When I watched the first season of Kamisama Kiss I found it to be a pretty average series. The similarities to Fruits Basket were many but it didn’t have the same kind of charm about it. A few years later and now we have Kamisama Kiss Complete Season 2 Collection, but how does it compare to its predecessor?
Nanami the Land God is back with the handsome fox familiar Tomoe at her side! After a rough start as a newly ordained god, she’s finally finding her land legs in the world of gods, demons, and spirits. However, not everything is going magically well. Nanami’s feelings for Tomoe are growing stronger, but Tomoe goes from hot to cold faster than a weather god! And he’s not the only moody demon. The flowers in Kurama’s mountain home are dying, and the person behind the wilting wildlife is none other than his brother Jiro! Nanami’s got a lot on her plate. When the going gets tough, will this green goddess have what it takes to save the day? – MVM Entertainment
The similarities with Fruits Basket continue in season two but unlike the first season, we actually get some good character progression this time around. Season one was very much a competition for Nanami’s affections between all the gods and familiars but season two delves into the pasts of characters such as Tomoe and Shinjūrō Kurama. This gives some much-needed character depth that was sorely lacking previously. I think if we had a bit of this in the first season then I probably would have enjoyed it a little more. As it is I wasn’t planning to continue the series but I’ve definitely been pleasantly surprised by season two.
Characters, maybe due to the new depth, definitely have more charm about them which makes their vying for Nanami’s affections a lot more bearable and even enjoyable. Season two is definitely more about the characters than any serious overall story progression which even from season one was never a major plus for the series. While some of the storylines within season two aren’t that great, overall it’s a pretty enjoyable series. If you were already a fan from season one then you’re definitely in for a treat here.
It’s been a while since I originally saw season one of Kamisama Kiss but it definitely feels like the animation quality has seen some major improvement. Even reviewing this from DVD I was surprised by how good it looked. This is helped by the fact we’ve got NTSC authored discs, which make the whole viewing experience a lot more enjoyable. There’s no PAL speed up or horrid uneven black line around the edge of the screen. This is how all DVD releases in the UK should be. As I’ve seen the first season with the Japanese audio I decided this time around I was going to try out the English audio track. It’s not overly impressive but then again neither is the Japanese so whichever route you decide to take you’ll be in good hands.
Extras on disc include Episode Commentary for episode 4 and 12, as well as Textless Opening and Closing animations. Episode commentaries are fairly standard for Funimation releases and if you enjoy them then fair play. I would have liked to have seen a lot more in terms of extras but it’s a pretty standard set included.