Shrine of the Morning Mist
Shrine of the Morning Mist is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Hiroki Ugawa. The manga was serialized in Shōnen Gahōsha's Young King Ours. It was licensed in North America by Tokyopop and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. The manga was adapted into an anime series, directed by Yuji Moriyama. The anime was licensed in North America by Media Blasters.
It tells the story of Yuzu Hieda, a high school freshman and one of three sisters, all of whom are miko at the local Shinto shrine. When her childhood love returns, it is discovered that dark gods have a great interest in him, and Yuzu is recruited to gather fellow students into a "Miko Council" to fight off a full-scale mystic assault. The priestesses have talismans that focus their powers and are used when attacking the dark kami.
Characters
The Miko Council
In the Media Blasters anime English adaptation, the Miko Council is referred to as the "Priestess Club".;Yuzu Hieda
;Seiko Rikiishi
;Chika Yurikasa
;Izumi Sakibara
;Shizuka Midoh
The Hieda Clan
;Kurako Hieda;Tama Hieda
;Naonori Hieda
;Tadahiro Amatsu
;Koma
Yagarena
;Michimune Ayatachi;The Twilight Priestesses
;Masashi Kusugi
Setting
The real-life city of Miyoshi, Hiroshima was used as the basis for the location of the anime. Miyoshi has an abundance of mist in the morning, and the folktales recorded in Inō Mononoke scroll took place on a mountain near Miyoshi City. The mountain appears prominently in Shrine of the Morning Mist.Media
Manga
Shrine of the Morning Mist is written and illustrated by Hiroki Ugawa. Shōnen Gahōsha released the manga's nine tankōbon volumes between January 2001 and April 30, 2013. The manga was licensed in North America by Tokyopop, which released the manga's first four tankōbon volumes between May 9, 2006, and May 1, 2007, as of July 2009. The series is licensed in France as Asagiri - Les prêtresses de l'aube by Editions Ki-oon.Anime
The episodes of Shrine of the Morning Mist anime series are based on the manga written by Hiroki Ugawa. The anime series was directed by Yuji Moriyama. There were 26 episodes broadcast by TV Tokyo and AT-X between July 4, 2002, and December 26, 2002. Media Blasters licensed and released the series for a Blu-Ray Disc release.Reception
IGN's A.E. Sparrow criticises the manga for making Tadahiro "possibly the most boring character written in the history of manga. He looks and behaves with all the emotional range of a Ken doll, despite being the core character around which the action revolves."T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews' Jeremy A Beard comments that comedy of the anime "employs a lot of silly school life misunderstandings and visual gags that reminded me of something like Azumanga Daioh." Anime News Network's Sean Broestl commends the anime for its "great character design, catchy opening comedy isn't overdone" but he criticises the episodes for feeling "rushed" and the "mediocre plot." Mania.com's Chris Beveridge comments on the anime's "half-length episodes" due to it being aired on TV Tokyo as the second half of Nekketsu Denpa Club, saying, "the show makes decent use of the format and the pacing is certainly much better than a lot of shows that were trying out this format a few years ago, but there's still something slightly off about how it plays out and roughly half of the episodes feel like they're either a bit rushed or they don't end in what you'd consider an appropriate place."