Winter 2014 Reviews - Noragami

So Noragami aired last season. 

That was a thing apparently. 

I've always found it interesting to see how different fanbases react to a show, and looking at the reaction coming from those on reddit, and comparing it to that of the anime "celebs" on youtube, I was curious to see what the cause of all the division was.

Depending on who you spoke to, Noragami was either the most pointless, meandering bore of a show, or the glorious antithesis to that other action show that was on. 

What did I think? I guess lets find out.



Noragami follows Yato (Hiroshi Kamiya), a noragami, or stray god. Essetially, he is a god without a shrine. In order to work towards a shrine, he takes on jobs for a 5 yen fee, the jobs ranging from helping someone pass a test to defeating corrupted souls or phantoms. We also follow Hiyori Iki (Maaya Uchida), a highschool girl who's been turned into a half phantom and is relying on Yato to return her to her normal form. The other main character is Yukine (Yuki Kaji AKA dweeby prat) who is Yato's weaponized sould, or regalia. He has his own arc that we spend a lot of time on, but initially we don't get a lot of back story on him.

So far so good right? We have our main players, some plot points, and a decent world built already, what could go wrong?

The issue with Noragami has to be a lack of time. This was put together as a 12 episode show for an ongoing manga. On top of that, its a 12 episode show with an anime original arc. From a story direction standpoint, you have to wonder, what were they playing at?

Noragami leaves so much merely hinted at and undeveloped, we could have had an entire extra 12 episodes out of this. Characters fight but then are forgotten, or just forget about the enemy that was so important just in the last episode. Secondary characters, beautifully draan as they are, are quickly relegated to exposition bots. 

And all of this is a huge shame, since Noragami does so much so well. To start the animation is absolutely beautiful and the art has a tremendous sense of tone with greys and whites harshly contrasted to the garish and vomit coloured phantoms. 

Our main characters are all gorgeously animated, reminding me of the better days Studio Bones has had, when shows as striking as Fullmetal Alchemist or Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 were the rule rather than the exception. 

The VA's all do a great job, especially the perfectly cast Yuki Kaji as Yukine. Yukine's arc relies on a lot of typical teenage angst, and if there is something that Yuki Kaji can do well, acting like a stroppy teen is it. Sticking to the sound, the soundtrack for the show is amazing, with the rather well know Taku Iwasaki taking the helm. There is the standard dark thematic songs, but the standouts have to be the battle themes, which are often just plain funky. On a final production note, the OP and ED are amongst my favourite this season, really seeming to stick to the production qualities and themes the show sets out.



(I mean seriously, look at the use of colour in that.)

But like I said, the story lacks focus. What we do get are believable dynamics, a love story that I can understand and relatable angst that doesn't rely on the world being super dark mega evil like some other shows in this genre. Noragami is very atypical of a shounen show, but it does what it does with so much love, it really seems like a shame that it's main flaw is that it's just too damn short. The finale seems pretty darn conclusive in taking the show as far away from the manga as possible, all of which leads me to believe that we might not get another season of this. 

And that's a shame. I really loved this world. I'd happily trade a crappy show or five for a second season of this.