Kamisama ni Natta Hi

Dressed in a conspicuous outfit and armed with an eccentric spirit, Hina Satou goes around insisting that she is the Asgardian god "Odin." When she crosses paths with a boy named Youta Narukami, she uses her precognition abilities to warn him about an impending catastrophe threatening the end of the world. But being a teenager preoccupied with his problems, Youta finds it hard to believe such a preposterous claim.

Somehow forced to tag along with her antics, he witnesses the effectiveness of Hina's skills with his own eyes and realizes that she truly is capable of divination. Nevertheless, despite her persistence in being a god, Hina is still a child who desires to see and experience the wonders life has to offer. With the world ending in 30 days, Hina, Youta, and their friends venture forward to create lasting memories they will cherish forever.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Narukami, Youta Main

Hanae, Natsuki Japanese

Satou, Hina Main

Sakura, Ayane Japanese

Takajou, Joujirou Supporting

Mizushima, Daichuu Japanese

Izanami, Kyouko Supporting

Ishikawa, Yui Japanese

Narukami, Sora Supporting

Kuwahara, Yuuki Japanese

Suzuki, Hiroto Supporting

Shigematsu, Chiharu Japanese

Jinguuji, Hikari Supporting

Terui, Haruka Japanese

Kokuhou, Ashura Supporting

Kimura, Ryouhei Japanese

Tengan, Kako Supporting

Shimamura, Yuu Japanese

Narukami, Daichi Supporting

Shingaki, Tarusuke Japanese

Toba, Yousuke Producer

Yamamoto, Akira Producer

Asai, Yoshiyuki Director

Iida, Satoki Sound Director

Reviews

Dec 26, 2020

RiriHitosuyanagi

Recommended

"Tis pointless. We mean there is no point to you studying. The world shall end in 30 days." - Hina Satou

First of all, I'm surprised about what Hina said about the apocalypse of the world, but what could it be? Could it be a zombie invasion or could it be a nuclear fallout? Nope! There's nothing like that will happen in the anime, but what Hina announced is very mysterious!

But is it really true that the world will end in 30 days? After Hina's prediction of the weather changes and the horse racing outcomes, everything is confirmed to be true. But I feel like it's ... too coincidence to be true. If she has checked the weather report and the power level of the horse racer before she meets Youta, that will make sense. But still, her prediction ability is too mysterious to be true. Throughout the series, the story of the anime doesn't get serious until later at about mid-season. Around that you'll find the truth to Hina's Godly powers and her announcement about the apocalypse of the world. And since the anime is original, each episodes has several theories of predicting what will happen in later episodes.

For the characters, Youta is your average high school student. He later encountered Hina who declares herself as Odin-sama. Hina is a very cheerful female MC but gets frustrated whenever someone doesn't recognized her as a Goddess or someone has Godly name which is better than her current name, Hina Satou.

Also there's Izanami, who is very beautiful and also a quiet one. Youta has a crush on her and with the power of Hina's prediction ability, he tries hard to win Izanami's heart. But it all ended in a failure and got rejected. Despite that, he will never give up.

If you watched Charlotte before, Nao Tomori's VA, Ayane Sakura is also voicing Hina Satou which is great and perfect for Hina's cheerful personality. The OP song will make us feel happy when listening to it, while the ED song has a lyrics that give a lot of meaning for the entire anime. Not to mention, the anime is really colorful and shining too, especially the OP and ED of the anime. The character designs are also really nice, they really did a great job at designing Hina and Izanami.

If you know the pattern of Angel Beats and Charlotte, Jun Maeda starts their anime in comedy first before we enter a serious plot. Expect some laugh at the early series of the anime.

Just as I expected. When I heard that Jun Maeda is going to create the saddest anime of all. It was really true. To be honest, I nearly cried at the beautiful ending and also the music at the end of the anime. Probably one of the best episode I ever watched. If you're looking for a tearjerker anime, then this anime will be good for you. Have a good cry everyone!

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Dec 26, 2020

An1meDweeb

Mixed Feelings

Coming out from "Kamisama ni Natta Hi" (KS) with questions is par for the course. How on earth does an original Key anime, helmed by none other than Jun Maeda himself, struggle to barely crack the Top 10 for Fall seasonals on MAL? How did a promising premise from a strong first episode morph into a completely different show in its second week? Also, why was I OK with that? Also also, when did I stop being OK with the narrative?
What in god's name is going on?
If you're looking for answers, you've come to a terrible place; but I'll do my best to give my ... take on all the above points and more. This review contains mild spoilers, so feel free to skip ahead to my Tl;Dr if you'd like to go in blind.

