Tayutama: Kiss on My Deity

Yuuri Mito is a typical, normal Japanese teenager. He goes to school, works on people's motorcycles and performs exorcisms. Okay, that last part's a little bit unusual, but his family lives in a shrine and they do that sort of thing. Still, you would think he'd know enough to be careful with an ancient relic he finds in the woods, especially when a mysterious goddess appears and tells him to leave it alone. Unfortunately, despite Mito's best efforts, the seal gets broken anyway and a number of dangerous "tayuti" that it held in stasis get loose. This is bad. Mito also ends up with a beautiful goddess girl who decides that she's going to marry him. This might not be so bad. if he wasn't already caught up in the middle of a war between the entities he's released. The flesh may be weak but the spirit's more than willing to compensate.

(Source: Sentai Filmworks)

Mito, Mashiro Main

Rikimaru, Noriko Japanese

Kawai, Ameri Main

Shimoda, Asami Japanese

Kisaragi, Mifuyu Main

Itou, Shizuka Japanese

Takanashi, Yumina Main

Mizuhashi, Kaori Japanese

Mito, Yuuri Main

Hino, Satoshi Japanese

Nabeshin ing

Watanabe, Shinichi Japanese

Azrael ing

Nakagawa, Rie Japanese

Nue ing

Nakagawa, Rie Japanese

Hou-ou ing

Aoki, Sayaka Japanese

Ooryuu ing

Kishio, Daisuke Japanese

Kaneko, Hayato Producer

Maruyama, Hajime Producer

Koyanagi, Michiko Producer

Motonaga, Keitarou Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Jul 2, 2009

Skadi

Recommended

Tayutama is a cute little action romance that won’t dazzle you with complicated characters and plot but still manages to be an enjoyable watch. I should say first off if you don’t like your anime with a healthy serving of moe and ultra cute artwork, then you can just stop reading now and not even bother with this series. I liken it to eating cotton candy, while it appeared filling when you stuck it in your mouth in the end it’s not very filling. But it tastes good!

The overall plot is the weakest link in Tayutama. The series starts with ... spirits known as Tayutai, being released accidently into the world along with three very powerful evil spirits and the reborn goddess Kikurami who becomes known to the world as Mashiro. The male lead Yuuri's family runs the shrine dedicated to this goddess and is the descendant of the person who helped seal the three evil spirits with the goddess many centuries before. While I did find the initial premise to be interesting it doesn’t do a very good job in explaining them or any of the other developments that unfold as the series progresses. Way too often things are left unknown or lightly touched on as it moves from episode to episode. You start off expecting this great battle between the three and Mashiro and Yuuri but it never really materializes. It’s not terribly original and it has plot elements that frankly have been done to death in anime. But it doesn’t unfold the way most of those series do in regards to the romantic elements and that alone allowed me to enjoy it quite a lot.

The characters are solid but unspectacular. Mashiro is very cute and moe and is a likeable character. While she does manage to grow some as a character over the course of the series she really doesn’t get a lot of background depth and pretty much manages to stay within the male fantasy of the perfect obedient wife roll. Yuuri is typical of the male lead in anime, not terribly exciting and a bit of a self righteous personality who is a bit to moral in his values to be a real person. Honestly the first guy (of any age really) who would turn down the opportunity to sleep with a girl when she is basically throwing herself at you, is going to be the first. This is one of the strange things about Japan I just don’t get. They have all these bizarre perverse fetishes and echii and yet portray these guys as pillars of morality in an immoral world. It’s pretty tiring. The most interesting character and the one who makes the most growth over the series is Ameri. While her basic archetype has been done many times over as the tsundere best friend who can’t it her true feelings for the lead, she comes across as sympathetic and a bit tragic. The rest of the ing characters and the antagonists are pretty uninspired as a whole. We learn very little about them, particularly the pasts and motivations of the villains. What we do find out is very simplistic and disappointing.

