In between trying to force myself to watch Macross Frontier episodes, I started watching Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens.  This series aired last fall so while it has been around a while, I’m really glad I got around watching it.

Mahou shoujo Nagi? ^^;

Jin, a high school student in the art club meets a girl who appears from the wood statue he carved.  The girl calls herself Nagi and claims she is a god.  Since the girl has no place to stay so she stays with Jin (against his wishes).  A boy with a goddess by his side doesn’t seem so original but it’s executed pretty well.  The majority of the series focuses on Jin and Nagi’s relationship but also has a strong supporting cast along the way.

Too cute >_<

In fact, a lot of the series is just day to day life of a boy with a earth deity learning to live as a more normal girl all the while she is trying to clean the world of impurities.  The good thing is that it’s actually entertaining ^^; Also very funny at times.  ANN lists the series themes as comedy, magic, and romance and that really does sum it up well. It doesn’t rely on one individual genre more than it should and feels well balanced overall.

Tsugumi just enjoying some doujinshi ^^;

The main reason the series was so enjoyable for me was the was that the series had some a strong female lead.  Nagi is just such a lovable character.  Whether she is becoming fascinated by anime for the first time, throwing a tantrum in the closet, or working at the local maid cafe (^^), she is just adorable.  Haruka Tomatsu really seems to fit perfectly into the role.  I’m adding Nagi to my list of favorite female characters :)  Her and Jin’s back and forth interactions keep the show moving forward and provide a lot of laughs along the way.

It gets hot hiding in a closet with your magic wand light.

The opening and ending in this series are also great.  I actually watched them for every episode and I rarely do that for any anime ^^;  They’re both attractive songs and their respective animation sequences seem to fit very well. I have embedded them here (in HD) so you can see for yourself ^^

Kannagi OP, motto☆Hade ni ne! by Haruka Tomatsu (Nagi!)

And the ED, Musuhi no Toki also sung by Haruka Tomatsu. Really like this song ^^

In retrospective, this series was just a lot of fun to watch.  Not too heavy, not too light; it just felt right.  Definitely one of my new favorites.  It makes me want to go read the manga too!  I thoroughly enjoyed this series and highly recommend it ^^

Related posts:

1. Nagi-sama Nendoroid
2. Nagi-sama does Kannagi OP in Dance×Mixer
3. Shrine Maiden

This image and more at e-shuushuu

There are some anime that match up so perfectly with your preferences that they seem flawless.  Of course, this varies with each person’s personal opinions and preferences.  Some people like action oriented shounen, others Gundam-like war epics.  For me, Shugo Chara! is one of those series.  The perfect mix of the themes I enjoy the most :)  The series itself would most comfortably fit into the “mahou shoujo” genre.  Despite Shugo Chara! being quite kid-friendly, it actually has more depth than most other mahou shoujo anime.

Hinamori Amu has a problem.  She lacks confidence and instead of showing her true self around others, she acts tough and earned the reputation as a “cool and spicy” bad girl.  The problem is, that’s not at all her true character and she wishes she could be more honest about herself.  After entering a new school, Amu hopes to change her image, but quickly finds herself portraying the tough girl once again.

Amu goes home after the first day of school depressed.  She thinks that she is a girl with multiple characters and wishes she could be more like her true self.  The next morning, she awakes to find three mysterious Eggs in her bed.  Frantically searching her health textbook, Amu is confused about the origin of the three eggs.

Amu takes the eggs to school where the special student council, the Guardians, notice she has them.  Hotori Tadase, the king’s chair, approaches Amu but before he can ask her about them, Amu brushes him off rather coldly.  Immediately regretting her actions, Amu storms off.

During the school entrance ceremony, one of Amu’s hidden eggs performs a character transformation on Amu and causes her to make a love confession to Tadase in front the entire student body.

Thoroughly embarrassed, Amu runs off until she reaches a building construction site and accidentally falls into a hole >_<.  While trying to escape the hole, one of the eggs hatches a shugo chara who tells Amu to fly out.  Although Amu insists that she cannot fly, the shugo chara performs another character change and Amu leaps into the sky!

The Guardians invite Amu to join their group.  Amu initially rejects the offer because she doesn’t want to wear the Royal Cape. Once she encounters a X egg and performs a character transformation with her new Shugo Chara to purify the X egg.  Seeing her transformation, the Guardians insist Amu joins as the new Joker role to hunt down more X eggs.  Amu reluctantly accepts and the fun really begins.

The show itself is quite hilarious at times with Amu trying to both put on a cool facade and be herself at the same time.  The antics of the shugo charas also provides lots of laughs.  Of course, the series isn’t entirely comedy and has its more touching moments as Amu and the Guardians fight to purify the X eggs.

I would compare Shugo Chara most closely with Cardcaptor Sakura, another of my all-time favorite anime.  Both have strong lead characters and both have solid stories and characters.  While some people may not like the “monster a week” approach, I think it works very well in Shugo Chara as a well-defined background is given for each arc and character.  I almost forgot to mention how catchy the OP/ED songs are too.  They have become some of my favorite anime songs :).

If you liked Cardcaptor Sakura, mahou shoujo, or just want to enjoy a good, fun anime, Shugo Chara should be on your list.  Definitely recommended!

Related posts:

1. New Shugo Chara Anime + LA
2. A little Hinamori Amu
3. Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens