Kannazuki no Miko review – Rin’s Anime Column!

Lily Colored Lenses -Kannazuki no Miko- Welcome back, ladies! This week we’re looking at a series that’s a bit older, but still very good! So be prepared for cute girls, drama and giant robots!

The story of Kannazuki no Miko (Priestess of the Godless Month) takes place in a small village with a very large and prestigious school, tucked somewhere between the ocean, forest and mountains called Mahoroba. Mahorobais an old Japanese word describing a far off land of bliss and peace. Thus indicating the fantasy-styled world of Kannazuki no Miko. Kannazuki is the word for October, which is referred to as the ‘Godless Month,’ for the time when all the gods leave their homes in Japan and meet in Izumo, where October is referred to as Kamiarizuki, the Month of Gods.

Here at the prestigious Ototachibana Academy of Mahoroba, we have the sweet and cheerful Kurusugawa Himeko; a quiet girl who keeps to herself who loves taking pictures and is relatively shy. She is friends with the two idols of the school, Himemiya Chikane and Ogami Souma. She lives in the dorms with her best friend since coming to school, Saotome Makoto. Makoto is on the track team and is usually the one to shake Himeko out of bed, as she tends to sleep in. But since Makoto doesn’t play a very big part in the story, she disappears after the first couple of episodes. Himeko is the Solar Priestess, indicated by a strange tattoo-like mark on her chest. Her powers remain latent for the first part of the series, but she is told by the priests at the local temple that she must find and destroy the Lunar Priestess in order to calm the Orochi, who is trying to destroy the world.

One of Himeko’s close friends is the popular princess of the school, Himemiya Chikane. Coming from a rich family, Chikane is referred to as “Miya-sama” by those who idolize her. She is extremely athletic, excelling in tennis, horseback riding and archery. Chikane has harbored feelings for Himeko since they met, but is too scared of being rejected to express herself. She has many offerings of dates from both the male and female population of the school, but often turns them down, since she only has eyes for Himeko. For the most part, she has subjected herself to being Himeko’s dear friend and support in anything Himeko wants to do. Himeko and Chikane share the same birthday and often hide together in a secret rose garden for lunch. Unknown to Himeko for most of the series, Chikane is the Lunar Priestess, indicated by a crescent moon tattoo mark on her upper back, hidden by her hair.

Himeko’s other friend is Ogami Souma, who she has known since childhood. Souma is the Prince of the school who everyone says would be a perfect match for Chikane. They are seen at the beginning of the series, playing a tennis match against each other and many of the students comment on what a perfect pair they would be. But like Chikane, Souma is also harboring feelings for Himeko and would do anything for her. Souma was left with the Ogami family at the temple by his older brother after Tsubasa killed their abusive father and ran away.

In the month of October, the village of Mahoroba is attacked by the Yamata no Orochi, a legendary 8-headed demon of destruction. While in the story, the Orochi is not one monster, but eight different people acting as each of the Orochi’s heads. Each possesses a giant mech and are identified by marks. They all seem to fit in very stereotypical archetypes.

The First Head of the Orochi is Tsubasa, a teal-haired pretty boy, sociopath and Souma’s older brother who left him in the care of the local temple in order to run. He is considered to be the most powerful of the Orochi Heads and his mark is located over his heart.

The Second Head of the Orochi is Sister Miyako. She was once a nun who lost her faith during a terrible war and turned to the Orochi. While each of the Heads tends to act on their own, Miyako follows Tsubasa loyally. She is a manipulator and uses mirrors to create illusions and manipulate things to her advantage or for the Orochi. Her mark is somewhere on her throat.

The Third Head of the Orochi is Girochi, a beast-like man who is the younger brother of Sister Miyako. Traumatized mentally by the same war in which Miyako lost her faith, Girochi follows her into the Orochi. He is attracted to Himeko right away upon seeing her and would rather protect her and take her as his own than kill her. His mark is on his right hand.

The Fourth Head is Corona, a cast-out idol singer who only managed to place 69th and is a possible manic. She is obsessed with trying to earn a place in the top 100 higher than 69th, but it seems that no one else cares. Her mark is supposedly on her left breast.

The Fifth Head is Ota Reika, a shut-in manga artist who is not very active within the Orochi. Her work, which she continues during the war between the Priestesses and the Orochi, actually does quite well, with Himeko being a fan of hers. Reika’s mark is on her back.

The Sixth Head is Nekoko, a seemingly cheerful cat-girl. Like the other Orochi, she is mentally unstable, a result from many scientific experiements done on her gone wrong. Her mark is located on her butt.

