Anime 20507 Noragami Reviews Filter Check 2

I, like most everyone on this planet, like things.

The things that I like come in many different shapes and sizes. One such thing that I like is the Winter 2014 show Noragami, a 'feels' shounen brought to you by Studio Bones, that brings together elements of shows like Soul Eater and Rurouni Kenshin to give you a 'family-centric' journey exploring what it means to be alive.

Or rather I wish it did. At its best you've got tear jerking moments of mortality, family, and the struggles of existence. You have a cast of characters you care about, the voice acting encapsulating each character almost perfectly, ... flowing between emotions and the changing tone beautifully. At its worse you have long 'bouts of 'struggle of the week'. Slow buildup to something with mediocre story telling until the conclusion. And foreshadowing that is either so obvious it hurts, or massively fascinating and never really answered.

This show's strengths are in its characters, mainly Yato - who consistently brings out the best interactions of the entire show, be it his sweetness or his harshness - and are the primary reason that I want more and more of Noragami. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the cast are all better than average. Certainly better than what I expect from a battle shounen. And when the show is being a harsh drama I am utterly entranced, fulfilled and cathartic.

But. When it is not being amazing. It is mediocre beyond belief. Slow pacing, which ,whilst forwarding the overall plot, could easily have been something else more in line with the show at its best. This is further exemplified by the animation quality which just seems disappointing. The art style deserves better than what it got. The art style on its solid and certain 'Phantoms' (The primary antagonistic beings for most of the series) just ooze awesome. Others look about as cool as a blue frog can look. And whilst I couldn't call the animation terrible, for the most part it does nothing good, the creepiness is not exemplified, the sadness is not exemplified, the little details are simply absent. I'm never impressed and at my worse I'm disappointed by how often the shounen “Power up to kill shit” is copy and pasted. Sure it is cool the first couple of times, but with the amount it is reused it loses its power quickly.

The soundtrack takes some interesting steps. Using more electronic and dubsteppy tracks than your standard rocky shounen. I personally found it kind of bland, but I can easily see others enjoying it far more as the tracks are not out of place and certainly match the moods of the scenes. Being unique in this regard should be applauded, but whether it really works or not is something we can question heavily.

However the biggest and most substantial flaw of this show is where the overall plot goes. This is a 12 episode series that does not buckle down and focus. Most of what fascinated me in the earlier episodes was not really built upon. Instead I have a Kenshin-esque fight scene and a re-establishment of the strange 'friend-family-esque' trio, which was only broken up an episode earlier. I want more exploration of Yato and Yukine's character depth and backstory. I want my weird romance subplot between a kinda human and a deity. I want the three main plot lines to be resolved.

But I don't have that. Instead I'm left here waiting and hoping for a season two that takes everything amazing about this show and continues, without the flaws of the first season. Which in itself is an issue, because the ending track is completely and utterly gorgeous. Easily amongst one of the best EDs, based on track alone, that I have had the fortune to listen to in my lifetime. But a single music track alone is not something most people will watch a show for.

(This is a spoiler-free review adapted for this site)

[Synopsis]: Lacking both recognition and a shrine, Yato (Kamiya, Hiroshi) is a god down on his luck, forced to take on mundane requests in order to earn his meager offerings. On one of these menial tasks he is rescued from the path of a racing truck by Iki Hiyori (Uchida, Maaya) who subsequently is subjected to inconvenient out of body experiences when her soul leaves her body. After Hiyori requests for Yato to fix her condition they meet Yukine, (Kaji, Yuuki) a wandering spirit who becomes Yato’s divine weapon. The three fight ayakashi and do odd jobs ... in order for Yato to one day become a recognizable god with both a shrine and followers.

[Characters]:

Noragami has a fairly small cast which can be nice in terms of simplicity however it can also lead to the show feeling over-reliant on only a few characters. Yato, the penniless god who dreams of becoming a well-respected deity, is a fairly lighthearted and comedic character however is perfectly capable of becoming serious given the proper conditions. He’s not afraid to take on simple jobs in order to earn his 5-yen donations however I also felt that this trait was somewhat troublesome as the character has high aspirations but only progresses towards them at a snails pace.

Iki Hiyori is a generic enough school girl (outside of her interest in professional martial-arts). She isn't a very intricate or even interesting character however her place in the show is well situated enough as she acts as a sort of layman for the viewers so we can have an introduction to the implications and concepts of Noragami‘s world. She is a good source of comedy however I don’t think she holds much intrigue within the story.

Lastly we have Yato’s divine weapon: Yukine. He was a wandering spirit when Yato found him and by nature of this was once human which makes for a good deal of the shows drama as well as Yukine’s own internal anxiety. I found him to be rather irritating as a character – it is eluded to that he had a tragic or traumatic past as a human however his conflict with Yato and his lot in the show is not tied to this and therefore feels needlessly whiny and unpleasant. He is often at odds with Yato however there didn't appear to be any unique character qualities within Yukine that would give way for this and so his discomfort feels petty. He doesn't exhibit very good character development either and while he does become less unpleasant after a point, it is not even his own doing that leads to this near 180 of attitude. All in all, I felt he was rather annoying and I thought his poorly written character exploration took up much too much time.

[Art/Animation]:

The character designs in Noragami are fairly simple except when it comes to the more supernatural characters like other gods or the ayakashi – Yato himself is best visually characterized by wearing a jersey and sweat pants. The character designs tend to get a little relaxed or lazy if the scene is not of great import or when the characters are depicted as far away however they never become outright terrible.

The combat in the show could almost entirely be described as single-strike or clash based because many of the battles are between Yato wielding Yukine against an otherworldly monster. This isn't necessarily bad however if one was to look into the show for action reasons then these scenes leave a bit to be desired in terms of choreography, length, and overall complexity.

[Story]:

I think this is where Noragami falls short for most people – not because the story is poorly written or because the characters act stupid but because there doesn’t seem to be much there to begin with. The premise of the story – that Yato wishes to become a famously worshiped god and that Hiyori wants her body fixed – is not something that the story spends much time chasing after. Yes, Yato takes odd jobs in order to increase his recognition and earn his offerings however, as I stated in the [Characters] section, he seem to have much actual ambition and therefore hardly progresses towards his dream within the course of the 12 episodes.

The content that the show actually covers, concerning primarily Yukine’s emotional disposition and later Yato’s dark history, I didn't find as interesting as if the show pursued its original premise more actively. In all honesty, because the show is primarily lighthearted for a good deal of its episodes, I would say that the comedic interactions between the main cast of characters is ultimately of more interest than the plot the show shallowly explores.

[Music]:

The music was pretty good and some people may recognize a similar approach and style as to that of Katanagatari as the composer is Iwasaki Taku. I wouldn't say that the music is nearly as good as his other work in my personal opinion however I would say the soundtrack is one of the show’s better appeals. The music mostly occupies a BG-type quality whereas Iwasaki’s work normally takes more of a center stage role in my experience – the action scenes do play up the music accordingly so I generally enjoy these parts of the music more than others.

[Final Thoughts and Rating]:

While there is a second season now confirmed for Noragami, these 12 episodes felt forgettable to me. The characters weren't very interesting and there were so few of them that the cast of the show felt pretty lackluster.

Rating: 5

I gave the show a 5 because its well enough animated and has decent music but the show spent its 12 episode run quite poorly in the progression department and had a few actively annoying elements such as Yukine’s dialogue and characterization.

[Recommendations]:

Because the show offers very little in overall content – I have a hard time recommending the show to anyone for genre purposes however someone that’s looking for a supernatural anime would not go amiss as the ayakashi and gods are fairly present throughout the show. The action in Noragami i felt was pretty lackluster save maybe the final confrontation in the show however I don’t think it was a worthy payoff and wouldn't recommend it for this reason. I would say that the show’s strongest point is its comedy and so anyone looking for a good few comedic reaction faces and decent gags would do fine in watching the show however there is a fair amount of drama as well so its not a pure comedy by any means.

This is one of the few anime I got to watch with my brother all the way until the end, which is quite the rare feat. It isn't all that surprising, however. If you read the summary or watched the show already, you know its plot and characters show potential, or that it at least is serviceable/enjoyable.

... Serviceable it was indeed, but it's nothing more than that quality-wise. The plot is basically about this chick named Hiyori saving a guy from a car accident but in the process, becoming half-dead (her soul can leave her body and all that jazz). That guy turns out to ... be a minor god named Yato who wants to have his own shrine with many followers one day by doing all sorts of services in exchange for five yen each. Wanting him to turn her back to normal, Hiyori sticks to him because she has to remind the guy that he needs to solve her problem practically every time she sees him.

Well, when you get down to it, this conflict stops having any actual importance a few (2 or 3, I think) episodes later, so uh, no wonder Yato basically shrugs it off. Anyway, gods apparently need these spirit things called Regalias to cut down phantoms and basically be their personal servants, which is where the third protagonist Yukine (can also be Yuki or Sekki because these Regalias apparently have three different names for some reason) comes in to become Yato's Regalia. The story follows these three characters, and the conflicts they go through together... or... something like... that... Pfft.

Yeah, right. You're at first made to think the focus is gonna be on Hiyori and Yato, and trying to get her back to normal, but that's a ruse. Instead, Hiyori turns into thin air and acts on nothing despite her initial actions making you think she'd be a decent girl protagonist and Yukine's problems become the focus of the show for way too many episodes, especially when you consider the fact that it all could have been solved if Yato and Yukine just bothered talking to each other about said problems. However, how could there be the magnificent/pointless thing called misunderstandings if they just talked to each other like normal people? I mean, Yato's not technically a person anyway, am I right?

I wasn't asking for the story to be about taking down phantoms, the recurring monsters that influence people on bad levels that only the people on the Far Shore (aka the afterlife) can see, and figuring out how to get Hiyori back to normal: in hindsight, focusing on creatures with no character or depth whatsoever would make for a dull episodic format, which I wouldn't want. However, I also wasn't asking for it to go in this strange direction, all the way until episode 9 at that! The problem with this, if you put aside the bit of stupidity present, is really just the fact that it takes up the majority of the show, and not that it's focusing on a character, or that character in particular: focusing on him is great and all, but I also wanted focus on other characters throughout the anime, like, I dunno, Hiyori (too much to ask out of the show).

Anyway, after that, you're introduced to the final arc (I guess: if you consider the beginning to be one arc, and the Yukine part another, then this would be the last arc in the anime), where there's a fairly dramatic conflict caused by a villain that challenges the friendship formed between the three protagonists. Sounds good, right? Even better, you see that no matter what methods are used, this dramatic conflict doesn't get solved so easily, and instead, the villain has to be confronted in this great climax of a final fight and episode. Hyped, aren't you (if you aren't, just roll with it!)?

... Let me tell you why this didn't work:

- There's this character cooperating with the villain who has clear ties to Yato's background and seems really important overall, and yet you get to know nothing about her. At all. Even though you can basically attribute the good dramatic part of this arc to her, you don't see anything about her!

- The villain himself is mediocre. Serviceable, even, like the whole show. Even though he was somewhat hyped with stuff like the opening and whatnot, he's really as generic as you can get. Needless to say I was disappointed, as you'd expect someone more... important or grand from the villain that shows up at the end. You could replace him with a different guy with an equally generic backstory and nothing would really change;

- The fight's not very interesting. It's basically sword fighting, with no noteworthy moves and, well, it's emotional and, uh, um, power-ups, I guess (the pinacle of fine writing). Seriously, the people behind this anime even bothered to put a PANTY SHOT in the midst of the final episode (possibly the most pointless panty shot in the world, by the way, and panty shots are practically pointless to begin with), and it's not like Noragami is littered with fanservice or anything like that! It can make up for not being anything special by the stakes being high (making things more emotional and getting you to care about what's happening), which they were... somewhat. If you care about the characters, that is. Besides, you can't really care about the action when...

- The resolution of the conflict and climax is just stupid. As in, devoid of intelligence, yes. I can even give you examples: Yato is very, very early on established to being able to teleport. He teleports a fair amount of times in the show. He tends to scare Hiyori with this from appearing so suddenly! Teleporting is a total thing with Yato. And yet, Yato doesn't teleport at the very end, when it's needed most, to save a really important x that's on the verge of falling (avoiding spoilers as much as possible), basically dooming what he was trying to save in the first place. Why? Because consistency, man: this show has it in spades, I guess. The stupidity doesn't end here, however: I'm just gonna tell you straight up that every method used to try to solve this conflict, which were legitimate attempts, apparently pales in comparison to the CLEARLY much more meaningful solution of "I can smell dudes!". Not even joking (beyond the sarcasm). And that's when the situation's seemingly hopeless in every aspect! Like, are you freaking kidding me?!

In general, when it comes to the plot of Noragami, my brother even goes as far as to say that "It's like the show was passed around ten different people" (basically, that it's all over the place) and you can kind of see what he's talking about. It's first about gods and phantoms and Hiyori's problems (somewhat), but then it starts being all about Yukine, and afterwards it shifts its focus 100% to Yato and gods and the final stuff with their friendship. If you think about it, phantoms are basically irrelevant to the final arc, Yukine's stuff is irrelevant to the first arc, and Hiyori herself becomes irrelevant for a good chunk of the show. They just have no connections whatsoever with each other, so it really feels like certain details get suddenly forgotten along the way for no reason whatsoever.

Even though I could sort of sense (with shipping goggles) Yato/Hiyori shipping coming with the show, my brother and I legit got misled into thinking Hiyori/Yukine was gonna be a thing midway to the point where my brother got confused when this turned out not to be the case at all. Despite these direction problems, you do end up being behind the developments of Noragami: it's that serviceable. Part of that's because of the equally serviceable cast of characters.

Yato is a likable, cheerful guy, and a lot of humor comes from him. He wants to be well-known, and us, the viewers, want to see that happening too. He's also mysterious in the sense that there's a lot of backstory to him that we don't know, and that he's not devoid of a serious side. However, we don't get to know anything truly relevant about Yato's past in this anime beyond the fact that he has many female acquaintances and that he killed stuff or whatever (totally unexpected of a god of war, huh?). Not only that, but his serious side wasn't what you'd call meaningful: it just seemed like it was there for the sake of being there, as in, "Ooooh no, I'm serious, you can't get close to me!". You know, that sort of thing that easily gets brushed off.

Yukine's also not that bad of a character. You can't expect him to be rainbows and sunshine when he's a spirit who's died at a young age, after all. It's just that he was the victim of that middle arc, which I can imagine got many people annoyed with him. Sure, he's not that likable when he basically acts all mean towards Yato and whatnot, but it's not like he's insufferable, and he does fit in with the cast alright.

Hiyori's another problem entirely. She's shown to be fairly spirited (badum-tss), with an interest in wrestling and overall a personality you can get behind. This goes as far as to have her copy a move from her favorite wrestler to take down a phantom at the very first episode! Sadly, you don't see any of this afterwards. Instead, she just happens to be 'there' for the rest of the show. You can understand why this is the case: she has no ties with the stuff happening; only Yato and Yukine do. Even so, that doesn't excuse the striking flaw of making a pointless protagonist: when you have a protagonist, they have to have some sort of tie with the events of the story, some role, or at least participate in something.

However, Hiyori doesn't do anything special until final episodes, though you could argue she actually doesn't do much there either seeing as it's still Yato saving the day and she's basically a damsel in distress. While I also can't call her a wasted potential because she's not amazing or anything of the sort, she was definitely poorly-handled. I'd literally get surprised whenever Hiyori had some semblance of focus in the middle of the show, like, "Oh, wait, she isn't being thin air now?". It was pitiful.

The supporting characters are alright, I guess. They weren't explored all that much, like a lot of the actually interesting stuff going on in the show related to Yato. After all... everything is tied to Yato. Might as well call the show 'Yatogami', am I right? Overall, the character cast is nothing special as far as I could tell from watching the show. Like the story, it's likable, enjoyable and serviceable.

The same applies to the art and sound. The art looks pretty good, and some of the designs for the phantoms were somewhat creepy, along with the voices they'd have. The character designs are also good, and the animation's not bad at all. The opening's pretty cool to listen to, but I personally didn't really like the rest of the soundtrack. The techno-ish, japanese style-ish sounds with some dude singing out vowels just did not appeal to me (with this, I'm referring to the more prominent tracks). Even so, I can't say it didn't fit the anime. When it comes to voice acting, Hiroshi Kamiya did a good job as always, Yuki Kaji was chosen for an unfortunate role as always and Hiyori’s voice was somehow growing to annoy my brother. In other words, it was good, I guess.

Despite the criticism I throw at it, my brother and I were enjoying Noragami a fair amount: though I knew it'd be worthy of a 5 (which doesn't count as a negative score to me) from the get-go, I didn't have a terrible time watching it. Even my brother, who doesn't watch anime all that much and drops anything if the tiniest thing doesn't appeal to him, wanted to see it through to the end, which is definitely saying something about how enjoyable it is to watch, and not in that 'so bad it's good' way. Instead, Noragami is the kind of show you enjoy in that 'turn your brain off and it's a masterpiece' way, and there's nothing wrong with that. After all, it is really serviceable.

... Seeing something yet? Like me hammering the fact that Noragami's serviceable? Because that's really the point of the review. To point out that Noragami's an alright show. That it's enjoyable, likable, 'meh'. There's nothing really deep you get out of it, and you don't have to either. It doesn't convey anything truly meaningful or absolutely breathtaking, but that's fine: you can pass time with this anime. The story's enjoyable, the characters are likable, the production values are pretty nice, and it's overall a serviceable, 'meh' show. There's nothing in it that makes me feel anything more. But that's not what I can call a flaw.

So, well, I suppose I'd recommend this to basically anyone as a way to kill time. It can appeal to a lot of people, after all. I mean, it's even got a second season now... which I'll never watch. Though I've originally written the review before such an announcement was even made, I decided to re-write it since its writing quality wasn't good enough, in my opinion, to get my points across. Let's hope it's actually better now. Either way, I can imagine that Noragami won't fail to deliver the same quality with its second season, so if you really liked this show, you might as well give that a try.

Serviceable it was indeed, but serviceable never hurt anyone.

*Note: my review is based on my personal preferences, even though I can understand the appeal of the show.

Alright, I'm going to keep this short:
-If you like shounen shows that are pretty well executed, I would DEFINITELY recommend this show. Great show for younger teenagers
-If you are looking for something intellectually stimulating, I would not bother.

The show takes stuff that has been done before and presents it in a way that flows well and feels pretty natural.

The Good:
-characters are likable and despite them being gods and regalias, they are pretty believable.
... -humor is very well executed.
-no filler

The Bad:
-This show screams chuunibyou syndrome. Almost everytime Yato, the MC gets into a fight, he has this very cheesy spiel involving a special backdrop. Not to mention the same lines are used everytime
-The last arc of the show is a rip off of Ruroni Kenshin / Batousai.
-very simplistic approach to concepts explored.

Noragami was simply decent, although if someone were to ask me whether I liked it, my answer to that question would lean more towards a "No, not really" oriented answer. Quite frankly, this show disappointed me, to say the least. And its unfortunate because I really thought I was going to like this one, but sadly, the hype just didn't cut it for this one.

Story: 6/10

Definitely not the best, and fails to be in many ways. It lacked too many major details, and I found it somewhat choppy in some areas. At first, I liked the whole, "stray god trying to make it big" ... idea, and the first half of the series was manageable, if not, enjoyable, but as it progressed further, I felt myself beginning to lose it. It lacked detail and sophistication, a show that would only be worth posing as a time-killer, just another thing to keep you semi-busy until you can find something more interesting to do.

Art/Visuals: 7/10

Wasn't too bad, especially since I also watched this on in high quality (I always watch my animes in HD in order to give it's visuals a better judgement). The anime was also filled with many scenic parts, which proved to be beautifully colored and detailed, as well as decent looking effects. However, during most, if not, ALL the fight scenes, the animation dropped by at least 50%. This isn't particularly uncommon in most anime, but that certainly doesn't mean it isn't a problem, especially since this is a shorter series. Most short anime series I've seen lately (ones that have aired around the same time as Noragami) have all managed to keep a steady and nice animation quality, even throughout moments where most animators would get lazy and throw in some half-assed frames or cheap looking CG animation, which is what I saw in this series at many points. Examples of some short series who stayed consistent with crisp looking visuals would be Stein's Gate (well, this one's actually 23, but this only further proves my point), Psycho-Pass S2, Angel Beats, Black Butler S2, and Baccano (this one came out sometime earlier, but I can easily compare its animation qualities to Noragami).

Sound: 7/10

The soundtrack wasn't too bad either, honestly. It was very unique and had a very nice touch to it. The music in this particular show was quite different form the typical rock-ish J-pop you usually hear. It was mixed with some dubstep qualities and, how should I say it... funk? which in my opinion is a plus. My favorite track from the series, however, was Harmony. I for some reason really enjoyed it when this particular one was playing, so soothing~

Characters: 6/10

Hm, I think it's safe enough to say they weren't the best. I mean, as whole, they were funny with the way they interacted, and the the relationship Hiyori and Yato gradually developed wasn't too bad either, especially because it wasn't forced, it made sense, and it was, for the most part, practical. But other than that, I found the cast very mediocre. Many of the problems that arose in this anime were basically the fault of the characters not being able to communicate their feelings in a sensible manner. They were in fact selfish, only thinking about their own needs and what they thought they wanted, without giving a thought of "Gee, I wonder how 'so and so' feels about me doing this/acting in this way? Maybe I should ask them..." But in most cases we got, "I do what I want because I'm 'so and so' or because I deserve 'this and this'. Screw you." (this is 110% directed towards the poor relationship Yato and Yukine had among themselves, just so you know. But keep in mind, Yato brought into the show the things that made it watchable, to say the least, and was definitely one the few reasons why I decided to complete the series) If they had just taken the time to tone down their bitching about 'xyz' and just, I don't know, TALK about how to improve their partnership, many of the problems that occurred in the anime would've been solved or prevented, easily. And then there's Hiyori. She was an okay character at first, her being a half-dead phantom and having to pursue (I guess you can say) Yato in order to be changed back to a full human. That was a story line I didn't have many qualms about, but for some odd reason unknown to me, as the series progressed, she was pretty much demoted as a main character to a petty damsel in distress for some villain we only got to know anything about during just the last 2 episodes of the series... hm... how unsatisfying.

And then that brings me to the villain, whom I found extremely random and unappealing to the story. Honestly, my reaction to the last-minute introduction of this character was "Oh look... a random villain with little to no back story appeared... yay." It felt so misplaced because the time in which we began hearing even a hint about this Rabou character was, I believe, episode 10 or 11, and this is like what, a 12 episode series. I mean, you've just gotta be kidding me on that one. Not only that, the information we finally learn of him is nothing too special, nothing that would or should make you think his debut was anything to be particularly excited for. Additionally, he was an idiot. Like, I don't know whether it was just a petty pride thing, but for some reason, he was so hell-bent on fighting against his partner after what, hundreds of years, after Yato had clearly moved on and even told him to move on as well. But nah, this Rabou dude decided consuming himself with Ayakashi was a swell idea, which there was no real point in doing. Which then brings us to the ending fight scene, which was also unsatisfying. Yeah, we saw some waterbending and water Jutsu stuff going on, but that was it. We experienced nothing different from Yato, EVEN when he switched to rage mode after Rabou had broken the orb containing Hiyori's memories. I honestly expected Yato to have some hidden ability, something much cooler and unexpected than Rabou's, but all we got was a generic 'last one standing" ending where the villain was easily defeated, and therefore had no business being a villain in the first place. Villains like that are for kids shows, not more elaborate ones, but then again, this was not an elaborate anime.

And then I must also mention Bishamon. Not too sure what her purpose to the story was other than the fact that one of her shinki was killed by Yato, and now wants to kill Yato for doing so. We know nothing about her, her past, and who her deceased shinki even was. She also wasn't given sufficient enough screen time, which only made me more irritated about trying to figure out who exactly this woman was. But of course, this may have been intended, as a second season may be on the way (whether another one is actually needed is debatable).

Enjoyment: 6.5/10

I enjoyed the comedy and the visuals of the anime. The comedic aspect of it was childish (sometimes mature), but I laughed, and I tend to have a soft spot for shows that manage to make me laugh, seriously. That's a always a plus. However, that is only the surface, most of the things that went underneath the series in terms of story and characters wasn't very appealing, and these are all important factors that are meant to add to the watching experience, not take away from it.

Overall: 6/10

It was simply... decent, a show that clearly fell below the hype level. Many aspects of the show seemed bland and unfinished, always building up to some interesting ideas, only for it to be discontinued later on, a reoccurring trait I observed in this series. The characters weren't very interesting and sometimes irritable, and the ending was unsatisfying. But even so, they had great visuals and music, and the series was nonetheless an enjoyable one, even if how enjoyable it was was all the series had to begin with. So fellow denizens reading this review, all I can say to you about this series is, if you have free time with absolutely nothing to do, I guess you can give this one try, just be sure not to expect much, especially if your the type who prefers well thought out, detailed storylines with great characters and supporting details... which Noragami didn't exactly have.



*I apologize for any grammatical errors*

Noragami, or as I like to call it “Everyone Loves Yato”, has a lot going for it. It looks nice, it's got appealing characters, and has a unique soundtrack. But the way the story presents itself in its short 12 episode run time has some dire consequences.

Story (6/10):

Noragami is all over the place. First we are introduced to the supposed main conflict of fixing Hiyori’s condition, but that gets put off as we get some filler of Yato desperately trying to make some money. These episodes were amusing and can pull off some good action and laughs, but being time wasters, there pretty ... much insignificant. The majority of the show focuses on the relationship between Yato and Yukine which was actually well done and the only part of Noragami that had a decent payoff. It contains enough teen angst to be relatable, but not too much to be irritating. But this leaves us with just three episodes left to explore Yato’s past. It not really compelling as its not really explored in depth and in the end, it turns out to be another damsel in distress story. It just ends up feeling insignificant like the filler before it, not the best way to end the series.

I guess I could compare its pacing style to be Bebop. After all, both have a main conflict which is delayed in favor of some filler episodes. Cowboy Bebop succeeded as the fillers were good (for the most part) and its main conflict was resolved within its 26 episode run. Noragami, on the other hand, doesn't just leave its main conflict hanging, but various sub-plots are unsolved and the filler we got ranged from decent to plain extraneous. This was inevitable because of the 12 episode run. With 12 episodes, you simply don’t have the time to mess around too much when you have so many open subplots left hanging.

Some may say that this is excused because season 2 was announced. To that I say, not really. You cannot rely on the hopes for a 2nd season to resolve conflicts. When i'm watching a season, I at least expect some kind of a satisfying resolution (i'm looking at you Tokyo Ghoul), because to be honest, most anime don’t even get a second season.

Characters (6/10):

Yato, our main protagonist, is a well rounded character. He’s funny (with some of the funniest faces you’ll ever see) and can even be bad-ass when he wants to be. But thanks to the shaky plot, what we know about Yato is incredibly vague. Oh yeah, remember how I called this show “Everyone Loves Yato”. Well lemme explain, Yato seems to have a relationship with everyone in the show. Its constantly implied he has history with them, but the show never really touches upon these histories. The side characters aren't really fleshed out and it leads to them just being there cause the plot said so with the worst offender being Bishamon. She’s out to kill Yato for a simple reason, but the show never actually shows the story behind it other than they hate each other.

Yukine is the most developed character in the show. That’s not to say he’s the most likable, but seeing Yukine struggling with the problems of being dead coupled with the frustration of teen angst is believable and at times heartfelt. Seeing him grow and develop is truly satisfying. As for Hiyori, she’s a mixed bag. She starts off rather decent and strong with her inspiration of wrestling moves. But as the series progresses, she suffers something I’d like to call the Asuna effect in which she devolves to become less of a character and less capable of defending herself to the point of becoming a damsel in distress. As likable as she was, she’s really nothing more than the typical schoolgirl archetype with some minor quirks.

Animation (7/10):

Studio Bones once again does a great job with the animation. The character designs were appealing and the phantom had a very creative look to them even if they were just colorful, floating sea creatures. When the phantom’s die, they let some sort of a, how do I say it, wordy explosion and it looks gorgeous every time. Unfortunately, the phantom fights got to be underwhelming at times as it was just Yato doing the same chant over and over again with the same animation and line (sometimes twice per episode) followed by a single slash. The stand out action scenes were the ones involving two gods which was definitely the highlight of the series.

Sound (7/10):

The opening for Noragami just screams cool. While I don’t think the show reaches the Rule of Cool, this opening got me hyped for every episode even when the story got underwhelming. The black and white characters blended well with the blue colored environment. The song on its own is catchy and is fitting with the show. The ending, on the other hand, is meh. Its not bad and it slightly grew on me after a few listens, but it just felt a bit generic and didn't blend well with the upbeat nature of the show or the opening.

The soundtrack for Noragami is a hit or miss. At first glance it may sound a little odd with one of the battle themes sounding like a guy saying “rectangle” over and over again. But for me, it fits with the show quite well. The soundtrack has quite a bit of hip hop along with some tunes that fit really well with the shinto themes. You’ll definitely get used to it and eventually the soundtrack will hype you up during the battle scenes. The voice acting is fine as everyone fit their role. Standouts include Yato’s voice actor for balancing between goofy and serious and Yukine’s voice actor for capturing the teen angst and struggles you would expect of an adolescent boy.

Conclusion:
Despite its many flaws, Noragami is still a fun show to watch. It’s a likable show and it’s easy to see why this was the stand out show of the bland Winter 2014 season. Its got some major holes in the story which may be fixed in the upcoming season, but I wouldn't count on it. I give Noragami a 6/10.

*spoilers*
Noragami is an action adventure with a rich history and characters such as God's, Phantoms, Regalias, and how could you forget the most important a beautiful High School Girl. Our lead character is the 'God of War' named Yato, voice acted by the ever so lovely Hiroshi Kamiya; yes this is only subbed as of now, who wishes to become a very rich and popular God but has to earn his way up 5 yen at a time! which in dollars is ~5 cents. In the very first episode his weapon, Regalia, decides to leave him because of how poor he happens to be, but ... also because his hands get really sweaty!

Yato takes several jobs as a God in the first episode and amidst the arduous task of finding a lost kitten a girl named Iki Hiyori notices he's about to get hit by a bus and decides to jump to the rescue. Soon after, at the hospital, Yato explains to her how God's cannot be seen and that she herself is special because she can see him. Amidst the confusion of Hiyori's and the job seeking of Yato's they suddenly get under attack, and here our second male lead, Yukine, is spotted and Yato turns him into his new Regalia in the shape of a sword. He is a very annoying character for reasons I will let you find out on your own.

There are several other God's including Kofuku, Tenjin, Rabo, etc all with there respective Regalia(s). Most of these characters fill in several typical tropes your average anime has and in fact most of the show revolves around battles with these Gods. Yato has a rich history with the Gods and it's one of the bigger themes of the story. This story has no main plot, nothing driving it to keep me hooked to it, and because of that I found it hard continuing it all the way through. I felt as if the story was just going on for the sake of having the story.. go on. The fights were gorgeous and the art was just as gorgeous and it had the music to back it up but the fights were always lacking to me as if they really had no meaning to them; the God would fight Yato because they held some sort of 'past grudge' on him which really seemed like a lame excuse to add these fights in.

I haven't really mentioned much about the female lead Hiyori simply because her character seemed very unneeded. She never developed by any means and was simply there to act as a cheerleader for the male leads, helping them through there troubles, although that might be giving her a little too much credit. There might still be hope for her character because a season two is coming out soon which I look forward to reviewing as well!

Overall mediocre at best! 5/10

"Hello! Thanks for calling! Fast, affordable, and reliable. Delivery God mercury1980, at your service!" "What, a review on Noragami, the anime?" "Well, I'll just give it a shot."

I am actually not a God, just a human being. I just put the God title for fun. Anyway, let me say that Winter season anime has been the weakest season. By me just saying this, you would understand that watching and reviewing anime in the winter season is definitely a hard one for me.

However, there are 2 anime that stood out among the crowd in the winter season. One of them is D-Frag and the other one ... is the anime that I am reviewing now. So without further adieu, let's get on with the review.

STORY (7):

The story follows Iki Hiyori, a normal high school student, who saved Yato, a jersey-wearing person, from the bus. Unfortunately, she became a half-phantom and things happen from there.

The story introduces the concept of phantoms which are evil spirits that exist in the world. Evil spirits can control people's minds and trick them into doing evil things like insulting, hurting, etc... The story managed to blend evil spirits and the real world very well.

There was one scene whereby the phantom says "Smells nice". This sort of reminds me of the time when I watched Venus Versus Virus when Sumire is in her "Berserker Mode". The difference is that the plot is better executed in Noragami than Venus Versus Virus.

ART (7):

The art style was amazing. The art style was very subtle in the sense that it made the phantoms look like they are communicating to human beings.

SOUND (7):

The opening theme "Overnight Appointment" is a rock song that is very catchy and addictive. This opening theme was sung by Shuntaro.

The ending theme "Heart Realise" is a smooth song. It was composed by Supercell and was sung by Ria.

The background music actually fits the tone when performing rituals.

It was very surprising to see well-known voice actors portraying the voice very well for each characters. (eg. Rie Kugimiya voiced Nora)

CHARACTER (5):

The only good characters are Yato & Kazuma.

Yato has charisma and he is also a badass when fighting phantoms. in fact, his statement "People should appreciate the meaning of being alive" was a good statement from him. It shows that he really cared for everyone. During the final confrontation with Rabo, he sort of reminds me of Kenshin Himura from Rurouni Kenshin when Kenshin fights with Jinei Udo.

Kazuma was also calm and collected. In fact, he was an interesting character when he was given a back story. Kazuma was voiced by Jun Fukuyama who was the voice actor for Lelouch vi Britannia.

Yukine was very annoying although he went through a development in the later episodes. In fact, I appreciated his development as a character.

Hiyori Iki at least managed to help Yato in the slightest possible way she can. However, this anime never gave her any powers to kill phantoms and bosses. She is treated like a damsel in distress.

I always see damsel in distresses in most action anime nowadays and this really killed the enjoyment I had with the characters and the anime itself. As I have mentioned in my early review Sword Art Online that I am very tired of damsel in distresses and wishy-washy female characters. For male characters being wishy-washy, I can tolerate them to a small extent. (eg. Yukiteru Amano from Mirai Nikki)

CONCLUSION (6):

Although I have problems with this show, I really did appreciate the way how they integrate phantoms into the real world. However, this anime didn't stand out among most anime that I have watched. I was neither surprised nor bored.

I really didn't want to give this anime a very low rating just because of a damsel in distress, Hiyori Iki. I really try to be as generous as possible when it comes to Winter Anime Season.

I also hope they will have an ova or season 2 to cover Bishamon's arc. It is because I would love to know more about her and especially Kazuma.

However, for what it's worth I enjoyed bits and pieces of this anime and I will give this anime a 6 out of 10. If you enjoyed this show a lot, that's good. Stay tuned for more reviews to come.

I don't particularly know what it is about myself and certain anime but sometimes I can't stop watching a show regardless of the fact that I know it's not that great.

There is enjoyment to be found in Noragami that is clear. Yato makes for an enjoyable character, though not for anything else aside from the sheer variety of troupes found within a single character (and that's not counting him being a God).

Character development is lacking, the music is the same throughout the show, not enough was explored to make Noragami's universe feel immersive, and worst of all the story was rushed to the ... point where I couldn't understand any of the plot changes or character motivations.

Yato's eyes were pretty though.

If you’ve ever been unemployed, you’ve got some idea of what Yato is going through. Nobody respects him, nobody believes in him, and nobody wants to hire him. On top of all that, the one person he has by his side in life has just left him, citing his constant failures on both personal and professional levels as her grounds for doing so. Now that he’s all alone and struggling to scrape by, he’ll have to set aside his dignity and take every single job that comes his way, whether he’s qualified to complete them or not... We’ve all been there ... at some point, but where Yato’s experiences differ from ours is that for each job, he can only accept about five hundred yen in payment... Because he’s an aspiring Japanese God.

Just when it seems like he’d be forever alone on his journey, his life takes a sudden turn with the introduction of two people he may have just been fated to meet... Hiyori, a high school girl who somehow obtains the powers of astral projection when she attempts to save Yato’s life, and Yukine, the resurrected spirit of a long-dead teenage boy. Their lives quickly become intertwined with his as the sins of his past start to take notice and haunt him once more. Can these three kindred spirits get along with each other long enough to help Yato realize his ambitions in the spiritual hierarchy, or will simply surviving turn out to be a tough enough challenge on it’s own?

Noragami was animated by the once famous Studio Bones, and while it’s not their best looking work, it’s probably their best looking recent work. There is a budget disparity, because this is Bones and there’s always a budget disparity, but it's relatively well managed. While there is a good chunk of action throughout the story, it’s also a very dialogue heavy series full of character-banter and exposition. The budget gets cut during these scenes, which is generally the ideal way to go about it unnoticed. In exchange for this, the action scenes have a great flow to them, the comedic scenes can use just enough movement to give them the energy they need, and guys, the spirits that Yato and his friends have to fight are just resplendent.

The character designs are simple and a little on the generic side, utilizing templates that you’ve no doubt seen in many modern anime. They do their job well enough, but the only thing that sets them apart from the norm are a few unique touches that were added to their outfits and the attractive design of their eyes. That’s not to say they’re bland looking in any way, but there isn’t much visual flare to any of them. The backgrounds and environments are highly detailed and richly colored, but in keeping to form with the character designs, this is nothing you haven’t seen before. The exception to this is in their highly expressive faces, which are versatile enough on their own to distract you from the few times that a key frames lingers on screen for a few seconds too long.

The music, on the other hand, is a lot more original and inspired. I didn’t notice it for the most part... Not because it wasn’t there, but because it was doing it’s job well... But the few tracks I did notice were the kind that I’d have no problem playing in my car, thanks to the diverse compositions of Taku Iwasaki. Most of the show’s more noticeable tunes are blends of rock and traditional Japanese music with contemporary styles like drum and base and techno, creating a unique sound that helps to elevate the series beyond the general aimlessness of it’s story. Blood pumping music makes for good action, and a good beat is essential for making it work. The beat on most of these tracks tracks is so good that you may catch yourself nodding your head and tapping your foot in time with it.

Even outside of the opening and closing, there’s a surprising amount of vocal work in the background music. There’s rapping in these songs... Yes, it surprised me too, not just by how good it sounds but the fact that it’s there at all. Straight up rapping, and if that’s not unusual enough, there are also a lot of instances... Especially in the tune Noratan... That use vocals as if a person were shouting random sounds into a megaphone rather than singing them, and it all comes together really well. This is a series that blends classic Japanese mythology with modern styles and attitudes, and while it’s nowhere near the first anime to do this, it is the only one I can think of that used an equally anachronistic music style, and it fits the series perfectly. The opening, Goya no Machiawase by Hello Sleepwalkers, is a little more standard than the rest of the soundtrack, but it’s still on the high end of the scale. It’s a soundtrack that shines with effort and inspiration over-all, and it sounds just as good whether out of context or in context.

The recently released English dub was a Funimation endeavor, and with the Japanese being such a solid blend of comedy and drama, they had quite a bit to live up to... But Funimation has proven themselves before, and with Bonny Clinkenbeard behind the wheel, they prove it once again. Brynn Appril plays the lead role of Hiyori, the quirky high-schooler who gets caught up in this whole mess, and boy does her voice get a work-out. Between having to scream whenever her character over-reacts to something(which is a thing that happens a lot) and lecturing her new friend over his behavior, or just singing to herself over her new-found powers, she never recites a single line without amping up the emotion behind it. She's the cornerstone of the chemistry that these three possess, and Brynn does a great job upholding it.

Then again, neither do her costars, Jason Leibricht and Micah Solusod. Their performances are just as animated as hers, if not moreso during their stronger moments. As the down-on-his luck Yato, Liebricht really does sound like a guy holding onto hope and trying to enjoy his life despite the huge weight hanging over him, and the dark past that he’s supposedly put behind him. Micah Solusad goes on more of a journey than the other two, following the spirit Yukine as he tries to make do with his situation, although never shying away from openly criticizing the boss he’s been saddled with. He keeps it together, but it’s clearly a struggle, and... As they say... Something’s gotta give, and when it does, he breaks through as the star of this dub. Alexis Tipton as Kofuku is... Alexis Tipton. Which is a good thing.

Noragami gets off to a great start. It introduces us to a very interesting universe and a strong premise revolving around the ambitious but heavily flawed Yato, and his two friends who are just likable as he is, and through them, we get to explore the intricacies of this spiritual society existing just out of reach of normal human acknowledgement. There’s a lot of potential in these early episodes, and I’ve seen a lot of people say that it sort of drops the ball after that point. In a way, I’m inclined to agree, as once everything’s laid out on the table, well, Noragami does lose start to show some cracks.

First of all, it kind of can’t be ignored... This series is based heavily on Japanese mythology, and it makes the mistake of assuming the viewer is familiar with that kind of material. A lot of the details of it’s universe are mentioned without any explanation or build-up, and while those in the know will be able to understand the context of those details enough to not question how it works, most American viewers will likely treat each piece of it with a raised eyebrow and, at best, an “if you say so...” kind of response.

See, in order to do his job, Yato needs the aid of a shinki, or... In the dub... A Regalia. He takes the spirit of Yukine as his regalia, and can turn him into a weapon whenever necessary (See Soul Eater for more on this concept). For those of us who don’t regularly study Japanese mythology, we’ll hear something like “A God will start to deteriorate if their regalia misbehaves, and their deterioration can be caught by other Gods like a flesh eating bacteria,” and we’d respond to this with a blank stare. It fits together about as well as saying that ‘once the human population reaches one million, the moon will blow us up.’ Yeah, we’re along for the ride, but it kind of wrecks the immersion of the experience.

A lot of the details are explained to us through Hiyori... Which I’m sad to say is her main job in the series... But it rarely ever goes any deeper than just “This is how this works, don’t worry about the logic of it.” You could say it’s my fault for not being worldly enough to get it, but I’ve always been a strong believer in accessibility. You shouldn’t have to study to understand what’s going on in a story. That’s not to say an anime with rich cultural subtext shouldn’t inspire people to seek out more information about said culture, but you should still be mindful of those who haven’t or even won’t. I’ve criticized much better shows than this one for their accessibility issues, and I won’t be giving any quarter over it today.

Following the halfway point, the series loses it’s sense of direction, as well as any interest it may have had in Yato’s pursuit of higher godhood. Concepts brought up during the first half are dropped entirely, enemies from his past reappear in the story out of nowhere... Like, seriously, one of them just happens to show up because one of Hiyori’s friends prays to him offhand at a shrine... And the stakes drop rapidly to the point that the only thing Yato’s really fighting for is the one thing that works the best in the series; His friendship with Hiyori and Yukine.

And speaking of Hiyori, she’s kind of a pitiful main character. My plot summary focused mainly on Yato because he’s a lot more interesting than she is, and she doesn’t really become important to the plot until episode 10. She’s likable, and she gets a few laughs in the early episodes, but she’s never really given an identity beyond that point, other than being the glue of their friendship. While the idea of her leaving her body behind whenever she goes spirity comes off as funny at first, they do so little with it, and the fact that her lifeless body has been sitting out in public for extended periods of time is just swept under the rug. She leaves her body outside in the rain for over a full episode, and when she gets it back, she doesn’t have a cold or anything.

While I can understand people saying that the first half was a lot stronger than the second half, I would like to respectfully disagree. I took issue with this series as early as the third episode, and found myself hating it throughout the fourth episode, and my feeling has a lot to do with it’s attitude towards depression and suicide. See, in the world of Noragami, people don’t decide to commit suicide on their own... A malicious spirit attaches itself to people who are experiencing negative emotions and pushes them towards expressing it through extreme methods.

Now, an immediate defense for this might be “Isn’t that how the witches in Madoka Magika work?” Well, no. The witches in Madoka Magika use suicide as a weapon, but they attack indiscriminately against anybody in the area. They’re not the sole cause of suicide, they just utilize it. In Noragami, Yato states twice in episode three alone that if a soul wants to kill itself, then it’s being possessed. Unless this is a translation error... Which I doubt... Noragami openly blames suicide(And murder, and even bullying) on spiritual possession.

