The Day I Became a God (神様になった日, Kami-sama ni Natta Hi) is a 2020 Japanese animetelevision series produced by P.A. Works and Aniplex and directed by Yoshiyuki Asai.[1] It aired from October to December 2020. The story was originally conceived by Jun Maeda, who also wrote the screenplay, with original character design by Na-Ga. Both Maeda and Na-Ga are from the visual novel brand Key, and The Day I Became a God is the third original anime series created by Key following Angel Beats! in 2010 and Charlotte in 2015.[2]
Plot
While preparing for the upcoming graduation exams in the final year of high school, Yōta Narukami meets a mysterious young girl named Hina Sato, who claims she is a god named Odin. She tells Yōta that the world will end in 30 days, but he remains skeptical despite her making numerous correct predictions. The story revolves around Hina assisting Yōta as he helps people around town while she adjusts to her new life. As he spends more time with her, he begins to uncover more secrets about her life and how she became a "god".
A girl who wears a veil and claims that the world will be ending in 30 days. She has a complex concerning her surname due to how common it is, and notices how Yōta and his family and friends have names related to gods. She prefers to be called "Odin". The Narukami family claims she is a distant relative and take her in despite Yōta's objections. She enjoys food despite claiming that gods do not need to eat and is very fond of video games. She assists Yōta with his attempts to confess to Kyōko by using her omniscience.
A high school student who unexpectedly meets Hina while playing basketball one day. He is skeptical of Hina's claim of the world ending in 30 days, but goes on to take care of her despite those reservations. Hina offers him her powers to support his goal of wooing his childhood friend Kyōko.
Yōta's childhood friend. Due to her mother passing away while she was young, she has a very calm and passive personality. Despite her calmness, she grew up to be very smart and beautiful, which led her to becoming extremely popular with other boys. Due to her calmness, she often rejects Yōta's advances with little thought. She is also very good with the piano and seems to believe that Hina is telling the truth. She enjoys watching baseball.
Yōta's younger sister. She is part of the film club and looks up to her senpai Hikari Jingūji. She initially has a dislike of Hina as she thinks she is very weird. She is a very caring and stubborn person. She aims to make a movie of her own.
A mysterious young boy with silver hair. He is younger than Yōta, but is a hacking prodigy. He utilizes a special set of gloves and hairclip to connect to interface with a variety of devices and networks. He is currently assisting the CEO and his assistant with her plans.
Sora's senpai and alumni of the film club at her school. She works at the failing ramen shop known as Ramen Heavenward in order to pay off a large debt.
A very famous lawyer that Yōta admires greatly. She has an extreme fascination with the game mahjong and hosts tournaments for it. She meets Yōta after Hina assists him in winning a mahjong tournament.
A mysterious older woman who works with Hiroto to discover the truth behind a scientist's actions before he died. Despite her seemingly cold attitude, she shows motherly affection to Hiroto.
The Day I Became a God is the third original anime series from visual novel developer Key's Jun Maeda and Na-Ga, in collaboration with Aniplex and P.A. Works, after Angel Beats! (2010) and Charlotte (2015). On April 19, 2019, P.A. Works producer Mitsuhito Tsuji expressed desire to work on a new original anime with Key and Maeda.[11] On November 26, 2019, Key teased on Twitter that it had eight projects in the works for its 21st anniversary, which included the Planetarian: Snow Globeoriginal video animation project, the Kud Wafter anime film, Maeda's Heaven Burns Red video game, an unnamed visual novel, and four secret projects.[12][13] On April 1, 2020, the Twitter account for Angel Beats! and Charlotte teased that a project in 2020 would be revealed.[14]
On May 10, 2020, Key, P.A. Works, and Aniplex held a livestream on Niconico, and formally announced The Day I Became a God anime project. The livestream revealed that Maeda would be credited for the original work and script, and Na-Ga with original character design, and the anime was scheduled for an October 2020 premiere.[2] P.A. Works also tweeted that the project had been in development for "a while", and the voice acting was pre-recorded.[15] On May 25, 2020, a special "prologue program" aired on Tokyo MX, revealing that Ayane Sakura would be voicing Hina, as well as revealing Charlotte director Yoshiyuki Asai would be returning as director.[1] On July 25, 2020, a second livestream was held, revealing the first full promotional video, and also revealed additional staff and cast members, with Manabu Nii serving as character designer, and Manyo and Maeda composing the series' music. The stream also teased a second promotional video being released in September 2020.[4]