The Seventh Head of the Orochi is Tsubasa’s younger brother, Souma. Souma, after finding out that he is the Seventh, refuses to join the Orochi and swears to protect the Priestesses, Himeko and Chikane, because he cares for Himeko and knows that Chikane is very important to her. He continues to fight against his fate as the Seventh Head and even goes as far as assisting the Priestesses in taking down each of the Heads until the curse of the Orochi takes over and turns him to stone.

The Eighth Head is a mysterious person who the others believe is in hiding. It is later revealed that Chikane is the Eighth Head, a position she takes on her own after she believes that Himeko is in love with Souma. Chikane single-handedly takes down most of the Orochi Heads until she is left with just Tsubasa to deal with.

While the war is raging between the Priestesses and the Orochi, rather Chikane and the Orochi Heads, Himeko learns of her powers as the Solar Priestess while she is living with Chikane. She moves in after the dorms are destroyed and Chikane offers her home up to the homeless Himeko. She supports Himeko no matter what she wants to do and even goes as far as sending her off with a smile when Souma asks Himeko out on a date. She follows them secretly on their date and falls into depression after she sees Himeko and Souma kiss while Himeko is crying. Chikane waits for Himeko to return home and then proceeds to rape her (in the manga, she just forces herself on Himeko in the anime) before turning to the Orochi as the Eighth Head.

The roles of the Lunar and Solar Priestesses are to seal the Orochi with the legendary sword, Kusanagi, located in a temple on the Moon. The Temple is only accessible to the Priestesses and the sealing can only be done when one Priestess dies at the hand of the other. The Priestesses can join together and summon Ame no Murakamo, the god of Swords, which takes the form of yet another giant mech in Kannazuki no Miko.

At the final battle between the Priestesses in the Temple on the Moon, Chikane attacks Himeko, but Himeko manages to fend her off and run her through with her sword. They share a heartfelt dying scene (which is really long, but it made me cry) and Himeko tells Chikane that she is in love with her. When Himeko kissed Souma and was crying, she tells Chikane that it wasn’t because she was happy, but because she realized that she was really in love with Chikane, but became very confused when Chikane forced herself upon Himeko that same night. More of their past is revealed during their very long death discussion and Chikane passes on, promising to find Himeko no matter what when they are reincarnated. The surviving Priestess keeps her memories but the one who dies loses her memories completely.

Okay, while I’ve given away a good chunk of the story, there are MANY details I left out. For the purpose of making you want to watch it. Kannazuki no Miko ended up being one of my personal favorites because it was one of those series that it seemed like the guy won the girl, but the girl won the girl in the end. I think I’d have loved it more if it weren’t for the giant mechs. The anime is available on DVD from Geneon Entertainment and the two volume manga is available from Tokyopop. I wouldn’t recommend the manga for anyone under 17, since it does contain a pretty harsh scene between Vol. 1 and 2 where Chikane rapes Himeko. >_<

This is the 5th series by Kaishaku who also brought us Steel Angel Kurumi, and UFO Princess Valkyrie. Most of their series tend to have a sad ending, but lead to a happy ending after the credits of the last episode.

A little fun teaser, if you love Chikane and Himeko, they are reincarnated in Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora, the latest series by Kaishaku. While they look exactly the same, Himeko is now Himiko, a servant of Lady Mika and Chikane is now Kaon, the right hand of Lady Mika. Though they share the same relationship and even have a special side episode of how close they are.

All in all, Kannazuki no Miko was great for the yuri aspect, boo for the giant mechs. I kept watching because I developed the biggest crush on Chikane. It’s definitely worth the read or even if you can enjoy the mechs, sit down and watch the anime.

One Response to “Kannazuki no Miko review – Rin’s Anime Column!”

1. Heligoland says:

   May 15, 2010 at 8:15 am

   Dude, why with the spoilers? I came here to get a reasonable review from a NORMAL person about what there is to like in this series, and if its worth wading through the inevitable crap. Instead I find the inevitable crap on excessive display.

   Okay, so I should love yuri, because I love animation, am a lesbian, and love the kind of settings and plots you can do with the freedom animation gives you. But every time I take up a series, my hopes are dashed. And here are the reasons why:
   a) Lack of female empowerment: if I see one more pixie-voiced heroine blush like a schoolgirl at the mere mention of sex, I will lose it. I really wouldn’t be that critical, but the “cuteness” is fetishized to the point that it just disgusts me, and makes me incapable of connecting to the characters.
   b) Cliche: they could do absolutely anything in terms of plot and setting, but every show is about fucking highschoolers with superpowers. The character designs are so uninspired, even the faces are exactly the same. They have to give them crazy colored hair, just so we will be able to tell them apart.
   c) The male writing: these are clearly not lesbians with thoughts and feelings they are playthings for men who have clearly never met a girl in their life.

   So. If you know of any anime that are not like this, please, please WRITE ABOUT THAT.