Kamisama Kiss (神様はじめました) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Julietta Suzuki. It was serialized in Hakusensha's manga magazine Hana to Yume from February 2008 to May 2016, with the chapters collected in 25 volumes. 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 and released on home video by Crunchyroll in North America. A second season was announced and premiered during January 2015.

Plot

Nanami Momozono dreams of living an average school life just like any other high school girl does. Instead, she must cope with the fact that her father, who is a constant gambler, has accumulated a bunch of gambling debts in her name. As she can't afford to pay the rent, she gets kicked out of her apartment by the debt collectors and is now homeless. Despite this unfortunate turn of events, she still maintains a kind heart. While sitting on a park bench collecting her thoughts, Nanami meets a strange man hanging from a tree because he is being chased by a dog. After saving him from the dog, she learns that the man's name is Mikage. Upon learning about Nanami's current situation, in a perfect example of how good deeds are rewarded, he gives her his home as a token of his gratitude. 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 being greeted by Onikiri and Kotetsu, who are the keepers of the shrine, she meets Tomoe, Mikage's familiar, and she learns that Mikage used to be the Land God of the shrine and has bestowed upon her his mark on her forehead so that she may be the new God. At first, Nanami is reluctant, but as she lives with Tomoe, Onikiri, and Kotetsu she begins to understand and works hard in her new position as the Land God. 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

Main characters

Yokai

Deities

Other characters

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Julietta Suzuki, Kamisama Kiss was serialized in the semi-monthly manga magazine Hana to Yume from February 20, 2008, to May 20, 2016. The 149 individual chapters were later collected and published in 25 volumes by Hakusensha, released between September 19, 2008, and August 19, 2016. North American publisher Viz Media licensed the English language distributions rights at the 2009 New York Anime Festival.

Volumes

Anime

An anime television series adaptation of Kamisama Kiss was produced by TMS Entertainment and directed by Akitaro Daichi. It ran from October 1, 2012, to December 24, 2012, on TV Tokyo. The anime has been licensed for streaming and home video by Funimation (later renamed Crunchyroll LLC). The series ended at around the 30th chapter of the manga volume. The opening theme is "Kamisama Hajimemashita" (神様はじめました) and the ending theme "Kamisama Onegai" (神様お願), both performed by Hanae. There are two OVA episodes, which first aired on August 26, 2013, bundled with the 16th volume of the manga. One of the included episodes is based on the story from the 15th volume, while the other contains an all-new original story. The 17th issue of Hakusensha's Hana to Yume magazine announced in August 2014 that the manga series inspired a second anime season, which began airing on January 5, 2015. The opening theme is "Kamisama no Kamisama" (神様の神様) and the ending theme "Ototoi Oide" (おとといおいで), both once again performed by Hanae. A four-part original animation DVD (OAD) known as "Kako-hen" (過去篇) began airing on August 20, 2015, and is based on the "past arc" of the series, spanning from the 14th through 17th volumes of the manga series. The story follows Nanami as she goes back in time to find a cure for Tomoe's curse which he had placed on himself so he could become human and live out his life with Yukiji. A new OAD, previously announced as Kamisama, Kekkon Zenya, released as Kamisama, Shiawase ni Naru was bundled with the Kamisama Hajimemashita 25.5 official fanbook on December 20, 2016.

Musical

A stage musical adaptation titled Kamisama Hajimemashita: The Musical ran from March 21 to March 29, 2015 in Japan. The musical stars Saki Terashima as Nanami, Ren Yagami as Tomoe, Keisuke Minami as Kurama, and Shōta Takazaki as Mizuki. Additional cast members include Mao Katō as Onikiri, Keita Tokushiro and Hiroki Takaoka double-cast as Kotetsu, and Juria Kawakami as Narukami. Akira Ishida made a cameo reprising his role as Mikage in voice. The musical had a re-run in 2016, with Yūta Higuchi re-cast as Mizuki, LinQ member Yūmi Takaki re-cast as Kotetsu, and Makoto Okunaka re-cast as Narukami.

Reception

Jacob Chapman of Anime News Network describes Kamisama Kiss as a 50/50 cross between Inuyasha and Fruits Basket. The manga had five million copies in print as of March 2016.