Kamigami no Asobi

Ludere Deorum
神々の悪戯
Genre Romance, Supernatural
Game
Kamigami no Asobi: Ludere Deorum
Developer Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher Broccoli
Genre Visual novel
Platform PlayStation Portable
Released
  • JP: October 24, 2013
Anime television series
Directed by Tomoyuki Kawamura
Written by Tomoko Konparu
Music by Elements Garden
Studio Brain's Base
Licensed by
Original network Tokyo MX
Original run April 5, 2014 – June 21, 2014
Episodes 12
Game
In Finite Ludere Deorum
Developer Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher Broccoli
Genre Visual novel
Platform PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita
Released
  • JP: April 21, 2016

Ludere Deorum (神々の悪戯, Kagami no Asobi, Latin and Japanese for "Play of Gods") is a Japanese visual novel by Nippon Ichi Software and Broccoli. It was released on October 24, 2013 for the PlayStation Portable. An anime television series adaptation by Brain's Base was announced in December 2013[1] and aired from April to June 2014. A second game, In Finite Ludere Deorum (神々の悪戯 IN FINITE, Kagami no Asobi InFinite, lit. "The Last Play of Gods"), was released in April 2016.

Gameplay

Ludere Deorum is classified as an otome game. Like most otome games, the player takes the role of the main female character, Yui Kusanagi, who can choose from a variety of male characters as her love interest.

Plot

Yui Kusanagi is the daughter of a Shinto shrine. She discovers a mysterious sword, which transports her to a different world where she meets the Greek god Zeus. He invites her to attend a school in a separate world that he created. Zeus intends to teach the meaning of love to the various young divine beings who also attend the school, in an attempt to reverse the weakening bond between humans and the gods.

The second game shares the same premise, with new routes and new endings for the characters.

The first game allows Yui to romance Apollon, Hades, Tsukito, Takeru, Balder, Loki, Anubis, and Thoth, the first six being the anime's main cast. The second game allows Yui to romance Dionysus, Akira, Thor, and Melissa as well.