The animation was quite well done and the magic combat is very exciting and fun to watch. Character designs are going to be hit or miss with people. I found them to be very cute but others are going to think they are "too cutesy". I can see both points of view. Artistically it reminds me a lot of the art from Shuffle!. The music is definitely the highlight of the program. Both OP/EN songs fit the tone of the series are were very fun to listen to. The cast is made up of largely unknown and relatively new seiyuu. I found this to be very refreshing as it was nice to hear some new voices for a change and their performances were all very good.

In the end, I just don’t understand someone who really hates this series. It was a pleasant little romance adventure story that ended sweetly and kept my attention. Is it an all time classic? Hell no, but it was a fun and entertaining adventure. You could do a lot worse than this.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jun 30, 2009

Zovistograt

Recommended

I kind of disagree with the disappointment of the other reviewers. I followed this thing religiously and it beat out, for me, every other spring 2009 anime I tried. Here's why: it's a moé supernatural romance comedy with a main female lead with fox ears THAT IS ACTUALLY GOOD.

And very good it is.

Okay, I'll it, it has some clichés, but they are overshadowed by the expert handling of some of them. What really gets me is that it balances the moé factor with some really deep moments.

The art itself is nice and moé, just the way I like it. The character ... designs are varied and for the most part very, very memorable. Obviously, since Yuuri is the male protagonist in an anime based on a visual novel, he'll be a bit plain, but that's to be expected.

The biggest part of why I liked Tayutama so much was the skillful use of silence and suspense in two-person exchanges. These scenes were orchestrated beautifully. If it weren't for these, though, I may have given Tayutama a 7 or 8, because really, there are some things that could have been improved.

Tayutama is a refreshing anime, if you can call it that. Not overly ecchi, not overly headache-inducing, and it gives you a nice uplifting feeling that might or might not have you considering Shinto just so that you can maybe get a foxgirl out of it.

If anything, watch it for Mashiro's moé factor and Nue's comic relief I guess. It's a nice ride regardless.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Feb 16, 2012

Golden_Darknezz

Mixed Feelings

*Sigh* Another "what could have been" anime. So much potential only to be wasted and forgotten among the many anime's that have failed to stand out and place themselves on a well deserved throne. Not only did it fail to grasp my interest, but it also failed to distinguish itself from other anime's that have succeeded in doing everything Tayutama didn't. Well executed story, plot, and character development. Here are my reasons:

STORY: 5
Hardly a story at all. This anime has been wavering from a 4 (BAD) to a 6 (FINE).
Almost all of the episodes are consumed about Mashiro and Yuuri fighting the three "strongest". Well ... actually it's nothing more but talk about schooling, crap we don't care about, and more crap. Then the parts where he "trains" to begin his destined battle with them. But guess what? When the fights actually come your left thinking "That's fucking it? I've wasted a good 24 minutes just to see a fight scene that only lasted about 3? And the conclusion is (This is a HUGE spoiler) dıɥspuǝıɹℲ!!! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?" *Epic Troll Face*

ART: 6
Well they look decent enough for you to have sick fantasies about them you disturbed bastard. Then again LOOK AT THE BACKGROUND CHARACTERS! OMG! What happened to their color? Why don't they have faces? And what happened to my pants! Ö/

SOUND: 4
The music sounded similar to Inuyasha's. I know that much for sure. Which isn't bad but it didn't really give it its own music that it could call its own. When I noticed Satoshi Hino (voice for Yuji in Shakugan no Shana and Saito for Zero no Tsukaima) was in this waste of space anime and was performing the voice for our main faggot I thought "Oh Joy! A damn good voice actor is in here so Tayutama must be good enough to be considered awesome and unique right?" WRONG HERP A DERP! Though his skills continue to succeed him, his talent for giving characters life obviously didn't do shit to this dull ass trash. "Hey! I've seen this character before! Kind of reminds me of Saito from Zero no Tsukaima! I wonder WHY???" At least that's what I thought when I heard him. I definitively disliked Mashiro's voice when she was turned into a squeaker. For some reason when she talked like that I wanted to strangle her. She reminded me of all the kids on COD who think their tough shit but are abused at school and home. Then there was Ameri. God she sounded like a dying cat sometimes! She annoyed the shit out of me but looking at her design it suited her just fine.

