First Look @ Kannagi

Episode 01 - (6/10 - Good)

Impression:

Despite the stale set-up (pubescent boy living with tsundere girl), the concept is pretty interesting. A goddess, whose sacred tree had been cut down, dons the garb of a magical girl (complete with sceptre) and, with the help of aforesaid hapless boy, kills the bugs (impurities) around her shrine. Yamamoto Yutaka, who directed some episodes of Lucky Star, did a good job, really - the animation is great and the painting and coloring is beautiful. It's very KyoAnish. As for the composition of the series, that was in the hands of Kurata Hideyuki; yes, the mind behind R.O.D. So, I have certain expectations for this series. As of yet, I haven't seen anything of his that I thought was better than R.O.D. (I'm not counting on Kannagi to be yet.) I've heard that Kannagi is supposed to be very funny. I really am hoping they don't mean funny in a fanservice way. Nevertheless, I'm going to continue to watch this, mostly to see if it can break out of the restraints that were set in this first episode.

Suggestive Content:

This anime is about a Shinto goddess. There is much talk of deities, impurities, and other Shinto spiritual matters. I would not suggest watching if you are not strong in your faith. Sometimes, even when we don't mean it to, talk of other religions can throw us.

As for fanservice, Jin goes red as he notices some of Nagi's features on a couple of occasions. He runs out of the bath to get the phone. And, he hides all of his "textbooks" (cough, cough) so Nagi won't find them. These are all rituals of the girl-lives-with-boy subgenre of anime.

Nagi has a bath scene, but it's no as suggestive as how short her skirt is.

Rating:

Animation: 10/10
Characters: 5/10 (I hope they flesh them out pretty quickly.)
Writing: 6/10
Pacing: 4/10 (I know it was a first episode, but more should have happened; or at least in a more interesting way.)
Enjoyment: 5/10