Characters

Yui Kusanagi (草薙　結衣, Kusanagi Yui)
Voiced by: Saori Hayami
The main protagonist of the series. Yui is a normal high school girl approaching graduation, and is starting to get worried about her future. She’s a little more traditional than most other girls due to her upbringing at a shrine. Yui regularly practices swordplay, and she is rather good at it. She is chosen as the one human to attend a school for gods who have grown distant from humans. She’s now responsible for teaching gods about being human, and about love. Yui is a hardworking and focused girl when it comes to teaching the gods about current human life, and tries her best to educate them. She is very persuasive to the gods, as she managed to encourage Hades, Loki and Takeru to come to school, when they were absolutely uninterested in it. Selfless and caring, she is able to bond with the other gods well.
Apollon Agana Belea (アポロン・アガナ・ベレア, Aporon Agana Berea)
Voiced by: Miyu Irino
The Greek God of the Sun and Zeus's son. He is the only character who calls Yui 'Fairy' with the reason of Yui looking like one. He is very attached to and protective of Yui. He is carefree and happy-go-lucky type of person. He calls the other Gods with weird nicknames such as Bal-Bal for Balder Hringhorni and Dee-Dee for Dionysus Thyraos. He looks and behaves like a noble. He likes to be motivated by different things and is a charismatic leader, shown by the fact that he was elected as the student council president. He is very cheerful, but can be seen as overenthusiastic at times. He tends to say things twice regardless of the situation. Although he seems like a perfect guy, it still seems like something is lacking. He looks cheerful and bright, but he is actually very lonely. He tries to make friends wherever he goes by doing things for them. In the end, he falls in love with Yui.
Hades Aidoneus (ハデス・アイドネウス, Hadesu Aidoneusu)
Voiced by: Daisuke Ono
The Greek God of the Underworld. He is also said to have misfortune and often isolates himself from interacting with others. Quiet person and takes distances from other people. Apollon’s uncle and Zeus’ older brother. Likes sweet things. Thinks of himself as unlucky and cursed. He has an aura which makes everyone difficult to approach him. Despite being cold outside actually Hades is soft on the inside. He believes that coming close to him will bring misery to people, so he keeps everyone away from him. Due to the grudges held by the dead in the underworld, Hades has gained a curse that causes misfortune wherever he goes, hence he prefers to stay in the underworld away from contact.
Tsukito Totsuka (戸塚 月人, Totsuka Tsukito)
Voiced by: Yuto Uemura
Japanese God of the Moon - Tsukiyomi. He is quiet and sometimes painfully blunt. He is the big brother of Susanoo Totsuka Takeru, the Japanese God of the Sea. He always take notes about whatever Yui says regarding humans. He is assigned by Thoth Caduceus to be the disciplinary head. Tsukito seems cool, not interested in anything and rarely shows expressions. Nevertheless he is responsible and dutiful. Although he is an unsociable person, he somehow always gets involved with Apollon and gets dragged into the problem. He sees the idea of the school as just another task and tries to perform it without getting emotionally involved. He enjoys moon gazing, being god of the Moon.Like his brothers, Tsukito was born from Izanagi's washing of himself in the waters of Yomi. Nothing much about him has been revealed, except that he managed to calm Takeru's rampage, and received a rabbit charm from him at some point.
Takeru Totsuka (戸塚 尊, Totsuka Takeru)
Voiced by: Toshiyuki Toyonaga
Japanese God of the Sea - Susanoo God of the sea. Short tempered and brash, he often gets into fights without realising it. He calls Yui 雑草 (weed). However, he eventually likes and becomes protective of Yui after he finds that they have common interests, such as running or swordsmanship. He worships his elder brother Tsukito, but has a difficult relationship with Akira. Surprisingly, he can get emotional rather easily. Doesn’t really get along well with anyone except Tsukito and Hades (whom he admires due to being the god of the underworld). He prides himself in swordplay and is very skilled in it. To calm down, he likes to take walks by the beach, being a god of the sea. Takeru finds animals cute, and sometimes plays with Tsukito's familiar, Usamaro. Takeru relates being born in the waters of Yomi together with his brothers. He lost his temper often, and was exiled because he was thought to have killed a goddess in anger. In reality, though, he loved the goddess in a maternal way and attempted (but failed) to save her as she accidentally fell off a cliff. Takeru also had a close relationship with Tsukito, after the former reaching out to him when he went on another rampage, Takeru began to look up to Tsukito.
Balder Hringhorni (バルドル・フリングホルニ, Barudoru Furinguhoruni)
Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya
Norse God of Light. Balder is a cheerful god who attracts every person to him because of his good looks. He often trips where there is nothing to be tripped on. He absolutely loves meat and will eat it for every meal if he could. Balder has a carnivorous personality and is very forward when it comes to making his advances on Yui. He cannot be harmed by any object because his mother Frigg made a pact with all objects on earth not to harm him. Even when there is rain, there comes a magical barrier that protects him from it. The only thing that could harm him is a mistletoe. Childhood friends with Thor Megingjard and Loki Laevatein. He has a special feelings for the heroine Yui, and becomes very possessive of her. He starts demanding that she eats with him every night, and gets jealous of anyone (even Loki) spending time with her. There are several instances where he expresses hostile and cruel thoughts about those who give or receive affections from Yui.
