From left to right: Kanna Hayama, Yasha, and Shiro
Child of Kamiari Month is a 2021 Japanese animated film directed by Takana Shirai and produced by Liden Films. Released in Japanese theatres on October 8, 2021, it was distributed internationally by Netflix on February 8, 2022.
Kanna Hayama, an average Japanese elementary school student with a passion for running, is struggling to cope with the recent death of her beloved mother, Yayoi Hayama. On the day of a school marathon, Kanna's grief gets the better of her and she has a panic attack just before crossing the finish line. Mortified, she flees to Ushijima Shrine, where her mother's magatama bracelet — kept as a keepsake — reveals a mystical power. Time slows to a crawl, and Kanna is attacked by an oni boy named Yasha before being saved by Shiro — a white rabbit indwelled by a messenger of the kami. Shiro explains that Kanna is descended from the Buddhist deity Idaten, and that like her mother before her she must complete a pilgrimage to collect chiso offerings from all the major shrines of Japan and bring them to the gods' annual Kamihakari festival at Izumo-taisha Shrine. If she fails, calamity will befall Japan. With the promise of being reunited with her mother as a reward, Kanna sets out to follow in her mother's footsteps with Shiro and a begrudging Yasha accompanying her.
Child of Kamiari Month contains examples of the following tropes:
- Dead Person Impersonation: An evil spirit born of the cruelties and indifference of the modern age pursues Kanna seeking to obtain the offerings to consume them and attain godhood, and impersonates her late mom to trick her into handing them over.
- Deity of Human Origin: As a reward for completing the quest, Kanna is temporarily granted godhood as a descendant of Idaten and adorned with celestial raiments, though the divine clothes disappear and she returns to being human after leaving the realm of the gods.
- Despair Event Horizon: Kanna's grief over losing her mother hamstrings her during a school marathon, causing her to freeze up and collapse in a panic attack just before crossing the finish line. This only stresses her out even more, and she runs away. While she agrees to the quest after being promised to be reunited with her mother, she's almost tricked into giving up the offerings by an evil spirit impersonating her mother. After realizing she'd been tricked, Kanna quits the quest out of despair and breaks the bracelet slowing down time.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: When he dad tries to reassure her after her panic attack at the marathon, Kanna lashes out at him and snaps that he doesn't understand what she's going through.
- Dragons Are Divine: The Shinto kami Ryūjin, the dragon-god of Lake Suwa in Nagano, tests Kanna's ability and resolve to complete the quest by pitting her and Yasha against each other. Kanna fails the test by stopping to help Yasha, but Ryūjin commiserates with her desire to see her mother again and gives them his offering anyway.
- Female Angel, Male Demon: Shiro and Yasha are the Shinto equivalents — Shiro being an emissary of the amatsukami sent to guide Kanna on her quest to collect offerings from the kunitsukami, and Yasha being an oni descended from demon-gods who'd previously held the duty before being supplanted by Idaten.
- Food Porn: The offerings given to Kanna by the various deities consist of food items related to the regions they preside over, and are used to prepare for an annual feast held at Izumo-taisha Shrine, and the food shown is worthy of the gods indeed.
- Foreshadowing: The song that Yayoi sings to tease Kanna in her dream — "Hurry, little monster. Catch me if you think you can." — foreshadows Yasha, who is an oni who has been feuding with Yayoi for since she took over the duties of Idaten and seeks to surpass her—and later Kanna—so that he can restore the honor of his clan.
- Guardian Angel: Shiro is a celestial being sent to guide and protect Kanna on her quest, and possesses a white rabbit that Kanna had enjoyed looking after. She is initially antagonistic to Yasha, who is an oni demon trying to usurp the quest from Kanna, though once they both mellow out they become allies.
- The Heartless: Kanna and her friends are followed by a malevolent spirit manifested from the negative emotions engendered by the modern age. Feeding on Kanna's grief over her mother's passing, the spirit tries to trick her into giving it the food offerings so it can become an evil god.
- Heroic Second Wind: After her Despair Event Horizon, Kanna regains the resolve to fulfil the quest after recalling positive memories of her mother, rekindling her love of running.
- I Miss Mom: Kanna was very close to her mother, who engendered her love of running in order to prepare her for her destiny of taking over the duty of Idaten, and was left devastated when she passed away, blaming herself for it due to her mom having gotten deathly ill coming to watch her run. Her motivation for agreeing to the gods' quest is Shiro promising she'll be reunited with her mother as a reward, though even the most powerful of the earthbound gods can't make this happen and can only counsel Kanna that her grief will pass with time.
- Inadequate Inheritor: Yasha dismisses Kanna as not holding a candle to her mother, who he states was truely worthy of the title Idaten.
- Invisible to Normals: Kanna can only see and interact with Yasha, the deity-possessed Shiro, and other gods while the divine magatama bracelet her mom had is activated.
- It's All My Fault: Kanna blames herself for her mother's death due to Yayoi having gone to see her run despite being very ill, collapsing and passing away not long after. She tries to put up a brave face to her classmates and dad, but her grief and self-loathing eat away at her over the course of the movie.
- Made of Evil: God imposters are dark spirits born from negative emotions like apathy, anger, and envy — which Shiro explains are all-too commonplace in the modern age — and are the antithesis of the kami. While the god imposters long to become true gods and will stop at nothing to do so, should they succeed they will become a god of calamity. One of them follows Kanna, feeding off her grief and despair at her mother's death, and tries to steal the chiso in the hopes of attaining apotheosis by consuming it.
- Magical Accessory: Kanna inherited a bracelet with a jade magatama attached to it from her mother, which catalyzes the divine powers they inherited from their godly ancestor Idaten.
- Magical Floating Shawl: After Kanna completes her quest she is bestowed with divine raiments by Ōkuninushi, including a hagoromo shawl, and invited to partake in the feast with the other gods.
- Meaningful Name: Kanna's name is derived from Kannazuki — the Japanese name for October, with it being noted that in the Izuno province it's called Kamiarizuki in reference to an annual harvest festival said to mark a gathering of almost all Japan's gods that determines the fate of Japan for the following year. It turns out that Kanna must gather food offerings called chiso and deliver them to Izumo-taisha Shrine for said feast. In a flashback, Yayoi explains to Yasha that she named Kanna with this in mind, but that her daughter is free to choose whatever path in life she desires.
- Missing Mom: Kanna's mother, Yayoi Hayama, passed away a year before the events of the film, leaving Kanna distraught and struggling to deal with her grief while her husband Norimasa struggles to raise their daughter by himself. If anything, Kanna is the more mature of them — shopping on her way home from school, cooking dinner when her dad gets home from work, and leaving notes reminding him to eat breakfast.
- Not Quite the Almighty: Despite being one of the major gods in Shinto, Ōkuninushi is unable to fulfil Kanna's wish to see her deceased mother again when Shiro begs him to use his power of matchmaking to do so. Kanna accepts this, having come to terms with her grief after remembering why she loved running in the first place.
- "Not So Different" Remark: The dragon-god Ryūjin initially refuses to give his offering to Kanna, deeming her unworthy due to her selfish motive for completing the mission, but eventually relents and remarks that he can understand her missing her mother, since he is also unable to see his father Ōkuninushi.
- Oh, Crap!: Kanna is noticibly alarmed by the bovine god of Ushijima Shrine, the fiery cat-god, and the white snake-god; Shiro letting out exasperated sighs at her panicked reactions to meeting each of them.
- Our Gods Are Different: The various deities shown in the film are Shinto kami and Buddhist bodhisattva, and range from looking like animals to humans to dragons to plants.
- The Quest: Kanna is tasked with gathering offerings of food from the kami at Shinto shrines and bodhisattva at Buddhist temples across Japan, and taking them to a feast of the gods at Izumo-taisha Shrine. Failure to do so will result in Japan suffering a year of calamity and misfortune.
- Race Against the Clock: Kanna and her friends have to collect all the offerings from across Japan and deliver them to Izumo-taisha Shrine before 7:00 PM or disaster — revealed to be a massive hurricane — will strike Japan. Thanks to Kanna breaking the divine bracelet in her Despair Event Horizon, she misses the deadline and all seems lost... until Ōkuninushi suddenly appears and the feast begins.
- Recurring Dreams: Kanna has a recurring dream of running with her mother through a forest when she was a child, her mother slowly getting further and further away until she disappears into a bright light—symbolizing her death.
- The Rival: Yasha is a young oni descended from a clan of demons who were originally tasked with collecting the offerings for the divine feast, and seeks to regain that honor by surpassing Kanna. However, they grow to be friends over the course of their journey together. It's revealed that Yasha also had this dynamic with Yayoi, Kanna's mother, but came to respect and admire her.
- Time Stands Still: The magatama bracelet slows time to a crawl, enabling Kanna to effectively move at super-speed to complete the mission of gathering offerings from shrines across Japan in a few hours' time.
- Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Downplayed, Kanna's dad is noted to be a bit scatterbrained — embarrassing her in front of her best friend's mom — and she has to cook for him and leave reminders for him to remember to eat breakfast despite only being in sixth grade.
