Snapshot: Kannagi - 01 October 4
OP Sequence:
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OP: “motto☆Hade ni ne!” 「motto☆派手にね！」 by Tomatsu Haruka (戸松 遥)
Watch the OP!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Show Streaming ▼
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ED Sequence:
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ED: “Musuhi no Toki” 「産巣日の時」 by Tomatsu Haruka (戸松 遥)
Watch the ED!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Show Streaming ▼
「神籬の娘」 (Himorogi no Musume)
“Sacred Shrine Girl”
First Glance:
From a statue carved out of a sacred tree’s wood comes the blue-haired goddess Nagi bursting to life in Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens. Starring Tomatsu Haruka (Lala in To LOVE-Ru) as the cute, demanding, and sometimes violent Nagi, and Shimono Hiro (Hirono Hiro in ef - a tale of memories.) as the high school arts club member Mikuriya Jin who has to put up with her, I was blown away by how captivating the characters are in this series. For a premiere episode that revolved around just two of them in what looks like a really bad broadcast, I found myself watching intently and laughing helplessly at all the timely comedic pauses, which I can’t say enough good things about.
Despite Hiro’s more serious role in ef, I still find that he’s much better suited for comedic ones like Touhouin Ikuto in Nagasarete Airantou and Karino Tadashi in Special A, which Kannagi re-emphasizes. Haruka on the other hand I absolutely love after watching To LOVE-Ru and hearing the range she has, so I couldn’t imagine anyone better being cast for Nagi — she’s just so adorable. On that note, I love the opening song she performs for the series, which goes along really well with the awesome dance and comedic scenes in the opening sequence. As Omni mentioned in his Fall Preview, Yamamoto Yutaka is directing this series — the mastermind behind the insanely popular Hare Hare Yukai and Motteki Sailor Fuku dances — which explains the dance in the opening. As such, I wouldn’t be surprised if we started seeing some live renditions of the “motto☆Hade ni ne!” (Be More Showy!) dance popping up on the Internet soon. In any case, with Yutaka as director, I have high hopes for the comedic value of Kannagi, which left a good taste in my mouth after the first episode. As for the ending song, Haruka also performs the more ballad-like theme there, which should go to show the range she has not only in voice acting but singing ability as well.
In terms of story, the introductory episode didn’t really reveal much other than how Jin inadvertently summoned Nagi, the guardian deity of the area, when he made a statue out of a piece of wood from her sacred tree. While Jin wasn’t the one that cut the tree down, Nagi’s not happy about it when she finds out. With the tree gone, impurities start to spread, so Nagi enlists the help of Jin to clean the place up because he seems unphased by them. Inspired after watching some magical girl anime on television, Nagi actually makes her own wand for this purpose, leaving Jin at a lost for words. Since the primary focus of the series seems to be comedy, I don’t imagine that they need much more than that to drive the plot. Kannagi just resonates a lot of fun right now, so I’m really looking forward to the next episode where we should meet more of the other characters. With a pretty high profile cast that includes some of my favorites — Sawashiro Miyuki, Hanazawa Kana, Nakahara Mai — this series can turn out to be quite a riot. I’m disappointed that it’s not produced in high-def and that the poor broadcast didn’t help any, but I’m more than willing to overlook that due to the amiable character and amusing antics (her shirt says “Shameless” 「羞恥心」 on it) I’ve seen thus far.
With Tomatsu Haruka starring in Kemeko Deluxe! on Saturdays as well (which I’ll have a Snapshot up about later today), I get the feeling I’m going to end up watching both series. Last but not least, don’t forget to watch the opening!
