With the Shonen genre being the reigning king amongst anime and manga communities, the Shojo genre goes largely undermined. Still, many Shojo titles have cracked into mass popularity. And if one manga deserves a special mention, it’s Kamisama Kiss or Kamisama Hajimemashita.

Despite having debuted more than 15 years ago, the series has still maintained a certain level of popularity amongst Shojo enthusiasts. If you are a romance fan, it is likely to be in your top 3 list. If it isn’t, redo your list.

Kamisama Kiss Manga Suffers from a Lack of Availability

Kamisama Kiss Volume 1 | Credits: Hakusensha

Pick up any Shonen series, and you are bound to find it serializing on Viz Media, MangaPlus, or some other official website. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about most Shojo series, especially ones that have already finished serialization. Kamisama Kiss suffers from the same problems.

The only legal way to read the manga is by either buying its physical volumes one by one or by buying it digitally via Viz Media. Viz Media does offer small previews of each volume but even those are only available in a few regions. The series is also absent from Viz’s subscription plans, and individual chapters remain unavailable. Despite the introduction of reading apps like MangaPlus, Kamisama Kiss remains consistently missing from the library.

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In fact, ask any Kamisama Kiss manga fan, and they will most probably tell you that they read the manga’s pirated version. Unfortunately, the only way for readers to actually find this goldmine is through piracy manga websites. Hakusensha owns Kamisama Kiss and several of the biggest shojo manga series and has not offered them on demand yet. Berserk, one of the most popular seinen manga under Hakusensha, suffers from the same issue.

Kamisama Kiss Remains Unproblematic Years After its Serialization

Kamisama Kiss Volume 9 | Credits: Hakusensha

Most Shojo manga from the 2000s have problematic storylines ingrained at some point or another. From a disinterested male lead to bullying in relationships and even stalking, the early Shojo series tries to normalize many problematic behaviors. But Kamisama Kiss stands the test of time with its wholesome characters.

Early Shojo manga often portray abuse and try to sell it as love. While Kamisama Kiss‘ male protagonist, Tomoe, does bully Nanami at first, it is largely due to how unexpectedly she dropped at his shrine despite him waiting for Mikage for 20 years. He tried to scare Nanami away at first, but after seeing her dedication to the shrine, he became more and more protective of her.

Kamisama Kiss Volume 16 | Credits: Hakusensha

Spoiler Alert !!!Kamisama Kiss ending spoiler

Often, misogyny is deeply embedded in Shojo manga, and the female protagonist ends up making all the sacrifices. Fortunately, Tomoe does everything in his power to be with Nanami, even if it means he has to become a human to spend his life with her. The trope of a dumb female protagonist does not apply to Kamisama Kiss, as Nanami is an extremely intelligent woman who solves all kinds of Heavenly matters. Being a new God, she does fall into trouble but learns her way quite easily.

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All in all, Kamisama Kiss is a manga that is more than worthy of a read. However, its unavailability on official manga reading sites will remain a consistent problem. Till it does become more accessible, feel free to borrow the manga from your friends and read it till you drop.

Kamisama Kiss anime is available to stream on Hulu.
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