Loki Laevatein (ロキ・レーヴァテイン, Roki Rēvatein)
Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya
Norse God of Fire. He is very attached to Balder and Thor. Due to him being very mischievous, people avoided him when he was young. He stated in Episode 7 that Balder should only look at him and Balder only belongs to him. He was the last one to know that Yui Kusanagi is a human who represents humanity. He calls her "kitty-cat" and truly hates her when he sees her spending time with Balder, but later softens up to her when he sees that she really wants to be his friend. He is a born prankster, is good at making weapons, and has a pocket full of candy and pranks. Lazy with most things but to things he finds interesting he goes all out. He is a person with unprecedented, unpredictable behavior. He makes mistakes with an unforgiving smile, innocent mass of evil. Genius in making problems anywhere, even in a School. The type of person that always want to know anything, even another person’s problem. His mood is not easy to read. Loki was a notorious troublemaker in Asgard, so many shunned him and hated him. Balder was the only one who befriended Loki despite all his troubles, hence Loki sees Balder as a precious friend. Some mentioned memories include watching the aurora together with Thor, as well as walking along in the snow, since Asgard is said to be a very cold place.
Thor Megingjard (トール・メギンギョルズ, Tōru Megingyoruzu)
Voiced by: Noriaki Sugiyama
Norse God of Thunder. He is the one who stated that Balder and Loki shares a very special bond. Thor is a silent and stoic character who says few words. Yet he is very perceptive about people around him and is the voice of reason behind his two fellow Norse gods. He does care for them a lot, and is very worried about their impending fates.
Dionysus Thyrsos (ディオニュソス・テュルソス, Dionyusosu Tyurusosu)
Voiced by: Hirofumi Nojima
Greek God of Wine and Merrymaking. Dionysus is a charming flirt with a happy-go-lucky personality, even though he doesn't like to be told what to do. He is said to be warm but slightly crazy. He is sometimes seen appreciating wine. He seems to know a lot about the matters of love. He is said to be the brother of Apollon and nephew of Hades.
Thoth Caduceus (トト・カドゥケウス, Toto Kadukeusu)
Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa
Egyptian God of Knowledge. God of wisdom and creation and responsible for awaking of the world. He is the type of guy who exerts a lot of pressure on his students. He loves corn to the point of having it for three meals every day, and spends most of his time in the library. Thoth has the ability to speed read and devour as much information from the books that he has read. He is responsible for the leadership and is a tutor in the school. Very proud and confident, he does not take consultations if he is not in the mood. Since he knows everything in the universe, he cannot be debated with. He seems very interested about the aspect of humanity and quizzes Yui about the meaning of these questions.
Zeus Keraunos (ゼウス・ケラウノス, Zeusu Keraunosu)
Voiced by: Hōchū Ōtsuka, Daisuke Sakaguchi (child form)
The Greek God of Sky and Thunder and The Ruler of Mount Olympus. Zeus is a very demanding man who gets what he wants with his power and words. Although seeming forceful and tyrannical, he keeps the future of humanity and gods in mind.
Anubis Ma'at (アヌビス・マアト, Anubisu Maato)
Voiced by: Yūki Kaji
Egyptian God of the Dead. Anubis has a straight ancient egyptian bob, with tufts resembling ears. Instead of the normal school uniform top he wears a skintight suit exposing the midriff, and wears his school blazer over it. He wears a striped belt around his waist and gladiator sandals.In deity his outfit is closer to ancient Egyptian clothing, and he grows jackal ears, tail and claws. Like the rest of the gods his eyes turn gold. Anubis is a shy deity who rarely appears in public and always hides in the shadows. Despite his shyness he has a curious side. He speaks unique words that only Thoth can understand. Only trusts Thoth at first, but opens up to the rest later on. He likes hanging around animals a lot, because he feels closer to them and they have no sin. He usually spends his time exploring outside or staying in the library with Thoth.
Melissa (メリッサ, Merissa)
Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki
A doll created by Zeus to look after Yui while at the school. He is a yellow and white rag doll with stitches around his mouth, neck, and limbs. His right eye is pink and his left eye is green. He has three marks in the middle of his forehead. His head is also tied like a sack with a green ribbon with a pink button. Melissa is a funny and relaxing doll to be around. He has a kind manner and is liked by the characters, especially Yui. Melissa is fun to be around and acts serious when there is a need to. He is very responsible. He is given a human form in the second game, with a blond ponytail, one green eye and one red eye.
Akira Totsuka (戸塚 陽, Totsuka Akira)
Voiced by: Yūya Uchida
Japanese God of the Sun. He is feminine in appearance, with long white hair that fades to blue. He is the older brother of Tsukito and Takeru. He is harsh on Tsukito but nice to Takeru, however Takeru dislikes his treatment of Tsukito. He is said to be already interested in the affairs of humans.