"What happens when you have both the power of god and anime on your side?" KS introduces the audience to Hina, an odd girl dressed like a nun. She approaches the unassuming protagonist, Youta, and nags him to let her crash at his place (this isn't a sus thing, I promise.) You see, Hina claims to be a god capable of predicting future events, and has foreseen that she'll be staying over at Youta's for the time being. Obviously our baffled MC has no reason to believe her audacious claims, but several demonstrations of her divine abilities force him to accept the improbable: that the mysterious Hina really is a god, and that she's offering to act as his personal genie during her stay. But there is a catch: in 30 days, the world ends. It's a great hook to kick off a series, one with limitless potential. Youta is allowed to live life in any way he chooses, with no consequences. And as a title card counted us off towards the impending apocalypse, I was left with several questions. What will Youta do with this power, and what adventures will he end up on? How exactly does the world end? Just who is Hina anyway? What would happen next?

The answer? ...Nothing much, really. KS' second episode, in stark contrast with the ambitious series pilot, goes as far as to sideline Hina and spend 15 minutes doing budget parodies of '90s Hollywood blockbusters. KS only kept up this trend in the coming weeks, putting aside its promising story in exchange for an episodic sitcom. Short asides, featuring a gifted hacker tangled in a mysterious corporate investigation, would serve as the only reminder that KS actually had, y'know, a plot. The Doomsday Clock continued to wind down with every episode, but I'd never feel like KS was headed anywhere.

Though KS didn't pan out the way most audiences would have expected, I was surprised to find out that I was still having a great time. As the kind of critic who finds himself with the bad habit of lamenting over missed storytelling potential, I was uncharacteristically forgiving towards KS' first half. That's because the show still managed to pack some elements that kept things enjoyable from week-to-week. The first idea that seemed interesting was the series' usage of fatalism. The world is coming to an end in 30 days, yet no one in the cast seems to care. There's something pretty funny about Youta encountering a deity, only for him to continue spending his summer in the most vanilla way possible - studying for finals and playing video games. While the characters aren't complex enough to acknowledge these philosophical ideas, I did find this theme amusing all the same. The threat of Armageddon is never depicted as a depressing existential tragedy or anything, but leans towards a somewhat optimistic direction instead. Sure, there are circumstances fated to happen, beyond our control. So let's just focus on making the present the best it can be. Another highlight worth praising is the entertaining comedy. This caught me off guard, given that it wasn't particularly an aspect of the script I was looking forward to. My previous run-ins with Jun Maeda shows involved the borderline sleep-inducing first episode of "Clannad" and the absolutely absurd energy of "Angel Beats." Neither were really to my liking, but KS brings the best of both worlds together for a winning combination. The show walks a fine line between realism and absurdity, with a mildly-heightened reality that snowballs its lunacy to hilarious effect. KS uses Hina's powers to account for some silly contrivances that ensure each episode feels different from the next. Sure, the gags don't make a ton of sense at times and they can often drag throughout an entire episode's runtime. Yet the show makes itself really easy to enjoy, taking inspiration from "Love Is War" through the use of dramatization and pop culture references. Hina and Youta's VAs complement this chaotic energy well, with great line delivery from both.

All these elements set a fittingly fun tone to explore KS' message: the value behind memories. Memories are part-and-parcel of the human experience. Some of them are fun and enjoyable, and those happy moments can bring all sorts of people together. But, as explored in Ep 5^, other memories can be dark and murky, causing pain as they linger in your mind. KS looks at how memories influence our thoughts and motivate us to take action. It's in those bleak places where we need to seek closure and look ahead, clinging to our past while seeking out the future. And in overcoming those obstacles with those we love, we strengthen our bonds and make new memories to look back on. This theme offers an explanation for why the show was willing to forego the big plot teased in the first episode. KS was more concerned about putting together a wild summer filled with adventure, fun and heart. Those days of sun were presented really well, thanks to great work from P.A. Works. The studio hadn't quite topped themselves or anything, but average P.A. visuals still look more stunning than most studios' best works. Na-Ga makes a comeback with KS' character designs, so be sure to look out for those if you're a massive fan of Key instalments. Personally my favorite inclusion to the show was its soundtrack. Nagi Yanagi shines with all her song performances and accompanies the cast on their Summer holidays. As the world neared its end, these friends made great memories, which geared them to face the uncertainty of KS' second half. And here's where things start to fall apart.

