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Medium: TV Anime
Number of episodes: 13
Genres: Humor, Romance
Director: Yutaka Yamamoto
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Version reviewed: Anime News Network video stream (also available in Bandai Ent. box set)
Release date: October 4 thru December 27, 2008 (JPN), July 16, 2009 (NA)
Rated: Unrated (appropriate for 13+)
To be entirely honest, I was not the least bit excited about watching Kannagi. It was one of three choices provided to me through the Reverse Thieves' "Anime Secret Santa" project, the other two being Air and True Tears, but seeing as I am generally not a fan of the "moé" subculture of anime fandom, I was not expecting to enjoy this series.
And would you look at that! I didn't.
The plot, laid out by Hideyuki Kurata (Now and Then, Here and There, Read or Die) follows our mostly cookie-cutter protagonist Jin Mikuriya, who is living alone while his parents are away on a business trip. On the day that he completes his wooden carving of a local goddess, the statue breaks apart, revealing a teenage girl inside! The petulant girl explains that she is Nagi, the goddess that Jin was carving a likeness of. Naturally, she ends up staying with Jin, pretending to be his "long lost sister" to explain it to friends. (Can you count the clichés?) As the story drags on, the cast is filled out with Jin's art club friends (the otaku Akiba and the shy, tall Daitetsu), childhood friend Tsugumi (who has a crush on Jin), and Nagi's goddess sister "Zange-chan" (who – surprise surprise! – also likes Jin).
So how about the conflict? What drives these characters to do what they do, and keeps the viewer interested enough to move from episode to episode? Well, nothing! The first few episodes feature Nagi and Jin trying to capture and destroy "impurities," evil spirits (or something like that) in the shape of black insects. What are the impurities and why does Nagi need to destroy them? It's not really explained, but the show sure does make a big deal about these things at the beginning.
Later the show focuses on Nagi and Zange trying to outdo each other at being teenage idols. The reason for that conflict is weak as well, with the only explanation being that the two need to gain followers to increase their powers as goddesses. Curiously, though, their "powers" never seem to manifest into anything remotely useful. This arc in particular highlights the show's obsession with the otaku subculture, especially its uncomfortable tendency to pander to its audience at every single turn with teen idols, magical girls, and maid cafés.
The middle of Kannagi forgets about BOTH of these conflicts and lapses into pure comedy, with a few episodes about Nagi locking herself in a closet, a karaoke trip, and other silliness. Here the show really shines, as it takes its very simple, one-dimensional cast and uses their comedic strengths – much like 2006's enjoyable The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – to pull off some surprisingly funny scenes.
Finally, it all comes back to a dramatic trio of episodes at the end that seems like a half-hearted attempt to transform the characters of the previous ten episodes into real human beings that the audience should care about. However, when Kannagi's excuse for character introduction is a girl listing off the archetypes that each character fits into, it's only natural that an attempt at real development meets with some massive cognitive dissonance. A few moments in the final episode or two might provoke some real emotion, but mostly you will just want to punch Jin for turning into Shinji Ikari at the last moment.
The biggest central conflict that Kannagi has going for it is the romantic relationship developing between Jin and Nagi, but it falls flat in this as well. Unlike Haruhi Suzumiya (also directed by Yutaka Yamamoto), which had a similarly subdued romantic conflict between a deadpan guy and an impatient, immature girl, Kannagi doesn't have a romantic payoff (the kiss scene in Haruhi). Admittedly this is because Kannagi is based on a manga that has not finished, and the show was intended to have a second season, so it is hard to fault the folks at A-1 Pictures for the weakness in the narrative. However, it undoubtedly weakens the first (and only) season as a stand-alone show.
With all of this negative talk, you might think that I hated everything about Kannagi, but that is certainly not the case. The animation, for one, is beautiful, and it is clear that animating the character's movements – Nagi's in particular – got a lot of focus from the team. The show might not look as beautiful as Haruhi, which was particularly noticeable for its stellar animation, but it's one of the closest things you can find out there in terms of both animation and art direction.
Oddly enough, the background music at the beginning is impressive, using a lot of interesting electronic instrumentation rarely found in anime background music, but later episodes cut back on the use of Satoru Kousaki's fascinating, emotive music in favor of uninspired instrumental versions of the opening and ending themes.
Despite its technical high points, when it comes down to it Kannagi is a waste of time. The show features characters defined only by the archetypes they fit into, but instead of consistently using this potential weakness to the show's comedic benefit, Kurata spends an inordinate amount of time on poorly executed drama and an unsatisfying romantic plot. Still, the most pressing issue that I have with Kannagi is that it simply has nothing to say. At the end of the experience, I was left with only a feeling of, "well yes, that happened." A goddess moved in with a boy, they did some silly stuff that sometimes made me laugh, and they both sort of like each other. Behind all of the big-eyed teenage girls and the half-baked attempts at romantic comedy, Kannagi has no substance, and that is ultimately its greatest failure.
weak.
3 comments:
Although I'm a big fan of Kannagi (read the manga, and Nagi is one of my favorite anime characters), I can understand some of the issues you had with it. It's very much a character-driven show, like Lucky Star and Azumanga Daioh, where the plot, if any, is often pushed into the background in favor of simply watching the characters interact and having their personalities bounce off each other. But unlike those two, Kannagi isn't a plot-less comedy and it has supernatural and drama elements. I'll admit that the plot is rather slow-moving and ambiguous; the main conflict in the manga now is figuring out exactly what Nagi is (a god or not) and what the impurities are. As far as the manga has gone, a little more has been revealed, but not too much. The main focus is the characters and Takenashi (the manga-ka) sometimes puts the main plot on hold for a while to focus on dramatic or comedic moments between the characters. Your enjoyment of the series boils down to whether you like the character interactions or not.
I'll also admit that Kannagi has cliches in it. I've noticed on your MAL account that you prefer very artistically-driven, non-cliche anime like Ghibli or Shinkai films. But the majority of TV anime, while they can have artistic merit, are created to be entertaining to fans first and foremost. Therefore, cliches abound in most, but how they execute these cliches can determine whether they're good or bad. Naruto and One Piece are laden with shonen cliches, but they execute them damn well, which is why they're so popular. I can point to a number of things in Kannagi (and my other favorite anime) that I've seen elsewhere, but if they execute these cliches in a refreshing way, which I feel Kannagi does compared to other similar anime I've seen, they can be very enjoyable.
I actually don't think Jin is a "cookie-cutter" protagonist. Most male leads in moe/harem shows are submissive, hapless dopes who let all the girls around them do whatever they want. Jin is one of the only ones I've seen who adamantly confronts Nagi about who she is and what she's hiding from him. In a later part of the manga, it's revealed that Jin has an interesting history with Daitetsu, and his father too (he wasn't very nice to Tsugumi back in the day either).
Saying Kannagi has "no substance" is a bit extreme. Its substance is interactions and relationships between its characters, sometimes funny and sometimes dramatic, amidst a still-developing supernatural plot that the characters themselves have yet to solve all the mysterious to. It's meant to be fun and entertaining for its target audience and not extremely unique or intellectually stimulating. It has substance, it just isn't your taste (to each their own).
Anyway, I commend you for getting through Kannagi on time even though you prefer the intellectual, artistic anime titles. You can take a look at my review of Kannagi if you're interested in a different opinion.
One more thing, are you still going to write your thoughts/definition of moe? I'm interested in reading that when you get it done.
Merry Chirstmas!
Well know this much. No matter what Air and True Tears would have made you pray for death in ways that Kannagi could not even dream of.
I think that I enjoyed the fluffy nature of Kannagi. I found the jokes amusing and I really liked Nagi mostly because I do a lot of the odd things she does as well. I often make odd jokes to my self. I also really liked the rest of Jin's art club. I think I was alone in not really liking Zange.
Well if nothing else you gave the show a fair shake and a fair review. I must applaud you on that. Are you going to go deeper in the beast and watch a Key anime? Or maybe watch True Tears? That is the next step into the darkness.
Also I have liked Eri Takenashi back when she used to write for Type-Moon but I only when her connection after I finished the series. But when I saw that I instantly knew why I liked her humor in the manga and how it was adapted in the anime.
@Yumeka: Wow, that's quite a response! On the subject of the character relationships, I did not dislike all of them. A few of the side characters were pretty funny, which is why I pointed out the middle few episodes as the ones that I really enjoyed. They were funny without trying to shoehorn a dramatic plot where there didn't need to be one. If I was willing to write a really long essay about Kannagi I would have mentioned that Daitetsu is a really funny character, and probably my favorite in the show.
"Cookie-cutter" was a bit of a harsh descriptor, which is why I said "mostly cookie-cutter" in the review. Yes, he is more forceful than the average harem character, but like them, he has almost no discernible personality. Honestly, trying to describe him without bringing up his relationships to other characters or how he looks leaves you with pretty much one descriptor: "He's a nice guy."
Yes, clichés are used all the time in TV anime, but when they are as ham-fisted as they are in this show, they fail to stimulate me. The show is so steeped in clichés that it's nearly forgettable when placed up against all of the other shows just like it.
When I say that the show has "no substance," I mean that it has nothing to say. The final paragraph of my review sums it up: "At the end of the experience, I was left with only a feeling of, 'well yes, that happened.'" That would have been fine if it had aimed for comedy nonstop (after all, Seinfeld is a comedy show that is literally about nothing), but it also has quite a few attempts at drama. You can't make good drama when there's no substance there.
Merry Christmas to you too. (And yes, I'm working on that post. But it requires me to watch a bunch of moé before I can actually write it.)
@Hisui: Yeah, Jin's art club was one of the only entertaining parts of the show for me. And you're the ONLY person who didn't like Zange? Don't worry, you've got two in that club now.
Yes, I will probably watch some key or True Tears or something, because I've got a plan for an article that requires me to work my way into the deepest heart of the moé monster.
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