Kamierabi

After receiving a text message offering to fulfill any of his wishes, high school student Gorou Ono successfully enacts his perverted fantasies with classmate Sawa Honoka. However, to his dismay, the granter of his wish materializes in the form of a demon named Lall. She informs him that he is now part of a game that will determine the next God of the world. As Gorou struggles to come to terms with this reality, Sawa attacks him with a giant sword, revealing that she also is part of this twisted competition for the divine throne.

Every participant of the game receives a special power, and Gorou manages to kill his classmate with his ability: the Holy Book of the Fool. But this technique comes at a cost: Gorou's life gets worse every time he uses the book. As he learns more about this seemingly absurd competition, Gorou must find allies and learn how to use his newfound power before he loses everything.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Nojima, Chika Main

Abe, Natsuko Japanese

Akitsu, Yutaka Main

Uchida, Shuuichi Japanese

Futana, Iyo Main

Kusunoki, Tomori Japanese

Lall Main

Sakura, Ayane Japanese

Amano, Tatsuya Main

Shin, Yuuki Japanese

Okino, Mitsuko Main

Fairouz Ai Japanese

Ama, Kouki Main

Kajiwara, Gakuto Japanese

Sawa, Honoka Main

Matsumoto, Sara Japanese

Ono, Gorou Main

Ura, Kazuki Japanese

Ryou Supporting

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Mori, Akitoshi Producer

Shouji, Naoto Assistant Producer

Seshita, Hiroyuki Director

Yamaguchi, Takayuki Sound Director

Reviews

May 20, 2024

gigamale1

Recommended

What amazes me the most by Kamierabi is the remarkably low score it received right upon release. I guess this is due to the fast pace of the first episode and its full CGI animation; this probably got people worried because it could have been a sign for a "new Ex-Arm" or something like that, but I dont think it was the case.

(Animation/Art)
Initially, I would rather talk about the story but, since the animation is a bit of a controversial topic, I think its better to discuss the latter first.
Considering that the main studio Unend is brand new (this ... is their actual first anime), I cant really talk about their past projects, so its a "see for yourself or believe in me" kind of situation. If you compare this CGI with the ones usually used in other anime, you can really notice the positive difference; it looks quite natural, so much so that you can get completely familiar with it by the third episode or close to it. Regarding my own opinion, I dont think the CGI is up there with the best ones I have seen, but its definitely a cut above the rest.
However, if you dont like the CGI anyway, you may notice that the studio is fairly meticulous with the landscape, it kind of just catches your attention sometimes. One good example is Gorou Ono's, aka the protagonist, room, which has an absurd amount of plastic bottles and posters of Iyo Futana (an idol he's very much obsessed with); another one is the background in the first battle of the series, in which the buildings suddenly get fleshy and glowing with bright red, contrasting with the dark atmosphere.

(Music)
About the soundtrack, we have studio MONACA, lead by Keichii Okabe, a man who follows Yoko Taro everywhere he goes, so its not a surprise they are here too. I'll be honest that I didnt fully pay attention to the music and I cant make a complete analysis of it but I can guarantee that studio MONACA is very good in its department, they usually make soundtracks for games, like the NieR franchise, and anime, including many arcs from the Monogatari series.
The opening theme song is sung by Elaiza; she hasnt partaken in any other anime related music, as far as me and this website is concerned. The song's lyrics have not much to do with the actual anime but it is kind of edgy, and it blends with the goofy melody, representing the overall tone of the series: "kinda edgy and goofy".
Meanwhile, the ending theme song is sung by Alisa, who is also a fairly unknown name in the anime community. The lyrics, again, dont have much to do with the story, but its a very catchy romantic song.
Both songs dont have complete original visuals along with it, they are composed by scenes taken directly from the anime with some additional editing. And, for the record, I like the little dance the protagonist does by the end of the opening.

(Story)
The premise of the story isnt unique, its about a battle royale between "god candidates", and the one who turns out to be the last remaining gets to be "god". That was also the premise of Platinum End and Mirai Nikki. Besides, the so called "GOD.app" resembles Darwin's Game mechanics a bit.
The first episode was really fast paced but it was also good because it set up the atmosphere of the anime, which doesnt change much during the season; we have a cat dying, the protagonist turning on a tv and running into porn his friend was watching, the former also masturbates in front of a girl, and they get suspended from school for publishing a video in which they make fun of suicide, its just great...
About half of the season consists of random encounters the protagonist has with the many other characters, and its structure may get kind of repetitive. But, at the other half, things get more interesting and the main cast comes together for the final conflict. Also, by the time this review is published, I have just seen the final episode, which has an open ending, and Im still thinking about its implications but I thought it was interesting nonetheless.
Anyway, in general, how does the story feel? Just like I said some paragraphs above, the general tone of the series is "kinda edgy and goofy" (and I dont mean edgy in a necessarily bad way, its just that heavy themes are constantly depicted during the story in a not so serious manner, which may, reasonably, be considered edgy by some), the anime doesnt seem to take itself very seriously and this approach does lead to some funny and/or interesting moments, so, if I can say so myself, I had a good time watching it.

