Źle się dzieje w świątyni Mikage. Wiernych wciąż ani widu ani słychu. Nanami nie daje jednak za wygraną. Aby przyciągnąć nowych wyznawców, postanawia zorganizować festiwal! Wszyscy w chramie dzielnie pomagają jej w przygotowaniach. Ale co to? Czyżby serce Tomoe zabiło nieco szybciej na widok jego pani tak bardzo zaangażowanej w planowanie festynu? Z nowym chowańcem u boku Nanami musi stawić czoła kolejnym wyzwaniom!
鈴木ジュリエッタ Suzuki Julietta is a Japanese manga artist born in the Fukuoka Prefecture. Her pen name comes from a character named Julietta Sakamoto from the seinen manga series, Air Master. She likes cats, koalas, and sharks. According to an interview with Hakusensha, she first started drawing when she was in her second year of elementary school in a sketchbook of Japonica. During her free time, she meets her friends, goes for a drink, or out for a meal. She states that although she doesn't read much, she enjoys works by Junji Itō. Her favourite character is Ashia and mentions that male characters are easier to draw in general.
I completely forgot to review what I've read so I won't be very specific in these reviews because I forget which book/chapter is which. Anyways, as always, TOMOE IS AMAZING AND I 110% RECCOMEND IF YOU WANT TO READ SOMETHING RELAXING.
I've read through the first 5 released volumes of Kamisama Kiss now, and I absolutely love this series. I love the interaction with the different gods and ayakashi. I especially love the interaction between Nanami and her fox spirit familiar, Tomoe.
Tomoe is probably my favorite character because I can't figure him out. He's always elegant (I *love* his traditional clothing), but also mysterious. We do learn more about his past, that he is quite powerful and an attractive force to contend with in his own world, but we only see small glimpses and there is a lot more story to tell (which later volumes will hopefully unfold).
The art is lovely in this series. Without being overbearing or obtrusive, Suzuki is able to portray the animal/supernatural qualities of the various characters in a very organic and natural way, which is delightful for me because in some series, this effort can come off as contrived at best, and often corny (an issue I have with such series as Inuyasha at times, for example).
The manga is much better than the anime. Nanami's journey to mastering her kami powers is not rushed/forced, it's a very realistic take on what it would be like for an ordinary human to suddenly be in such a position of power. Her persistence and selflessness is very admirable, and is depicted with moderation so that her character feels realistic and even, to some extent, believable.
In the anime, Nanami's feelings for Tomoe as mentioned before, is sometimes downright painful to watch, and most of the time it feels too one-sided, when her love interest is also slowly developing feelings for Nanami simultaneously, but is in denial. Messy stuff.
Another thing, we're told that Nanami likes Tomoe in the anime, but it's not clear why, other than the fact that they save her a bunch of times from evil supernatural stuff and are not as rude as they appear. However in the manga, Nanami's feelings for Tomoe appear as a silly crush at first, but, without explicitly telling the reader that this is more than just a silly crush, through her internal dialogue we see Nanami appreciate Tomoe's kindness and belief in her growing skills as a kami: she commits selfless acts and is consistently putting her morals and kami duties before her desires, even as her feelings slowly grow stronger for Tomoe day by day.
She's selfless, caring and brave - and it's believable, rarely feeling forced.
As for Tomoe, I think I mentioned this before in my previous review for Volume 4, when they begin to develop feelings for her in the anime, sometimes it doesn't feel natural at all, Volume 5 continues with their lingering stares, small bouts of jealousy and (sometimes) overly protective, but not controlling nature over Nanami. Tomoe is beginning to see Nanami as more than just a master to be respected, and are feeling confused about their feelings. It's nicely played out and I enjoyed looking at Tomoe's mixed expressions of more-than-just-friendly-admiration toward Nanami drawn in the manga.
I'm waiting for something big to happen, but I'm also enjoying the slow burn too much, and noting the unnecessary changes the anime made when adapting the manga.
