Kamisama Kiss

Not to be confused with Kamisama Kazoku or Kamisama Dolls.

Kamisama Kiss
Cover art for volume one of the Japanese edition featuring Tomoe and Nanami
神様はじめました (Kamisama Hajimemashita)
Genre	Romantic Comedy, Fantasy, Supernatural
Manga
Written by	Julietta Suzuki
Published by	Hakusensha
English publisher	Viz Media
Magazine	Hana to Yume
Demographic	Shōjo
Original run	March 2008 – present
Volumes	17
Anime television series
Directed by	Akitaro Daichi
Written by	Akitaro Daichi
Music by	Toshio Masuda
Studio	TMS Entertainment
Original network	TV Tokyo
Original run	October 1, 2012 – December 24, 2012
Episodes	13
Original video animation
Released	August 26, 2013 – 2013
Episodes	2

Kamisama Kiss (神様はじめました, Kamisama Hajimemashita, The God has Come) is a Japanese manga series by Julietta Suzuki and serialized by Hakusensha in the shōjo manga magazine Hana to Yume. The series is licensed for regional release in North America by Viz Media as part of their Shojo Beat imprint. An anime adaptation has been produced by TMS Entertainment and directed by Akitaro Daichi and began airing in October 2012. It has been streamed by Funimation Entertainment in North America.

Plot

After Nanami's father runs away due to gambling debts and she is evicted from her apartment, Nanami meets a strange man named Mikage, who is afraid of dogs. She saves Mikage from a dog and tells him her story. He gives Nanami his house as a thank you for saving him. She accepts the offer because she is homeless. When Nanami arrives at Mikage's home, she is shocked to see that it is not a normal home but a shrine for worship. After that she is greeted by both Onikiri and Kotetsu who are the keepers of the shrine. She then meets Tomoe, Mikage's familiar, and she learns that Mikage used to be the Earth deity of the shrine and has bestowed upon her his mark so that she may be the new Deity. At first Nanami is reluctant, but as she lives with Tomoe, Onikiri and Kotetsu she begins to understand and work hard in her new position as Earth Deity. As the story progresses Nanami finds herself falling in love with Tomoe, but he rejects her because the love between a human and a yokai is taboo. Despite saying that, Tomoe finds himself falling in love with her too.

Characters

Nanami Momozono (桃園 奈々生, Momozono Nanami)

Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori (Japanese); Tia Ballard (English)

A teenage girl whose father ran out on her because of his gambling debts; she was often mocked for her poverty by her classmates. She becomes the local land god after former god Mikage transfers his position as master of the shrine over to her. Naname begins with very little spiritual power, but she works hard at balancing her godly duties with her schoolwork and eventually becomes adept at purification. Nanami becomes upset when Tomoe flirts with other women, which is often. Tomoe always puts shiitake mushrooms in Nanami's food even though he knows she hates them. Nanami falls in love with Tomoe, but she is rejected by him since it is taboo for a human and a demon to be lovers.

Currently, within the manga, Nanami takes a journey to the past to save her beloved Tomoe. It is revealed that the "Yukiji" that Tomoe had fallen in love with was actually Nanami impersonating Yukiji as part of a plan. Although Nanami does not realize this, she sees the feelings of love that Tomoe starts to have towards Yukiji, which leaves her somewhat in heartache because she cannot express her own love to Tomoe for fear of changing the past.

Tomoe (巴衛)

Voiced by: Shinnosuke Tachibana (Japanese); J. Michael Tatum (English)

A fox yokai who serves as the familiar of the land god. Several centuries ago, he was a wild and cruel fox who was the partner of the Demon King, but occasionally took mercy on girls who showed spirit. He has a very cynical, often mocking, demeanor, partly because he is distrustful of others, but he can be very charming when the occasion demands it. He is also extremely powerful, and is apparently able to disable other familiars and independent demons without much effort. However, his power is restricted by Nanami's words; if she orders him to do something, he must comply. He can transform himself and others with enchanted leaves. Tomoe worries a great deal about Nanami and is very aware of how delicate she is as a human, threatening anyone who harms her or speaks ill of her. It is hinted that he was once in love with a human woman who was very sick named Yukiji.