(Characters)
As it is very clear, especially with the character Yutaka Akitsu, the design was done by Atsushi Ookubo, aka Fire Force and Soul Eater's creator. Something I thought as unique was that a certain color was adressed to each of the main characters; this definitely makes them stand out between each other. What I mean by that is that the characters look important and unique when they appear in the screen; at least, that was my impression.
So, about the characters themselves, almost all of them have tragic backstories, not explored to their fullest, and personal "wishes", which, I assume, have to do with why they are god candidates in the first place. In particular, I like Kouki Ama's backstory the most; he used to be bullied as a child and, when he got fed up with his situation, he asked his grandpa for help and possibly revenge against the bullies; however, the latter simply said that "he doesnt understand his enemies, he doesnt have the full picture", which is kind of unsupportive but, anyway, seeking to understand his grandpa's response, Kouki starts to dress as a delinquent and gets involved with them and such; after some time has passed, he doesnt actually become a delinquent but comes to understand them and their motives, so, in the end, he understands both sides: the "bullied" and the "bullies", the "weak" and the "strong". On a side note, he is the least tragic character by far and actually the only one who got some grip on his life.
Personality-wise, I think all the characters stick out in their own way. But, the ones I see most people liking are Yutaka Akitsu, who is the definition of a chaotic good character, and Chika Nojima, whose love for science has led her to attract people to the science club by convincing them that science is interesting and cool "just like magic"; these are our initial impressions of her at least.
Moreover, as its to be expected in a battle royale anime, every main character has its own unique power, which has something to do with their past, their personality or, as i yet again assume (because this isnt explicitly explained in the anime, its just a general pattern I recognized), it has to do with their personal "wishes". One of the clearest examples is Tatsuya Amano's power. Hes also bullied at school and, just as kid Kouki Ama, grows vengeful thoughts towards people in general and, at the same time, wishes they would change and be just like he wanted them to be. Then, when he happens to "awaken to a mysterious power", this power is one to fully control the actions of a person, given certain conditions; pretty straightforward, right?

As I'm writing this review, I remember the phrase said in the first episode: "Be forewarned that whats to come isnt a very pleasant story, there are no heroes, [...], its just a bunch of nonsense, so I hope you at least laugh it off". It was a foreshadow on the wacky pessimism of the entire 12 episodes of the season, and truth be told, it was indeed correct, for better or for worse depending on your perspective. The story doesnt take itself seriously most times and it has a pessimistic view on society and people in general; because of that, it resembles the early works of Yoko Taro, namely Drakengard 1 and 3. Ultimately, I hope the ones going to watch this anime manage to appreciate it for what it is and at least laugh it off, I sure did.

Besides, we shall wait and see whats to come in the second season!

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Dec 20, 2023

KANLen09

Mixed Feelings

Informative

KamiErabi God.app — the successor to derided, full-on 3DCG shows like Ex-Arm and Tesla Note...and being a high-stakes battle royale conceived from one of the game industry's most beloved icons? I am shooketh.

Even if you don't play video games, the pellucid name of Yoko Taro should be no stranger to anyone, for his Drakengard (and its subsequent spin-off NieR) franchise of games has become quite the phenomenon that's widely accepted as one of the cult classic games that have gained quite the notoriety amongst fans. And now, he's back with an all-star team to create one of Fall 2023's most divisive anime of the season: ... the high-stakes, battle royale death game that is KamiErabi GOD.app. 

As Ajin and Sidonia no Kishi a.k.a Knights of Sidonia director Hiroyuki Seshita puts it, KamiErabi is not just a mere imitation of famed mangaka Sakae Esuno's Mirai Nikki a.k.a Future Diary, but to quote his words, “I mean, it really is crazy. The world we’re in is already crazy. I mean, it’s super crazy. And what we’re doing is basically matching perfectly the world that we’re living in. From the very beginning, we were saying, ‘Okay, let’s make it so that [the anime feels like] there’s weird going on from the get-go. And every single time we worked on this, we tried to make sure that we infused it with some craziness because that matches our world.” Furthermore, despite being a death-game-themed premise, it actually fits more appropriately into the fantasy genre.