On the one hand, you could say that possession is a metaphor for depression, that an undeniable force is taking control of you and urging you towards things you don’t want to do. And yeah, that metaphor kind of adds up, save for two serious problems. First of all, it’s a situation that can conveniently be solved by simply killing or exorcising the offending demon. This throws the metaphor argument directly under the bus, as even if you’re able to stop a depressed person from killing themselves, depression is not that easy to cure. It’s a complicated illness with countless possible catalysts, and to imply that they can all be erased by getting rid of that pesky negative feeling is just insulting. This isn’t a metaphor... It’s a Strawman.

In fiction, a Strawman is a person or entity to whom you attribute negative feelings or behaviors in order to dehumanize them and ultimately defeat them. It’s the equivalent of getting over an ex by placing your desire for them in a stuffed animal and tearing it to pieces. A good example of this is Gatchaman Crowds, a series that’s become infamous for using an evil villain as a Strawman for bullying and online harassment. Japanese culture has a lot of Strawmen in it... “Break the gate, bad feelings be gone” and stuff like that... But when you’re dealing with serious issues, they deserve to be taken seriously.

Noragami didn’t set out to belittle a lot of peoples’ real life problems... I know that wasn’t it’s intention, and demonic possession isn’t the worst way to explore it. It’s been done, and it’s been done well. The problem is that this show just doesn’t show any evidence of understanding the topic it’s dealing with. For the perfect example, there’s an extensive scene in episode 4 where Yato & Feiends are accidentally dialed by a man who’s jumping off of a building. Throughout what must be the longest fall in history(Seriously, you could do your taxes before hitting the ground), he tells them that he fell in love with a young woman and from then onwards, he had worse and worse luck resulting in his business failing and going bankrupt. It’s revealed that he was dating the goddess of poverty, so Yato severs his connection to said Goddess, saves him from the fall, and then... Eureka, everything’s resolved!

Except no, it’s not. They haven’t solved his financial problems, nor have they rid him of the hard times and deep shame that clearly came with it, so there’s no saying whether or not he’ll try to die again. Also, his cruel sociopath of a woman gets off easy just because she thought what she was doing to him was funny. No, I’m sorry, they haven’t undone the damage that was done to him, and I don’t believe she’s never going to target anybody ever again. And this is one of my biggest problems with Noragami... By defeating these spirits, you’re not helping anybody, you’re just putting a band-aid on a wound that’s going to reopen again, and you’re just stopping there. “I don’t care what you’re going through, or how much you’re suffering... Just as long as you don’t resort to any methods that’ll make people sad!”

Yeah, I know this has some kind of ties to Japanese beliefs, but there’s another Eastern belief that I’d like apply to this; If you save somebody’s life, you’re responsible for that life. It’s not Japanese, but it’s still relevant. Now that proverb may have many meanings, but in this case, I’d like to use it as meaning that if you step in and prevent them from committing suicide, you’ve become involved in their struggle. You have just taken away their way out, and you’d better be damn well ready to show them another way out, otherwise you’re just pushing your belief on other people to preserve your own sensibilities. In Noragami, the idea seems to be “Nope, you’re not gonna die... Good luck!” And to me, that seems just as irresponsible as not doing anything.

So, with all of these problems that I had with Noragami, is it a bad show? Nope! It’s two strongest elements, thankfully. take up the majority of the series. The first is the action, which... While poorly set up through rushed villains... Is freaking awesome, whether your brain’s turned off or on. The animation never really looks bad, but these fight scenes are where the budget shines through gloriously, and while the villains may have had writing issues, they’re all a lot of fun. They’re well designed and intimidating, and they have compelling motives that are tied to Yato’s dark past, which is a really smart way to grow him as a character... By showing him literally battling against his past sins.

And the second is the relationship between Yato and his Regalia, Yukine. Their dynamic is very effective at holding up their separate yet still intertwined arcs. Yato brought Yukine back to life in order to use him as a tool to help him get back on his feet and maybe even restore his long lost glory. He thinks of him as an object, needing to follow orders and obey his beck and call. Yukine hates this, and rebels almost immediately, acting out in ways that damage Yato. Yato has to learn how to be fair and treat his Regalia like a person, and Yukine needs to learn to accept his fate and respect the one who gave him his second chance.

It’s a very parent/child sort of dynamic, and it works really well because nether character is fully in the wrong, and they’re both acting in relatable, understandable ways. We’ve all been to that place where we resent somebody for disrespecting us and taking our generosity for granted. We’ve all been in places where we felt disgruntled over situations that were forced upon us without our consent, and yes, some dark part of us wanted to see other people suffer what we have to suffer. It’s a very well-developed conflict, and with Hiyori acting as the glue between them, we never have to wonder why Yukine doesn’t just quit the way Yato's previous Regalia did. In fact, I’ll be perfectly honest, I liked the second half of this series more than the first half, simply because it spent so much time on these two aspects of the series that I enjoyed the most.

Noragami is available from Funimation. At the time of this writing, you can find it on Amazon in the DVD/Bluray combo pack format for just over half of the original price. You can also find it on Funimation.com and Amazon Instant Video, and the undubbed subtitled version is available on Netflix. The original manga IS available stateside from Kodansha comics USA, and from what I’ve heard, it tells a much more complete story than the series does. A second season is scheduled to air in Japan in October, and from the summaries I’ve read, it will be following the story of one of Yato’s enemies, a blonde woman with an eyepatch named Bishamonten.

Noragami is a somewhat problematic show, suffering from issues on almost every level, but the product as a whole is worth more than the sum of it’s parts. If you’re interested in Japanese mythology, then its world-building makes it out to be a decent introduction to the subject. The inconsistency of the writing kind of works in it’s favor, as it tends to give up on the things it’s doing wrong and focuses most of it’s time on the things it does right, for better or worse. Personally, I did enjoy the good parts of it enough to watch it a second or maybe even third time in the future, although I’ll probably be skipping episode four when I do so. Combining that with some solid animation and the most interesting soundtrack I’ve heard in years, I give Noragami a 6/10.

If you like the genres of supernatural, fantasy, comedy, or a bit of romance and slice-of-life, "Noragami" covers all five bases. It also features a decent soundtrack, wonderful animation style, and memorable characters. Before you get too excited, though, be warned that this series contains some major downsides, mostly in the story and character development.

It's difficult to explain without giving spoilers, but there were several elements of the plot and the Noragami world which ruffled my feathers and nearly ruined the series for me. The system of Gods and Weapons is flawed and unfair. The protagonist is a Narcissist posing as a moral authority. ... The development and closure for the character of Yuuki was, without giving spoilers, thoroughly disappointing. Many plot holes appear in this series as well. You can probably tell without hearing any spoilers that Noragami is not all it's cracked up to be.

That being said, I do think viewers should give this show a try; others may be less critical of the Gods' systems and less disappointed at the outcomes of the characters. One thing it really has going for it, too, is the humor of the series. In short, this one is hit-or-miss. You be like me: continually puzzled at the show's popularity, and thoroughly disappointed with the main characters. On the other hand you might fall in love with the characters, beautiful art, and comedic escapades. For me it only gets two and a half stars out of five.

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Hello everybody, Master Iruka, better known as my real name, Brady, and I recently completed an anime by the name of Noragami, an action - comedy - drama - mecha - slice of life - harem - psychological thriller - hentai anime, about a god named Yato, a lazy, homeless, and mostly useless god who one day wishes to have his own shrine dedicated to himself and have millions upon millions of religious follows across Japan. But, in order to collect money to one day get his dream shrine, he does odd jobs and delivery for anyone who will hire him. ... But, after his constant homelessness and failure after failure in everything he does, his weapon partner, or Regalia, or divine instrument, or whatever the term is depending on what translation you watched, leaves him homeless and alone. Just as things begin to turn south for Yato, his fortune changes for the better when he meets 16 year old girl Hiyori Iki, who saves him from a car accident, taking the hit for him. Luckily, she survives, but, that same event caused her soul to become “loose” and allows her to leave her own body. She demands Yato helps turn her back to normal, but once finding out that Yato needs a new weapon partner to help her, she, reluctantly, agrees to help him find a new one. And together, Yato’s luck may be finally turning around. But, with a campy monster-o’-tha-week type concept like that, will the show have execution to match? Or will it be a bland, boring, and unfunny show? Well, let’s look. But first, let’s look at the people behind this show…

(Headline : Staff Overview)

Noragami was originally a action-shounen manga created by mangaka Adachitoka, who also did the artwork for another manga, Alive : The Final Evolution which ran for 7 years in monthly shounen magazine. Noragami itself is serialized in monthly shounen magazine as well, which has run popular manga such as Your Lie in April, Beck, and Violence Jack, the first two of which were also turned into very well received anime series as well. The manga has been running for over 6 years now, since December 23rd, 2010, and in the winter 2014 season, received an anime adaptation as well by Studio Bones, creators of such influential series as Eureka Seven, My Hero Academia, Ouran Host Club, Soul Eater, and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. The series is directed by Koutarou Tamura, known for working on Wolf Children, Baccano, Negima, and Sword Art Online. The show also features music from the legendary Taku Iwasaki, the soundtrack composer behind Akame ga Kill, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Gatchaman Crowds, JoJo’s, Black Butler, Soul Eater, and a billion other amazing anime soundtracks. The show features voice acting from some of my personal favorite voice actors in the industry, including Hiroshi Kamiya, who has also performed in Angel Beats, Attack on Titan, and Monogatari, plays main character Yato, Maya Uchida, who has also starred in Love, Chuunibyou, and other Delusions, Gatchaman Crowds, Dan Machi, and Hunter x Hunter, plays Iki Hiyori, Yuki Kaji, who has performed in Accel World, Arslan Senki, Bananya, Guilty Crown, and Kiznaiver, plays Yukine, and Toyosaki Aki, who has acted in K-On, Spice and Wolf, Knights of Sidonia, and Yuru Yuri, plays Kofuku. So, now that we know of the people who made the show, of which many of them are extremely talented, let’s go ahead look at the show itself.

