Kamisama no Memochou MAL Review

Originally discovered this anime thanks to Kyosuke_Kosaka's recommendation for 'similar anime to Sakurako,' which ya'll know I love. This series DID NOT DISAPPOINT. TLDR: The cast of Kamisama is well rounded, characters with more depth than Sakurako's, and the ending leaves you feeling quite satisfied - no loose ends or plot holes.

Now onto the nitty gritty for anyone who might be entertained by my fan girling:

OMG the character depth! In the beginning, we're introduced to various support characters and a large cast, but we gradually get more tidbits of their own lives and personalities with every episode. There's so much humor in their dialogue that I'm really not sure how this is missing the comedy tag. I think the creators deliberately paced everything slowly so that the audience wouldn't be overwhelmed with the details - especially while solving detective cases. 

I wasn't sure if I was going to like Narumi going in, because it's a (sadly) common trope to have a male lead 

a) "ordinary guy," with no special skills

b) fetishization or excessive romanticization of the females around him

c) no personality, no growth or character development

d) all the above = see 'harem' animes

Given the rise in popularity of such unattractive characters nowadays, I honestly thought Narumi was gonna be one of those 4, and if so, I'd probably drop the series. 

But I was blown away. I was wrong. I was IMPRESSED. 

Narumi seems pretty clueless and not exactly the most opininated person at the start. And his growth could be categorized as more reactive than proactive. But don't doubt it - it increases after each case, and soon enough. He learns to use his voice, his brain, and most importantly, his physical strength. As a woman, I gotta admit, I feel like Narumi became a real man over the course of the series, and there's nothing more attractive than that. His character arc reminded me of Zuko from ATLA, that's how good the transformation was - albeit ATLA's being much longer and more significant. 

I'd even say that I liked Narumi as much as I liked Alice. Possibly even more than Alice, which typically doesn't happen when I watch shows with strong female protagonists. Narumi just felt like a 'real person' with human habits and emotions, and we see detective cases differently, precisely because of how human - and empathetic - he is towards others. His presence becomes the 'why' behind 'why are we doing this?', 'why do we care?', 'Why should we care?'.

Because HE begins to care and show that he gives a damn about the people they're trying to help. 

The other thing I really like about Narumi is that even though there's light fan service moments, he doesn't notice, or take advantage of them. Compared to most anime out there, it's refreshing and practically record-breaking. It's just really positive and respectful towards female watchers imo, as if... the studio has (gasp) women working in it too! This is the primary reason why I think this anime is much better than Sakurako. It actually stays focused on the storyline. There's no excessive romance distracting the audience from the real plot. And the female characters who are presented, are far from one dimensional.

The pacing could've been a little faster, but after completing the series, I can see why they wanted to spend time on just a few cases. For them, it seemed more about quality than quantity. And giving more time to each case meant the studio, and writers, likely had greater flexibility in making each plot richer - it's fantastically done. It's because it's so well done, that I know I could've kept watching this series for a long time. I would've been happy if there were 2 - 5 seasons, so it's a little disappointing we only got 12 episodes.

But, despite that, the last episode is definitely what made me give them a 10. Unexpected case details, depth, and satisfying communication between all the characters to wrap it all up. It left me feeling very fulfilled. I'm really glad and grateful to have watched such a powerful and meaningful series, and highly recommend it to others too!


The original review on MAL: View here

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