Recap: Kusanagi Gohou finds himself thrown into the world of gods and their battles.

Lifesong’s Thoughts
Going into this I really didn’t expect too much so perhaps part of my excitement for this show stems from the fact that I got more value than I anticipated. I also just straight up love things that rewrite history and play with myths and legends. I am also usually pretty chill about ecchi situations in my anime. They will neither sell me on nor keep me away from something on their own. This show is pretty much right up my alley.

Breakneck pacing here. Pay attention to what Godou says in the earlier bits of episode two.. it’s been a week since he became a Campione and he was forced to fight another campione and do various stuff before returning home. Yes they will get back to this later so try not to forget that it at least happened and that “One week” is enough to be considered a time skip. If you find yourself at a loss in this anime it’s probably because you missed an important detail or simply didn’t notice it was important. And hey I can’t really blame you, right after the example I gave above we see that Erica is naked in Godou’s bed so being a bit distracted is warranted.

Between episode two and five we have a fairly epic duel between Athena and Godou. I loved the way all this played out and really it was my insipration in going to such great lengths toward helping this story be understood. Looks like we are going to get to see a campione duel soon instead of just hear about one. In the books Godou is given the Gorgoneion because he kicked Salvatore Doni’s ass though honestly the situation is not all that different as he didn’t really want to know what it was he was given anyway.

So hey I’m looking forward to covering the rest of this show and hope you all enjoy watching it. I’ve included notes below to help toward that end. I’ve tried to make sure to only include stuff from the anime but I may have slipped a few things in that I could only know from the books if so I apologize. Anyway I hope a few of you are enjoying this show as much as I am!

Important Terms and Fictional Establishment

Ethnography
Early in the episode Kusanagi Godou mentions that his grandfather obtained during his travels for ethnographic research. This may be a an oversimplification, but basically as I understand it Ethnography is the study of the way a culture reflects cultural beliefs and knowledge.

This may seem insignificant at first, but as I’ve been looking more into the episode and reading the book it’s obvious that the creator has an interest in the way different cultures are as well as how they became that way and this is reflected in everything from this anime’s sense of humor to the most serious moments.

Grimoire
A grimoire is basically a textbook containing magic. In this episode it’s in the form on an ancient tablet. What other forms they might take in Campione! are not established yet.

Rogue God
The Manifestation of a god in a way that brings disaster to the world. “A rogue god that brings disaster to the world. To put it another way a god that has broken out if it’s mythic plane, manifesting on earth. They create different types of disasters depending on their nature. The land where a sun god appears might become a scorching inferno. And if a sea god manifests, a great flood. If it’s a god of war, it wouldn’t be unusual for conflict to break out. The rouge gods have existed since before recorded history. But only those who possess magic are capable of perceiving them. Normal humans can only perceive them as natural disasters.”

Divine Beast
The difference between a rogue god and a Divine Beast appears to be one where a Divine Beast is something under the control of a Rogue God or a manifestation of a part of their power. “That’s the avatar of a god.” In the first episode we can see a boar rampaging about and later that boar is counted as part of Verethragna’s power.

Copper Black Cross
This is name of Erica Blandelli’s organization. Erica holds the title of Supreme commander of this group. I believe as of episode two they have sworn alegience to Godou as their “king” but as of episode 5 the only hint of this is in the way Erica talks to Godou.

Bronze Black Cross
Not to be confused with the Copper Black Cross, this is the organization that Liliana Kranjcar is a part of and due to her working with Duke Voban I believe they are sworn to him as their king.

The Golden Sword
The weapon used by Verethragna. It is said to be able to cancel out a gods divinity.

The Secret Book Of Prometheus
This is the name of the tablet Kusanagi is supposed to return to Lucrezia Zora. It has the ability to steal a god’s power Authority.

“The gods wish for it to be in the hands of that boy. What happens by chance is inevitable. All the strings of fate are spun together. Do you not understand?”

Authority
A way to define the power of a god “A god’s ability, their power. For that tablet already contains a god’s avatar, the power of the White Horse.”