The series aired from October 11 to December 27, 2020 on Tokyo MX, BS11, GTV, GYT, ABC, and Mētele, and other channels.[16][a] It also aired on BBT, BSS, NCC, tvk, and AT-X.[17] The series ran for 12 episodes, and it was released on six Blu-ray and DVD volumes from December 23, 2020 to May 26, 2021 in Japan.[18]Nagi Yanagi, in collaboration with Maeda, performed the opening theme song "Kimi to Iu Shinwa" (君という神話, lit. "Your Myth"),[19] as well as the ending theme song "Goodbye Seven Seas".[20]
Funimation licensed the series;[21] they streamed it in North America, the British Isles and Latin America on their website,[22][23] on AnimeLab in Australia and New Zealand, and on Wakanim in Europe.[24] On October 30, 2020, Funimation announced that the series would receive an English dub, which premiered the following day.[3] Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the series was moved to Crunchyroll.[25] The series is licensed by Muse Communication in Southeast Asia and South Asia, and it was streamed on iQIYI and aired on Animax in Southeast Asia.[26][27][28]
Yōta Narukami encounters a young girl in a veil who declares herself to be Odin. Both he and his friend Ashura Kokuhō are skeptical of her and dismiss her claims. Yōta learns that her real name is Hina Sato while trying to convince her to go home. Hina refuses and ends up going to the library with him to study with his childhood friend Kyōko Izanami and are ultimately kicked out. Yōta reluctantly starts to believe in her abilities after they eat at a ramen shop where Hina correctly identifies the finishing position of a horse race. Hina then offers Yōta her abilities to assist him in wooing Kyōko. This leads him to playing a game of baseball against the high school team and failing in front of Kyōko. Afterwards, Yōta's mother eagerly welcomes Hina to stay at their home, much to Yōta's disbelief.
2
"The Day of the Melody" Transliteration: "Shirabe no Hi" (Japanese: 調べの日)
Yōta and Hina arrive at Yōta's house where Hina is welcomed with open arms. While in Yōta's room, Hina plays a video game. The next day, Yōta reveals that Kyōko became an introvert after her mother died. He also reveals how long he has had feelings for her. When Yōta agrees to appear in Sora's movie, Hina decides to write the script so he can woo Kyōko. However, this plan fails. Hina later reveals that Kyōko plans to become a music director. As such, Hina helps Yōta write a song. When Yōta attempts to play the song for Kyōko, he struggles to do so, which leads to her playing it instead. That night, a bruised Sora is brought to the house by her senpai.
3
"The Day the Angel Falls" Transliteration: "Tenshi ga Ochiru Hi" (Japanese: 天使が堕ちる日)
The next morning, Sora awakens to reveal that Hikari Jingūji, her senpai, works at her mother's failing ramen shop and she was helping Hikari deal with a loan shark. Hina decides to help out by having Yōta pretend to be Sora's uncle so he act as a business consultant. He then makes sweeping changes at the shop, which causes it to become a huge success. Meanwhile, a mysterious boy arrives in Japan where he uses his hacking skills to help a mother find her daughter. Back at the shop, Hikari is confronted by the loan shark where Yōta, with Hina's help, defeats him. Afterwards, Hikari reveals that she knew the truth about who Yōta was and she thanks him, Hina and Sora for helping her. Later, the mysterious boy, whose name is Hiroto Suzuki, is working for a company to discover the secret Shuichiro Korogi, a physicist, is hiding.
4
"The Day of Battling Tiles" Transliteration: "Tōhai no Hi" (Japanese: 闘牌の日)
Hiroto starts his investigation by having the CEO interview Dr. Asama, the co-author of Shuichiro Korogi's thesis. Meanwhile, Yōta is watching Kako Tengan, a famous lawyer, being interviewed on TV. Later, Hina wins the mahjong preliminaries online under Yōta's name. She reveals she did this in order to ensure that Yōta meets Kako in person at a mahjong tournament she is organizing. Two days later, Yōta heads out to compete in the Libertas Cup while Hina, Kyōko, and Ashura cheer him on. In the waiting room, Yōta meets Kako. Once the match begins, Yōta follows Hina's instructions, which initially has him in last place. However, as the match continues, he starts to make a comeback when he uses unconventional methods, which impresses Kako. As such, Yōta ultimately wins the Libertas Cup. After the match, Kako attempts to seduce Yōta. However, he turns her down, much to her chagrin. When he tells Hina what happened, she is annoyed at the missed opportunity.
