Kamisama Kiss

Reading note

Why it is on my shelf

A personal response from early in the manga, with some anime context.

Kamisama Kiss always feels somehow indulgent to me, like I’m reading something I’m not supposed to be reading, but I love it. The Japanese folklore flavor is a huge part of the appeal: Shinto traditions, spirits, shrines, gods, all that good stuff. It gives you that kooky supernatural energy mixed with classic shoujo emotional tension and dashingly beautiful characters. I’m not too deep into it yet, but it hits the spot every now and again, and I have a real soft spot for it. The anime also has some genuinely cute songs. If anything, the whole series feels like a little fever dream, and it’s funny how much it reminds me of Fruits Basket too: girl suddenly without a stable home, pulled into a strange household full of beautiful supernatural trouble.