Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens
I picked up Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens recently...
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens is an interesting show, but, judging by the distributor's actions, it seems as if the distributor doesn't have faith in the success of Kannagi. Most anime distributors are very happy to promote their new titles, but, Kannagi is unusual in that it arrived in the U.S. without a formal announcement from its distributor, Bandai.
Because of it's unusual distribution scheme, Kannagi had to be ordered, it will not be available in my local video store. There were a handful of items that I wanted to order, so, I added Kannagi to the order and a couple of weeks later, it arrived. There was nothing spectacular about the packaging or special features. And, given the distributor's lack of interest, I could only hope that Kannagi might not be a disappointment.
The animation quality is very good, but, since the series is a somewhat of a slice-of-life type drama, there really aren't any jaw-dropping special effects to drool over. The look and feel of the series is quite understated and ordinary. The "impurities" are just black silhouettes and don't always appear very convincing. There is some humor in the series, but, for the most part, the story is a character-driven drama.
Although, there isn't much in the way of eye candy, Kannagi turned out to be a fairly entertaining and engaging series. Even though, it'll have to be ordered, and the series may not appeal to everyone, I highly recommend the series.
It seems like an interesting show... Which makes the distributor's actions somewhat puzzling. Most anime distributors are very happy to promote their new titles, but, Kannagi is unusual in that it arrived in the U.S. without a formal announcement from its distributor, Bandai. On July 16th, 2009, AnimeNation reported:The goddess Nagi has arrived and wants you to worship her!
Nagi is the local deity spirit of the town of Kannagi and she was able to take a physical form when Jin Mikuriya carved a wooden statue of her out of a block of wood from the sacred tree of his family shrine. Nagi's mission is to cleanse the impurities that plague the land, but since her sacred tree has been cut down, she can only do this with Jin's help.
While pursuing an impurity, Nagi is reunited with her sister, Zange, who happens to have converted to Catholicism. Zange's power is greater than Nagi's due to her scared tree still being in tact and becoming a local celebrity taking confessions on the street at night. The only way for Nagi to regain her power is to gather her own followers and gain popularity.
In lieu of an acquisition announcement, Bandai Entertainment has simply released the first DVD volume of the Kannagi ~Crazy Shrine Maidens~ anime television series today. The subtitled only release contains 7 episodes plus a non-credit opening and episode 7 non-credit ending. The second DVD volume, containing the second half of the 14 episode series, will be released on September 24.The next day, Bandai explained its actions:
Bandai Entertainment President Ken Iyadomi has explained the rationale behind the sudden and unanticipated American commercial release of the Kannagi TV series. "North American anime companies have suffered unexpected heavy returns from general market retailers in recent years but if we can sell moderate quantities exclusively online where no sales returns exist, I believe we can acquire more anime for the US market to be released in this pattern," he said. The first domestic DVD volume of Kannagi is available directly from Bandai, and one online retailer.
Update
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens is an interesting show, but, judging by the distributor's actions, it seems as if the distributor doesn't have faith in the success of Kannagi. Most anime distributors are very happy to promote their new titles, but, Kannagi is unusual in that it arrived in the U.S. without a formal announcement from its distributor, Bandai.Because of it's unusual distribution scheme, Kannagi had to be ordered, it will not be available in my local video store. There were a handful of items that I wanted to order, so, I added Kannagi to the order and a couple of weeks later, it arrived. There was nothing spectacular about the packaging or special features. And, given the distributor's lack of interest, I could only hope that Kannagi might not be a disappointment.
The animation quality is very good, but, since the series is a somewhat of a slice-of-life type drama, there really aren't any jaw-dropping special effects to drool over. The look and feel of the series is quite understated and ordinary. The "impurities" are just black silhouettes and don't always appear very convincing. There is some humor in the series, but, for the most part, the story is a character-driven drama.
Although, there isn't much in the way of eye candy, Kannagi turned out to be a fairly entertaining and engaging series. Even though, it'll have to be ordered, and the series may not appeal to everyone, I highly recommend the series.