KS did deliver some good material in the early stages, but cracks were already beginning to emerge. If I were to summarize KS as a whole, the phrase I'd come up with is "don't worry about it." There's no need for a grand overarching plot that fully utilized Hina's powers, there was no need to worry too much about generating big conflict. It's all about having a good time! It's a chill approach that I could get behind, and didn't turn out all that pointless either. However, a couple of problems persisted, taking this thoughtless construction to an unhealthy extreme. Characters felt largely one-dimensional, and the unnecessarily large ensemble cast made matters worse. Youta is a boring blank slate who's in love with his childhood friend, and has to rely on gimmicky stage-impersonations (ramen connoisseur, "mahjong" prodigy, etc.) to disguise his one-dimensional nature. Not too much I can say about Hina^^, but the other main characters don't fare all that well; given that Izanami and Kokuhou are supposedly Youta's best friends, it never feels like he gets a lot of time with them. Things get sillier when we look at the rest of the ensemble, which feel even more inconsequential. The biggest offender is Miss Tengan, who adds absolutely nothing to the story. All she does is act grumpy and show up for the most asinine of reasons. Sora's entire, like, personality is totally based off, like, how a boomer author thinks pre-teens talk IRL. Oh, and there was this loan shark dude who started off as a bad guy, had his entire character arc take place off-screen, and showed up uninvited and reformed a handful of episodes later. Having the core characters underwritten isn't a huge gripe for me, but seems mildly puzzling given that Maeda is supposedly an expert at tugging the heartstrings. This problem, coupled with the overbearing number of side extras, means that the script has no choice but to give important characters rushed flashbacks that introduce their backstories. Speaking of the script, it follows the aforementioned trend of not really giving a shit. Due to the nature of the first half, there's little in the way of objectives or goals that Youta and the gang need to work towards. Maeda's idiosyncrasies as a writer also means he takes any and every opportunity to elicit an emotional response, at times to the detriment to the story. But eh, subtlety is kinda thrown out the window sometimes. If there's an extreme road to take, you can count on Maeda to stack his chips and go all-in. Suspension of disbelief doesn't really matter, "don't worry about it."

These issues are further exacerbated in KS' second half. The guise of a "turn-your-brain-off" comedy comes apart quicker than one of Youta's silly impersonations, leading me baffled at several of the show's writing choices. As it turns out, the reason why Maeda overstuff KS with cast members is for a big attempt at emotional payoff in its penultimate episode, reinforcing the message of finding strength through good memories. But while thematically sound on-paper, it landed pretty weak within the show, because the characters that shared those moments with Youta didn't create much connection with the audience. Poor pacing made me feel that the show was still spinning on its heels, even in the most vital of moments. The script doesn't go full-"Charlotte", and the final episode manages to stick a somewhat satisfying landing. However, it does find ways to go off the rails in other areas. Hina's powers are far from the dumbest plot contrivances in the show, which Maeda crams in arbitrary conflict and bizarre choices that only serve to further pad the runtime^^^. A couple problems that could be solved with a simple conversation instead are dragged out across 15 minutes, and other obstacles are thrown in a messy way to generate artificial issues that are less tense than confusing. These strange issues distract from what would otherwise be powerful moments on their own right.

Earlier this year a Tweet circulated, claiming that Maeda had penned the "most heart-breaking anime of all time." Props to him for the attempt, but his questionable writing makes me wonder if those emotional beats ever reached their fullest potential. With all this being said, I've decided that the biggest weakness of KS is a lack of direction. Outside of its central theme, audiences don't have much to latch onto other than a mystery box hanging over their heads. Unfortunately the box is opened far too late into the story and forces Maeda into a corner, resulting in poor writing choices that ensures that the entirety of KS is lesser than the sum of its parts.

Tl;Dr:

"Kamisama" is unquestionably at its best when spending its carefree time in the summer. A neat theme about cherishing memories is accompanied with entertaining laughs. While seeing a wasted premise felt somewhat disappointing, this unexpected approach made me curious to see how KS would balance its more emotional elements later on. However, the script by Jun Maeda appears ill-equipped to deal with the storytelling potential teased since Episode 1, favoring to leave aside a majority of its hefty pacing responsibilities to the very end. This "mystery-box" storytelling necessitates weird plot contrivances and limits the places our story could go. Our already-messy script then undergoes more padding, which leaves more questions than answers and distracts from the emotional moments. There's no clear goal throughout the series, and it's a trick that worked… until it didn't. 5/10~

***

STRAY RAMBLINGS (SPOILERS):

- ^Ep 5 is quite easily my favorite episode of the series. The comedy was less balls-to-the-wall, no absurd disguises or whatever, so I really appreciated the relatively lowkey break from all the shenanigans. Which was fitting, given the more serious subject matter. Definitely took some cues from "Kakushigoto" and the infamous "Violet Evergarden" Episode 10. Not that I'm complaining, of course, those were great stories. It proved to be one of the few times KS was capable of balancing its gags with the emotional beats.
- ^^If you've made it this far, I've take it you've made it to at least Ep 9. Last warning. With that out of the way, let's talk Hina. My feelings on her are kinda mixed, and I'm not sure if all I have to say is very constructive, given the subject matter. Please forgive my ignorance if I hit a wrong nerve. First, we're gonna have to address her romantic attraction to Youta. To me, it looked like a clear example of how Maeda was cramming in plot points for the purpose of hitting us in the feels. It was a decision that made zero sense to me and had no buildup before it was brought up. Although, I'm not sure how much of my conclusions are impacted by my biases, given her… less than attractive stature. I've seen enough of the Uzaki-chan debate to be scarred from coming near a similar discussion, so hopefully acknowledging my potential biases will be enough to state my case. The other aspect I wanted to touch on was the portrayal of Hina from Episode 10 and onwards. Logo's Syndrome seems to be a fictional condition, borrowing symptoms from muscle atrophy and mental handicaps. While I'm probably not fit to judge how true-to-life the performance was, I do find the hypothesis posited by Hina's caretaker rather interesting. Memories do make up a big part of our identity, so seeing that realisation dawn on Youta in Ep 11 was pretty impactful.
- ^^^Wow, what a needlessly convoluted script. Please allow me to nitpick away… It started off strong by throwing away the Doomsday clock and skipping ahead past New Years' and Finals. While the pacing felt unpredictable, the joke setup did not, as Suzuki played around as a Hina stand-in for the first half. Suzuki screams less "genius" and more "BVS Lex Luthor," but minus Jesse Eisenberg's chaotic energy. His ploy to force memories onto Youta for no reason other than to callback to prior episodes in a sentimental manner makes zero sense. I get it, the show has this big nihilist theme about futility and predestination or whatnot, but passively accepting a sad outcome doesn't excuse the characters for dragging out this pseudo-intellectual plan for anywhere up to 5 MONTHS. If you wanted to pretend to have friends, there was no need to pull out a 20-step 400-IQ chess move that nearly backfired because your mark was being emo and stupid. The messiness doesn't end there. Apparently all those escapades as a mahjong pro and a ramen critic were mere training for Youta's big mission... getting into a remote hospital. How is it that he's able to just wear a key card and waltz his way into disguises wherever he goes? If you're not gonna make him put in effort to conceal his identity, why make it happen in the first place? Apparently HIna's rehabilitating after her brain surgery, which left her with a light scalp of hair and a sudden fear of men. Why the surprise phobia, you ask? Because the plot allowed Youta to take Hina in as a legal guardian of sorts... but only if Hina gives consent. This too left me hella baffled. If a patient is not in a mental state capable of making decisions, it's up to the guardian to exercise control over the situation (this extends to extremes such as euthanasia.) So if this boy who looks way too young for his age is arbitrarily given provisional guardian rights... what was the point in shoehorning in this conflict to begin with? Maeda could have easily just left those provisional rights out of the question and the scene would be nearly unchanged.
- Ep 9 had easily the WORST hacking sequence of all time. Fish? Really?
- BEST GIRL: Hmm, as I mentioned earlier, none of the characters stood out to me. Now, let me have a look at the candidates… wait, you're telling me Sora's a film buff? MAD. Gee, now I feel terrible for dissing her in the main review, but I thought it was a funny bit. Anyways, hats off to her!

***

And that's all I have to say about Maeda's latest work. Apologies if I seemed a little too hard on the guy, his reputation really precedes him for all the right and wrong reasons. Although given how entertaining some of this show was, I may finally be inclined to give his older works a second try. If you happen to like my verbose rants, feel free to check out my other reviews for seasons past and present, peace~

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Dec 26, 2020

Stark700

Not Recommended

One of the most curious questions about mankind is how did we come to exist. Is it from natural evolution or is there a higher being such as God that created us? The Day I Became a God gives off a strange vibe but not only its title but also premise. What is this show that P.A. Works and Aniplex have bene working on after all these years?

It shouldn’t be a big surprise that director Yoshiyuki Asai returns to direct this anime original. Coming into this show, I am reminded of another anime that premiered nearly 5 years ago. Remember Charlotte? If not, that’s fine ... because this anime isn’t connected to that show at all. Still, that does raise some concerns as the director made some rather questionable decisions. The big question to ask yourself is what does The Day I Became a God offer for us.

To start off, this is indeed an original anime and is Key’s third project since Angel Beats and Charlotte. Watching the first episode triggered a familiar feeling with other Key’s works. It didn’t too long to meet the Key-style protagonist, Yota Narukami, and main heroine, Hina Sato. It’s like fate destined them to meet with Hina proclaiming herself to be a goddess. Claiming to “Odin”, she immediately shows off her God-like complex in a rather peculiar, yet comical way. Make no mistake, Hina is more of an airhead than some malevolent entity. Regardless whether you believe in her words, Hina’s hyperactive energy attracts all the attention in the show. Her personality equates to almost child-like behavior and it’s up to Yota to guide her. In essence, Hina learns what it’s like to be a normal person and enjoy normal activities such as eating with friends, playing video games, or visiting new places. The duo’s character bond is peculiar but it’s shown to be one developed with trust despite some of their daily mishaps. Hina also wants to help Yota in some ways such as trying to help him with his feelings towards Kyouko Izanami. It’s the budding childhood romance you’d probably expect from Key’s anime. However, this isn’t a Romeo and Juliet fairy tale.

In later episodes, we learn the truth about Hina. I’m not going to spoil the events but let’s just say that Hina is suffering from a condition that is far from normal. Watching her personality change is a strange sensation as the latter half of the show feels rather different compared to the first few episodes. Obviously, the director and staff planned this from the start and everyone’s reactions will be different. To me, the plot needed more than what it showed. The first half pushed the story in such comical direction that this show itself should’ve included comedy as part of its genres. Drama hits later into the story with the startling revelations. Yota’s desire to save Hina transcends his personality from a butt monkey into a more of a hero, one who promises to help his friend no matter what.

To be honest, I wish there could be a lot more to say about the supporting cast. When I looked over and tried to remember their roles, most of them really didn’t make impact. Even Kyouko and Hiroto didn’t have a role that sold me on the show’s story. I mean, we do have the typical best friend (Ashura Kokuhou) or younger sister, Sora Narukami for the male protagonist. However, the majority of the characters are overshadowed by Youta and Hina. Think about it, did any of them really made you go back to the story and saw them in a different light? The worst written characters are the adults in the series such as the CEO or Yota’s parents. They don’t typify the example of an important character. Only Kyouko with her background story and Hirito’s character role had some significance to the overall show’s direction. But even then, it felt so lacking and forgettable. I hate to say it but with even that colorful key visual, the characterization in this series just don’t impress.

Yes, before you ask, this anime is created by Jun Maedea, you know the same guy who also holds noticeable projects under his belt such as Clannad and Little Busters! His themes of family and friend bond is a recurring element in this anime. The character designs also reflect in his style with the cast giving off a visual novel-style look, especially for the female roster. Now, it’s obvious some people will say it’s generic but for what’s worth, the anime does have an appeal with its colorful attraction. From the over eccentric character reactions to some of the emotional moments, it’s definitely lives the standards of modern production quality. The theme songs also contains a colorful balance between the cherry upbeats and the melancholic tunes. And if you ask me, Hina’s voice can get stuck into your head sometimes with that hyper energetic God-complex

I guess it’s a recurring trend now. Every 5 years, it seems Key wants to show off their latest projects and here we are. Will we get another 1-cour original show in 2025? I guess that bridge will be crossed when we get to it. For now, this anime convinced me to keep your expectations in check and be aware that anime originals have its risk. The risk here? Too much Goddess and not enough goodness.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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