Manga review : Kamisama Hajimemashita

Long time no see, now I want to give you a MANGA REVIEW! It's a new topic for this blog. I know not all people familiar with "manga" so I'll describe "manga" a little for you.

Manga is the general Japanese term for comic. All the Japanese-made comic called as Manga, while the animation called as Anime. It has different style with western comic. Not only style, the story and theme of Manga usually more wider than western's, also the reader. While the reader of western comic usually are kids, Manga fans are vary from kids to adult. They even have to put age boundaries since they also produce smut (and porn) comics!

Enough with the introduction, now let's begin the review for this wonderful Manga

"KAMISAMA HAJIMEMASHITA" (Start Being A God).

The story start with a scene of Nanami, our main character, have a fighting with her useless (yes, USELESS) father about money. This very-useless father use all the money that Nanami save for gambling. The result can be predicted, he lost the money and run away (useless father, yes). Because of the gambling debts, Nanami being evicted from her apartment and become homeless. She meets Mikage (A Cupid-Love God?) and save him from a stray dog. As a thank you, he gives Nanami his house to stay then he go travelling. Of course Nanami is happy! But that's not long. When she arrives at Mikage's home, she is shocked to see that is is not a normal home but a small, run-down, and poor shrine for worship!!

After that she is greeted by both Onikiri and Kotetsu, the will-o-wisps who are the keepers of the shrine. She then meets Tomoe, the familiar of Mikage (a super strong and handsome fox youkai), and she learns that Mikage used to be the Earth Diety (Land-God) of the shrine and he has bestowed upon her his mark so that she may be the new Diety. At first she is reluctant but as she lives with Tomoe, Onikiri and Kotetsu she begins to understand and work hard in her new position as Earth Diety. As the story progresses Nanami finds herself falling in love with Tomoe, but he rejects her because the love between a human and a yokai is taboo. Despite saying that, Tomoe finds himself falling in love with her too.
But then....

Though it sounds so simple, the adventure is what make this manga is so interesting! The fact that Nanami is famous of her poorness make her doesn't want to go to school. She often get bullied by the boys and has no friend at all. One day she see a news that a super famous idol, Kurama, attend her high school and get into her class. Nanami feels so happy and decided to go to school to meet her idol. Tomoe doesn't like her decision since a powerless human-god is a delicious meal for monster and goblin. But the stubborn Nanami still go to school and get into trouble in the very first day. Tomoe who stalks her all day long can't stand it because if the Earth Deity was bullied, especially by human, it will hurt the shrine reputation along with all the residents (and Tomoe doesn't want his reputation as an high-grade fox going down even a bit!).

Finally, Tomoe steps into the school and steal everyone's heart because of his looks and his elegant manner. Later on, it's revealed that Kurama is a Tengu, a legendary creature of Japanese folk, a monstrous bird who can take a human form (usually has a red face, but of course in Manga, a Manga-ka is free to pour their own version of Tengu). And... Kurama is interested in Nanami! Next day, Tomoe decided to enroll in the school Nanami goes to and get into the same class as Nanami to protect her. How did he pay it?? Don't ask. He is a powerful fox youkai, so he can create illusion and hypnotist people without trace.

As time goes by, Nanami meets many other God and Goddess even help their romance-relationship (love between God/supernatural being with human is taboo, but somehow Nanami shows her skill here!). Even though she is not as powerful as other Gods, but her purification method is unbeatable. Her pure heart and strong will make Nanami keep walking, even in difficult path, when Tomoe is dying because of the cursed (oops! spoiler!). Thank to her other familiar, Mizuki, Nanami can go back to the past to find the cure for Tomoe (oopsiee.. another spoiler)

Her past-time journey is the most interesting chapter for me. It reveals everything. Who is Tomoe, how can he get that horrible cursed, his love story, and many things! I'm still curious about the next chapter because the key to lift the curse hasn't been found yet. I know the item but how can it switch to another person?? And.. and.. why Nanami's mom said that all female in their generations born georgously but always get married to undependable man. And.. in the past-time journey, Nanami meets a girl with the same face as her! Is it related?? Or just a rumour?? Will Nanami get the key in time since there's a time limit to go to the past and Tomoe only have 2 days left?? Argghh it's so killing me! I hope the new chapter is released soon!

That's all the review for Kamisama Hajimemashita today. Maybe I'll review it later when this manga is complete. Below are a few notes that will help you while reading this Manga

NOTE

• Youkai : Yōkai (妖怪?, ghost, phantom, strange apparition) are a class of supernatural monsters in Japanese folklore. The word yōkai is made up of the kanji for "mysterious" and "weird". Often they possess animal features (such as Kurame, The Tengu which has wings while Tomoe, The Fox has fox's ear and tail), other times they can appear mostly human, some look like inanimate objects and others have no discernible shape. Yōkai usually have a spiritual supernatural power, with shape shifting being one of the most common.
• God : In this manga, God is refer to polytheism of Shinto. God and Goddess in Shinto based on nature so they often have an animal, plant, or human shape with their own task. Confuse? Worry not, you'll understand more about Shinto-God by ready this manga! Isn't it wonderful? Fun learning~!
• -Ou : Sometimes you'll see name with -Ou (example, Akura-Ou). -Ou has similar meaning as The Great. So.. Akura-Ou means Akura The Great, who has the great evil power belong youkai

I only give you 3 note since you'll get many helpful notes in manga scan. If you want to read the manga scans online, I recommend you visit these sites :

• SKY OF SNOW SCANS : First Aerandria scan works on this manga but they dropped it and thanks to Sky Of Snow, we can read this wonderful manga again! unfortunately they dont have website yet.. LET'S SUPPORT THEM!
• MANGA FOX - KAMISAMA HAJIMEMASHITA
• MANGA HERE - KAMISAMA HAJIMEMASHITA

Okayyyy, see you later ^o^ Jya mata ne~