Kamichu!

Kamichu! (かみちゅ!) is a Japanese anime television series, strongly influenced by the Shinto religion, that follows the adventures of teenage goddess Yurie Hitotsubashi and her friends. The title is short for Kamisama de Chūgakusei (かみさまでちゅうがくせい). The series was created by Besame Mucho (ベサメムーチョ), which is the joint pen name of Tomonori Ochiai, Koji Masunari, and Hideyuki Kurata. It was broadcast by the anime television network Animax on its respective networks worldwide, including Japan, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, where it received its first English-language broadcast.

The series was adapted as a manga serialized in Dengeki Daioh, a shōnen manga magazine, and collected in two tankōbon volumes.

At the 2005 Japan Media Arts Festival, Kamichu! received an Excellence Prize for animation.

On July 3, 2008, Geneon Entertainment and Funimation Entertainment announced an agreement to distribute select titles in North America. While Geneon Entertainment will still retain the license, Funimation Entertainment will assume exclusive rights to the manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution of select titles. Kamichu! was one of several titles involved in the deal.

Story
Yurie is a petite, shy, and otherwise ordinary middle-school girl who suddenly discovers that, overnight, she has become a kami (神), a god in the Shinto sense. She has no idea what kind of god she is or what her powers are. Her friends give her the nickname Kamichu, a portmanteau of kami (god) and chūgakusei (middle school student). In her journey she meets many gods and learns the ways of the gods in order to become a great god herself. During the course of the series, Yurie grows more in being a better god, but she also grows as a person.

Kamichu! is set in the city of Onomichi in Hiroshima prefecture, on the shores of Japan's Inland Sea. Many of the temples and landmarks shown in the anime are real places in and around the city, faithfully depicted. It is set in the Spring of 1983 to Spring of 1984.

Main characters

 * Yurie Hitotsubashi (一橋 ゆりえ)
 * Yurie is the protagonist of the series. In the first episode, she tells her best friend Mitsue that overnight she has become a goddess; this is never further explained. She is remarkably naive and simple-minded but always has the best intentions. She has had a crush on Kenji Ninomiya for a long time, and gets very nervous and red-faced around him. Whenever she performs magic, her hair grows very long and she often falls asleep afterwards, due to the effort involved.
 * Yurie is the protagonist of the series. In the first episode, she tells her best friend Mitsue that overnight she has become a goddess; this is never further explained. She is remarkably naive and simple-minded but always has the best intentions. She has had a crush on Kenji Ninomiya for a long time, and gets very nervous and red-faced around him. Whenever she performs magic, her hair grows very long and she often falls asleep afterwards, due to the effort involved.


 * Matsuri Saegusa (三枝 祀)
 * Matsuri is the person in charge of the Raifuku Shrine in Onomichi. She runs the shrine with her sister, Miko, and is always thinking of schemes to earn money for or bring more visitors to the shrine- usually by exploiting Yurie. Unlike Miko, she cannot see spirits without the charms that Yurie usually writes (though it is stated in the manga by Miko that she too could once see spirits). Her name means "worship".
 * Matsuri is the person in charge of the Raifuku Shrine in Onomichi. She runs the shrine with her sister, Miko, and is always thinking of schemes to earn money for or bring more visitors to the shrine- usually by exploiting Yurie. Unlike Miko, she cannot see spirits without the charms that Yurie usually writes (though it is stated in the manga by Miko that she too could once see spirits). Her name means "worship".


 * Mitsue Shijo (四条 光恵)
 * Mitsue is Yurie's best friend. She's very down-to-earth, and serves as the "straight man" for her friends, but wishes that her life were more exciting. Yurie often goes to her for advice and although her advice is simple, and usually is just common sense, she is always right. She is usually possessed by Yashima when he needs to communicate with people or when he wants to play the guitar.
 * Mitsue is Yurie's best friend. She's very down-to-earth, and serves as the "straight man" for her friends, but wishes that her life were more exciting. Yurie often goes to her for advice and although her advice is simple, and usually is just common sense, she is always right. She is usually possessed by Yashima when he needs to communicate with people or when he wants to play the guitar.