It is often implied that he loves Nanami, such as doing random acts of kindness for her and refusing to kill in front of her. He often gets very jealous of other guys who hang around her. He is also very loyal to Nanami, as shown by him kissing her to seal their contract again after it had been broken. It is later revealed that he is just as in love with Nanami as she is in love with him, but Nanami is unaware of this fact because he already rejected her.

In the recent chapters, a curse had returned to Tomoe and he escapes into a mirror to hide from the pain and to possibly get stronger. Nanami goes into the past to save him.

Mikage (ミカゲ)

Voiced by: Akira Ishida (Japanese); Joel McDonald (English)

A mysterious man who was once the land god of the shrine, and who left twenty years ago for unspecified reasons. He met a newly homeless Nanami and bestowed the land god mark on her, saying that she was better suited to be the god than him. He has light hair and glasses and wears a trenchcoat and hat. Throughout the manga he is portrayed as someone shrouded in mystery on what his true motives really are, but it is hinted that his plan has been to show Tomoe that humans and youkai can fall in love and that Nanami may be the one who can reach Tomoe. Yet, it is not clear if this is his only reason for the circumstances and events he set in motion.

Shinjirō Kurama (鞍馬 進次郎, Kurama Shinjirō)

Voiced by: Daisuke Kishio (Japanese); Sean O'Connor (English)

A wildly popular idol with the gimmick of being a "fallen angel" with goth makeup and a bad boy attitude. He is a crow tengu who initially wished to become the land god by eating Nanami's heart. After being thwarted by Tomoe (and subsequently saved by Nanami), he gives up on this scheme and regards her as a friend, even allowing her to stay at his apartment when she temporarily loses her godhood. He has a lingering dislike for Tomoe, and the two are prone to insulting each other whenever they meet. He left Kurama mountain 16 years ago and has been living in human world since then. He also shown to have a more human-like attitude compared to the others (Tomoe, Mizuki, etc). He also has feelings for Nanami and always tries to flirt with her.

Mizuki (瑞希)

Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto (Japanese); Micah Solusod (English)

A lonely snake familiar of the abandoned and submerged Yonomori shrine. When Nanami saves his life from her cruel classmates by releasing him out a window, he falls in love with her. He abducts her soon after, intending to marry her. In spite of this, Nanami takes pity on him and promises to visit after Tomoe rescues her. He hates Tomoe, evident to his constant mocking and bantering. He even goes as far as to manipulate to Nanami various times (through the act of "helping") to try and deter her feelings towards Tomoe (Though Nanami is unaware). He later becomes Nanami's familiar to save her from a sea demon after Nanami inadvertently sacrifices herself to save Tomoe. He has the power to make wonderful sake. He also says that whenever he's with Nanami he can be himself.

Onikiri (鬼切) and Kotetsu (虎徹)

Voiced by: Natsuyo Atarashi (Onikiri) and Chika Ōkubo (Kotetsu) (Japanese); Jad Saxton (Onikiri) and Josh Grelle (Kotetsu) (English)

The two bald, childlike yōkai attendants at Nanami's shrine who wear masks. Just like Tomoe, they are able to shapeshift. They are extremely fond of Nanami, Tomoe, and Mikage.

Ami Nekota (猫田 あみ, Nekota Ami)

Voiced by: Satomi Satou (Japanese); Alexis Tipton (English)

The first friend Nanami ever made at school. Originally she found Nanami to be weird, but she also took a liking to Nanami. After Nanami (or rather, Tomoe disguised as Nanami) rescued her from a demon, she began to hang around Nanami more and officially became a friend after Nanami helped her talk to Kurama. She made a promise with Kurama to not tell of anyone about any of the strange occurrences that happen with Nanami (though it was Tomoe in disguise); Ami believes Nanami is a miko, or shrine maiden. Overall, Ami is a naive but bubbly and gentle girl, and a very reliable friend.