(Headline : Characters)

As with any character driven show, Noragami has very good and likeable characters, and without a shadow of a doubt are the best part of the entire series. There is Yato, the lovable idiot, Yukine, the moody teen, Iki, the straight man, Kofuku, the silly but powerful goddess, Bishamon, the femme fatale, and some other, less notable characters. While yes, the characters do fall into common archetypes, that doesn’t mean that they don’t ever get any development or aren’t complex, and each character is easy to root for, except for the antagonists, of course. I mean, Yato alone his likeable enough to carry the show alone, nevermind all the other cool characters. But, as much as I personally love all the characters, there isn’t a lot of character progression throughout the season, and not every character even has any development throughout the first season of this show. For instance, until episode 6, Yato, Yukine, and Iki basically don’t change at ALL, until Yukine is shown feeling sad over not being able to be a normal kid anymore, and again in episode 8, when Yukine gets angry over not being able to have a group of friends anymore after visiting the nearby school, and destroys the windows of the building in a fit of rage, causing Yato to be blighted. The main trio does grow better as friends throughout the season, but very little. I mean, Iki and Yato’s relationship develops more in the first 15 minutes of episode 1 than the entire rest of the show! I guess, in short, the characters in the show are likeable, and easy to root for, but rarely develop throughout the course of the show.

(Headline : Animation, Soundtrack, and the Technical Stuff)

Studio Bones has historically been known to make some gorgeously animated fight scenes and shows in general. From My Hero Academia, to Soul Eater and Mob Psycho 100. And, Noragami is definitely no exception to this rule. Not only does the show have some really good looking sakuga scenes, but the show as a whole looks pretty nice. The character designs and outfits are very distinct and memorable, not to mention just pretty good designs in general. Each design does a pretty good job of displaying the personality of each character, at least the main ones. From the menacing snake eyes of Bishamon to the tight tracksuit and rigged scarf that Yato wears, to the simple school uniform that Iki wears. The character animation is expressive and fluid, and can change from more realistic movement to silly, comedic movement, as shown in the opening theme. The backgrounds are decent, but fairly simplistic and mostly forgettable. Now, moving on to the soundtrack, like I previously stated in the staff overview, legendary soundtrack composer Taku Iwasaki composed the soundtrack for Noragami, and unsurprisingly, the soundtrack is great. Somewhat similarly, the voice acting in the series is pretty good as well. Toyosaki Aki and Hiroshi Kamiya’s performances as Kofuku and Yato respectively really stand out for outstanding acting, which doesn’t surprise me considering both actors previous works have also been equally good, if not, better. Overall, the soundtrack, voice acting, and animation are all pretty good, which really isn’t shocking coming from such a prolific anime studio.

(Headline : Comedy and Drama)

Sadly, now we need to talk about the weakest part about Noragami in my opinion, the comedy and drama featured in the show. Noragami may be an action show, and of course the action is pretty good, but the show is just as much a drama and comedy as it is action, which seriously sucks, mainly because the comedy and drama scenes in the show are really mediocre. The humour is pretty hit or miss, but never once have I more than cracked a smile, and I love comedy shows and find a lot of things funny, not to mention a show like K-On has me smiling throughout the entire runtime of the show, and a show like KonoSuba has me dying in laughter almost the whole way through. Some of the humour or more lighthearted or heartwarming scenes do make me smile every once and awhile, but I don’t think I’ve ever laughed during the show, which is very disappointing for a comedy show. And, yes, I get it, humour, for the most part is subjective, but it never really clicked for me. I’m hoping that the second season is funnier, but I’m not even sure if I really want to watch the second season if I felt that the first season was this disappointing to say the least, in the comedy department. What’s even more poorly executed is the drama in the show. There is maybe 3 dramatic scenes in the entire show that hold any meaning to the plot, and I didn’t even feel much emotion in them. The first is in episode 6, where Yukine steals a skateboard to feel like a kid again, which is pretty sad, you can really feel for Yukine during the episode, and when he realizes he can’t do bad things or else Yato gets blighted, I really did feel how that just sucked for him, not being able to feel like a kid. But, the episode just kind of felt, generic, to say the least. I feel like I’ve seen that same plot setup many times before, where a kid does something bad and learns how it’s wrong. The next emotional, dramatic scene is in episode 8, where Yukine again feels rage after he can’t have any friends since he can’t live through childhood, and he smashes all the windows in the middle school, which eventually leaves to Yato being on the edge of death after near-fatal blighting, it's a similar and familiar setup, but with an “oh crap!” twist that comes with it, which leads to the next emotional climax, the dangerous ritual to try and purify Yato and clear his blighting by gathering 3 regalias to help, which… didn’t make me feel much of anything. How it ends is just obvious, and it's probably the most “predictable” of these emotional, dramatic, plot-twistey moments. Not to mention, there are literally 3 episodes and an entire second season after Yato’s fatal blight, so I’m just going to assume he survives onward. Plus, the thumbnails of the next episodes on Crunchyroll literally show Yato perfectly fine, so it’s obvious he survives. Overall, the comedy is mediocre and the drama is mostly uninteresting or predictable, and are obviously the weakest elements of the plot in Noragami.

(Headline : Final Thoughts & Would I Recommend?)

Overall, I think that Noragami is a show with loveable characters, an interesting concept, good action, good animation, and some great voice acting and backing soundtrack, but is sadly brought down by the mediocre, hit or miss comedy, and weak emotional moments that are very predictable, which is just as important as the action in an action-comedy. But, would I recommend Noragami? The short answer, yes. The long answer? Well, the comedy may be better for people with different comedic tastes as my own, and I wouldn’t be surprised if other people got more invested in the emotional moments than I did in the show, and I think just about anyone can appreciate the good action scenes. So if you like action-comedy shows, give this a watch. But, with all things said, my final rating for Noragami, is 6.5 / 10.

Norigami has so little substance you may as well be watching the wind.
(Caution: Spoilers)


Overall: 5/10

I hate dropping an anime. I can count on one hand how many anime I have dropped. I usually grit my teeth and bear it until the end. But I just couldn't do it for Norigami. Maybe the last 2 episode completely change and redeem everything about the show, but I really doubt it. It had a lot of potential that was wasted, and in the end, Bad story + Bad characters = Bad Anime. There are so many better anime out there with similar genres. Don't waste your time ... with this one.

Story: 5/10
Norigami has a very cool interesting world, with lots of potential. Which is why it sucks that the story is so mediocre.- an old god that wants to be famous befriends a girl that wants to be human again. We get glimpses into Yato's past, but the slow pacing of the show ruins any suspense or drama. There are other things going on, but none of them are developed enough.

Characters: 4/10
The characters are incredibly mediocre. The background characters aren't developed enough with the exception of one or two.
Yato is the only main character of interest, and although we get some insight into Yato's backstory, overall he's just not enough to redeem the other characters.
Hiyori Iki loses all relevance after 3 episodes, and her only job becomes to scream and cry, and act as cheerleader/babysitter for Yato and Yuki.
Yuki is just awful. Maybe you were tempted to sympathize with Yuki initially, (because being dead and having no family sucks) but he just keeps being an asshole, and even after his 'redemption', he's still just a whiny asshole with no redeeming qualities. Every time I saw him on screen, I wanted to just skip past the scene, because I found him so unlikable.

Art/Sound: 7/10
Both the art and sound are average, with nothing special.

Enjoyment: 4/10
Bad story + Bad characters = Bad Anime.
I really wanted to like Norigami, because I really liked the world, but I couldn't.

I absolutely enjoyed the ride I got out of Noragami. I found it on Hulu and decided to give it a shot without really knowing anything about it, and what I got was pretty fair. I did quite like the characters in the show, but I didn't really get the feeling that I got to know them as much as I'd like. They did pretty well in setting up who is who, who's going through what, but I'm not so sure that I know everything that there is to be known about them.

I suppose that's what you get for going into a ... show with one planned season, and manga pending. With that, most of my disappointment stems from me just wanting more of it. The art was amazing, and the potential for a storyline is there. The entire first season to me feels like a setup for something more. I'm trying my best to not give anything away here, so it may sound really vague.

Some very small plot points were solved in the long-run, but I didn't think they were serious enough for a show to be based on. It's common knowledge that the main character runs into a god, has a problem retaining her soul, etc. That much is kind of delved into, but everything else that happens is relatively erroneous, just small obstacles. There's no grand scheme, and to get it, you'd probably be best reading the manga afterwards.

In short, if the series continues, my ratings for the story would absolutely be higher. All the other elements of Noragami are really amazing, but there's so much potential here for something awesome, I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed by the end.

I’m going to review this first season of Noragami as if it were a separate entity from the second one, even though I’m uncertain whether that’s a good idea. The first season functions mostly as exposition for the second one, but it’s what we’ve been served, so let’s get down to business.

Noragami is a show that struggles to do a lot of things right, but fails at most.

Its cast of characters is derived from something that’ll feel familiar to you if you’ve watched at least some anime before this. There’s the charismatic, goofy lead with a hidden dark side, the I-have-as-much-personality-as-a-blank-sheet-of-paper female lead, the troublesome ... kid that pisses everyone of, the wise old dude, the bikini hot chick, the moe girl, the tough guy... You get where this is going. I don’t have anything against stereotypical characters if the show used its time to make them more than that, which it sadly doesn’t. The lack of depth and any significant development gets apparent towards the end.

The characters being a bit to far on the bland side would not be much of an issue if the show had a plot able to back them up, which (you guessed it) it does not. It struggles to lay out its exposition and at the same give the characters something to do. That amounts to a plot that can best be described as: “characters running around, doing nothing”. Again, a plot that doesn’t stick to usual story tropes isn’t an issue. What is, is that Noragami doesn’t really do much to help it be more than a lackluster mess. The plot could’ve been overlooked if the characters were able to get it out of the gutter, and vice versa, and you get where this is going as well.

Without spoiling anything, some characters do get developed. However, the show chooses the most roundabout way to do that. A lot of problems could’ve been avoided if the characters sat down and talked to each other like regular human beings. Saying that they’re all confused teenagers isn’t a good excuse. The show didn’t need to shove a monster fight in my face every episode to be appealing. What it lacks is a little bit of substantial dialog and some common sense.

The animation is great and there’s not much to complain in that compartment. If I were to say anything it’s that the character and monster designs aren’t anything revolutionary. On a side note, whoever thought that dressing the main lead in a tracksuit with some boots on and a dirty old rag to go along with them should get their ass fired immediately.

The opening and ending are nicely animated. The songs didn’t really stick in my head, but they might in yours. The show’s overall music is fine, but in the long run forgettable.

Overall, Noragami is your average action-packed anime. If you’re just a simple viewer as myself and haven’t read the manga, there’s not much here to look at. If Japanese gods in the modern society are your thing, you could give it a try, but you’re probably better of with something else.

SPOILERS

Didn't start off too amazing. Yato, the main character I found to be a serviceable main character who I didn't find myself too attached to at any point in the series. His character became too inconsistent as the episodes passed, attempting to be both the funny, light hearted cool guy and the brooding badass with a tragic past. It's fine to have a tragic past, just have him be consistent in the present.

Hiyori is pretty boring. I wasn't able to engage with her at all, which isn't helped by the frequent fanservice scenes that include her. There really isn't much to say about her. Even ... her character design is pretty goddamn boring.

Yukine is probably the only real character that I genuinely liked out of the main cast (except during episodes 6-9 but more on that later). He was a kid, and acted like one (during episodes 2-5 and 10-12). Kaji Yuki seems to have a voice for voicing whiny emo kids, huh?

The first few episodes I thought were fine. Episode 4 is by far the funniest and episode 5 was my personal favorite. Yukine's character arc was the point where the show plummeted in quality. Yukine here was unempathetic and lacking in common sense to a completely unrealistic degree. There was no need for the amount of unpleasantness that was presented here, and so felt extremely contrived. I felt as though the series was forcefully trying to get Yukine to do as many immoral things as possible so that the end of this arc would as 'intense' as possible. He may have lost his memories, but he was still once a human, and is at an age where he would know what is right or wrong. The lack of sympathy he felt when Yato was in pain, saying that 'I'm not to blame' verged on him being a complete sociopath in my mind.

Yato during this arc was also lacking in common sense, since he had told nothing to Yukine about what it means to be a God Instrument (I'm gonna called them 'Shinki' from now on since it's easier) and yet told nothing about the severity of continuous 'stinging' by Shinki and told no one about how bad the impurity was getting. The problem would have been solved a loong time ago if only Yato told Yukine what's going on with him and told the people around what was going on, since they definitely seemed as though they would have been more than happy to help him in any situation. This, again felt like a contrivance the writer made to 'builb up' to the 'pay off' at the end. This Yukine arc, wuite simply put, was complete trash and forced.

This arc was also the time where Bishamon was introduced. A character that I hated as soon as she came on screen. I'm completely biased in saying this, but her character design was ugly as shit. I really hate how she's in a completely unnecessarily in a extremely revealing outfit that when she takes it off her regular outfit covers her up more. Her hair is a really ugly shade of yellow and her purple eyes do not match the hair AT ALL. Enough of her design, more on the character herself. She's supposed to be the badass chick who is supposedly extremely powerful, but failed completely in this regard, since she only relies on her Shinki which she is completely covered in, and so it feels more like she doing none of the work while her gadgets do it all for her.

In this arc, we are also introduced to Daikoku and Kofuku. Nothing much to say here. They are a funny couple and likable. Really nothing to complain about.

The final 3 or so episodes I'd say was generally pretty enjoyable, thankfully. The writer is clearly better at writing shorter and simpler stories, so he doesn't need to weave in forced character actions or coincidences. Well, until the whole 'saved by the power of love' thing anyway. Didn't hate it, but if the face that I didn't hate it is a positive, your series must have been doing pretty badly.

Cookie-Cutter Fantasy/Drama/Shonen. The fantasy and shonen world apply overt external pressure on the characters to create "unique" dramatic entanglements and quandaries. Wow. The fantasy world itself is vaguely, and by that metric poorly, explained, but just done enough to let us understand some of the feelings for the characters drama to come through. The rest is left up to the viewers mind to very easily piece together the incoherence of the premise. Lack of focus and creativity leads the author to pitfall into the classic trope of stumbling through the climax through pure shonen, while the entire point of that genres use is architecturally auxiliary ... to the rest of the show.

Aside from one, the entire shows cast is never explored. The author even insults us by iterating a disgustingly common writing habit of completely changing what was the initial premise of one of the main cast for an attempt at some sort of pseudo depth. I consider actions like this to be blatant lying to the audience. Changing a characters backstory several episodes later isn't a twist, it's retconning. And as you can assume, opportunities to answer questions of the audience for actually interesting development are missed, furthering infuriation at the authors lack of competence.

Art is standard. Sound is above standard. Without the well doing of the audio department, many of the scenes would probably fall flat and rank this show even lower. All in all though, mediocre. Enjoyable for passing the time when there's nothing else.

Disclaimer: I tried my best with spelling and sentence structuring. I hope you find it helpfull.

The short version:

Interesting world and story filled with fun characters. However i think the plot is handeled poorly and the animation is not always top notch. The opening song is really good though

The Longer version:

I think that around 75% of the plot moves because people don't talk to each other. It is miscommunication the anime all over again only it is not a romance. If that sort of thing bothers you i gues you should look for another show.

The characters are quiet neat. Especially the gods and their shinki. ... There are many different gods even though we do not get interoduced to many of them this season. My personal favorite is best girl and secret badass when the plot demands it from her Kofuku. While i did not like the actiual main girl Hiory. I can't really say why I just dont liker her.

The comedy is there. It has its moments. However it gets quiet repetitive after a while and it loses its impact. Another good point about this anime is the opening song, I really liked it.

So in conclusion:
I can say that i enjoyed my time watching it. It is not for everyone i might add. If this show has caught your eye check it out, you might like it. However if it is just another show on your already waaaaay to long "plan to watch list" limbo then i recomend you skip this one.

'Noragami' is an average anime with the characters and storyline mediocre.
Saying that however, there's just something about it that draws me in and that's the reason why I gave it slightly above average. It also includes elements of romance and action creating an overall good mix. It explores Japanese culture well in terms of shrines and the gods as well as modern society excluding the supernatural parts.
In my opinion I think the first season drags out the main storyline a bit so I prefer the second season where you find out more about Yato's past. But you can't watch the second season without ... watching the first! :)
Although the plot may be dull at times the artwork is magnificent and there's a certain aura around the story. If you like fantasy and action I would recommend this anime!!

Honestly this show kinda just made me mad the whole time
Ill just go ahead and assume you know whats going on.

and all im going to say is, fuck yukine is a bigger villian then the actual one. Hes so angsty and pubescent he alone could make a family fall apart. And im (as of this review) somewhere around his age range, and never have i been or seen anyone been so whiny and uncontrolled.

Thats the main reason i disliked the anime, and other than that the progression wasnt really there and felt kinda forced. You dont really know anything about the villian or her motives ... other than a really vague statement.

Honestly the characters are ok other than yukine, I dont like them that much but I dont hate them either. I dont know why Yato puts up with soo much, Idk why hiyori is so attached to them, Idk what Yatos backtostory really is, Idk what bishamons backstory really is. You dont really know much about anyone outside of what progresses inside the anime and that made it quite hard to become attached to any of the characters.