Kamisama Dolls

Kamisama Dolls (神様ドォルズ, Kamisama Dooruzu) is a manga by Hajime Yamamura. An anime adaptation started airing on July 6, 2011.

Plot

Kyōhei, a university student, has moved to Tokyo from his old village to try to forget his unpleasant memories of certain events. One evening he goes on a group date with his friends, including his old neighbor and fellow student, Hibino. Later that night, he and Hibino discover a dead, bloody body in an elevator. Unexpectedly, his younger sister, Utao, arrives on the scene with her kakashi (an ancient wooden "god" controlled by the mind) and tells him that his old friend Aki and his kakashi are responsible. A series of encounters follow and Hibino learns that her father is from the same village as Kyōhei and Utao. She later accompanies them to "Karakami" village, the origin of the kakashi, and finds out many things about the kakashi, as well as Kyōhei, Aki, and Utao.

Characters

Kyōhei Kuga (枸雅 匡平, Kuga Kyōhei)

Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto (Japanese), Leraldo Anzaldua (English)

Kyōhei is the main protagonist, from the wealthy Kuga family, who has left his hometown and his duties as a "Seki" to live his own life in Tokyo. He was the partner of the doll, Kukuri, before it was entrusted to his younger sister, Utao. Late in the anime it is revealed that Kyōhei is the strongest Seki ever, with much greater power than any Seki before: he is able to "open" Kukuri's left hand, which has the power to absorb, amplify and reflect energy beams, something that no other Seki has been able to do in over a millennium.

Utao Kuga (枸雅 è©©ç·', Kuga Utao)

Voiced by: Misato Fukuen (Japanese), Hilary Haag (English)

Utao is Kyōhei's younger sister and the current partner of Kukuri. She comes to Tokyo out of concern that Aki would come for her brother. Her fears are confirmed and, after destroying Kyōhei's apartment in a confrontation with Aki, she moves into Hibino's house with her brother. She starts working at the Shiba family's café to help defray their living expanses and also begins training to improve her control over Kukuri's movements. She seems to have a brother complex towards Kyohei to the point of becoming angry with any other girl who approaches him.

Hibino Shiba (史場 日々乃, Shiba Hibino)

Voiced by: Ai Kayano (Japanese), Monica Rial (English)

Hibino is an attractive young woman who attends the same university as Kyōhei, who has had a crush on her since they met, but is unaware of her own feelings for him. She has been asked out on dates by many of her male classmates, but declined all of them. She eventually becomes Kyōhei's girlfriend. Despite her father coming from the same village as Kyōhei's family, she is unaware of its secrets until she invites Kyōhei and Utao (whose apartment was destroyed) to live with her and her father. According to Aki, Kyōhei's affection for her comes from Hibino's resemblance with a certain teacher from their childhood.

Aki Kuga (枸雅 阿幾, Kuga Aki)

Voiced by: Ryohei Kimura (Japanese), David Matranga (English)

A former childhood friend of Kyōhei's and another Seki, who was imprisoned several years before the beginning of the storyline after he had used his kakushi, Kuremitsuha, to kill in anger over the death of their teacher with whom he had a romantic relationship. He escapes from confinement after learning that Kyōhei has left the village and sets out for Tokyo to confront him, claiming that both of them are guilty of the same "sin" and that Kyōhei cannot live his life in denial.

Kōshirō HyÅ«ga (æ—¥å' 勾司朗, HyÅ«ga Kōshirō)

Voiced by: Katsuki Murase (Japanese), Adam Gibbs (English)

A Seki from the Hyūga family. He is the partner of the kakushi, Uwazutsu. He and Kirio are tasked with capturing Aki and bringing him back to the village. He is shown to be protective of Kirio and acts as a father figure to him, as Kirio was separated from his birth family and the head of the Hyūga clan treats him harshly. He also seems to care for Utao and Kyōhei as shown in Episode 12, even though they are from the rival Kuga clan.

Kirio HyÅ«ga (æ—¥å' 桐ç"Ÿ, HyÅ«ga Kirio)

Voiced by: Yumiko Kobayashi (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)

Kirio is another Seki who controls the doll, Takemikazuchi. He is actually Utao's younger twin brother who was separated from his family at birth and taken into the Hyūga family's custody in secret. Like his sister, it is said that his ability as a Seki was awakened while he still was in their mother's womb, thus attracting the attention of the Hyūga clan who were looking for a suitable Seki to control their hidden, and most powerful, kakushi, Amaterasu.

Mahiru HyÅ«ga (æ—¥å' まひる, HyÅ«ga Mahiru)

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese), Genevieve Simmons (English)

The most powerful Seki from the Hyūga family who considers all other Seki, except for Kyōhei, inferior to herself. The reason for this is that when she was a child Kyōhei saved her life by unleashing Kukuri's true power. Since then she has developed an obsessive infatuation for him. She is Kōshirō's cousin and excels in controlling her doll, Magatsuhi, whose special ability is to stop other dolls' movements. Mahiru was unable to retain control her Doll after it was severely damaged by Kukuri and it went berserk and started using powers that Mahiru had not seen before. Her Doll was then destroyed by Kukuri.

Kūko Karahari (空張 久羽子, Karahari Kūko)

Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro (Japanese), Maggie Flecknoe (English)

Kyohei and Hibino's eccentric classmate. She is fed up with normalcy and is interested in the supernatural. She was close to giving up because all her leads turned out to be shams but was overjoyed when she discovered the kakashi and forcibly involved herself in the situation. She kidnaps Aki, who later decides to hide out in her apartment.

Media

Manga

As of April 2013, twelve volumes of the manga are released.

Anime

Three theme songs are used in the Anime, "Fukanzen Nenshou" (不完全燃焼, lit. Incomplete Combustion) for the opening theme, "Switch ga Haittara" (スイッチが入ったら, lit. When the switch is flipped) for the main ending theme, and "Natsu no Niwa" (夏の庭, lit. "Summer Garden") for Episode 7's ending theme. All three songs are performed by Chiaki Ishikawa.

References

External links

• Official website
• Kamisama Dolls (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Kamisama Dolls (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia