Kamichama Karin is a Japanese manga originally written by Koge-Donbo about a seventh grade girl named Karin who finds out that she can transform into a goddess. The series began as a manga first serialized in January 2003. Kamichama Karin was serialized in the Japanese shōjo manga magazine Nakayoshi and published by Kodansha. While the first manga series ended at seven bound volumes, a second titled Kamichama Karin Chu began serialization in the same magazine in July 2006, and as of April 2008, the series ended with seven bound volumes being released. Kamichama Karin has been licensed in the U.S. and Canada by Tokyopop. Del Rey Manga published Kamichama Karin Chu between June 24, 2008 and January 26, 2010. An anime series based on the original manga was produced by TV Tokyo, NAS, and Pony Canyon, animated by Satelight, and directed by Takashi Anno. It aired on TV Tokyo from April to September 2007.
Plot
Karin Hanazono is an ordinary 13-year-old girl who becomes depressed after the death of her parents and her last companion, her pet cat Shii-chan. With poor grades, a mean aunt, and few friends who understand her, she feels lonely and desperately believes that God will help her out of these circumstances one day, holding on to the last remaining memento: a ring that originally belonged to her mother. Things change for better for Karin when she meets Himeka Kujyou and her cousin Kazune, whom she lives with. A confrontation after Kazune insults Karin's cat and ultimately her feelings invoke something within her and the ring, causing everything to go smoothly for Karin, including weather matters. It turns out that her precious ring is in fact a holder of the power of God, and Karin, as its bearer, is a goddess. With this revelation, she is hunted down by mysterious enemies who are seeking that power while trying to control her strength. On her journey, she discovers more about her past, and the truth of her goddess heritage, as well as how it affects others around her like Kazune and Himeka. The adventure continues in Kamichama Karin Chu with the main cast now in the eighth grade. Kazune returns from his trip to England, so Karin and the gang are back together again. Karin and the gang travel through time, along with a new comrade, a celebrity named Jin Kuga.
The Kamichama Karin manga series has been released into a total of seven full volumes. Koge-Donbo admits in volume one at how the point of Karin's "I am God" was to have her say something stupid and how the manga started was as a gag. Kamichama Karin was originally going to be a two chapter one-shot manga, according to Koge-Donbo. Due to its unexpected popularity, she continued the story. The story continues on in a sequel series Kamichama Karin Chu. again with seven volumes in regular special edition volumes released in Japan. The special edition volumes include the same basic content as the regular editions but include additional content making them highly valuable to manga collectors. The special editions feature different cover artwork including a gold foiled logo on a clear plastic dust jacket. Each special volume is accompanied by booklets which contain whole extra chapters to the story.
Anime
An anime of Kamichama Karin debuted in Japan on April 6, 2007. Animation was done by the animation studio Satelight. The story starts off in Kamichama Karin Chu, the sequel to Kamichama Karin. Karin and Suzune are running through a park when Rika attacks Karin. Karin's Chronos Clock gets the Seed of Chaos implanted into it and brings her to the first time she met Kazune at Shii-chan's grave. After that, the events follow the storyline of the manga. Kamichama Karin was shown in Japan every Saturday. An original soundtrack has been released.
