As I’ve said before, Akiyuki Shinbo is an enormously talented director but his work tends to leave me cold (with the major exception of Madoka Magica which is all-around amazing). I enjoyed Sasami-san@Ganbaranai (Anime Network) more than most of his shows but I still can’t really recommend it, particularly after watching the final episode which was not titled “Sasami Makes a New Frenemy” but might as well have been.

We have an interesting premise about ancient barbaric gods in a modern setting. The story is fascinating, often unsettling and sometimes quite funny. But ultimately the characters are not people I would like to get to know better and the story itself doesn’t make much sense. Sure you can look up the mythological references, but some random mythological references don’t make an incoherent story coherent.

Bottom line: interesting but not great.