Noragami is the anime that breaks these rules.
Following the most human-like god in the history, Yato, and his company shinki (regalia) yukine and his "follower" Hiyori, the story does an excellent job in entwining the godhood with humanness and produce yatogami.
Then, without haste, let's start with the review.
ps. Unless your IQ is over 300, there are no spoilers in this review that you can pick up without problem.
Story: (8+5)/2=6.5
The story part is divided into two parts: the one that appears in the actual manga, and the filler 3 episodes, and we learned what filler does to the overall anime in one failed masterpiece called Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S. Although some fillers have wonderful cohesion with the actual story, this one, unfortunately, does not.
The first part follows the story of Yukine and Yato, and is a developmental story of Yukine as he becomes a true regalia from a spoiled brat. The touching return of the prodigal son is a scene enough to make this a masterpiece anime. The story develops nicely, with an exception of the ova--the falling man, which is why I gave only 8 out of 10. If the story of falling man was pushed into the actual ova or if it came in transition of the filler and the first part, or if it were just excluded from the first part and was used to develop the filler, this anime could have gotten a much higher score than 6.5.
The filler was actually not a half-bad job, developing a minor plot in the story and explaining the past of Yatogami. However, the reason I gave only 5 out of 10 was that the second part included a lot of cliche used in Dragon Balls and the like, which is never a good idea. Moreover, although it is understandable that the anime only had 12 episodes to fit the story, the story was too quick-paced. Like I said earlier, if the first part were rid of the unnecessary ova's and everyday lives and were used to lengthen and develop the filler, the anime could have easily gotten a 9 and possibly even 10.
Art: 9
The well-known producers of cowboy bebap, darker than black and the like, in short the animes with the greatest battle scenes, Bones does a wonderful job of animating the battle scenes and the rending of the ayakashis, or the shinto demons. The openings and the battle scenes and everything are wonderfully animated, possibly rivaling IG Entertainment. The only minor point that I cut off from the art segment is that in battle scenes of Yato and Rabo, the main antagonist of the filler, the battle scenes seems a lot less dramatized and less captivating. The positions of the camera are not rotating or under the two gods to dramatized the battle intensity, but right beside them and not even close to feel a little intensity. It was like watching two ants fight. Of course, there were also scenes where the two were zoomed up close to increase intensity, but major segment of the fights were an ant-fight. Still, I only cut off 1 point because it was a minor point and I still felt intense from the two's fight.
Sound: 9
Before you run off mad from giving 9 for anime that has supercell, let me explain myself.
First of all, the OP/ED.
It's freakin' supercell. What more do you want? An anime rich enough to hire supercell deserves an 11. But of course, I gave a humiliating 10.
Second of all, BGM.
They did their jobs of heightening or serenading or saddening or sharpening the moods. When a BGM does their job, the viewers cannot ask more. I gave BGM 10 as well.
And lastly, the voice-acting.
This was a little difficult to grade. We have the best of the best seiyuus in this anime, such as Hiroshi Kamiya, the seiyuu of the world's most famous gentleman pervert (and who taught us the strength of a toothbrush), Arararagi Koyomi (ah, i bit my tongue) and the strongest soldier and the coolest male of 2013, Captain Levi. We have Yuki Kaji, the famous loser-voice-actor who portrayed Yukine's voice perfectly, Jun Fukuyama, the eternal glasses and the smart-cookie, portraying the sum of Lelouch and Yukio perfectly, and Aki Toyosaki, the woman who opened a brand new segment of anime history by her "cute" chipmunk voice.
However, again, the filler did a disappointing job at using these amazing seiyuus.
The most disappointing of all was how Yato was grunting every 5 seconds. It certainly does make me happy to hear Hiroshi Kamiya, but done too much and it starts to annoy anyone, even if it were said by Hiroshi. This also breaks off the mood. Sometimes silence and a flash of a shocked face is more heightened than grunting. If the anime mixed the grunt and silence appropriately, the rating could have gotten a 9.
Another disappointing thing that, this time, only the filler does, is how Yato goes "Yoooooooh!" every 10 seconds. I get it, you're swinging your sword at full strength, but like I said, too much is never a good idea. This makes the viewers feel a little corny or weirded out, like how people feel while watching the newest Yu-Gi-Oh or old Pokemon. If the number of yells were decreased, I would have given 11 for sound.
So, in the end, I gave the most disappointed 8 for the voice over, resulting in a humiliating 9 for, I say again, supercell.
Character: 7
The character development of all the characters is fairly nice, and I was going to give this segment a 9.
If it weren't for the filler again.
Yabo is a god that appears conveniently and disappears just as conveniently. If he were hinted at the first part or were developed more thoroughly by, again, lengthening the filler, the anime could have easily gotten a 9.
Still, all the characters are adorable and a fun to watch. So I give 7 for the character.
Enjoyment: 8
Yato's adventure, Yukine's development and Hiyori's firmness were an amazing combination. The sort-of -love between Yato and Hiyori weren't done in a twilight style. The battle intensity also captivated me, and Kofuku's, another god, adorableness soared above the heavens itself. The anime was, despite the disappointing end and the filler, a fun to watch. For that, I gave 8 for enjoyment.
Overall: 8
Great art, the greatest sound, and great story for the first half. It is worth watching 5 times and if the second series gets out, I will leap in joy. Go watch it.
Then, again, happy anime-ing.
