, subtitled ''Momo: The Girl God of Death'', is a Japanese

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

series written by K-Ske Hasegawa, with illustrations by Nanakusa. The series includes twelve novels released between June 10, 2003 and April 10, 2009, published by

ASCII Media Works ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...

under their

Dengeki Bunko is a publishing imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks). It was established in June 1993 with the publication of '' Hyōryū Densetsu Crystania'' volume one, and is a light novel imprint a ...

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

. The novels were licensed by

Seven Seas Entertainment Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as we ...

for release in English with the first novel released in March 2008. The series revolves around Momo, a ''

shinigami () are kami (spirits) that invite humans toward death, according to Japanese religion and culture. have been described as monsters, helpers, and creatures of darkness. are used for tales and religions in Japanese culture. Japanese religion I ...

'', and her

familiar In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (sometimes referred to as familiar spirits) were believed to be supernatural entities that would assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. According to re ...

Daniel, a talking

black cat A black cat is a domestic cat with black fur that may be a mixed or specific breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular breed. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) recognizes 22 cat breeds that can come with solid black coats. The Bombay b ...

, as they interfere with the world of the living. A

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

of the series aired on ASCII Media Works' ''

Dengeki Taishō is a Japanese radio program broadcast by Nippon Cultural Broadcasting, Radio Osaka, and Tokai Radio Broadcasting which first aired in October 1994, and is produced by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks). The program airs late at night on the ...

'' radio program between April and May 2005, and the recordings were collected into a

drama CD Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

released in June 2005. A

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

adaptation by Asuka Izumi was serialized in

Hakusensha is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company mainly publishes manga magazines and is involved in series' productions in their games, original video animation, music, and their animated TV ...

's shōjo

manga magazines This is a list of manga magazines or published in Japan. The majority of manga magazines are categorized into one of five demographics, which correspond to the age and gender of their readership: * ''Children's anime and manga, Kodomo'' – ai ...

LaLa Lala may refer to: Geography * Lala language (disambiguation) Places * Lala (Naples Metro), an underground metro station in Naples, Italy * Lala, Assam, a town in Assam, India * Lala, Ilam, a village in Ilam Province, Iran * Lala, Lanao del No ...

'' and ''

LaLa DX Lala may refer to: Geography * Lala language (disambiguation) Places * Lala (Naples Metro), an underground metro station in Naples, Italy * Lala, Assam, a town in Assam, India * Lala, Ilam, a village in Ilam Province, Iran * Lala, Lanao del N ...

'' between May 2005 and February 2007. A six-episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

adaptation of the series produced by

Group TAC was a Japanese animation and computer graphics studio located in Shibuya, Tokyo, and founded in 1968 from former Mushi Pro staff. They worked on movies, videos, TV shows, and commercials, and contributed to all stages of the process, including p ...

aired between March and April 2006 on WOWOW satellite TV. Lastly, a TV drama which aired on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

was produced between January and March 2007, containing twelve episodes.

Plot and characters

''Ballad of a Shinigami'' primarily centers around a young-looking girl named who is a ''

'', or death god. Momo is clad in all white, along with having long white hair, and as a god of death, she leads deceased souls to the other side. She carries with her a large

scythe A scythe ( ) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or harvesting crops. It is historically used to cut down or reap edible grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor m ...

and an ID card which helps to facilitate in her identification as a shinigami; her shinigami ID number is A-100100. Momo is different from other shinigami because she tries to ease the suffering of the people she encounters whether they be living or already dead, such as conveying messages from the dead to the living. She is also known to cry a lot, and she says that she cries for the dead because they no longer can. Accompanying Momo is a talking black cat

named with a bell around his neck and bat-like wings who helps Momo out. The living frequently hear the ringing of Daniel's bell when Momo and Daniel are nearby. Daniel has a calm character and does not show as much sympathy to humans as Momo, but is still patient with them. In the TV drama, Daniel is portrayed as a young boy rather than a cat. The story follows Momo and Daniel as they interact with the living and usually consists of them changing something sorrowful for the living. Another shinigami featured in the series is also a young-looking girl named who is clad in all black, along with having black hair. Like Momo, she shows outward emotion towards the living and dead, but An has a cruel personality and does not give mercy to anyone. Despite the fact that shinigami are meant to transport souls to the other side, An chooses to terminate the souls of the people she kills. Among shinigami, she is very powerful, and is referred to as a special type of shinigami. Her shinigami ID number is A-99. Accompanying An is a talking gray cat familiar named , but is referred to as for short. Before starting to work with An, Nicol had once been very close friends with Daniel.

Media

Light novels

''Ballad of a Shinigami'' is a series of

s written by K-Ske Hasegawa, and drawn by Nanakusa. Twelve novels were published by

under their

publishing imprint between June 10, 2003 and April 10, 2009. Twenty-one chapters, plus another five more special chapters, were serialized in MediaWorks' now-defunct light novel magazine '' Dengeki hp''. Of the main twenty-one chapters, seven were later included in the released light novel volumes. The novels were licensed by

for release in English; the first volume was released in March 2008. Seven Seas published the first two light novels in the original pocket format used in Japan, rather than the larger standard size normally used for manga and North American releases of Japanese light novels. Seven Seas dropped the series after the second novel though for unknown reasons. A four-chapter spin off of the series entitled ''Cheerful Charmer Momo'' was also created. The first chapter was made available through mail order via the summer 2004 edition of ''Dengeki hp'', though chapters one, three, and four were serialized in other now-defunct MediaWorks light novel anthologies which include ''Dengeki p'', ''Dengeki hPa'', and ''Dengeki Bunkoyomi''. Another spin-off series of short stories entitled ''Ballad of a Shinigami: Unknown Stars'' began serialization in ASCII Media Works' light novel magazine ''

Dengeki Bunko Magazine was a Japanese light novel magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks). The magazine succeeded the light novel magazine '' Dengeki hp'', and originally was published as a special edition issue of '' Dengeki Daioh'' for the fir ...

'' on February 9, 2008. The stories are illustrated by Keiji Yamamoto, though Nanakusa provides the visual concepts that Yamamoto uses as a base for the stories. The story is different from the original, and is primarily a "school life" story. The first volume of ''Unknown Stars'' was released on September 10, 2008, and as of December 10, 2009, three volumes have been released under Dengeki Bunko.

Art books

A sixty-four-page

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

entitled was written and illustrated by the same creators of the light novels and released by ASCII Media Works on January 28, 2005 under their ''Dengeki Bunko Visual Novel'' label. A 108-page

art book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects. Overview Artists' books have employed a ...

illustrated by Nanakusa was released by ASCII Media Works on April 6, 2006, and also contained an original ''Ballad of a Shinigami'' short story by K-Ske Hasegawa.

Audio dramas

The second chapter of the ''Cheerful Charmer Momo'' spin-off was originally broadcast as a four-episode

between April 9, 2005 and May 2005 on ASCII Media Works' ''

'' radio program. The radio drama was later released as a

through mail order via volume thirty-six of '' Dengeki hp'' released on June 18, 2005. The CD contained the radio drama recording called plus a new track titled "Snow Rebirth", and also one secret track. The CD came with an original story booklet containing a short story entitled , a small hand mirror, and an original sticker set. In the drama, Momo was voiced by

Mamiko Noto > is a Japanese actress and singer. Some of her prominent anime roles include Kotomi Ichinose in ''Clannad'', Rin in ''Inuyasha'', Kotori Monou in '' X'', Aoi Kannazuki in ''Kaitō Tenshi Twin Angel'', Durandal in ''Honkai Impact 3rd'', Haru ...

, and Daniel was voiced by

Ryō Hirohashi is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with Aoni Production. She mainly voices young girls and young boys. She is known for voicing Miles "Tails" Prower in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. Biography Hirohashi was born in Niigata Prefecture, he ...

. Another radio drama, again four episodes long and broadcast on ''Dengeki Taishō'', aired between January 12, 2008 and February 2008. The new drama was based on the story from volume ten of the light novels. The radio drama was later released as a drama CD through mail order via volume one of ''

'' released on April 10, 2008. The CD contained the drama's opening and ending themes, the radio drama recording "Toward Your Transparency and Carbonated Water." plus a new track titled , and also one secret track. The CD came with an original sticker set and a notepad.

Manga

A twelve-chapter

adaptation illustrated by Asuka Izumi was serialized in two shōjo

published by

—''

'', and ''

''—though nine chapters were serialized in ''LaLa DX'', two were serialized in ''LaLa'', and one (the

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...

) was only included in volume one of the bound volumes. The first chapter was serialized on May 24, 2005 in ''LaLa'', and ended in ''LaLa DX'' on February 10, 2007. Three volumes comprising four chapters each were released under Haksensha's ''Hana to Yume Comics'' label between March 4, 2006 and June 10, 2007. The manga has been licensed by CMX for distribution in North America.

Anime

adaptation produced by

, directed by

Tomomi Mochizuki , sometimes incorrectly romanized as Tomomichi Mochizuki, is a Japanese storyboard artist, screenwriter, and director, known for having collaborated with leading animation studios such as Studio Ghibli, Nippon Animation, Pierrot, and Sunrise. He so ...

