Kamisama Kazoku

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Kamisama Kazoku


caption =
ja_name = 神様家族
ja_name_trans = God Family
genre = Romantic comedy, SupernaturalInfobox animanga/Novel
light = yes
title =
author = Yoshikazu Kuwashima
illustrator = Suzuhito Yasuda
publisher = flagicon|Japan Media Factory
flagicon|KOR Daiwon C.I.
demographic = Male
first = 2003
last =
volumes = 8 volumes as of June 2007Infobox animanga/Manga
title =
author = Yoshikazu Kuwashima
illustrator = Tapari
publisher = flagicon|Japan Media Factory
flagicon|KOR Daiwon C.I.
flagicon|USA Go! Comi
demographic = Seinen
magazine = Comic Flapper
first = 2005
last =
volumes = 4 volumes as of November 2007Infobox animanga/Anime
title =
director = Kimitoshi Chioka
studio = Toei Animation
network = flagicon|Japan Animax
first = May 18, 2006
last = August 10, 2006
episodes = 13

Nihongo|"Kamisama Kazoku"|神様家族|lit. "God Family" is a harem anime series based on a series of light novels by Yoshikazu Kuwashima, which premiered May 18, 2006 in Japan across the anime satellite television network Animax.

Plot

Samatarou Kamiyama is the son of a god and must live in the human world with his family to learn about them, in order to become a better god when the time comes to succeed his father. His closest friend is Tenko, Samatarou's guardian angel since birth. One day he falls for Kumiko Komori, a girl who just transferred to their school, and decides to win her heart without relying on any of his relatives' godly powers, oblivious to the fact that Tenko herself has a crush on him.

Characters

; nihongo|Samatarou Kamiyama|神山 佐間太郎|Kamiyama Samatarō
* : Samatarou is the blue-eyed, blue-haired son of a god (kami) and a goddess (megami), who is studying humanity on Earth in order to be a better deity when he is ready to succeed his father. Samatarou isn't human, evidenced by the fact that he mentions never having felt really hungry and by Tenko's comment that he shouldn't be too strongly affected by pain when she punches him. Samatarou doesn't seem to have full control of his powers yet, although he is capable of communicating in telepathic/chibi form and he displays other abilities infrequently. Samatarou is generally kind-hearted, considerate to people and capable of acts of courage and determination, but he is easily embarrassed by his family's madcap antics and he is easily bribed with yakisoba bread. Before his crush on Kumiko, he seemed to be generally fed up with his life, where he got everything he wanted just by wishing it, and was lacking in resolve.

; nihongo|Tenko Kamiyama|神山 テンコ|
* : Tenko is a pink-haired, pink-eyed angel that was summoned to Earth on the very day that Samatarou was born, to be his guardian and guide until he was ready to move ahead by himself. Since Tenko appeared in the form of a newborn, she has grown up with Samatarou and developed feelings for him along the way. This did not stop her from acting as Samatarou's conscience and occasionally punishing him for what she considered to be his misdeeds. Tenko tries to help her charge with his first crush, only to suffer conflicting feelings when she realizes her own feelings. Despite having considerable willpower and integrity, Tenko is in some ways as innocent as a child and lacks some knowledge of general human traffic. For instance, she was quite unknowing about the method of conceiving children and operated by the same explanation that Meme got; first boy and girl kiss, then the stork comes. A defining trait of Tenko is that, whenever she suffers an emotional extreme of some sort, steam visibly erupts from the top of her head.

; nihongo|Osamu Kamiyama|神山 治|Kamiyama Osamu
* : Osamu is the father of Misa, Samatarou and Meme and husband to Venus. Osamu appears as an older man, who acts playful and appears to be a loving husband and father, albeit a somewhat odd one. When in his workplace in the heavens, Osamu's main occupation appears to be the granting of human wishes. Before Samatarou started showing his own initiative to get what he wanted, Osamu frequently spoiled his son and heir, granting his every desire instantly, even if Samatarou didn't particularly want him to. Because Osamu tends to go overboard when granting his son's wishes, he frequently embarrassed his child. Since Samatarou started moving forward by himself, Osamu has stayed in his workplace, doing his own job. He doesn't object to visits from his family, however.

; nihongo|Venus Kamiyama|神山 ビーナス|Kamiyama Bīnasu
* : Venus is the mother of Misa, Samatarou and Meme and wife to Osamu. The goddess of love appears as a beautiful woman, who doesn't quite act her age and loves playing around with her children and husband. She manages to frequently embarrass her son Samatarou when doing so, since she tends to engage in cosplay and has made it clear that she'd engage in casual nudity as well, if Samatarou were not so dead-set against the idea. Venus seems to have a slight complex about her age and appearance, as she can go ballistic when being addressed as 'old lady' or 'grandmother' and is easily distracted from the topic if she becomes suddenly worried about her age and looks. Additionally, Venus has displayed great jealousy whenever it seems like a girl might be stealing 'her Samatarou-chan' away from her, even when that someone might be Tenko. Despite her sillier traits, Venus displays considerable flexibility, compassion and wisdom when the need arises. When she was temporarily human, her personality was completely opposite, now cold and distant from her children.

; nihongo|Misa Kamiyama|神山美佐|Kamiyama Misa
* : Misa is the oldest (known) child of Osamu and Venus, older sister to Samatarou and Meme. Misa is a candidate for goddess status who already controls most of her powers; one of her specialties is influencing people's emotions so they'll do whatever Misa wants. When outside her family home, Misa projects the image of a sweet, demure girl and has gained quite a following. This is despite the fact that she apparently considers men 'scum', as she feels they all think exactly the same way. At home, she tends to lounge around in her underwear and enjoys teasing her little brother and Tenko. She frequently goes along with Venus' and Osamu's antics, apparently just to get a laugh at Samatarou's expense, but is unaffected by her parents' antics herself, apparently possessing ample willpower. Misa is quite perceptive and not without compassion; when the need arises, she will assist.: During her brief stint as a human, Misa was much more shy than she is as a megami candidate and actually had a boyfriend. In her true form, she doesn't seem to have any steady relationship.

; nihongo|Meme Kamiyama|神山メメ|Kamiyama Meme
* : Meme is the youngest child of Osamu and Venus, younger sister to Misa and Samatarou. Meme is a candidate for goddess status and controls some of her powers, despite her young age; like her sister Misa, she is quite skilled at controlling people's emotions. Meme usually appears emotionless and acts quite mature for her age, but she "is" a child. Her lack of experience can cause her to join in with the mad antics of her older relatives, possibly because she has no reason to think what they're doing is in any way unreasonable.:During her brief stint as a human, Meme was a much more outwardly cheerful child, but appeared to be rather scatterbrained; she managed to put the wrong shoes on her foot without noticing anything was wrong.

; nihongo|Shinichi Kurishima|霧島進一|Kurishima Shin'ichi
* : Shinichi is Samatarou's and Tenko's friend at school. He's quite girl-crazy and frequently peppers his speech with English phrases when he becomes excited - which he often does, especially when talking about girls. His friends consider him something of an idiot, sadly not without reason, but he seems to be essentially good-natured. Eventually, Shinichi manages to develop a romantic relationship with Ai Tachibana, much to the horror of Samatarou and Tenko. Despite their feeling of foreboding and Ai's occasional displeasure, Shinichi is apparently true to the relationship.

; nihongo|Kumiko Komori|小森 久美子|Komori Kumiko
* : Black-haired, dark-eyed, slender and pretty Kumiko Komori temporarily transfers into the same school as Samatarou and Tenko and becomes Samatarou's first crush. After becoming the victim of some emotion-influencing by Misa and Meme, Kumiko develops genuine feelings for Samatarou when he saves her from a nasty fall. Later, when she again transfers into the school, she tries to develop a closer relationship with Samatarou, but startling revelations are made. It turns out that Kumiko is the daughter of a female devil, who targets Samatarou and his family. Kumiko has been looking after her mother, feeding her the energy of human souls, ever since her demonic powers started manifesting in middle school without any kind of reciprocation. In the end, she tries to escape her fate as a devil and asks for Samatarou's help. After the climax of the anime, when she has regained touch with her true heritage, Kumiko changes back into an angel like Tenko.

; nihongo|Fumiko Komori|小森フミコ|Komori Fumiko
* : A female devil, the mother of Kumiko. Very sadistic and evil, Fumiko deceives her only child into thinking that her youth and power were draining away and that she needed the energy of human souls to sustain herself, all in an effort to turn her daughter into a true devil at heart. She shows no compassion nor care for her own child and initially sends her to capture Samatarou, so she might dine on his vast energy. At the end of the anime series, it is revealed that Fumiko was once an angel who fell in love with a mortal man and conceived Kumiko with him. The mortal left them both when he saw Kumiko's angelic heritage and Fumiko's heart was broken and turned into a devil.

; nihongo|Suguru|スグル|
* : Suguru claims to be an archangel. He makes contact with Tenko when he believes Samatarou is capable of moving on without his guardian from now on and comes to Earth himself when Tenko asks for a three day grace period, just to spend some more time with Samatarou. Suguru appears as a piggy bank, which can fly and tells how much money it contains and receives, according to him because he didn't want to draw attention to himself. He seems to resent being addressed as 'pig', claiming to be a most splendid archangel. His claims do nothing to prevent Tenko from smacking him around a couple of times. It is suggested at the end of the anime that Suguru is actually Tenko's father, but he has apparently chosen not to reveal this to her - yet.

Cast

All characters and voice actors' names are in the Western order (given name, family name)

Episodes

Theme songs

;Opening: "Brand New Morning" by Mai Mizuhashi;Ending: nihongo|"Toshokan de wa Oshiete Kurenai, Tenshi no Himitsu"|図書館では教えてくれない、天使の秘密 by Miraku (Mai Mizuhashi, Mayu Kudō, and Fumika Iwaki)

External links

*languageicon|ja|Japanese [http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/kamisama/ Official site]
* [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6548 Entry on Anime News Network]