Notable Cast:
- Nagi (ナギ) : Tomatsu Haruka (戸松 遥)
- Mikuriya Jin (御厨 仁) : Shimono Hiro (下野 紘)
- Aoba Tsugumi (青葉 つぐみ) : Sawashiro Miyuki (沢城 みゆき)
- Zange-chan (ざんげちゃん) & Suzushiro Hakua (涼城 白亜) : Hanazawa Kana (花澤 香菜)
- Hibiki Daitetsu (響 大鉄) : Hoshino Takanori (星野 貴紀)
- Akiba Meguru (秋葉 巡) : Kakihara Tetsuya (柿原 徹也)
- Kimura Takako (木村 貴子) : Hayamizu Risa (早水 リサ)
- Ookouchi Shino (大河内 紫乃) : Nakahara Mai (中原 麻衣)
Chimasternmay at 8:41 pm on October 4th, 2008
some unwanted naked scene, but lots of wanted Negi, so gonna watch this
Chimasternmay at 8:45 pm on October 4th, 2008
Oh about the opening, i love these kinda opening where the character moves a lot, Rosario has a little but didn’t show much. as for end im sticking with the Toradora end for now as my fav.
Exia at 8:46 pm on October 4th, 2008
u mean nagi, not onion right.
Chimasternmay at 8:47 pm on October 4th, 2008
yea..
Chicle at 8:50 pm on October 4th, 2008
Hiro is best at comedic roles, hands down. Like with sketchbook, too.
I was so giddy when I recognized his voice as Almaz in Disgaea 3.
Also, this series is on my list of shows to watch. Thanks for reminding me that it’s out today.
Riah at 8:51 pm on October 4th, 2008
……do no want.
AznCoffee at 9:13 pm on October 4th, 2008
The opening was “wow”.
*adds to watch list*
hmm… but I don’t like how the main character’s named Nagi too…
the only Nagi I was to come up when I google “Nagi” is Senzenin Nagi…
Westlo at 9:25 pm on October 4th, 2008
Zange-chan > Nagi, you’ll see…..
Hister at 9:37 pm on October 4th, 2008
Se ve bien, agregado a la lista de descargas futuras
lunchbox at 9:38 pm on October 4th, 2008
Tomatsu Haruka <333
Nazarielle at 9:42 pm on October 4th, 2008
So it was Nagi’s seiyuu who sang the opening song? I thought so, but I wasn’t sure. At first I wasn’t sure I liked it but as the song went on I started to really love it. I was kinda sad though that the song that was in the PV for Kannagi wasn’t the OP or ED for it, in fact I didn’t hear it in the episode at all
Anyway, I just hope they move on from silly panty jokes. :p
Jin at 9:49 pm on October 4th, 2008
I haven’t read the manga but the first episode was so amusing I just have to look it up now. Can’t wait to see what happens in the next episode.
zeromax at 9:56 pm on October 4th, 2008
Epic OP, one of my favourite so far (together w/ R+V Capu2)
Kaitune at 10:15 pm on October 4th, 2008
Yay for male fanservice! (sarcastically)
The screen caps look pretty bad, hopefully it is only because of the broadcasting and the actual production looks better than that. However, since it sounds like a lot of fun, I would surely check the first episode out.
Jayers at 10:49 pm on October 4th, 2008
That girl has my hairstyle O_O except it’s light blue and longer….
A Anime Loving Republican at 11:12 pm on October 4th, 2008
Mahou Shojo shows, A great motivator!
calde at 11:45 pm on October 4th, 2008
Looks quite good. It’s like, Luckey Star meets Wagaya No Oinari Sama.
This show definitely needs better encording though.
Irie at 12:02 am on October 5th, 2008
This will have a bit of a harem feel to it. When the other characters are introduced there will be some jealously going on. It’s a fun story with far more comedy than romance. At least as far as the manga goes.
BROOKLYN otaku at 12:40 am on October 5th, 2008
gotta love a shrine girl’s haircut CAAA-UTE!
tau-tau at 1:53 am on October 5th, 2008
Yet another show I’ll follow
This season is definitely keeping me interested a lot more than Spring ‘08.
…I have to chuckle at the T-shirt that reads 羞恥心