I love the deeper exploration of Japanese tradition in this volume, like dances, costumes, and festivals. Tomoe's clothes are always enjoyable, but we saw a broader range of characters donning traditional garb this time.
I liked how the volume explored the ways that cultures grow and move on from once-important aspects of people's lives. Nanami's shrine is considered haunted because it hasn't had any worshipers in so long, even if it was once flourishing. This sort of movement away from tradition is always an interesting concept to me.
Nanami also grows again in this volume, realizing how hard Tomoe really works to keep the shrine in good condition. I felt it was obvious, the way he'd pull weeds out of the grass so meticulously, but she finally noticed some little things, like trimming trees away from the torii.
Kamisama Kiss really isn't a super serious manga, even if it does touch on subjects like abandonment, traditions, and religion. That being said, I think those subjects are well-woven into the otherwise fun and lighthearted story.
This series is really easy to read. I'm still working on finishing Dengeki Daisy, because it gets so serious and text-heavy that I take breaks after every few volumes. Kamisama Kiss is a nice in-between read, because I can easily get through a volume in one sitting.
The main focus of this volume is Nanami planning a festival at the shrine so they can get more worshippers. She wants everyone to see how nice Tomoe keeps things. The pages seemed a bit busier than the other volumes, but it was still awesome.
Key Events:
Typing these up makes me want to run and watch the anime! As it is it takes me forever to write these little summaries because I keep flipping through and rereading my fave parts. So good!
Nanami hat es als lebende Göttin nicht leicht. Um das Ansehen ihres Schreins im Dorf wieder zu bessern, will sie ein Schreinfest auf die Beine stellen. Doch jemand funkt dazwischen und will sie auf die Probe stellen. Die Zeichnungen und Charakterdesigns sind schön und die Geschichte ist witzig erzählt. Besonders die Konkurrenzkämpfe zwischen den Götterdienern sind herrlich!
Kolejny tom za mną, koniec tych, których będę robić reread, też się zbliża nieustannie. Gdy na razie fabuła rozwija się powoli, etapami, trudno mówić czegoś, aby się nie powtarzać, więc tutaj powiem coś, co nie było wcześniej. To, jak ślicznie są narysowane postacie kobiece w kimonach i innych takich strojach, jest po prostu magiczne i cudownie wpasowuje się w klimat. To tyle ode mnie, bo inne słowa są po prostu zbędne.
It's embarrassing how long it took me to read a single manga, but between being sick, reading another book at the same time, and other personal things, this is the outcome.
Easy story to pick up, put down and return to after a few days though. Which I suppose can be a good thing.
Cute installment. The prep for the festival was nice. Kinda a slower book.
En este volumen Nanami y compañía organizan un festival para llamar la atención de los citadinos y que así asistan al templo que ella protege, ya que, aparentemente tiene la mala fama de estar poseído.
A lo largo de los capítulos, Nanami practica una danza especial y, al mismo tiempo, se da cuenta de que Tomoe ha cuidado del templo durante muchísimos años sin que nadie se lo agradezca, así que hace su mejor esfuerzo porque todo salga bien.
Como es de esperar, los dioses y sus respectivos encargados, ayudan en su particular forma de ser, y al final del día todo se resuelve de manera entretenida. Hay varias escenas que me sacaron una sonrisa y me encantó ver el vestuario de todos. Me gusta mucho cuando los mangas tienen esas escenas llenas de folklor japonés –sus costumbres, comidas, dioses y demás.
Lo que más me gustó de este volumen fue ver ese sutil cambio en Nanami: en su postura, ya que intenta ser digna de su título de diosa, pese a ser una adolescente. Su actitud ante la vida es muy refrescante y hace que siga cayéndome bien.
The fact that I don't have the next volume on hand is criminal. It's just so sweet and funny. I love Nanami, Tomoe, and all the side characters. So thankful that my library has a stacked manga section that's been feeding my addiction this year 🙂
My favorite volume yet. Tomoe and Mizuki's constant bickering definitely livens things up. It cracks me up seeing how much they can't stand each other.