Anime

The anime has opening theme, "TILL THE END", and ending theme, "REASON FOR...". Both are performed by the voice actors of Apollon, Hades, Tsukito, Takeru, Balder, and Loki.

No. Title Original air date
1 "The Forbidden Academy"  April 5, 2014

Yui Kusanagi is your typical average High School girl who loves swords and who has parents that own a shrine. Her parents plan to pass the shrine on to one of her brothers, thus giving them a plan for life. Not only that, Yui's friends also have their own plans for the future, whether it's love or just studying for exams. One faithful day, as she is at her parents shrine, she enters a storehouse and sees a shining sword. As she touches it, she is transported to very beautiful garden made by Zeus, the Greek god who was King of all gods.

Upon being transported there, Zeus informs her of the reason she will be useful to him: she is meant to help nine other gods, who all have problems with humans and love, by showing them the true meaning of love. 
2 "Beautiful Shackles"  April 12, 2014

The episode starts off with Yui meeting Apollo, one of the gods she is supposed to teach. Their meeting starts off with a kiss on Yui's cheek (as is customary in Greece.) Apollo and Yui set out to explore and figure out where, exactly, they are. As they return to the garden, they are then united with Zeus and the other gods Yui had met in the previous episode. Zeus then explains the same thing he had explained to Yui and shows them that no one could defy him by giving each god shackles that seal their divine power.

The next day they are to prepare an opening ceremony for the beginning of the school year and try to get the gods who didn't want to attend the academy to go to the ceremony. 
3 "Sea Breeze Conflict"  April 19, 2014

The episode begins with Thoth teaching in class. Dionysus caused a ruckus during class which leads to Thoth leaving the class. Yui begs for him to come back but they both discover that the season has suddenly changed to summer. Thoth then suddenly says that tomorrow is summer vacation and tells Yui to gather all the students before vacation. Yui and the gods discuss and come up with the idea of beginning a seaside school. The next day,just as Yui thinks they might have a bit of difficulty of asking the other gods to join them,to their surprise,the other gods come. After they reached the beach and stripped down to their swimwear,the seasons changed again,making the water too cold for them to swim. They then seek out to rest in a nearby house. Apollon told the gods to wait for him as he tries to find a way to make seaside school fun. When he comes back, Tsukito tells him that Thor and Loki are leaving,saying that since he's a student, they don't have to listen to what he says. Yui nominates Apollon for the position of the student council president, saying that if he becomes the student council president,the others will have to listen to him. Back in the house, Loki misunderstands Apollon's actions but Hades stands up to him, and told them that Apollon has a love more pure than anyone of them can imagine. Loki, feeling defeated,storms out of the house, but them he sees Apollon and Yui coming towards the house. He exclaims that he is going to leave but then fireworks appeared.The other gods also comes out and admire them.

Later on, they played with firecrackers in the field before going back to school. On the way back, Yui gets distracted by some flowers and stays behind. Apollon discovers that Yui is not with him and panics. He manages to find her in the end and because he was so worried, he hugs her ferociously and tells her that he was scared of her disappearing. 
4 "The Curse of Hades"  April 26, 2014
The episode starts with Yui asking all the students what club they would like to join for the school year. Everyone seems to be able to choose a club that they're interested in. When Yui asks Hades, Hades says he does not want to participate in any group activities and leaves the room. Yui seems worried about Hades and visits Thoth to ask for advice but Thoth refuses, telling her that she should be the one to come up with ideas. Later in the day, Yui finds Hades going stargazing and follows him, even though he says he will cause misfortune. When they reach the stargazing area, it starts to rain. Hades says that the rain was caused by his misfortune and leaves while telling Yui to take her time going back. Yui does not listen and continues to follow Hades. While she was running in the forest, the edge of a river bank broke and she fell in. As it was raining and the currents were strong, she starts to drown but is rescued by Hades. The next day, she approaches Hades and tells him that she still wants to go stargazing with him, but is met with many misfortunes. Yui tries to find a way to cheer Hades up, and Apollon and Dionysus tells her that she could cheer Hades up by giving him his favorite foods: Strawberries and Rice cakes. Later on, Yui makes a combination of strawberry rice cakes and Hades finally feels happiness. After that, he stands up and shows her his tattoo that is made from the grudges of the many that regret their deaths, since he is the lord of the underworld. He then leaves the room saying he can never be happy. In the night, when Hades is about to leave to go stargazing by himself, Tsukito, Dionysus, Apollon, Balder and Yui says they are going with him. But when they reach the stargazing area, it starts to rain and Hades is about to leave when Yui stops him. The others change into their swimsuits and plays in the rain and Hades realizes that no matter what misfortunes come, there are still those who care for him and thanks Yui for showing him that. Soon, the skies start to clear and the others say that misfortune has "given up". Takeru is then shown lying on the roof looking at the stars. 
5 "The Unforgivable Heart"  May 3, 2014

