Kamisama Dolls: Complete Collection – Review

The Summer 2013 line up soon to open its doors so it is great to see Sentai rolling out blu-ray series of anime from Summer 2011 that I haven’t seen yet. Kamisama Dolls as a series might take place in modern Tokyo, but the added twist of a power struggle in an ancient village that uses giant living dolls as weapons, makes the setting and story all the more intriguing. The series constantly brings up questions about the nature of the village, it’s dark ways, and how all the villagers get drawn into this giant chaotic mess.

One of the great things about the show is that it succeeded on so many levels. Kyouhei has a crush on a girl called Hibino Shiba who’s also a student in the same college that Kyouhei goes to, after that incident with Aki, Utao did save her brother but made a mess since she’s not mastering her kakashi (Kukuri) yet. After that, Hibino came to Kyouhei’s place and asked him to stay at her house along with her father, it was her father suggestion, who he was from the same village, the Karakami village and the elders asked him to take care of Kyouhei and Utao. So, eventually Hibino knew about the kakashis and the discreet Karakami village. It was messy at first but you gradually get the idea after a few watching. The complex character driven story of this anime can be compared to Durarara’s style of story presentation.

I did like the fights. Plus the scenes revolving around those fights between the characters was good, too. I just wish I knew more about why the characters were doing what they were doing. It seemed as if they just had the characters doing whatever was convenient for the plot at the time. And this got me thinking, how awesome would it be if an anime had the testicular fortitude to actually kill the main character in the first episode, or maybe even half way through when your kind of attached to the main character in a way. Without spoiling anything, to be 101% honest it wasn’t what i expected. Although what I did find instead was a great anime with some very subtle character plots which help us all see the DEEP love and hatred of which any one can have from there name or place of birth.

This series does indeed start off slow but after the 2nd episode things pick up rapidly and the cast and characters grow on you. In the end, Kamisama Dolls was simply aiming to create a solid setting to bring all the characters together, as well as racket up the intrigue. Rather than try and be any one thing, this is a series that doesn’t limit itself whatsoever – it’s a big story with big ideas and big ambitions, and it isn’t afraid to do anything and go anywhere. The opening, “Fukanzen Nenshou” by Chiaki Ishikawa, is a great opening. It captured the anime’s appeal and reflects its entire genre. The song has a nice beat to it and Chiaki’s voice stands out pretty nicely. The other characters are scarcely worth mentioning, which might be this series major downfall, but if you’re in the market for a violent character study, this series is for you.