Kamisama Kiss (Japanese: 神様はじめました, Hepburn: Kamisama Hajimemashita) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Julietta Suzuki. It was serialized in Hakusensha's shōjo manga magazine Hana to Yume from February 2008 to May 2016, with its chapters collected in 25 tankōbon volumes. The series was licensed for English release in North America by Viz Media, released as part of its Shojo Beat imprint.
A 13-episode anime television series adaptation produced by TMS Entertainment and directed by Akitaro Daichi was broadcast on TV Tokyo from October to December 2012. A second 12-episode season was broadcast from January to March 2015. The series was followed by a four-part original animation DVD (OAD), subtitled Kako-hen, released from August 2015 to August 2016.
Contents
Plot
Nanami Momozono, a kind-hearted high school girl, aspires to an ordinary life, but her irresponsible father's gambling debts leave her homeless after debt collectors force her out of her apartment. While contemplating her situation on a park bench, she encounters a man named Mikage, who is being chased by a dog and dangling from a tree. After rescuing him, Mikage offers her his home in gratitude upon learning of her plight.
Upon arriving at Mikage's residence, Nanami discovers it is not a typical house but a shrine. She is greeted by Onikiri and Kotetsu, the shrine's guardians, and meets Tomoe, Mikage's yōkai familiar. She learns that Mikage was the Land God of the shrine and has transferred his divine status to her, marking her forehead as his successor. Though initially hesitant, Nanami gradually adapts to her new role, striving to fulfill her duties while living alongside Tomoe and the shrine attendants.
Over time, Nanami develops romantic feelings for Tomoe, but he rejects her, citing the taboo of a relationship between a human and a yōkai. Despite his resistance, Tomoe finds himself drawn to her as well, complicating their dynamic as they navigate their shared life at the shrine.
Characters
Main characters
Nanami Momozono (桃園奈々生, Momozono Nanami)
Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori (Japanese); Tia Ballard (English)
Nanami is a high school girl abandoned by her father due to his gambling debts, leaving her mocked for her poverty. When the land god Mikage passes his role to her, she becomes a fledgling deity with minimal spiritual power. Diligently balancing school and divine duties, she masters her primary weapon, white talismans, and commands a shikigami named Mamoru who shifts between monkey and boy forms to aid her in purifying or banishing evil. Though impulsive, her earnestness influences both gods and yōkai. Later, she marries Tomoe, now human, and retires from teaching to raise their son, visiting Mikage Shrine as an adult.
Tomoe (巴衛)
Voiced by: Shinnosuke Tachibana (Japanese); J. Michael Tatum (English)
Tomoe is a powerful fox yōkai who once served as the familiar of the land god Mikage. When Nanami inherits the role, she binds him as her familiar, though he initially resents her. Cynical and mocking, he distrusts others but gradually warms to Nanami, admiring her determination. Though he treats her with playful condescension, he fiercely protects her, refusing to kill in her presence. His abilities include transformation magic and deadly Fox-Fire, though Nanami's commands restrict his power. After realizing his love for her—revealed to be tied to her past self through time travel—he chooses to become human to stay by her side. Years later, they marry, have a son, and revisit Mikage Shrine as a family.
Mikage (ミカゲ)
Voiced by: Akira Ishida (Japanese); Joel McDonald (English)
Mikage is the enigmatic former land god of the shrine, who abandoned his post twenty years prior for unknown reasons. When he encounters a homeless Nanami, he transfers his divine title to her, claiming she is better suited for the role. With light hair, glasses, and a trench coat, he occasionally appears as a butterfly. His true motives remain unclear, though hints suggest he orchestrated events to prove humans and yōkai can love—specifically, that Nanami could reach Tomoe. This plan stems from a past encounter with a time-traveling Nanami, who inadvertently revealed future events, allowing Mikage to set the story in motion.
Yōkai
Kirakaburi (煌かぶり)
Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu
A sadistic yōkai serving Akura-ou, he finds beauty in decapitating victims and pairing their heads with flowers. While merciless in killing, he shows loyalty to Akura-ou and avoids challenging stronger opponents like the gods of Izumo. He considers Tomoe beautiful but cold, and despises anything he deems ugly—including the furball that ultimately kills him. Tasked with capturing Yukiji/Nanami (with the sole condition of sparing her head), he falls for Nanami's talisman trick and lets her escape. When Tomoe severely wounds him, the vengeful furball devours him. His arrogance proves fatal as he underestimates those he considers beneath him.
Himemiko of the Swamp (沼皇女, Numano Himemiko; lit. 'Swamp Princess')
Voiced by: Yui Horie (Japanese); Monica Rial (English)
The princess of Tatara Swamp is a catfish yōkai who rules an underwater palace with her fish attendants. Ten years after falling in love with a lost human boy, Kotarō Urashima, she enlists Nanami's help to reunite with him. Nanami disguises her as human, allowing their romance to blossom. Though initially shocked to discover her true nature, Kotarō accepts and apologizes to her. Later pregnant with Kotarō's child (made possible by her temporary human form), she faces opposition from traditionalist attendants who demand she sever human ties. During Nanami's wedding, the couple escapes together rather than be separated, choosing love over tradition.
Dragon King (龍王・宿儺, Ryūō Sukuna)
Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (Japanese); Robert McCollum (English)
Dragon Lord of the sea, who has been waiting to seek revenge against Tomoe for 526 years for ripping out his right eye and attacking the north gate of Ryūgū Castle. He found Tomoe after he saved Ami from drowning in the sea. The Dragon Lord's eyes are known as the Longevity Elixir and are said to give great power to whoever drinks them. Though aggressive and temperamental, he is afraid of his wife's anger. He is forced to give up his grudge against Tomoe after his wife befriends Nanami. He is very shocked to learn that Nanami and Tomoe were engaged.
Deities
Otohiko (乙比古)
Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (Japanese); Ian Sinclair (English)
A feminine male wind god. He initially disapproves of Nanami as the land god but acknowledges her after she successfully dispels the miasma that he had released on the shrine.
Narukami (鳴神)
Voiced by: Hyo-sei (Japanese); Lydia Mackay (English)
A bratty, selfish sky god who has an unrequited crush on Tomoe. She steals Nanami's mark, shrinks Tomoe into a toddler, and takes control of the shrine for a short period. She is very demanding and apparently goes through attendants at an unheard-of rate and seems to take sadistic delight in abusing her familiars.
Ookuninushi (大国主, Ōkuninushi)
Voiced by: Showtaro Morikubo (Japanese); Tyson Rinehart (English)
The God of Wealth who owns a large shrine in Izumo. He is in charge of the Divine Assembly held every year for deities.
Takehaya Ikuzagami (戦神 建速, Ikuzagami Takehaya)
Voiced by: Yasuaki Takumi (Japanese); Scott Freeman (English)
The War god who is reluctant to acknowledge Nanami, a human to be a Land God.
Koume (小梅) and Kotake (こたけ)
Voiced by: Naoko Sugiura (Japanese); Leah Clark (English) (Koume)
Voiced by: Eri Goda (Japanese); Felecia Angelle (English) (Kotake)
Other characters
Ami Nekota (猫田 あみ, Nekota Ami)
Voiced by: Satomi Satō (Japanese); Alexis Tipton (English)
The first friend Nanami ever made at school. Originally, she found Nanami to be weird, but she also took a liking to Nanami. After Nanami, or rather Tomoe disguised as her, rescued her from a demon, she began to hang around Nanami more and officially became a friend after she helped her talk to Kurama. She made a promise with Kurama to not tell anyone about any of the strange occurrences that happen with Nanami, though it was Tomoe in disguise. Ami believes Nanami is a miko, or shrine maiden. Overall, Ami is a naive but bubbly and gentle girl, and a very reliable friend. She and Kei later find out that Nanami is a god and all the others are yōkai but they accept it quite well. Ami also has a huge crush on Kurama, who has slowly started to return those feelings, but they are not yet in a relationship.