Class is finally over, and it's time for the club activities to start. Takeru, however, has yet to join a club and Thoth tells Yui to solve the problem and to make the "failure" (Takeru) join a club. Later in the day, Yui notices Takeru practicing swordplay with a stick and asks him about it. Takeru says she wants him to join a club because she just wants to graduate and is only thinking about herself. He then leaves while asking her to leave him alone. During the night, Yui practices her swordplay and is seen by Takeru. She asks him again to join a club and he agrees but only if she can duel with him at swordplay and win. They duel, and Takeru ends up winning. He says she is weak and she should train more and should try running. Yui then asks if she can join him in his running and he agrees. As the days go by, their relationship starts to get better as they run together, train together and spend free time together. One day, it starts to rain, but Yui runs anyway and tries to find Takeru. When she finally finds him, a section of the cliff she was standing on breaks and she falls. Takeru rushes to save her and breaks his shackles and unlocks his divine powers. Zeus finds out about this and punishes Takeru by suspending him. Yui tries to explain but Zeus does not listen. Takeru runs out of the room and Yui chases after him. She tries to apologize but Takeru says it was his fault and he gets mad and leaves. Tsukito tells Yui about when Takeru was a kid, there was a kind goddess who fell from a cliff right in front of Takeru. She was a kind goddess that looked after him and Takeru tried to save her but he couldn't since he was young and weak. Those who saw him misunderstood and thought he pushed her. Later, Takeru is shown bursting into Zeus's room and is about to apologize but Yui stops him and tries to tell Zeus that Takeru was showing human emotion when he saved him and did nothing wrong. The other student gods then stand behind her and supports her.

Yui then scolds Zeus and Zeus gives in and lets Takeru become a student again. Later, Takeru says he thought humans were weak but Yui is strong. They start teasing each other and the episode ends on a happy note. 
6 "The Moonlight's Feelings"  May 10, 2014

Yui comes to school in early morning, but she finds a crowd of students are waiting outside the gates. She finds Tsukito is the one standing at the front; asking what he's doing there, he answers that he was chosen by Thoth to become a disciplinary member. As he's done checking his friend, he faints because of lack of sleep. Thoth threatens him that if he does something like this again, he will be suspended. Depressed by the threat, he wants to find a way what things did he do wrong. Loki answers that it must be love. Then Loki gives lovers rings to Yui and Tsukito which forces their hands to hold on to each other. To the horror of Balder, Apollon, and Takeru, they can't be taken off until Yui and Tsukito understand each other. Tsukito later says that he wasn't really enjoy anything with his friend until now, which Yui angrily says to him is wrong. With no other option, Yui is roped into helping with preparations for the moon viewing festival while the other gods spy on them.

