KamiKatsu: The Most Cursed Anime of Spring 2023?

One show I enjoyed watching this past spring was KamiKatsu: Working for God in a Godless World (神無き世界のカミサマ活動, Kaminaki Sekai no Kamisama Katsudou). It was totally inside my wheelhouse! It was an isekai tale with a twist that made social commentary on cults, community, and religion. Deviant villagers drank too much and dressed in sex-fetish costumes. The art style made them attractive, and the writing made them likable. So, what went wrong? How did the wheels fall off KamiKatsu by the end of its run?

Potential Ecchi Greatness

J-List covered the preview trailer and described its premise before the spring season. Cult victim Yukito dies during a ritual and resurrects in another world with a rural setting. But this new world has no concept of the word “God.” Worse, the prevailing society holds daily executions for population control. And the citizens offer no objections to the sudden loss of their family members. The deviants are the ones who object, resist, or display emotional attachments. When Yukito dies trying to save his new friends’ lives, he discovers that Mitama, the god of his abusive cult, exists and resurrects him again!

The deviants of Yukito’s village are not simply non-compliant drones. Each one has a specific fetish that KamiKatsu animates comedically and sexily. A dark-skinned enforcer, whom Mitama killed when she rescued Yukito, returns as a man trapped in a sexy woman’s body after the goddess resurrected him. There’s something for everyone in this show: heavy drinking, bunny girls, waitress uniforms, and nubile bodies everywhere. After a theatrical plot development in the middle of the season, we saw the revealing costumes and voluptuous body proportions of the enemy “goddesses.” My favorite was Dakini, the gyaru manifestation of sexual fertility.

This is all good stuff, but signs were clear that production issues would plague the season in the first episode.

KamiKatsu and Poor CGI Choices

KamiKatsu had fun with its isekai genre story. It converted its characters and setting to 16-bit sprites in a JRPG-style game for its end credits and episode transitions. I always enjoyed watching the end credits to see how the 16-bit version recapped the show. But KamiKatsu also relied on pure CGI for beasts and vehicles. A cute mascot roaming the village was entirely 3DCGI in the first episode, which jarringly clashed with the bright colors and thick, contrasting lines for the cel animation. Later, all the monsters and animals entered the anime as 3D models that didn’t match the art direction. The worst example was the terrible idea of compositing a character’s head on a heavily filtered video capture of farming equipment. It was a true “what were they thinking?” moment.

KamiKatsu Delayed “Due to Various Circumstances” = Censorship!

During the spring season, the anime had two episodes postponed for a week. It almost felt nostalgic for the old days of Girls und Panzer and Märchen Mädchen. I worried Studio Palette might have contracted COVID-19, which had derailed many anime in the winter season. Kubo-san Won’t Let Me Be Invisible finished up in the spring. Three, Ayakashi Triangle, The Misfit of Demon King Academy II, and NieR:Automata Ver 1.1a, will finally complete their runs during the summer. But that wasn’t the case for KamiKatsu. The episodes needed to add black censorship shadows to specific scenes!

Some made sense. No matter how late the time slot was, a detailed twelve-inch dildo would not be broadcast in Japan. Others could also be understandable, like adding extra shadows to crotches. But a sloppy wet, tongue-wrestling kiss was too much. Sexual deviancy was a top theme of KamiKatsu, where even tentacle torture was on the menu, but kissing was right out. Also, hard nipples.

Blu-ray Bait and a Second Season?

The first two disks for KamiKatsu have been released for purchase and preorder, and I have questions about how the production crew will address the censorship issues. Every female character was an ecchi fanservice machine, so I hope they get loving treatment in a post-season afterlife. The manga continues its story, and the anime has ended with a question mark on its “To Be Continued” place marker. Will merchandise sales justify another run? I’m hopeful, but only if the same studio keeps animating beautiful women but ditches the CGI.

KamiKatsu: Working for God in a Godless World (Kaminaki Sekai no Kamisama Katsudou) streams on Crunchyroll in Japanese audio and multiple language subtitles.

Kaori Yoshikawa, the character designer for KamiKatsu’s anime, doesn’t need help drawing sexy girls. But if you’re curious, J-List can help you with its collection of ‘How to Draw Books.’ Pick up How to Draw Sexy Girls Choppiri H na Onnanoko no Kakikata today!

Did you watch KamiKatsu? How did you feel about the main character’s cynical yet clinical perspective on religious communities? Would you join Dakini’s religion? Let us know in the comments below or online on Facebook, Twitter, or Discord.