Kamichu!, Volume 1: Little Deity
Junior high student Yurie Hitotsubashi, the heroine of theshojo(girl's) broadcast seriesKamichu(2005), arrives at school one day and announces that she's become a god. Instead of calling the school nurse, her friends Mitsui and Matsuri try to determine what kind of god she is. Without really knowing what she's doing, Yurie summons up and disperses a typhoon, brings a runaway god back to Matsuri's family shrine, and frees a captive Martian. Between divine acts, Yurie tries to get Kenji, a boy in her class who's interested only in calligraphy, to notice her. The filmmakers attempt to capture the tone of Miyazaki'sSpirited Away: bizarre-looking ghosts and spirits inhabit Yurie's hometown of Onomichi and the many long shots of the city echoWhisper of the Heart. The storyline ofKamichuis a little too weird, although Yurie's three ultra-cute assistants may appeal to adolescent girls. (Rated 13 and older)--Charles  Solomon