Make Out Magic and Words Of Power
Yes this is a thing, It’s actually the primary way in which Godou uses his Goldern Sword to find. Erica is also able to transfer her words of power into Godou when she kisses him and Athena is able to transfer her “deathly words of power” into Godou when she kisses him. Words of power can also be used without making out so exactly why they make out is still up in the air.. perhaps it’s because words of power can be used without being spoken that way? or maybe it just works better? I can’t exactly ignore this, but let’s be frank. This is all pretty straightforward. Do we really need this one explained better?

Gorgoneion
This is the item that Athena is after to restore her lost power.
“It’s a divine instrument said to bring about world peril.”

Divine Instrument
This is the term given to the item that contains the power of the snake that the rogue god Athena is after.

Prophecy of the Starless Night
This prophecy states that Athena will obtain the gorgonian and lead the world into the underworld.

Committee for the Compilation of True History
Japan’s governmental group for dealings that involve magic.
“I guess you could call us the government body that handles individuals related to magic within Japan.”

Princess Shrine Maiden
Not too much is said about them in the anime probably because they are Japanese. For now I think it’s safe to assume they are like any Miko’s and will do stuff like exorcism, having prophetic dreams and sealing away evil and such. I’ll update this in future recaps if it becomes significant.

Princess Alice
“When a certain god recovers it’s true form, the Starless Night will cover the heavens, and our world will be drawn toward the underworld. Princess Alice was the one who made the prophecy. She ascended to the highest ranks of heaven, and her prophecies are said to have never be wrong.”

We don’t much about this person at the moment. She may or may not be a part of the Princess Shrine Maidens that’s really not all that clear yet.

Great Mother
This is the term used for the logic behind tracing Athena’s origin and connecting her with Medusa. I mentioned earlier that ethnography becomes important right? Well only if you care about the authors logic. Otherwise just roll with it and you will be none the wiser.

The Ritual of Beseeching
Something Yuri Mariya took part in 4 years prior to the plot of this story.

Bacio
Bacio = Kiss in italian.

Buon giorno
Boungiorno = Good morning in italian.

Diavolo rosso
Diavolo rosso = Red devil in italian.

Ci vediamo
Ci vediamo roughly translates into something along the lines of.. We will see eachother soon.

Meet And Compare

Erica
Erica is an entirely fictional character and the primary heroine of Campione! She has several mythical items at her disposal. Oh and I’m not sure how to work this in later so I’ll just say it straight up… she can implant memories into someone by kissing them.

Boots of Hermes: Footwear that belonged to the greek god Hermes. Originally they didn’t have wings but as we can clearly see in Campione! they have wings and give Erica incredible jumping power and perhaps limited capacity for flight.

Cuore di Leone: “Cuore di Leone” The name of Erica’s weapon. It is Italian and translates into something along the lines of “Lionheart”. In the first episode we can see it in two forms first as a sword and later as a shield. “Lion of Steel… And he who begets you, the Lionheart… Heed the oath made by Knight Erica Blandelli!”

Lance of Longinus
The ultimate manifestation of Erica’s Weapon. A spear that even pierce a divine being. According to christian mythology this is the name of the spear that pierced the side of Jesus Christ.

Athena calls Erica a disciple of Hermes.

Lucrezia Zora
Zora is an associate of Godou’s grandather and more interestingly a Witch of Sardinia. She apparently has unnatural youth and likes to flaunt it.

Witches of Sardinia: So I can’t really dig up much info on them online but what I can find out is that they do exist in some form on the island of Sardina which is where the major battle at the end of this first episode takes place.

Verethragna
“I am the Victor. I am the strongest and that which will defeat every enemy. Though I don’t necessarily think it’s bad to have a taste of defeat.”

Verethragna is a persian god of war and victory, he is also a god of vitality and sexual potency. Historically Verethragna has 10 forms in total. An impetuous wind and two human forms, a teenager and a warrior. He also has 7 animal forms, a bull, a white horse, a camel, a boar, a bird of prey, a ram, and a wild goat. By the later part of this episode he has recovered all but 1 of his forms, the White Horse.