Kei Ueshima (上島 ケイ, Ueshima Kei)

Voiced by: Kaori Shimizu (Japanese); Kristi Kang (English)

Kei is Ami's best friend. After Ami befriends Nanami, she also begins to see Nanami as a friend. Amongst the trio, she is the most mature but also the most hot tempered. She is intuitive and picked up on the fact Nanami liked Tomoe. Kei gave advice to Nanami on how she could get his attention. She is rarely ever seen without her cellphone, on which she constantly sends text messages at a rapid pace; most of the time she does not even bother to glance at the screen.

Narukami (鳴神)

Voiced by: Hyo-sei (Japanese); Lydia Mackay (English)

A bratty, selfish sky god who has an unrequited crush on Tomoe. She steals Nanami's mark, shrinks Tomoe into a toddler, and takes control of the shrine for a short period. She is very demanding and apparently goes through attendants at an unheard-of rate and seems to take sadistic delight in abusing her familiars.

Imperial Priestess of the Lake (沼皇女, Numa no Himemiko)

Voiced by: Yui Horie (Japanese); Monica Rial (English)

A catfish who became a lake deity and lives in a palace underneath her lake with her many fish attendants. Ten years ago, she fell in love with a young boy, Kotarō Urashima, and she asks Nanami to help her reconnect with the boy once again. As repayment, when Nanami visits her palace she allows her to wear one of her luxurious kimonos so she will look her best in front of Tomoe.

Dragon King (龍王・宿儺, Ryūō Sukuna)

Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (Japanese); Robert McCollum (English)

Dragon Lord of the sea, who has a been waiting to seek revenge against Tomoe for 526 years for ripping out his right eye and attacking the north gate of Ryūgū Castle. He found Tomoe after he saved a girl from drowning in the sea. The Dragon Lord's eyes are known as the Longevity Elixir and are said to give great power to whoever has drank them. Though aggressive and temperamental, he is afraid of his wife's anger. He is forced to give up his grudge against Tomoe after his wife befriends Nanami.

Kamehime (亀姫, Kame Hime)

Voiced by: Akemi Okamura (Japanese); Anastasia Munoz (English)

The wife of the Dragon King. She disapproves of his husband's fights with Tomoe, saying she married his beautiful face.

Yukiji (雪路, Yukiji)

Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori (Japanese); Tia Ballard (English)

A beautiful woman with long brown hair that Tomoe had a relationship in the past, but in reality was Nanami who traveled to the past. She'd barely escaped a yokai attack on her village, causing a deep hatred for yokai. She is also the ancestor of Nanami, who actually helped her when marrying into another family. She later saw Nanami with Tomoe and eventually used their similarities in appearance to ask Tomoe for help when attacked by Akura-Ou. However, Tomoe does not see the eyes of Yukiji during the time that he spends with her, because Yukiji feared that he would know that she was not Nanami after looking into her eyes. She used his protection in order to save the next generation of her and her husband's bloodline.

Otohiko (乙比古)

Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (Japanese); Ian Sinclair (English)

A feminine male wind god. He initially disapproves of Nanami as the land god but acknowledges her after she successfully dispels the miasma that he had released on the shrine.

Akura-Ou (悪羅王)

Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe (Japanese); Brandon Potter (English)

Akura-Ou, also known as Kirihito, or the evil king, was an infamous yokai that has been living for at least 600 years. He worked with Tomoe, wreaking havoc to the world. They were undefeatable until Tomoe fell in love with the human, Yukiji. After being captured, he was sent to Yomi-no-Kuni and lived there for a long time until the soul of a young, recently-deceased, boy named Mori Kirihito came to him and asked him to send an "I'm sorry" message to his parents because they had fought just before his death. Akura-Ou accepted out of boredom and curiosity and hence took up the boy's body, waking in a hospital room and being hugged by 'his' mother. After some time, Akura-Ou regained some of his followers despite being in Kirihito's body. Two of which were two cat-masked shikigami. He soon decided he wanted to get his original body back from Yomi-no-Kuni.

Kayako fell in love with him sometime after and he used her to try and get into the God's Summit. When she failed, he left her, finding her no longer useful.

He first met Nanami while she was being chased by fallen gods. They were angry at her for being a human yet dared to accept the invitation to the God's Summit. Akura-Ou then insulted them as being a lower status than Nanami causing one fallen god to hit him, giving him a serious injury. This angered Nanami who then used Mamoru to repel the gods. She attempted to tend to Akura-Ou's wounds but he refused her help and attempted to kiss her. This made Nanami panic and flee. He then went to Yomotsuhira and opened the Kyo Gan Mon in an attempt to get his body back. However, Nanami and Otohiko came to guard the gates since the original guard was currenty at the God's Summit. This disrupted his plans. Tekkimaru, one of his yokai followers, immediately held Akura-Ou hostage in defense so that Otohiko would not attack them due to Akura-Ou being human (though they did not know of his being Akura-Ou). Tekkimaru then jumped into Yomi-no-Kuni believing it will give him an immortal body, bringing Akura-Ou together with him. Immediately, Tekkimaru rotted due to not being a god. Akura-Ou's human body began to rot as well. In fear for his safety, Nanami jumped in after him.

He woke before Nanami within the Yomi-no-Kuni. He got a lock of her hair and wrapped it around his wrist to protect him from rotting. Soon they were fetched by the servants of the god of Yomi-no-Kuni, Izanami. Nanami asked Izanami to send them back, she replied that only Nanami could go and that Akura-Ou could not due to his body already being dead. After which, Akura-Ou was snatched up by a giant hand and disappeared one of the cells. He had flashbacks in the darkness and wondered if everything that had happened was only a dream.

He was soon rescued by Nanami but could not understand why she did so. He hugged her fiercely, marveling at her warmth. She pulls away, saying she belongs to Tomoe, to which he is intrigued by. She led him to the entrance but it was blocked by Ikusagami, the war god. However they were soon rescued by Tomoe and brought back to the world above. There, he attacks Tomoe, but then looks at Nanami and decides to do it another time.

Jirou is currently the fourth chief of Kurama Mountain. The tengu leading all other tengu due to his unsurpassed strength and speed.

When Soujoubou, the third chief, fell ill to an unknown, incurable sickness, Jirou stepped up and took his place.

On the first few parts, Jirou was known as a cruel leader. He was merciless and banished many other tengu when they showed any sign of weakness. An example was how he had treated Kurama when he had been younger.

After he met Nanami under the Thousand Year Old Sakura Tree he seemed to develop a crush on her though he refused to admit it. He got distracted thinking of her, hence letting the wards he placed around his temple weaken. According to his servant, Yatori, this was due to chaos within his own heart.

After discovering Yatori's betrayal, when Nanami was being attacked by the Raijiuyuu, he sacrificed himself to save her and confessed his love to her in what he thought were his last words.

Media

Manga

Kamisama Hajimemashita began its serialization run in 2008 in the sixth issue of the semi-monthly shōjo manga magazine Hana to Yume. The collected chapters were later republished in tankōbon volumes by Hakusensha with the first volume released on September 19, 2008. North American publisher Viz Media licensed the English language distributions rights at the 2009 New York Anime Festival.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was produced by TMS Entertainment and directed by Akitaro Daichi. It began airing on October 1, 2012. The anime has been licensed for streaming by Funimation Entertainment. The opening theme to this anime is Kamisama Hajimemashita by Hanae. There are Two OVA's episodes bundled with the 16th volume of the manga. One of the included episodes will be based on the story from the 15th volume, while the other will contain an all-new original story. First Ova's started on 26 August 2013.

Episode list

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External links

• Kamisama Kiss at Viz Media
• Kamisama Kiss (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Kamisama Kiss (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia