(L+CR) Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi (Sunday Without God)

[justsomeguy]

The Good:
* Visually beautiful animation
* Music is also beautiful and fitting
* Unique premise with tons of worldbuilding and mysteries
* Ai is cute! And all of the other characters agree too.

The Bad:
* Meandering, directionless plot. Ai wants to save the world. How? She has no idea, and obviously neither do Scar nor Julie. Ulla give Celica to Scar. What role will this have in the future? After Ortus the two don't play any role at all. Except when Scar ran off. What was the point of that little side quest? She's obviously in conflict between her role as a gravekeeper and as a mother, but Julie gives Celica back to her, promises to always be with them, and all is well again. Nothing had changed at all! And that Goran Academy side plot, it seemed like the only point of that was for Ai to meet Alis and Dee, since all the other students just left despite their prior problems, while the headmistress lets them go.
* While everything is going on, there's also obviously at least one higher power granting people's wishes. Who is this power, and what are its motives? That's not explored at all, the characters just nod their heads whenever somebody with a granted wish shows up.
* Ai is cute, but when it comes to actually solving mysteries and getting things done, her entire role is just to ask a few questions, and suddenly people start fixing their own problems around her. (But at least she has more to do than Julie. That guy went from having a grudge against her dad, to becoming the group's chauffeur and food source.)

Final Score: 7.5/10. It's worth a watch, and the plot can be excused since it's just the beginning of the story, but I have to question if the author has an actual idea of where the story is going. Kimihito's created a world, lots of characters, and plot hooks, but so far (5 volumes, was it?) there's no coherent storyline yet, just a bunch of arcs. If the sales were good enough for another season, I'd watch just to see where everything goes.

[Gohan78]

After all the emotional buildup in this finale, I was ready for a bittersweet ending where Alice would sacrifice himself for the greater good... I was actually sad that Ai would lose another person she loved... Then the last 5 seconds happened and I was all

I don't mind a happy ending if it's done well, but that was just too damn abrupt!!
At least tell us that Ai made a wish to resurrect Alice! What bothers me is that if such a wish is possible, then the role of the gravekeepers loses all meaning. Just ask a relative of the deceased to bring him back to life! Problem solved!

[Klashikari]

^ The wishing machine plot device is way too vague that I believe it will bite the author's ass sooner or later.
Frankly, while it is the cornerstone for the interesting premise of the series, the fact it is left unchecked and unexplained is getting old and tiring FAST.

At this point, it serves the author's convenience more than the actual plot.

[winkel]

Agree, the wishing machine is too whimsical to be an effective plot device. Now it's just a convenient Deus ex machina.

Originally Posted by Klashikari

why Dee was an astral body to begin with? How come the world would reset if Dee was about to die? And what did Ai do to Alice in the end?

The same exact questions that were running through my mind. This anime is full of unexplained plot lines...

But I do like that Alice knew all along that he was dead, as it was stated in the article, just Dee and Ai never looked closely enough to realize it.

Originally Posted by MCAL

I got this from a LN reader, so I thought this was worth a look...

Spoiler:

“Ai from the novel did not realise Alis is the one who dead until the classmates ‘told’ her with their gazes.
When both of them are still in the classroom alone, Ai thinks to herself that this world already has no master (observer), the world is already collapsing but she is able to support Alis’s existence like this. She can’t help but made a wish to bring Alis back, to revive him. (This is something unintentional on her part)
And like this, Alis got revived

Note:
Master (Observer) of the delusional world being the Class 3-4 students who made the wish, not including Alis because he didn’t make the wish. He is able to leave the world whenever he can unlike outsiders is because he is the reason/part of the wish that Class 3-4 made.

Alis is dead and he’d been given a formal burial by a gravekeeper (as mentioned in anime too).
The reason why Dee is a ghost outside is because Class 3-4 and her bodies are all trapped inside the world, if any of them leave without breaking the wish/the delusional world, they will only leave with their spirit form, without physical body . Alis can leave with physical body seem like it’s because his dead body is outside the delusional world, different from the rest of the class.”

Now that is a much better explanation and sorely needed in the anime.

So what now, does Alice go on adventures with Ai? Or do Alice and Dee conveniently disappear next arc just like all the Goran schoolkids did?

[Asada Shino]

Originally Posted by Gohan78

After all the emotional buildup in this finale, I was ready for a bittersweet ending where Alice would sacrifice himself for the greater good... I was actually sad that Ai would lose another person she loved... Then the last 5 seconds happened and I was all

Lol same here, I've got this heavy feeling in my chest specially when that ed song was already playing, but like most people's reaction...

EHHHHHHHHHHHH??????? what was that?

I hope that instead of a happy ending, they've only shown Dee and Ai visiting Alice's grave and saying that they will continue their adventure or find a way to save people like she's always used to, instead together with Alice's visiting his own grave

Btw that ed song is really epic to be honest.

[NoemiChan]

This is the ending? Really? It still leaves a lot of questions.

[Witch of Uncertainty]

Soooo... wat.

