Kamichu! (かみちゅ!) is a 16-episode slice-of-life/comedy original series from 2005 by animation studio Brains Base with screenplay by Hideyuki Kurata (who has written a lot of scripts, including World God Only Knows, Bamboo Blade, Made in Abyss and R.O.D.)
Synopsis
One day middle schooler Yurie Hitotsubashi suddenly became a god. She’s not sure how she became one nor does she really know what a gods supposed to do, so with the help of her best friend Mitsue and a classmate whos family runs a shrine Matsuri she attempts to navigate balancing middle school with her divine duties such as helping counsel people on life problems, negotiating with martians, and assisting her cat in a feline fight club. You know, regular god stuff. Shes joined later by the former local god Yashinma 1 and her cat which has a god of poverty living inside it.
Appeal
Kamichu! exists on the fringes of the “cute girls doing cute things” genre in that there is never really much in the way of drama, its just really laid back light humor. ‘Laid back’ is a good descriptor of most of the characters too, when Yurie tells Mitsue she became a good Mitsue doesn’t so much as bat an eyelash and everyone in town just takes it in stride like its the most normal thing as though theres a major spill of Valium leaking into the towns water supply. Most of the humor comes from a combination of the absurd things Yurie suddenly has to deal with mixed with how little surprise anyone has to it.
Downside
If youre expecting something with a riveting plot or laughs a minute, well this ain’t for you. It can really be overly laid back, especially in the early episodes, where its a lot of gentle nothing happening with only spurts of humor sporadically. Yurie herself isn’t the most engaging character either, shes so shy and reactive to things that while it sells why others like her it doesn’t make her compelling in the way either of her friends are.
Conclusion
Weeb Level: 4/10- There aren’t a lot of major tropes at play here, but there is a lot of subtle wordplay2 and you’re still watching a show about a bunch of kids hanging out.
Fanservice: 1/10- Honestly this could even be a 0 as it thankfully doesn’t attempt to sexualize its cast in the least.
Quality: 7/10- If you want something super chill and laid back this is probably the chillest series you can ever watch. If you want an ounce of energy in your shows though, look elsewhere.
Where to watch: Sadly this is where things get difficult. Originally released by Geneon in the US Funimation picked it up when they took over most of the Geneon catalog only to let the license expire back in 2011. It is currently not streaming or readily available anywhere in the US with the DVDs being out of print too. You can find it second hand or possibly in some libraries otherwise other, less than “legal” ways.
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