CHARACTER: 5
Now this is where it really matters. How well you "bond" with the characters and how well you "deal" with the loss of one of them. Sadly, I didn't "bond" with any of them. They weren't really given much character to where you could feel a connection with them. Which is what many anime's actually succeed in. "Why should I give a crap if ______ dies?" Or "Why won't he/she just die already!" Or maybe you "NOOOO!! Don't die on me you piece of shit! If you die I'm going to go buttfuck somebody in the ass! Regardless of gender! Do you want that?! *Starts crying* Please don't die! I love you! My life is meaningless if I can't see your fictional face everyday! DAMN YOU JC STAFF!!!" Consequently, none of this occurred when I watched Tayutama. I didn't give a crap if Yuuri popped Mashiro's cherry or vice versa. And I didn't give a crap what happened to any of the other characters either. Mashiro continuously rambling about how she wants coexistence with humans and Tayutai. Ameri being a total pussy for not confronting Yuuri and conversing her feelings to him which are COMPLETELY OBVIOUS BY THE WAY. And then the oblivious dumbshit we all know as Yuuri. I could say so much about him and compare him with many other idiotic characters (I'm looking at you Taketo Akutagawa) but I'm tired of stating the obvious. You'll notice how much you hate the guy after (If really) you finish Tayutama.

ENJOYMENT: 5
The lack of character development dismayed me and the continuous rant of the last "strongest" stating how living with humans is absurd just annoyed me.
They really could have done so much more. At the last episode, at the last part, you can see the potential of an EPIC NEW STORY LINE waiting to be told and redeem its predecessor. They could have given Mashiro more background. They could have shut Ameri's fucking trap and tell her to go smoke a t. As she is so annoying always talking about being normal and not having to deal with the supernatural. Then they have the audacity to say in the last episode that her "visualization powers" are amazing. When we have no insight whatsoever of what the fuck they are talking about. What power? SHE HAD A POWER? When? Why? NONE of that is answered. You know what else they could have done? *SPOILER KIND OF* ˙no-noH ɥʇıʍ ,,ǝuo ǝɯɐɔǝq,, pıɐs oɹıɥsɐW sɐ puɐ ɹǝʍod ɐ ʇoƃ ǝɥs uǝɥʍ ǝɯ pǝnƃıɹʇuı ʎllɐɔıʇɔɐɹd ʇı 'ʇɥƃıɹ s,ʇɐɥ┴ ˙no-noH ʎq pǝʇɟıƃ sɐʍ ǝɥs ʇɐɥʇ ɹǝʍod s,ɐuıɯn⅄ pǝʌloʌƎ (This "arc" is what saved this anime from being rated bad. And if you want to read the spoiler just Google upside down text and copy and paste it there.) Regrettably, none of this was addressed and properly executed in Tayutama. But there was only one thing that left me half-assed satisfied. I've noticed "fuck" was said x3! Well, it was apparently said in the subs I've read. :D

OVERALL: 5
I thoroughly scanned each episode to make sure I didn't miss anything surprising or exciting. No luck. Just the same bullshit of characters that I have already seen but have been done much better than them. If I were you I would ignore it and move on to better anime's that would really knock you off your seat that is drenched with white stains everywhere. If you are a furry that is hungry for some fur then go watch Wagaya no Oinari-sama. And even if your not, that one is DAMN good. Although there is no romance involved in that one. There are so many choices other than Tayutama that would make you feel you've had enough of moe or whatever the crap your looking for. But if your persistent enough to watch a mediocre anime that will only leave you wanting more then go for it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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