 * Miko Saegusa (三枝 みこ)
 * Miko is Matsuri's shy younger sister. She does the cooking in the house, and is very polite and respectful to everyone. She helps out in the shrine and has the ability to see spirits. She has a crush on Yashima. Her name, Miko, is also the term for a Shinto shrine attendant.
 * Miko is Matsuri's shy younger sister. She does the cooking in the house, and is very polite and respectful to everyone. She helps out in the shrine and has the ability to see spirits. She has a crush on Yashima. Her name, Miko, is also the term for a Shinto shrine attendant.


 * Kenji Ninomiya (二宮 健児)
 * Kenji is the president and only member of his school's calligraphy club. He is quite aloof and a bit slow on the uptake. He loves his brushes, and he often does calligraphy for the Raifuku shrine. He only does calligraphy when he is 'inspired', yet it takes him a while to realize that most of his sources of inspiration revolve around Yurie.
 * Kenji is the president and only member of his school's calligraphy club. He is quite aloof and a bit slow on the uptake. He loves his brushes, and he often does calligraphy for the Raifuku shrine. He only does calligraphy when he is 'inspired', yet it takes him a while to realize that most of his sources of inspiration revolve around Yurie.


 * Yashima-sama (八島様)
 * Yashima is the local god of the Raifuku shrine. He wishes to be a rock star, resulting in him often possessing Mitsue in order to rock out (who is totally against this). He is also often seen with an Akita Inu that talks. He seems to be close friends with Miko Saegusa, but it is implied that he is more interested in Matsuri.
 * Yashima is the local god of the Raifuku shrine. He wishes to be a rock star, resulting in him often possessing Mitsue in order to rock out (who is totally against this). He is also often seen with an Akita Inu that talks. He seems to be close friends with Miko Saegusa, but it is implied that he is more interested in Matsuri.


 * Shoukichi Hitotsubashi (一橋 章吉)
 * Shoukichi is Yurie's younger brother, who like Miko attends the same school as his older sister, one grade below. Often he acts more mature than his sister, and he often teases her, but he does love her. He has a crush on Miko, and acts differently and blushes whenever he's around her.
 * Shoukichi is Yurie's younger brother, who like Miko attends the same school as his older sister, one grade below. Often he acts more mature than his sister, and he often teases her, but he does love her. He has a crush on Miko, and acts differently and blushes whenever he's around her.


 * Bin-chan (貧乏神(貧ちゃん))
 * A poverty god Yurie takes in after he saves Tama's life. He shares Tama's body.


 * Tama (一橋 タマ)
 * Yurie's pet cat. After she began to share her body with Bin-chan, she exhibits a number of human traits which make Shoukichi suspicious.
 * Yurie's pet cat. After she began to share her body with Bin-chan, she exhibits a number of human traits which make Shoukichi suspicious.


 * Ino, Shika, Chou
 * Ino
 * Shika
 * Chou
 * The three tiny spirits that the God Association sends as Yurie's assistants. Their names are puns, as they were given by Yurie for unrelated reasons but correspond to the animals that they resemble. Chou is a butterfly, Ino is a boar and Shika is a deer. "Ino-Shika-Chou" is a winning hand in Hanafuda.

Reception and awards
The anime received an Excellence Prize at the 2005 Japan Media Arts Festival.

Anime episodes
There are sixteen episodes in the anime series. Twelve episodes were broadcasted on TV Asahi in 720p, omitting episodes 8, 11, 13, and 16. The DVD release included all sixteen episodes. The opening theme was "Fair Weather Followed by Fair Weather" (晴れのちハレ!) performed by Maho Tomita, and the closing theme was "Ice Candy" (アイスキャンディー) performed by MAKO.

The titles of several episodes are from Japanese pop songs from the 1980s and 1990s.

Music
Three Kamichu! CDs were released:


 * 1) アイスキャンディー Maxi - 2005-08-24
 * 2) 晴れのちハレ! Maxi - 2005-08-24
 * 3) Kamichu OST - 2005-10-26

Manga
Kamichu! was adapted as a manga serialized by MediaWorks in Dengeki Daioh, a shōnen manga magazine, and collected in two tankōbon volumes.

Manga episodes
There are fourteen episodes plus one short episode in the manga series. Four long episodes consist of two parts (02+03, 04+05, 09+10, 12+13).