[DXMichael]

Yeah...yeah the ending was a little gobbily goop, but damn the ending music always makes everything better

I think overall, my favourite episode was when the group was trying to find Scar. That episode was reeeaalllyyy interesting to watch, but it also had quite the creepiness to it in a way. The whole, Gravekeepers being born, the environment and atmosphere. Lastly, the illusions the characters had which showed them things that was related to them.

[Asada Shino]

What if something like that wishes can be only granted 14 years ago wherein lies the most important timeline since God was still there, and maybe giving wishes before abandoning the world, and since Ai is inside that loophole wherein the incident happened 14 years ago, that's why her wish was granted.

[AC-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Asada Shino

What if something like that wishes can be only granted 14 years ago wherein lies the most important timeline since God was still there, and maybe giving wishes before abandoning the world, and since Ai is inside that loophole wherein the incident happened 14 years ago, that's why her wish was granted.

Don't forget Kizuna's death. He died according to his wish.

[larethian]

Originally Posted by MCAL

I got this from a LN reader, so I thought this was worth a look...

Spoiler:

“Ai from the novel did not realise Alis is the one who dead until the classmates ‘told’ her with their gazes.
When both of them are still in the classroom alone, Ai thinks to herself that this world already has no master (observer), the world is already collapsing but she is able to support Alis’s existence like this. She can’t help but made a wish to bring Alis back, to revive him. (This is something unintentional on her part)
And like this, Alis got revived

Note:
Master (Observer) of the delusional world being the Class 3-4 students who made the wish, not including Alis because he didn’t make the wish. He is able to leave the world whenever he can unlike outsiders is because he is the reason/part of the wish that Class 3-4 made.

Alis is dead and he’d been given a formal burial by a gravekeeper (as mentioned in anime too).
The reason why Dee is a ghost outside is because Class 3-4 and her bodies are all trapped inside the world, if any of them leave without breaking the wish/the delusional world, they will only leave with their spirit form, without physical body . Alis can leave with physical body seem like it’s because his dead body is outside the delusional world, different from the rest of the class.”

Thanks.

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

The Good:
* Visually beautiful animation
* Music is also beautiful and fitting
* Unique premise with tons of worldbuilding and mysteries
* Ai is cute! And all of the other characters agree too.

The Bad:
* Meandering, directionless plot. Ai wants to save the world. How? She has no idea, and obviously neither do Scar nor Julie. Ulla give Celica to Scar. What role will this have in the future? After Ortus the two don't play any role at all. Except when Scar ran off. What was the point of that little side quest? She's obviously in conflict between her role as a gravekeeper and as a mother, but Julie gives Celica back to her, promises to always be with them, and all is well again. Nothing had changed at all! And that Goran Academy side plot, it seemed like the only point of that was for Ai to meet Alis and Dee, since all the other students just left despite their prior problems, while the headmistress lets them go.
* While everything is going on, there's also obviously at least one higher power granting people's wishes. Who is this power, and what are its motives? That's not explored at all, the characters just nod their heads whenever somebody with a granted wish shows up.
* Ai is cute, but when it comes to actually solving mysteries and getting things done, her entire role is just to ask a few questions, and suddenly people start fixing their own problems around her. (But at least she has more to do than Julie. That guy went from having a grudge against her dad, to becoming the group's chauffeur and food source.)

Final Score: 7.5/10. It's worth a watch, and the plot can be excused since it's just the beginning of the story, but I have to question if the author has an actual idea of where the story is going. Kimihito's created a world, lots of characters, and plot hooks, but so far (5 volumes, was it?) there's no coherent storyline yet, just a bunch of arcs. If the sales were good enough for another season, I'd watch just to see where everything goes.

I haven't read the novel except bit and pieces of volume 1. But I'm under the impression there's no real plot in this series but rather, it's the author throwing questions to the audience that revolve around the meaning of 'life' & 'death'. What defines 'true living'? Is it wrong to want to remain alive? Etc. I'm not good at phrasing it but I think Ai is figuring out the answers to such questions and her worldview is getting changed as she journeys the world, and the audience is experiencing through her. Coherency and plot holes thus don't matter too much unless they become too non-sensical to follow to the point where one thinks more about them than appreciating Ai's experiences.

[Master_Yoma]

Well the arcs want to fast and the ending just seemed so forced this would of been better if it was 50eps


5/10 Ai was just so cute

[orion]

That kiss! Alice x Ai ftw!

I don't see the problem. Ai made her wish and it got granted. A lot of crappy wishes got granted. At least this one corrected what the class should have wished for instead of what they really wished for.

Originally Posted by winkel

So what now, does Alice go on adventures with Ai? Or do Alice and Dee conveniently disappear next arc just like all the Goran schoolkids did?

I vote for Alice traveling with Ai. Leave Dee, Celica, Julie and Scar in town.

[justsomeguy]

Originally Posted by larethian

I haven't read the novel except bit and pieces of volume 1. But I'm under the impression there's no real plot in this series but rather, it's the author throwing questions to the audience that revolve around the meaning of 'life' & 'death'. What defines 'true living'? Is it wrong to want to remain alive? Etc. I'm not good at phrasing it but I think Ai is figuring out the answers to such questions and her worldview is getting changed as she journeys the world, and the audience is experiencing through her. Coherency and plot holes thus don't matter too much unless they become too non-sensical to follow to the point where one thinks more about them than appreciating Ai's experiences.

