Kamisama Hajimemashita Ep 7: Rejection

Having finally realized that she is in love with Tomoe, Nanami takes on her friends’ advice and drags Tomoe to the aquarium for a date.

Impression:
Sorry for the delay, I had an appointment today and on top of that I’m still sick.
Okay this episode was 50/50.
I watched this three times because I was so uncertain about whether my bias opinions (because of my mood) were clouding my vision or not. Two times with audio and one time mute. Why? Because I had these really bias thoughts in my head and my focus was not where it needed to be.
So here are the results.
The First half, was a bit boring.
It wasn’t because of the focus on Kurama and Ami or Nanami finally grasping that she is in love with Tomoe, it just felt really plain. I don’t know why, but strangely enough I still enjoy the manga version better despite the fact that this episode had loyally followed the materials in the manga very well. There wasn’t anything that was not included or added to complain about. It’s weird, but anyhow my attention kept on drifting away rather than giving it 100% attention. Yet then again, I am feeling rather out of it, so that might be the cause behind it.
The second half, they did a real good job and successfully kept my attention.
And you know what made it so great?
THE IMPACT OF DELIVERY!
During the second half, I felt that both Tomoe’s and Nanami’s seiyuus brought back the energy and the impact that was lacking in the first half. They delivered really well to the point I finally felt something in my heart about Nanami’s and Tomoe’s relationship within the Anime. (Trust me I am already overwhelmed by the FEELS in the manga alone.)
Today’s animation quality wasn’t that great (to be blunt, it was pretty crappy), however there were a few things that I loved about it. The backgrounds, the transition and effects, they were all breathtaking. For the first time there was almost no shoujo bubbles, there wasn’t an overdose of sparkles, instead it had this really lovely artistic touch that really suited what was going on during the episode and symbolism that really delivered the emotions. This was my particular favorite background they used.
Onto to the actual discussion about today’s episode…
Much to Tomoe’s dismay, Kurama was spot on about him accidentally misleading Nanami with his actions. He was so annoyed that he was hanging Nanami off from the tower to clear her head. He refuses to acknowledge her feelings and rejected her before she was able to confess about her feelings towards him. It was also frustrating for him when Nanami refused to let him catch her as she was falling from the tower. It has always been a slap in the face for Tomoe whenever he is unable to protect his master. When he begged to let him save her, he promised will never touch her again, and let me tell you he wasn’t kidding. This guy was dead serious about it, and will keep his word until he is given permission to do so again.
I felt this episode (and while reading the manga, during this chapter) really emphasized on how much Tomoe is against the idea of Love between a Yokai and a Human. He will do everything in his power to make sure that it won’t happen to him, nor is he willing to acknowledge or accept it. This is why he demanded Nanami to clear her head and exclaimed that she wasn’t thinking straight- more so to convince himself that it is simply not true. There is no way that she is in love with him. It is like avoiding the issue altogether.
As for Nanami, poor girl. She took her friends’ suggestions and advice seriously and tried acting cute, to the point she was behaving desperately in order to keep Tomoe from leaving on his own. She ended up being misled by Tomoe’s actions and honestly thought she had a chance that they had mutual feelings for each other. However despite his rejection, Nanami won’t give up that easily, you’ll see.
Next week we go to the beach and meet the Dragon King! 😀