, and written by

Reiko Yoshida is a Japanese screenwriter. She has written and supervised numerous screenplays for anime series, live-action dramas and films. Her major works include ''Kaleido Star'', ''Aria'', ''Maria-sama ga Miteru'', '' D.Gray-man'', ''K-On!'', ''Bakuman' ...

aired on WOWOW in Japan between March 3, 2006 and April 7, 2006, containing six episodes. The anime has been licensed by Japanese-based company Bost Digital Entertainment for distribution through their

video streaming Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

website Bost TV with English subtitles. The episodes are available only to Australia and New Zealanders for the price of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

1.99 per episode. In the anime, Momo was voiced by Akiko Kobayashi, and Daniel was voiced by

Ai Shimizu is a Japanese voice actress and professional wrestler. She has a career as a singer, signed to Lantis. She has released 14 singles (including joint and character singles) and four albums. She covered Yumi Matsutoya's " Toki o Kakeru Shōjo" as ...

. The anime's opening theme is "No One" and the ending theme is "White Messenger"; both songs are sung by Koy, and the

maxi single A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. The first maxi singles Mungo Jerry's first single, "In the Summertime" was the ...

containing the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

s was released by

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affiliate ...

on March 15, 2006. Notably, the opening theme is sung entirely in English while the ending theme has normal Japanese lyrics. The anime's original soundtrack was released on April 26, 2006 containing twenty-two music tracks and eight audio drama tracks. Three DVD compilation volumes were released by Pony Canyon between June 7, 2006 and August 2, 2006, each with two episodes each, and were sold in limited and regular editions. The DVD box set containing the six episodes was released on February 20, 2008. The anime is licensed by

Maiden Japan ''Maiden Japan'', released as ''Heavy Metal Army'' in Japan, is a live EP by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The title is a pun of Deep Purple's live album '' Made in Japan''. Release There are at least two different versions of ...

, and the series was distributed on DVD by

Section23 Films SXION 23 LLC, doing business as Section23 Films is an American multimedia distributor based in Houston, Texas specializing in releasing anime and Japanese films. Established in 2009, Section23 is one of five successors to ADV Films; alongside Se ...

on June 25, 2013.

Episodes

TV drama

A TV drama directed by Kōtarō Terauchi aired on

between January 9, 2007 and March 27, 2007, containing twelve episodes. It was the second TV drama from ''

'' since ''

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora , subtitled ''looking up at the half-moon'' and also known as ''Hantsuki'', is a Japanese romance light novel series written by Tsumugu Hashimoto and illustrated by Keiji Yamamoto centering on two hospitalized seventeen year olds and the lov ...

''. The opening theme is by Sacra, and the ending theme is "

No Surprises "No Surprises" is a song by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released as the fourth and final single from their third studio album, '' OK Computer'' (1997), on 12 January 1998. It reached number four on the UK Singles Chart. It featur ...

" (

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

) by

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of herbivore, herbivorous Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsidae, ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 68 m ...

. Momo was portrayed by Shōko Hamada, and Daniel was played by

Riko Yoshida Riko Yoshida (吉田莉胡, born 18 June 2002) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for WE League club Chifure AS Elfen Saitama. Club career Yoshida made her WE League The , officially the , also known as the ...

. Six DVD compilation volumes were sold: volumes one and two were released on April 27, 2007, volumes three and four were released on May 25, 2007, and volumes five and six were sold on June 22, 2007; each volume contained two episodes.

Reception

Overall reviews of the anime adaptation titled ''Momo, Girl God of Death'' have been mixed. Theron Martin from

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...

gave both the subtitled and dubbed versions a C+ grade overall. Theron states that the first story is "sappy", with the overall stories not being fulfilling. He calls the art "mediocre" and also criticizes the poor English dub mispronunciations. Theron though also describes Momo's character as cute, and "interestingly different" for her role. Stig Høgset from THEM Anime Reviews called the anime melancholic, and tacky at points but is a series that sticks in your memory. Chris Beveridge from The Fandom Post also gave the anime a review saying it felt like a "90s OVA". He also went on to praise the series for being short but sweet giving the anime an overall B grade. In March 2007, it was reported by Mediaworks that over 1.3 million copies of the first ten light novel volumes were sold in Japan.

References

External links

''Ballad of a Shinigami''
at

TV drama official website
* {{Group TAC 2005 manga CMX (comics) titles Dengeki Bunko Hakusensha manga Japanese drama television series Kadokawa Dwango franchises Maiden Japan Seven Seas Entertainment titles Sharp Point Press titles Shinigami in anime and manga Shōjo manga Supernatural anime and manga TV Tokyo original programming Wowow original programming