Asagiri no Miko (Priestesses of the Morning Mist)

Azumanga Daioh with marauding spirits?

Yuzu would like to be a normal girl, riding her bike to school, maybe be a little infatuated with her distant cousin who has moved in with her and her two sisters.

But Yuzu and her sisters are miko (shrine maidens) at the Asagiri shrine. Their role is to keep the spirit world in balance. But when her cousin Tadahiro arrives, the spirit world is definitely out of balance and targeting him.

When unruly spirits begin to disrupt school, Yuzu is assigned to lead the School Miko Committee, recruiting assistant miko from among her classmates. They are a motley bunch (the otaku who prefaces each attack with a silly name, the cynic with the camera, and the yamato nadesico from a wealthy family). Under the tutelage of Yuzu's older sister, Kurako, the mikos learn how to handle spiritual weapons and fight demons.

And when the going gets rough, older sister Kurako with her enchanted bow is there to help out. When that is not enough, there's the shrine's stray cat. She's not your typical neko-onna: she's got black fur, and several tails. She smokes Bat brand Cigarettes, has a sweet tooth, and a cool disposition. She's a marauding demon's worst nightmare.

Since Tadahiro's arrival sets things in motion (and since Yuzu blushes whenever she sees him), you may think this is going to be another harem anime, with hapless Tadahiro surrounded by seven infatuated shrine maidens (maybe plus a neko-onna). Thankfully, that is not what happens. Instead, we're treated to five school girls (sometimes accompanied by Yuzu's sisters) forming friendships and a team. They tease each other, help each other, grumble through the rigors of miko-training together. Tadahiro stays mostly offstage, his presence primarily noted by the good-natured teasing Yuzu gets about him from her friends.

This series has a fair amount of comedy, a fair amount of action, and looks to be very interesting. It's organized in twelve-minute episodes, but it's hard to remember that --- the series regularly squeezes a full-sized episode's worth of action and plot development into its limited time.