Kannagilicious (Kannagi 8)

Recently many of the new animes have bored me. To Aru Majutsu no Index is developing slowly (although not as slowly as a shonen series like One Piece I admit) while Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka is just the same old (insert series with Rie Kugimiya as lead voice actress here). Don’t get me wrong I loved Shakugan no Shana, but after watching virtually the same show a few times I crave a little more than a new twist. While I know Kannagi is just another harem comedy I believe there are elements added that make it a really enjoyable to watch. First of all there is the OP.

I’m not going to lie I watched the OP about 6 times before I even started the show. The male hero is your typical harem comedy lead, but harem comedies have never been about the male hero, it’s always about the interesting cast, which is where the true star of the show comes in.

Nagi is the quirky heroine of the story that really makes the show go. Being a few hundred year old god gives her some perspective on life that can sometimes be profound, but often it’s her misinterpretations or her out of date thinking that gets the laughs. I’m very impressed by her voice actress Tomatsu Haruka who can play completely oblivious to dead serious within a matter of moments. Her wide range must be what makes her character so addicting. The writers also did a good job of writing a fictional character who goes from extreme aggression one moment,

to pleased with herself-

to extremely moe-

Alright that last one was Daitetsu’s insane “Nagi is controlling my beloved Jin” fantasy, but I’m giving it to her anyways. Basically her personality really sparkles. She even has her serious moments when she transforms into a god to address real moral dilemnas. She’s certainly going to be in my running for top female lead this year. That’s not saying much though, besides Clannad the running has been pretty thin.

Nagi isn’t the only one creating comedy. If we discount Jin as the straight man we also have the crazy Otaku Akiba who is denying his brothers. For shame Akiba embrace your otaku ways. The person who I believe creates the most comedy, second only to Nagi, is Daitetsu. His crazy imaginings with the sometimes interesting overtones between him and Jin has brought me many bursts of laughter.

Although he sometimes performs dumb actions Daitetsu himself is actually quite intelligent, which brings up some of the comedy. He seems to be able to analyze Jin and Nagi’s relationship better than most, although it’s almost a little too well if you know what I mean. He also is embarrassed easily for being such an overwhelming guy.

Yes, yes, the second picture is obviously the director trying to make a misunderstanding. A rather funny situation nonetheless. He’s clueless at the right moments while equally brilliant at the other right moments.

I have to say though the other thing that makes Kannagi special are the little pieces of humor that you wouldn’t catch normally. For instance what doesn’t belong running out of the men’s bathroom.

Not only is it funny, but it catches you off guard and makes you feel good about the fact that you caught it in the first place.

So all in all I will definitely watch this series to completion and if you have the time I encourage you to watch a few of the first episodes too. Most of these screen caps were taken from episode 8 so I hope I haven’t given away too much of the plot of the series. Overall though Kannagi produces both intelligent comedy and unintelligent comedy in spades. I’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg with my shallow post, but even I can recognize that there is a lot going on in this series. I only hope it gets better.

Obligatory Yin Picture: