Amagami

     Amagami, is a Japanese dating simulation game for the PlayStation 2 and the spiritual successor to KimiKiss, both which were developed and published by Enterbrain. Amagami was released on March 19, 2009. As of November 2010 six manga adaptations have been produced: two serialized in Enterbrain's Famitsu Comic Clear, two in Hakusensha's Young Animal and Young Animal Island, one in ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Maoh and one in Kadokawa Shoten's Comp Ace. An anime adaptation titled Amagami SS aired in Japan from July 2, 2010 to December 23, 2010.

Plot

     Two years ago, Junichi Tachibana got his heart broken by a girl who stood him up on a date on Christmas Eve. Now a second-year student in high school, Junichi is wary of love because of his past and dislikes celebrating Christmas. However this Christmas, his encounter with one of six girls from his school, Haruka Morishima, Kaoru Tanamachi, Sae Nakata, Ai Nanasaki, Rihoko Sakurai, or Tsukasa Ayatsuji will finally open up his heart to love again.

Characters

Main characters

 Junichi Tachibana

     The lead male protagonist of the story. He has a hard time opening up to others due to a trauma two years ago when his date stood him up on Christmas Eve which left him heart broken. He also fears heights, as he feels uncomfortable when riding elevators.

 

 Haruka Morishima 

 

     A very popular girl in her final year, who has many fans at school. She can be described as a fickle and insecure girl with a liking for cute things, especially puppies. Her best friend is Hibiki Tsukahara and she has a younger brother named Satoshi. She is a quarter British from her mother, whose family's surname is Lovely (thus Haruka's middle name).

 

 

 Kaoru Tanamachi

 

     One of Junichi's childhood friends, she is often seen with his other friend Masayoshi. She is unpredictable as she would punch Junichi anytime. She works part-time at a family restaurant to support her single mother, who later dates another man.

 

 

Sae Nakata

     A friend and classmate of Miya's. Having studied at an all-girl's school for most of her life, Sae is incredibly shy around men. Because of that, she has a soft, quiet voice.

Ai Nanasaki

 

     A friend and classmate of Miya's. She is part of their school's girl swimming team. She has a younger brother named Ikuo and possesses a cool, calm disposition.

 

 

Rihoko Sakurai

 

     She is Junichi's childhood friend who, despite having a big appetite, avidly reads the dieting books in their school library. She is a member of the Tea Club.

 

 

 

Tsukasa Ayatsuji

 

     Junichi's class representative, who is both a hard worker and a person who is willing to take on any task that no one else will. While she acts kind and friendly, it is actually a facade that secretly hides the real her, who is manipulative and cunning.

 

Supporting characters

 Miya Tachibana

     Junichi's younger sister, who playfully calls her brother, "Nii-nii". She tends to be jealous when her brother is with another girl, with the exceptions of Sae, Ai and Rihoko, who are her close friends.

 

 

Maya Takahashi

 

     Junichi's homeroom teacher. Usually a serious teacher, she can easily get drunk when she drinks sake.

Masayoshi Umehara

 

     Junichi's best friend since childhood, who has an interest in Japanese idols. He often purchases photo books of them and shares them with Junichi. His family owns a sushi shop, which he plans to inherit.

 

 

 Kanae Itō

 

     A close friend of Rihoko's. She later wins the Miss Santa Contest during the Kibitou High School's Founder's Festival should Haruka not participate.

 

Keiko Tanaka

 

     A friend of Kaoru. A quiet girl, Kaoru and Junichi once gave her some advice about her crush with another boy.

Hibiki Tsukahara

 

     Haruka's friend who is captain of the girls' swimming team and Ai's senior. She tends to berate Haruka's playful nature.

Ruriko Yuzuki

 

     Rihoko's senior and a member of the Tea Club. Ruriko tends to worry about Rihoko's clumsiness as the future of the Tea Club will be in the latter's hands once she and Manaka graduate.

Manaka Hiba

 

     Rihoko's senior and another member of the Tea Club. Manaka has a rather quiet voice but talks with cryptic words.

Yukari Ayatsuji

 

     Tsukasa's older sister who is very nice and aloof. Yet it is these traits that Tsukasa dislikes her sister.

Risa Kamizaki

 

     A secret character in the game and anime. A shy girl, Risa has been in love with Junichi since grade school and has been secretly stalking him since. Risa is also the one responsible for what happened two years ago under the belief she was protecting Junichi.