His forms are mostly the same in the anime. “The ancient Persian god of war and god of light. A tempest, a bull, a white horse, a camel, a boar, an adolescent, a bird of prey, a ram, a goat. And the warrior who holds the Golden Sword. the one who contains all ten avatars: the invincible god of war, The Victor. One of those ten avatars lies within, the White Horse.”

Verethragna’s Golden Sword: I am hardly an expert on the Bahram Yasht but best I can tell this weapon was invented to give this god of victory meaning inside this story with the way this world works.

Melqart
“I am Melqart, the king once known throughout this island… No, throughout these entire waters!”

Melqart is the patron god of the the Phoenician city of Tyre. The greeks identified him as a god like their Heracles. He may also be the god who is better known as the Ba‘al who was introduced into Israel by King Ahab.

Pandora
According to greek Myth Pandora is the first woman. She is probably most famous for her box. Pandora’s Box is an item that contained all the evils and misfortune of the world leaving only hope inside when she closed it.

Prometheus
Prometheus is well known as the god who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to humanity.

“The trickster who deceived the gods. And the hero who gave humans the knowledge and flame… Prometheus. That power lies within. And it can steal a god’s Authority, so you can use that ability as if it were your own.”

Epimetheus
Epimetheus is the brother of prometheus. Where Prometheus is considered clever Epimetheus is considered foolish. When Erica says that Godou is similar to Epimetheus she is basically calling him foolish.

He is also the one who accepted Pandora as a gift from Zeus. Pandora the first woman was created from traits gifted from the different greek gods. Most of the traits can be considered but Zeus and his wife Hera gave pandora negative traits in particular Hera gave Pandora curiosity which lead to her opening the box she was forbidden from opening.

Athena
There is some fun with ethnography here. Basically the author takes a bunch of different interpretations for different beliefs about different gods and goddess and uses those to come to the conclusion that Athena and Medusa come from the same origin.

“You control both the bounty of the land and the death upon this earth. You who trace your lineage back to the great mother… night… Eyes of the night. The goddess with silver hair. Stripped of her age and rank. Thus, she is young. And thus, she is rogue. Her name is… Athena!”

According to greek myth Athena is the goddess of wisdom who is the daughter of Zeus and she carried the shield/breastplate Aegis with her. The item created by Hephaestus had the head of Medusa brandished in the center of it.

Kusanagi Godou
This is our main character who if you didn’t understand this very easily from the first episode, got a major power upgrade. The anime says it best..

“He is the champion, for he massacres the gods in the heaven, and takes for himself the power that confers godhood. He is the King, for he brandishes the godly authority he has usurped, so that all must obey him. He is a demon, for no earthly living being possess the power to resist him. His name is Campione!”

All of Godou’s abilities have requirements but since they are all soft requirements so far and we don’t really know the full extent of their meanings at this point. I’ll add more as they become significant.

Verethragna’s Golden Sword: The sword requires Godou to know “enough” about the god he is fighting to be able to cancel out their authority. And even if he does it has an unspecified time limit on how long he can use it.

White Horse: “The white horse of fire can only be used against normal people” So says Erica but I have no idea what defines normal and if or if not he broke the rules when he fired it at Verethragna in episode one.

The Ram: This is what brings Godou back to life when Athena kills him with her deathly words of power in episode three and provides him with a sort of immortality.

Duke Voban
This older man is a Campione

Dead Servant: “This is the Dead Servant, one of duke Voban’s authorities.”

Salvatore Doni
One of the seven campione. He is referred to as Lord Salvatore Doni by the group that names off all seven Campione. He is also the Campione who is referenced early in episode two and later shows up in episode five and warns Godou that Duke Voban is in Japan.

John Pluto Smith
One of the seven campione.

The Holy Ragou
One of the seven campione.

The Black Prince
One of the seven campione.

Madam Aisha
One of the seven campione.

Reality Check
Getting Wasted in Italy at 16
Erica and her Maid Arianna are both seen getting completely wasted off the wine that Zora gives them. This may seem strange being that they are both under aged for such a thing in Japan, but they are not in Japan! The drinking age in Italy is 16 as apposed to the drinking age in Japan which is 20.