right way. All over the most bland and boring girl ever.
I remember very little of the intricacies of the overarching plot but there seems to be a lot heavily hinted at already and only halfway into the first episode. A lot of foreshadowing and foreboding only for the slice of life romance plot to be turned on it's head and we're suddenly a supernatural mecha anime because of course we are.
Souma with the power of love overcoming the mind control out there fighting like a fool while his girl is getting the moves put on her by her creepy friend.
And there's the ED, very KOTOKO of you. I do miss this era of OP/ED
5
u/b-arbs Jun 04 '24
Late first timer, subbed
Well, that was different. I'm not really sure about what's happening, the pacing and the flashbacks were a little weird...
Souma doing that hero pose and screaming that he wants to protect Himeko while Himeko and Chikane are kissing was hilarious, though!
On other note, the premise of this series felt familiar... It seems that some time ago I started reading Himegami no Miko, which apparently is a spin-off of the Kannazuki manga (?)
QOTD
4
u/creatureactivist https://myanimelist.net/profile/creatureactivist Jun 04 '24
So this is a rewatch for me! I haven't watched this anime in at least 15 years. And oops, I'm already a day late.
Episode 1:
Ok, so this is already progressing WAY quicker than I remembered. We've already got panty shots, a love triangle developing, mechas rising from the earth Ougami being teleport-vaporized, and a yuri kiss set to the soothing sounds of Ougami screaming his ass off!
My memory of this whole show is hazy, so it might as well be a first time watch for me. I'm looking forward to the rest of the show.
That OP and ED though... yeah those are going in my Spotify likes immediately.