Anime

     An anime TV series adaptation by AIC titled Amagami SS aired from July 2, 2010 to December 23, 2010 in Japan. The anime adaptation is divided into six four-episode story arcs where each arc focuses on one of the main heroines who will become Junichi's love interest along with two extra episodes that focuses on Risa Kamizaki and Miya Tachibana. Also included are two bonus OVA Short Story DVDs that were delivered to customers who ordered the first six Blu-Ray/DVDs for the first OVA and the next six Blu-Ray/DVDs for the second OVA. On May 21, 2011, Sentai Filmworks announced at Anime Central 2011 they have licensed the anime series for North America. On August 13, 2011, it was announced that Amagami SS will get a second season.

The anime has ten pieces of theme music: two opening themes and eight ending themes; each ending theme is sung by the voice actresses of the heroines of the series in their respective story arc. The first opening theme is "i Love" by azusa which ran from episode 1 to 13 and was released on July 19, 2010. The second opening theme is "Kimi no Mama de" by azusa which was used from episode 14 to 26 and was released on October 20, 2010. The first ending theme, used for episodes one through four, is "Kimi no Hitomi ni Koishiteru") by Shizuka Itō and was released on July 21, 2010. The second ending theme, used for episodes five through eight, is "Kitto Ashita wa..." by Rina Satō and was released on August 18, 2010. The third ending theme, used for episodes nine through twelve, is "Anata Shika Mienai" by Hiromi Konno and was released on September 15, 2010. The fourth ending theme, used for episodes 13 through 16, is "Koi wa Mizuiro" by Yukana and was released on October 20, 2010. The fifth ending theme, used for episodes 17 through 20, is "Koi wa Aserazu" by Ryōko Shintani and was released on November 17, 2010. The sixth ending theme, used for episodes 21 through 24, is "Nageki no Tenshi" by Kaori Nazuka and was released on December 15, 2010. The seventh ending theme, used for episode 25 is "Koi no Yukue" by Mai Kadowaki. The eighth and final ending theme, used for episode 26 is "Suteki na Aru Hi" by Kana Asumi. Both the seventh and eighth ending themes were released on January 19, 2011.

Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens

     Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eri Takenashi. The manga began serialization in the January 2006 issue of Ichijinsha's shōnen manga magazine Comic Rex. Six tankōbon volumes have been released in Japan. A 13-episode anime adaptation produced by A-1 Pictures aired between October and December 2008 in Japan. An original video animation (OVA) episode was released in May 2009. Bandai Entertainment licensed the manga and anime series, including the OVA.

Main characters

Nagi 

 

     Nagi is a goddess who wakes up after years of slumber with Jin's unexpected help. Her mission as a deity is to cleanse the impurities of the world, but as her powers have weakened over time due to her sacred tree being cut down, her body is easily harmed by them. She ends up having to do it with the help of Jin and brandishing an improvised exorcist staff created using a magical girl-themed toy baton. When she is in her normal personality, she is mischievous and child like.

 

Kannagi 

 

     A different personality that exists inside Nagi. She seems to be the only one who knows about Nagi's real identity. When she descends upon Nagi's body, the process cannot last very long as it consumes a significant amount of energy, though this can be prolonged with the help of another person. When Nagi is Kannagi she speaks in a kinder and more holy manner.

 

 

Jin Mikuriya 

 

     After using a part of a fallen sacred tree to make a sculpture of a girl, he inadvertently brings Nagi back to life. Since then, Nagi lives in his house and counts on his help to hunt down the impurities (as he is able to catch them with his bare hands), a task impossible to Nagi due to her weakened state. Later, when Nagi was frustrated by being uncertain about her own identity, Jin decides to assist Nagi to trace back her origin. He enjoys Worcester sauce on a slice of bread or a bowl of rice.

 

 

Tsugumi Aoba 

 

     Tsugumi is Jin's childhood friend who harbors a crush on him. She is concerned about Jin living alone with another girl despite Nagi fabricating a story about being his half-sister.

