Blu Ray Set Review: Kamisama Kiss Season Two
By: ScarletteNOTE: We were provided a review copy of "Kamisama Kiss" Nanami the Land God is back with the handsome fox familiar Tomoe at her side! After a rough start as a newly ordained god, she’s finally finding her land legs in the world of gods, demons, and spirits. However, not everything is going magically well; Nanami’s feelings for Tomoe are growing stronger, but Tomoe goes from hot to cold faster than a weather god! And he’s not the only moody demon. The flowers in Kurama’s mountain home are dying, and the person behind the wilting wildlife is none other than his brother Jiro!Nanami’s got a lot on her plate. When the going gets tough, will this green goddess have what it takes to save the day?
Box Set Review:
The blu ray box set for Kamisama Kiss: Season Two is typical of a blu ray/dvd set. Nothing flashy or shiney, just compact and a space saver. The box art is also pretty typical for a returning season series: the entire main cast of Kamisama Kiss is present. It feels just a little congested, I don't like how the series title is pretty small, but I do like how your main couple of the series stands out - just a little- from everyone else. Color scheme is the light pastel pink and purple, with gorgeous looking bishounen...Clearly the box is screaming that this series is definitely of the "shoujo" nature. The art would make me pick up the box, but since Im a season one watcher, I know what Im getting into with Kamisama Kiss.
Kamisama Kiss Season Two retails for $48.99- through the Funimation Website- the blu ray set includes the following:Blu rays/ DVS - 12 episodes (Dubbed and subbed)Extras: Episode commentaries, textless songs (opening/closing) US trailers, and trailers.At $48 Im a little weary on purchasing the set, but given that Kamisama Kiss Season Two is still relatively new--I can understand the price tag. I suppose the most forgiving factor in the price is the episode commentaries. Most readers will know I tear apart blu ray sets for not including any kind of bonus features, especially for hefty price tags, but the episode commentaries lessens the blow on the wallet. The other "bonus" features are pretty laughable; things you can Youtube easily (trailers, songs, ect) but the commentaries are nice to have because its always nice to have a behind the scenes feature on a series you deemed worthy to buy.Given how new the second season of Kamisama Kiss is, and you get dubbed/subbed episodes, with a decent bonus feature, $48.99 isn't an awful price to pay. Its a little less than the standard buy in, but you can always wait for the price to drop further down the road.There is also the other option to purchase from other retailers that will help you save a couple of bucks (cheapest found price for the set is $43) but nothing too significant.
Anime Review
Kamisama Kiss is not the kind of show where you just pick up and start watching it--I mean, you could, but you would definitely be missing quite a bit of story and character development. From the beginning of the season there is character development for your main characters, Tomoe and Nanami. Theyre growing from the people and situations that they were in season 1--and not only are we seeing individual growth, but relationship growth. That's what season two of Kamisama Kiss is all about; the growth and understanding of each other and their relationship. Sure, there is some individual character development but its for secondary characters that were merely introduced in the first season; and those individual arcs are a means for the two main characters to be able to test their relationship. But when you think you don't have much else happening to the main character- that there isn't any more growth to be had- the series ends with an arc that lets the audience know there is many layers to Tomoe and Nanami; that their story is not over.However, Kamisama Kiss gets to be a little repetitive: something terrible happens, Nanami has good intentions to fix it but makes the situation worse, and Tomoe comes to the rescue. They argue over the odd ball points in the episodes, get mad at each other, make up with each other, re-affirm they like each other, and then the audience gets enticed with a sweet, romantic, scenario where everyone is like: "JUST KISS ALREADY." Yes, the formula does get a little stale after so many episodes. What does the series do in order to spice it up?It throws in a new character who so happen to be into Nanami, and forces Tomoe to go all alpha male and assert his dominance on the situation. If you're INTO that kind of thing, its totally great. But, its a dated method used in all romance shoujo--and that's where Kamisama Kiss really fails.Don't get me wrong, the series is cute, you get all the "feel good" points and some of the emotional ones, but it isn't something that you haven't seen before. You could literally drop the plot of Kamisama Kiss into any other shoujo and it would integrate perfectly! Which says two things. First: Kamisama Kiss is a cookie cutter shoujo show. Second: the shoujo genre needs a revamp....and desperately.
But for all of its shortcomings, Kamisama does deliver some grade A animation and voice acting. Definitely can't complain about the series' art direction--it takes this nostalgic shoujo feel, but is saturated with color, with contrasting designs for the male and female leads. The males are drawn in a classic shoujo way; I love looking at Tomoe and instantly being transported to similar looking series, like Fruits Basket. In comparison Nanami is a very new school design. She isn't a classic kind of beauty that you would find in romance anime/manga--she looks very animated and cartoonish, instead of beautiful painting. It speaks volumes of her characters: loud and young. Her design constantly reminds the audience that Nanami might be a land god but she's just a high school freshmen; far from wise and matured heroine.The voice acting in Kamisama Kiss is all around awesome. I usually don't watch my anime in dubs, I just prefer my subs--but the english voice cast for Kamisama Kiss is well rounded and does a great job in bringing life to their characters. I wouldn't say the english cast brings the same vibe to the characters that the Japanese cast does--but it hits a lot of the same notes. If you were to listen to Tomoe in English and in Japanese you would know which character this was speaking. Though a small character (if you can even call her that) that does a great job, and really impressed me each time, was the episode introduction lady. She was hysterical! I feel like she had the best understanding of what was being asked of her, and she matches her Japanese counter part perfectly.
The Verdict?
That being said, for as standard as Kamisama Kiss IS...it is not a terrible show. It's a good watch, definitely entertaining, and if you're into romantic comedies with a dash of fantasy, then Kamisama Kiss is the series for you. I really did enjoy the show, particularly the second season, because of the character development and some of the plot moving forward. If the character stayed the same, I would have jumped ship a while ago. Is Kamisama Kiss worth the price tag of $48---yes. Given the entertainment value, and the features you get with the blu ray set, it isn't a bad price.Over all, Kamisama Kiss is worth the cash and the time to watch if you like romantic shoujos.