In the end of the episode, the rings break because Tsukito confesses to Yui that he's actually enjoy everything. 
7 "Promise of the Frozen Wastes"  May 17, 2014
Yui and the others decide to create a cultural festival, but the weather changes. Badler and Loki have an argument surrounding a promise the three Norse gods made, and Yui is in the thick of it. 
8 "The Solitude of Light"  May 24, 2014
Yui tries to avoid Balder and Loki after the confrontation, and looks at the other booths. When Thor tells Yui to take his place in the Norse booth, Loki warns her to stay away from Balder for her own safety. Balder shows up, and takes Yui away, after asking Loki if he loved her, to which Loki denies. Yui asks why Balder is acting the way he is. Balder tries using his words to seduce Yui, Loki finds them, soon after Balder is seen creating a rampage. Loki calms him down by reminding Balder of the promise between them. Later, Loki is shown explaining to Yui that finding someone who wasn't affected by his inborn power made Balder emotionally unstable, and therefore, made him act completely different than his usual carefree self. At the end of the episode, the class releases lanterns into the air, and Loki walks with Thor...ominously saying he'd kill Balder himself. 
9 "Dark Prison of Scattered Flowers"  May 31, 2014
6 months have past. Thoth said that they are going to have mid-term exam within 3 days shocking Yui. Yui thought this school had no exam. The other gods didn't think that exam is so scary also a person from Apollon's past comes back to haunt him. Apollon said that he must not be happy as he did something bad in the past. The spirit girl ask Yui for help and the spirit girl finally managed to tell Apollon what she really felt. After that, Apollon shackle broke. The next day, Apollon seem happier than usual. He also tell the other gods to try their best. At the same moment everyone felt like they forgotten something. Tsukito said that they still have their test shocking everyone. 
10 "Lovely and Ephemeral"  June 7, 2014
The Gods and Yui perform a version of Cinderella, which thanks to Loki and Anubis, was turned to a play nothing like Cinderella... 
11 "Chains of Fate"  June 14, 2014

A continuation of episode 10 where the episode finished with Balder collapsing after the play. As Apollo and Yui were visiting Balder in the infirmary they overheard Loki talking to Thor saying that he was going to make sure to kill Balder. When Loki discovers both Apollo and Yui, he explains to them that wherever there is light, there will also be darkness thus, explaining that even though Balder is the God of Light he is also the God of Destruction.

The episode ends with Balder realizing Loki wanted to kill him and accepting himself as dangerous while Loki no longer could take on the task of killing Balder, causing Balder to decide to commit suicide and jump off a cliff. The episode ends with a shot of Balder falling off the cliff but does not actually show him hitting the water. 
12 "Eternal Separation"  June 21, 2014

Continuation of episode 11, Balder does not die but he changes to the God of Destruction. The garden begins to crumble because of Balder's power. Loki and Thor break their shackles to try and save Balder. Yui cries out, hoping she could teach Balder about humans. While Apollon comforted her, he transforms to god-mode and says to her that everything will be okay. The three try to help Balder. Loki tries to rescue Balder but can't. Hades and Dionysus's shackles break because they are helping the spirit students. They then change into god-mode and help the other gods. Loki is depressed, but he is comforted by Tsukito and Takeru, making their shackles break. They all then transform into god-mode. Loki, still depressed, tries to save Balder by himself. Yui then realize that her sword can help Balder. She tells everything to Apollon, and he agrees to help her to save Balder. The other Gods are helping them to go inside the protection of Balder's power. Loki is surprised to see them. He kisses her forehead in gratitude. He tries to help Balder with Yui's sword. Balder is safe, but the world is not. All the gods give their remaining power to send Yui to her own world. She cries begging them to stop, but they will not. Apollon confesses his love for her, and everything returns to before Yui entered the garden. She hopes that she can come to the garden again, but it is hopeless. She constantly cries hoping to see the Gods again.

However, in an ending scene after the credits have rolled, Yui is shown climbing the steps to her home like in Episode 1. About midway, she begins to hear her name being called. Hurrying up the steps, she is delighted to see the gods, now in modern attire, standing in a line, waiting for her. The show ends with Apollon saying, "Teach us again, okay?" 

References

  1. ↑ "Kamigami no Asobi Female-Oriented Game Gets Anime". Anime News Network. December 9, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
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