 

 

Zange 

 

     Another goddess and Nagi's twin sister. Unlike Nagi's, Zange's tree is still intact and located in a church's courtyard, thus she is still able to catch and cleanse impurities by herself. The fact that she switched her character to that of a Catholic nun, as it is a stronger religion nowadays according to her, contributed to her divinity staying intact. Despite seemingly being kind and caring on the outside, she usually takes advantage of Nagi's weakened state to torment her. The word zange in Japanese means 'penitence' or 'confession'.

 

Hakua Suzushiro 

 

     Hakua is a girl from Jin's school possessed by Zange. Since childhood, Hakua was able to see spiritual images around her and her body has been very susceptible to spiritual possession. As other children considered her ability very odd, she had trouble interacting with children of her age. When she was still a child, she makes a friend with Jin during a summer camp, who did not consider her ability strange as he also possessed a strong spiritual sense. However, in the current storyline, Jin doesn't seem to remember well about his encounter with Hakua in the past. Since then, Hakua has not been able to go outside her house and she compared herself to a "princess locked up in a castle". Just before Hakua attempted to commit suicide due to depression, she "willingly accepted" Zange to be her host. However Nagi claims that despite this, it may put too much stress into her body. Both Zange and Hakua develop a liking for Jin and decide to bring him to their side.

 

Art club members

 

Daitetsu Hibiki 

 

     Daitetsu Hibiki is Jin's friend and a member of the art club. He seems to be talented at everything from singing to sculpting and Jin hopes to one day be as good as him. Despite his imposing figure, he can be sensitive and has a surprising love for cats.

 

 

Meguru Akiba 

 

     Akiba is one of the three male members of the art club. He claims to have joined the art club instead of the manga club because he could not stand the otaku behavior of its members, although Akiba is quite the otaku himself. He dedicated himself to drawing manga. He often launches himself into very long and detailed diatribes, speaking so quickly that people end up just ignoring him.

 

 

Shino Ōkouchi

 

     Shino is the vice-president of the art club. She is quiet member who is close friends with Takako, and is often observant of the male members' personalities. She especially takes an interest in how Jin interacts with Nagi.

 

 

Takako Kimura

 

     Takako is the presiding president of the art club, as well as a fujoshi, even though she knows very little about anime, manga, or games. She enjoys teasing the male members of the art club. She is a devoted fan of Nagi's, being a proud member of her fan club at the school.

High school teacher

Reiri Suzushiro 

 

     The teacher of religious studies and Hakua's father. He is aware of his daughter being possessed by Zange and easily figures Nagi's identity. He is worried about Hakua's condition. Although Hakua "claims" to do so by free will, he gets himself a little relief when Nagi promises him to find a way to make Zange leave her body.

 

Manga

     Kannagi began as a manga series written and illustrated by Eri Takenashi and began serialization in the first issue of Ichijinsha's shōnen manga magazine Comic Rex on December 9, 2005. The first tankōbon volume was released on August 9, 2006 under Ichijinsha's Rex Comics imprint; as of November 8, 2008, six volumes have been released in Japan. Bandai Entertainment licensed the manga for distribution in North America.

     The manga was put on hiatus starting in January 2009 because of concern about the author's health problems. The installment of the manga just prior to the author's illness caused some fan controversy, because of implications that Nagi was not a virgin, but was not linked to her illness. The author underwent surgery on December 12, 2008 and announced in September 2009 that she would be taking at least a year-long break to fully recover before working on her manga again. It was reported that Ichijinsha had planned to announce in the November 2010 issue of Comic Rex when Takenashi would begin drawing Kannagi again. The manga resumed with the September 2011 issue of Comic Rex on July 27, 2011, but because of Takenashi's health conditions, three consecutive chapters will be released, followed by chapters on an irregular schedule.

     A spin-off manga titled Kanpachi written and illustrated by Takenashi's brother Shinichi Yuhki began serialization in the April 2010 issue of Comic Rex.

 

Anime 

     An anime adaptation was produced by the animation studio A-1 Pictures, directed by Yutaka Yamamoto, and with screenplays by Hideyuki Kurata. The anime aired in Japan between October 4 and December 27, 2008, and consisted of thirteen episodes. The anime was dropped by the satellite channel BS11 Digital before it started airing; no explanation was given. An original video animation episode was shipped with the final Japanese DVD volume on May 27, 2009. Bandai Entertainment licensed the anime and released the first of two seven-episode DVD compilation volumes on July 17, 2009. The second volume was released on September 24, 2009.