Description: Kyouhei moved to Tokyo from his ancient town in the mountains to get away from a certain series of events. While at a club meet, he is dared by his friends to confess to the hard-to-get beauty of the group, Hibino, who happens also be from a family who left his town some time ago. After drinking for a whole night, he and Hibino find a shattered body in the elevator. Hibino remarks that he was able to stay very calm given the circumstances...of course this was far from the first body Kyouhei has seen. Kyouhei's impulsive sister appears with her Kukuri, her Kamisama Doll, an ancient construct, and tells him that Aki, one of his old friends from the village, has escaped.

Genres: Seinen, Supernatural, Intrigue, Reluctant Protagonist, Little Sister
Links: AniDB, ANN, Official Page

HorribleSubs: Eps 01, Eps 02
Doki: Eps 01, Eps 02
Chihiro: Eps 01, Eps 02

I had serious stuttering issues during the OP due to the karaoke on Doki's releases, but your mileage may vary.

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This has certainly one of the more interesting shows this season, and thank the gods that the male lead is in college in lieu of high school. The thing that gets me the most is the really off-putting singing that the Kamisama Dolls do when they are in use. It's simple single-syllable song at the perfectly eerie tempo. Any slower and it would be only gloomy, any faster and it would soothing.

As for the characters, oho...ultra large boobs and unrealistically tiny waist for Hibino. Lack of Realism yay! Kayano Ai, the actress who played Menma in AnoHana, sounds nothing the same in Kamisama Dolls. I love when I can barely tell they're the same seiyuu. Her voice is very mature and motherly, and it fits her character really, really well.

Utao, played by Fukuen Misato, does a excellent job as the impulsive little sister given what amounts to a flying tank. Her eagerness comes off very refreshing, and the way she is torn between responsibility, wanting to be with her brother, and just being a young girl is done wonderfully.

Kyouhei, played by Okamoto Nobuhiko, does a nice job as well. He comes off very natural as someone who knows a lot more than they ever tell anyone. He's very guarded and reserved, reluctant yet slightly wistful. I'm used to him playing more panicky or wild characters (Accelerator, Niizuma Eiji). But this is far more like his role as Layfon in Chrome Shelled Regios.

Now that I say that, the series' overall feel reminds me of that. There is a lot of things that have already happened and are hinted at. Kyouhei is the same kind of reluctant protagonist, and we know from the opening minutes that he is lying about how he wasn't good at controlling Kukuri. It's not a perfect comparison, Kamisama Dolls is much more subdued than the over-the-top combat of Regios. I couldn't quite put my finger on what this series reminded me of until I remembered that Okamoto also played Layfon.

Lastly, the antagonist, Aki, played by Kimura Ryouhei is sufficiently vicious. He's cold, ruthless, brutal, arrogant, and obsessed with Kyouhei. A perfect psychopath. His Kamisama Doll's song is even creepier than Kukuri's. You just know bad shit is going to happen when you hear it.

Between Kayano Ai's performance, Utao's eagerness, Aki's psychosis, and all the reluctance and subdued rage Kyouhei exudes, this is working to become my favorite series so far this season.