Kei Ueshima (上島 ケイ, Ueshima Kei)
Voiced by: Kaori Shimizu (Japanese); Kristi Kang (English)
Kei is Ami's best friend. After Ami befriends Nanami, she also begins to see Nanami as a friend. Among the trio, she is the most mature, but also the most hot tempered. She is intuitive and picked up on the fact Nanami liked Tomoe. Kei gave advice to Nanami on how she could get his attention. She is rarely ever seen without her cellphone, on which she constantly sends text messages at a rapid pace, of which most of the time she does not even bother to glance at the screen.
Yukiji (雪路)
Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori (TV series), Fumiko Orikasa (Kako-hen) (Japanese); Tia Ballard (English)
Yukiji, Nanami's ancestor, survives a yōkai attack that leaves her with deep hatred for their kind. Though Tomoe believes he loved her in the past, his affections were actually directed at Nanami during her time-traveling encounters. Yukiji later manipulates this connection, using her resemblance to Nanami to secure Tomoe's protection from Akura-ou while carefully avoiding eye contact that might reveal her true identity. When she falls gravely ill, Tomoe steals the Dragon King's eye to cure her. This begins a lineage of women who inherit its power, remaining beautiful and healthy until passing it on to their daughters. This explains Nanami's beauty and why the eye protects her family.
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Julietta Suzuki, Kamisama Kiss was serialized in Hakusensha's semi-monthly shōjo manga magazine Hana to Yume from February 20, 2008, to May 20, 2016. The 149 individual chapters were later collected and published in 25 tankōbon volumes by Hakusensha, released between September 19, 2008, and August 19, 2016.
North American publisher Viz Media licensed the English language distributions rights at the 2009 New York Anime Festival.
Anime
A 13-episode anime television series adaptation, produced by TMS Entertainment and directed by Akitaro Daichi, was broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 2 to December 25, 2012. The opening theme is "Kamisama Hajimemashita" (神様はじめました) and the ending theme "Kamisama Onegai" (神様お願; lit. 'Please, God'), both performed by Hanae. Two original animation DVD (OAD) episodes were released on August 20, 2013, bundled with the sixteenth manga volume. One of them is based on the story from the fifteenth manga volume, while the other contains an all-new original story. The opening theme is "Kamisama no Kamisama" (神様の神様; lit. 'God of God') and the ending theme "Ototoi Oide" (おとといおいで; lit. '"Come, the Day Before Yesterday'), both performed by Hanae.
A second 12-episode season was broadcast on TV Tokyo from January 6 to March 31, 2015. A four-part OAD, subtitled "Kako-hen" (過去篇; lit. '"Past Arc"'), was released from August 20, 2015, to August 19, 2016. Another OAD, subttitled Kamisama, Shiawase ni Naru (神様、幸せになる), was bundled with the Kamisama Kiss 25.5 official fanbook on December 20, 2016.
The series was licensed in English for streaming and home video by Funimation (later renamed Crunchyroll LLC). Crunchyroll began streaming the OAD episodes in July 2026. In Australia, the series was broadcast on the free-to-air television channel ABC3.
Musical
A stage musical adaptation titled Kamisama Hajimemashita: The Musical ran from March 21–29, 2015. The musical stars Saki Terashima as Nanami, Ren Yagami as Tomoe, Keisuke Minami as Kurama, and Shōta Takazaki as Mizuki. Additional cast members include Mao Katō as Onikiri, Keita Tokushiro and Hiroki Takaoka double-cast as Kotetsu, and Juria Kawakami as Narukami. Akira Ishida made a cameo reprising his role as Mikage in voice. The musical had a re-run in 2016, with Yūta Higuchi re-cast as Mizuki, LinQ member Yūmi Takaki re-cast as Kotetsu, and Makoto Okunaka re-cast as Narukami.
Reception
Jacob Chapman of Anime News Network describes Kamisama Kiss as a 50/50 cross between Inuyasha and Fruits Basket. The manga had five million copies in print by March 2016.