This then brings us to the show's creation, which just so casually happened between Yoko Taro and Hiroyuki Seshita over drinks and praising the former's works, though the latter opted that the former should be credited for the work, and as Yoko Taro puts it, “We were all kind of doing things in our separate ways. After we all got together and really joined forces, it all kind of came together in a kind of miraculous way.” Next, it's adding the eponymous people to the project: Enen no Shouboutai a.k.a Fire Force creator Atsushi Ookubo on character design and the homonymous series composer Jin, who's composed for many series, one of which was the Kagerou Project a.k.a Kagerou Days, which would shape the anime and make it work, quoting "put 100% of his being into creating something “really bold and daring” that would surprise people," push his limits while working on the anime to ensure that it would meet both his and his fellow creators’ expectations. It's the same for said manga creator, quoted: “For me, working on the anime was actually this feeling of total irresponsibility. Like, literally, I didn’t feel the pressure of responsibility at all. It was just pure fun. But if we didn’t have the ass-whipper [Hiroyuki Seshita] to be responsible and get the team whipped into shape, it wouldn’t have happened.”

But the series is best left said and taken in such a way as Jin puts it: “The thing is that even if someone in Japan says to you, ‘Okay, do whatever you want, right? Anything goes. Anything is fine.’ They usually don’t mean it. However, in my case, I literally took them at their word. I said, ‘literally anything goes. I’m gonna do whatever I want. And when I did, I was told by the director and the producer that they were kind of surprised, saying ‘Wow, this is kind of sugoi.’ The momentum [as a whole] that we had as a team plus the individual characteristics that we brought, I think, is what made this successful."

Back to the anime, we've pretty much seen every similarity and/or common fidelity to this genre, from Summer 2021's Deatte 5-byou de Battle a.k.a Battle Game in 5 Seconds, to Spring 2022's Tomodachi Game. As contemporaries of the psychological high-stakes themes set in a fantasy genre, it almost looks as if the base concept is nothing special, of high school students fighting each other in a battle royale for the chance to become God. But what makes or breaks the anime is how flaccid and unpredictable director Hiroyuki Seshita wants to envision the entire show's vision and make sure that "two wrongs (or rather, the many differences between high-profile people) will make a right," going as unhinged as possible so that everything still makes sense by the end of it. And at the very least for Season 1 here, it's only half the battle won, and I did make some sense out of all of the madness that KamiErabi GOD.app has to offer before its eventual return for Season 2 sometime next year.

That said, Atsushi Ookubo's character designs which are adapted into the anime, of which the main characters of Goro Ono (with his devil assistant Lall) and his many classmates (of Honoka Sawa, Yutaka Akitsu, Koki Ama, Mitsuko Okino, Chika Nojima and Iyo Futana) each having quite the eccentricity about themselves to understand that some entity is playing with their lives in the never-ending quest to "make a wish" to become God and rewrite the world, the biggest benefactor would have to been the one who first noticed the changes: Goro himself, being the typical nobody character before facing his crush (of Honoka) who attacks him out of nowhere, only to win and gain a power that builds from the sacrifices of his other fine details in life. It'd be pretty hard to imagine if the show took on full-on traditional 2D drawing, because the 3D models here were definitely purpose-built for a CG series such as this.

However, what would define KamiErabi, is ultimately the decision to go full-on 3DCG, based on Hiroyuki Seshita's experience with the no-name studio that is UNEND's production...I can tell you that out of all of the fully-created 3DCG works since the horrendous days of Winter 2021's Ex-Arm, KamiErabi feels the most polished within the AniManga industry, finally understanding the wane of the former's colossal failure in almost 3 years, though it still looks like ass from time to time, which isn't so much a nitpick if I do say so myself.

The music is surprisingly upbeat and whimsical, as if series composer Jin had put his all into the creation of the OST as well, which, considering the effort he put into Kagerou Days, he certainly did. As for the theme songs, ELAIZA's OP song certainly is one bizarre debut of a decent song, while Alisa had some experience working on her first theme songs for Carole & Tuesday before working on the ED song, which, as expected, is fine and nothing all that special (apart from the song being in English).

Despite all of the community's views about this show, it's ridonculously clear that Yoko Taro had intended KamiErabi GOD.app to be not just a battle royale death game that has the quote, unquote "edgy" theme going for it. Like Winter 2020's Darwin's Game, it too has its fantasy and psychological elements that work as if you're playing either one of his games, and while the ultimate takeaway is a show that either makes you bored or messes with your brain, the unhinge nature of Yoko Taro's vision for this still remains to be seen if it's ever effective at all to be on the same level of either Drakengard or NieR.

Take this show as you wish, putting yourself in the shoes of Yoko Taro, and imagine that score based on personal experience, at least for this 1st half here. I can't quite speak for all, but it's best if you try at least one episode to see if the show is for you.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Dec 20, 2023

knd944

Not Recommended

Funny

This anime could have been good, but it isn't. The story is kind of boring; the the only salvation to this anime is the last two episodes and the soundtrack. Everything else is horrible in my opinion.

The art is 3D. So is the animation. So it's bad. So scoring 2/10.

The characters... The background characters don't have faces. They couldn't be bothered to do the faces. That's why I scored low. And the character development? Is mediocre. However, it is kind of unique.

It was a boring watch. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Not even to my worst enemy.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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