5
"The Day of Grand Magic" Transliteration: "Dai Mahō no Hi" (Japanese: 大魔法の日)
Kyōko tries to convince her father to visit her mother's grave without success. At the library, Kyōko reveals to Yōta how her father has been a recluse since her mother died. Hina decides to have Yōta get Kyōko's father out of his house. When they arrive there, Yōta finally succeeds when he claims that he needs help buying Kyōko a birthday present. While they are out, they eat at a few restaurants. Afterwards, Kyōko's father reveals that his wife left video messages and he asks Yōta and Hina to not tell Kyōko's about them. Hina later uses Yōta's phone in order to pretend to be Kyōko's mother. During the conversation between Hina and Kyōko, Hina mentions the video messages, which causes Kyōko to rush home. There, she and her father watch them together. When they watch the final message, Kyōko's mother uses her grand magic spell so they can be happy and move forward with their lives, which they agree to do. That night, Kyōko arrives at Yōta's house to thank him. However, he does not confess his feelings, much to Hina's exasperation.
6
"The Day of the Festival" Transliteration: "Matsuri no Hi" (Japanese: 祭の日)
Yōta dreams of him and Ashura competing in a high school basketball game. Hina later convinces Yōta to call and invite his friends to a summer festival taking place. While at the festival, they take part in a variety of games, which includes goldfish scooping, shooting galleries, ball tosses, and a haunted house. During this time, Ashura and Yōta reminisce about their friendship. Meanwhile, Hina seemingly gets jealous of Yōta and Kyōko's improving friendship. She walks off where she heads inside a refrigerated truck that closes and drives off. The group realize she is missing and search for her. When Yōta and Ashura find Hina's items on the ground, they learn from another truck driver the direction where the truck is headed. They give chase on Ashura's motorcycle and are ultimately able to get the driver to stop. Once everyone reunites, they watch the fireworks together.
7
"The Day of Filming" Transliteration: "Eiga Satsuei no Hi" (Japanese: 映画撮影の日)
Yōta is in his room studying when Hina walks in, saying the world will end in nine days and Sora has finished the script for her movie. When Yōta reads the script, he enjoys it. He then gathers his friends to help shoot the movie. Once Sora finishes the storyboard, she explains the plot of the movie. On the day the shoot begins, Yōta and Hina play the lead roles. However, the movie runs into several problems. While they are taking a break, Yōta tells Hina how he has enjoyed hanging out with her and he praises her for helping everybody. When the shoot resumes, there are problems with the CG until Hina finally fixes it. Later that night, Yōta teases Hina about how much she enjoyed herself. Meanwhile, Hiroto is still investigating when he finds Korogi's torn down house. When he learns the possessions have been sent to a recycling plant, he heads there just in time to grab a picture that has Hina in it.
8
"The Day of the Trip to the Beach" Transliteration: "Umi o Mi ni Iku Hi" (Japanese: 海を見にいく日)
Hina has a dream where she hangs out with her grandfather. While everyone at the set, Yōta wonders what is going to happen once summer ends. When he expresses his concern to his parents, they reveal that Hina is actually the granddaughter of their mentor and that Hina's father abandoned her. After Yōta has a conversation with Hina about when she became a god, they decide to go meet her father. When they arrive at his house, Hina's father and stepmother, Toshitoku and Isuzu Sato, are shocked when they see Hina in person. While Yōta and Toshitoku are alone, Toshitoku reveals that Hina was born with a debilitating condition known as Logos Syndrome, which caused him to abandon her when he realized there was nothing he could do to help her. Once Yōta and Hina leave, Yōta is agitated about the situation. Later that night, Hiroto shows up at Toshitoku's house.