I understand what you're saying, and agree. I don't seriously expect Ai to actually save the world; the task is way too big for our characters, and the series is obviously more about journeying through and discovering the world than anything else. As for Ai, she starts from a very naive and idealistic position, and is very friendly to everybody she meets. Unfortunately that's also why I don't see much growth from her (besides how things just fix themselves with minimal input from her), she's obviously very intelligent, but so nonjudgmental that every experience feels like it's flowing passing by her.

[bastek66]

Heh, Dee get her scary face just like Sayaka

Nice series, butchered adaptation but still nice to watch if you don't care.

[novalysis]

The way I see it, Kamisama is a world where reality has broken down. Which explains it's surreal nature and contradictions. It also explains the haunting beauty of the world, and the strange sense of ominousness that characterizes the atmosphere.

I think it's a twisted sort of Coming of Age story, in a post apocalyptic world where reality has been broken down into intersecting planes of existence with different rules in each plane.

After reading the LN Spoilers, it seems to me that this story is yet another victim of the One Cour Syndrome : Anime adaptations that cannot be satisfactorily told in Four Hours of Airtime, and as a result, suffer from horrendous pacing issues. Prior victims include the likes of Maou Maou Yuusha, but even anime originals aren't exempt from this - Angel Beats was another show where the pacing just fell apart towards the end. Kami-nai is yet another victim.

I think you can tell just how rushed the pacing is, since each of Kamisama arcs tend to break down towards the end, in the anime, no matter how good the preceding few episodes were. It happened in Hampnie's arc, it happened in Ortus arc, it happened in Scar's arc (I heard the anime butchered, adulterated and cheapened what Ai actually experienced on the other-side of the portal in the anime), and it happened again in the last arc.

Which is a shame. This story deserved a full 26 episode treatment, IMO. 12 episodes is not enough to do it justice. But given that it's BD Sales aren't projected to be that good to begin with, last I heard....

[Lord of Fire]

Originally Posted by MCAL

I got this from a LN reader, so I thought this was worth a look...

Spoiler:

“Ai from the novel did not realise Alis is the one who dead until the classmates ‘told’ her with their gazes.
When both of them are still in the classroom alone, Ai thinks to herself that this world already has no master (observer), the world is already collapsing but she is able to support Alis’s existence like this. She can’t help but made a wish to bring Alis back, to revive him. (This is something unintentional on her part)
And like this, Alis got revived

Note:
Master (Observer) of the delusional world being the Class 3-4 students who made the wish, not including Alis because he didn’t make the wish. He is able to leave the world whenever he can unlike outsiders is because he is the reason/part of the wish that Class 3-4 made.

Alis is dead and he’d been given a formal burial by a gravekeeper (as mentioned in anime too).
The reason why Dee is a ghost outside is because Class 3-4 and her bodies are all trapped inside the world, if any of them leave without breaking the wish/the delusional world, they will only leave with their spirit form, without physical body . Alis can leave with physical body seem like it’s because his dead body is outside the delusional world, different from the rest of the class.”

That makes a lot of sense. Maybe if they had one more episode, they could have cleared that up.

Still, other than that confusing ending, I liked this show. Could have probably used a few more episodes (two cour might have been too much), but I'm satisfied with it overall.

8/10

[Scarletknive]

Originally Posted by Marina2

@AP24

I heard LN reader said that.......

Spoiler for LN Comparison to anime ending:

- In novel, Dee is really the one who died here. This ending is anime original.

....................................

Final thought: While the story seems to lose its focus after the first arc ended, the plot is confusing at many points, and the ending is totally anti-climax. The show's characters, visual and music saved it for me.

I will remember Deeas one of my favorite character.

I have to find out who is that LN reader and ask him to rewatch the episode and reread that part of the novel, it is not an anime original ending... (There might be some adjustments in between, but it still leads to the same ending.)

Originally Posted by bastek66

Heh, Dee get her scary face just like Sayaka

Nice series, butchered adaptation but still nice to watch if you don't care.

S-she is staring at me, a-and I cant look back... W-why?

Originally Posted by Lord of Fire

That makes a lot of sense. Maybe if they had one more episode, they could have cleared that up.

Still, other than that confusing ending, I liked this show. Could have probably used a few more episodes (two cour might have been too much), but I'm satisfied with it overall.

8/10

It is cramped to a 1 cour, when the whole Vol 1-5 of the LN should have been 2 cour. Well, there should be a reason for this.

[Hoaviet]

This anime was great, very emotional and good picks for music to set the mood.

But that ending was bad, THEY HAVE TO EXPLAIN IT DAMNIT!

[Scarletknive]

Originally Posted by Hoaviet

This anime was great, very emotional and good picks for music to set the mood.

But that ending was bad, THEY HAVE TO EXPLAIN IT DAMNIT!

Maybe in the OVA?