KANNAZUKI NO MIKO SPIN OFF AFTER 16 YEARS: WHAT WE KNOW

​Kanazuki no Miko may be one of the most prominent anime and manga of the Yuri genre. The anime took a very different direction from the start in relation to its manga as a lot of anime did during that time. So with the announcement of Himegami no Miko, a new spin-off it from the original authors, all fans of this iconic series were left with a thousand questions going through their heads.
Especially what relationship it would have with the maidens of the sanctuary we already knew.
With a few chapters realized, next we will tell you what we know until now! Avoiding spoilers as much as we can of course, so you can still enjoy this as much as we would love you to. 


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“The highborn Himemiya Chikane is cool and aloof, the perfect young lady of good breeding. Kurusegawa Himeko is devoted to her, and secretly her friend. Their lives are undisturbed in their school until an ancient evil suddenly rears its head on the girls' shared sixteenth birthday. To combat it, Chikane and Himeko must take on the roles of shrine maidens of the Moon and Sun.”- KnM summary

1.- ANIME OR MANGA TIMELINE?
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After the conclusion of both anime and manga (with a final chapter that, although I watched it several and perhaps too many times, continues to break my heart) the only light at the end of the road we received was: In the manga, that they have reincarnated as sisters. And in the Anime, a post-credit scene where it is implied that the two of them got to meet again, although we do not know if it was in that same life (unlikely) or in another.
It was a surprise that the same team of mangaka's from the original manga work confirmed that this would be a spin-off sited in the anime timeline, which would present us the most recent reincarnation of the shrine maidens.

2- 2020 UPDATED CHARACTERS
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A new Himeko and a new Chikane that, although they are clearly mirroring to their previous past-selves, also have a few quite clear differences from their predecessors from 2004
Himeko on the one hand is introducing as more loving than before and unafraid to express her feelings towards Chikane, with a sincerer look and more expressive character design. And something that sets a fairly large gap concerning her previous reincarnation, is that from the beginning she is much much clearer with what she wants and expresses, being very fond of Chikane from starters and being clear in communicating these feelings.


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But yes, her clumsiness, love for sweets, and photography have not changed.
On the other hand, this time we see a stronger and more determined Chikane without losing her maiden elegance. Neither in this new "Reincarnation" has she lost her exuberant beauty nor her fantastic silhouette, on the contrary, in this new drawing style her character design has been improved so much that her eyes are more penetrating and her features more delineated, which gives her the air of a very mysterious girl.  
 
We also get to see that she is more expressive in this new release. On several occasions that quiet and cool persona we were used to, becomes explosive and / or very expressive.

For example:

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3.- THINGS THAT NEVER CHANGE

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To not lose the habit, one of the two must die, and Chikane initially appears to be the antagonist. Although I would not know whether to trust her words, mainly because of what we saw in the series. Her villain performance is perfect, all for Himeko to end up killing her instead as a sacrifice to the Moon Shrine.
But for now, all we know is that Chikane is aware of her status as a moon maiden and accepts her fate, scheming a plan to kill Himeko after bringing her back to their hometown to fulfill the cycle of the maidens. And on the contrary, Himeko scaped from their hometown rejecting such a fate of having to kill eachother.
Kannazuki no Miko means The Maidens of the month without God, so it is very clear that the story is always going to have a “dark and more sinister side”. Kaishaku once more introduces us to this plot full of suspense but now with us knowing that one of the girls needs to die by the hands of the other from starters. And that that has been unavoidable in all the previous reincarnations to save the world from Orochi. That's the eternal cycle of the maidens.
 
 
AFTERTHOUGHTS 

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​I hope this time, the feelings involved between them, the ones that always make each of the cycles more complicated, finally find a light of hope in this new life, an outcome where they can be together. Because they have a love that transcends in all their reincarnations and that deserves a happy ending.
Himegami no Miko means Maidens of the Goddess, my hopes are that even with the big chance of the ending being similar to the original series, that won’t happen. But well, that’s something we can’t tell for sure until the conclusion of this great new project.
Kaishaku sensei expressed through his twitter that he had a lot of faith in this new manga, so we can tell for sure that he has put a lot of effort into it. Chronologically speaking, exactly 16 years from the original serialization have passed, so this reincarnation is totally valid because, at this time, the girls of the new manga are about or already turned 16. This shows that Kaishaku-sensei has been planning this comeback of the maidens in every detail.


Written by - Raon2812