When you think Odin, does the one-eyed, elderly father of Loki and Thor come to mind? Well, time to think again. Pronouncing herself as the Norse god and with the power of omniscience, this Odin Sato seems like another middle schooler suffering from Chuunibyou Syndrome, but to high school senior Yota’s surprise, her pronouncements keep coming true: rain on a sunny day, the entire finish order in a horse race, and then perhaps the final one—a prediction that doesn’t seem to match this hyper and flippant young “god”: The world will end in 30 days.
Ah, Jun Maeda, how I’ve missed thee. And yet, that statement isn’t entirely true: I miss the stories from earlier anime, mostly those based on Key visual novels. Angel Beats was a 10 for me until it wasn’t, hitting a quizzically poor middle section, and Charlotte‘s last half wasn’t particularly memorable. And thus, my expectations are tempered for this series. But like those two, The Day I Became a God does start out strong, with only slightly less energy than either of those previous two, which maybe is a good thing. He seems to be calling back a bit to past Key works by bringing in both baseball and basketball to the first episode, a challenge, and of course his hyper, diminutive protagonist. I think that’s a good sign.
I also rather enjoyed the litany of hilarious conversations between Yota and Odin, and the latter’s funny asides (so many that I’ve thumbnailed many below). But despite the humor, the groundwork has been laid for a trademark tearful ending—how we’ll get there and just how tearful it will be remains to be seen, but I’m hopeful if not entirely optimistic, for 13 episodes has seemed to be too little for Maeda to craft another masterpiece. But here’s praying that with The Day I Became a God, he’ll return to his divine touch.
The Day I Became a God can be streamed on Funimation.