9
"The Day of the Deicide" Transliteration: "Kami-goroshi no Hi" (Japanese: 神殺しの日)
While everyone at the set, Hiroto secretly observes Hina and Yōta. He then decides to go home to continue his analysis. At his house, Hiroto makes a shocking discovery. A dream Hiroto has reveals that his abusive parents used his hacking skills to money launder. The next day, Hiroto reports to the CEO his findings of a chip-size quantum computer Korogi completed. However, she denies his request to analyze it, much to his frustration. Back at his house, Hiroto uses his skills to find the computer. During his search, he remembers when his parents were murdered. Afterwards, Hiroto tells the CEO that the computer was planted in Hina's head, which explains her miraculous recovery and omniscience. When Hiroto realizes Hina is in trouble, he warns her. As such, she tells everyone that her world will end soon. They are then approached by men in suits. Yōta attempts to run away with Hina. However, she willingly surrenders.
10
"Days That Pass By" Transliteration: "Sugisaru Hi" (Japanese: 過ぎ去る日)
After Hina's departure, Yōta attempts to move on with his life. While he is at school, Yōta encounters Hiroto, who claims to be a new transfer student. He then hangs out with Yōta and his friends. Several months later, however, a frustrated Hiroto calls out Yōta for not understanding why he befriended him. Just as he is about to leave, Yōta catches up with him after he realizes Hiroto was recreating the days he spent with Hina. Hiroto reveals that Hina is alive and he knows her location. That night, he takes Yōta to the Yamada Sanatorium where he gives him a false identity as a research assistant that is good for two weeks. Inside, Yōta meets Shiba, a visiting researcher, and she takes him to see Hina. There, Shiba reveals that cranial surgery was performed on Hina and she has an extreme fear of men. Seeing Hina's condition agitates Yōta.
11
"Days of Play" Transliteration: "Yūgi no Hi" (Japanese: 遊戯の日)
At the Yamada Sanatorium, Yōta observes Hina's daily routine. He then does his report for the day. When he heads back to Hina's room, Yōta reveals that he is permitted to spend an hour with her. However, she rejects him. While they are alone, Shiba tells Yōta that he has to look at Hina in the eye before he can gain her trust. When they meet up again, she tells him that Hina might have lost her memories following the surgery. A despondent Yōta is alone outside when he receives encouraging words from his friends and family. Motivated, he decides to bring a video game so Hina can play it. However, she gets stuck. While Shiba tends to Hina, she reveals that she got in her line of work after her daughter died. Yōta later decides to play the game overnight in order to help Hina. When Shiba discovers Yōta's falsified reports, he is contacted by a security officer.
12
"The Day You Choose" Transliteration: "Kimi ga Erabu Hi" (Japanese: きみが選ぶ日)
While he is with Hina, Yōta is called out by Shiba and she tells him to leave. He then begs her to allow him to spend one last half day with Hina. As he talks to Hina, she recognizes and pronounce the names of his family. However, when he shows her his picture, she throws it to the ground. After that, Shiba tells Yōta that his time is up. Just as he is about leave, Hina starts crying and tries to walk towards Yōta, saying she loves him. Yōta takes Hina home and everyone agrees to complete the movie. Yōta decides to become a researcher like Hina's grandfather so he can cure her condition. Afterwards, everyone watches the movie together. At the end of the movie, Hina reveals in a making-of interview that her memories are so beautiful that they will never disappear and she refers to them as an eternal treasure. Yōta decides that no matter what hardship they face, he will continue to be by Hina's side.
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The series received a mixed reception. In reviewing the first episode, Vrai Kaiser of Anime Feminist said that while the series was not bad, its writing could unearth "a kind of camaraderie in the face of despair," but that these two months were "preceded by 20 minutes of noise," but that there was potential in the series.[48] In a review of the first three episodes, Meru Clewis on the same website said they approached the series enthusiastically due to fond memories of Angel Beats but was apprehensive, saying it had the potential to be "really, genuinely interesting" if Hina's character was improved, and hoped that the series gets better.[49]
In another review, on the same website, Noise criticized the series for featuring a "lot of insidious ableism" in the last few episodes, perpetrating harmful ideas about treatment and agency of disabled people, embodying clichés and stereotypes that disabled people often embody in popular fiction, and the ableism of the series' big plot twist as tying into the "disability superpowers" trope. However, he also said that there was an "incredibly uncomfortable sexual undertone", a "coat of romantic sugariness", criticized the series for promoting a "regressive...narrative about disability," and said that the series had some high points, including a touching subplot, while citing The Duke of Death and His Maid as a better example of "coded disability" in anime.[50]
Notes
^ abTokyo MX listed the series premiere on October 10, 2020 at 24:00, which is midnight on October 11.
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