Kannazuki No Miko 7/10

This show has big mechs, pretty girls, and hot lesbian action. What's not to like? Right?

Kannazuki No Miko aired back in 2004 and runs a rushed 12 episodes. While the character designs are good there are some definite lapses in quality and being as this series only runs 12 episodes, that's pretty much inexcusable in this day and age. All the girls are usually well animated but the many mechs in this show really look like hell at times along with some poor backgrounds. The music was OK but I didn't like the OP or ED though that could be more a case of KOTOKO burnout (Now I have Shana to look forward to). The VA's were fine and the leads were well cast though some of the villans really don't get a lot of lines.

Kurusegawa Himeko is a shy, pretty, and very clumsy girl who goes to a ritzy school for somewhat wealthy kids. One day she meets Himemiya Chikane, the most popular girl in school who's rich and pretty, cool and sophisticated. They become friends and start to spend time together, mostly in secret since there's quite a difference in their social status. On their 16th birthday (on the same day as I recall) it turns out that they're both priestesses destined to battle the evil Orochi which consists of 7 bad guys with mechs that show up to kill the two girls.

Himeko is the priestess of the sun and Chikane is the priestess of the moon and they must go to a nearby temple to try summon their mech to battle the Orochi. Himeko starts living at Chikane's mansion, since the summoning is taking days and days, and it quickly becomes apparent to everyone other than Himeko that Chikane has the serious hots for her. Of course Chikane has a rival for Himeko's affections in Souma Oogami, a male childhood friend of Himeko's who is also an Orochi but fights to protect her rather than kill her. Add to the plot Chikane's maid that has the hots for her mistress, the two guys at the shrine, one Orochi who is the brother of Oogami, Himeko's dorm roommate and all the villains that have their stories and the cast gets pretty busy pretty fast.

Chikane ends up betraying Himeko and switches sides, Himeko summons their mech, then the two friends end up battling to the death with tearful confessions all around at the end with some passionate kissing and snuggling.

This show has good plot elements and bad ones. My biggest problem is that there are too many villains. Why bother having so many villans with their own backstories if most of them are only going to get a couple minutes screen time? I also don't think the guys at the shrine need to be as detailed characters as they were. They have too many appearances reacting to the goings on when the mechs are fighting. I ALSO don't think Oogami's brother was a necessary character since he really doesn't accomplish much. I understand that this show is based on a manga that may have had more time to deal with all the characters but they should have either been removed from the anime or the series should have been extended over 24-26 episodes which I think would have worked since the underlying story is quite well thought out.

What I do like is the relationship between Himeko and Chikane. Himeko is the oblivious cute girl and Chikane has some serious feelings for her. She pines over her friend but doesn't act on her feelings because of Himeko's relationship with Oogami. Chikane betrays Himeko partially because of this unrequited love and also because she murdered Himeko as part of the ceremony in an earlier life. While the sun priestess doesn't remember any of it the moon priestess does and is terrified at the prospect of history repeating itself. The end of the series has a really long confession by Chikane and it turns out Himeko feels the same way. This show treats their relationship a lot more seriously than most heterosexual romances in anime and it's a nice change. Their relationship isn't oversexualized as is typically done and the creators don't make their sexual orientation somewhat vague. They're gay. Period.

I like the two leads as characters and other than some plot and quality problems it's a really good show. They could pull it off even without the mechs and priestess angle. Recommended for serious romance fans and guys who like the pic in this post. =D