Story: The story grabbed me within the first 1 minute of the show, as I could see that there's gonna be action (which I love), supernatural stuff (also my fave) and comedy (always good to have some). The story revolves around Yato, an obscure god trying to make a name for himself; Hiyori, a normal girl who ends up being not very normal and becoming a half Phantom; and Yukine, a young boy who is a spirit and ends up being Yato's weapon. The story is quite fast paced, with never a dull moment, but takes it time when necessary (especially when important scenes are happening). There's a lot going on in the background, and you can tell there's more to the story than what is obvious, and that just keeps reeling you in to find out more, especially about Yato's past. But unfortunately due to the length of the anime, not everything is revealed yet, and a sense of unfulfillment settles in, which is why I gave the series 8 instead of 9 overall (here's to hoping for a second season!)
Art: Clean dynamic art, with very intense colours (I absolutely adore Yato's eyes!) typical of Bones studio style. Reminded me off Ao no Exorcist and Zetsuen no Tempest's art style. I think other reviewers mentioned it too, about the scenes where Yato slices up the Phantoms and how it's such a cool scene with great artwork but keeps getting repeated (yes,I agree some variations would be nice). But other than that, the artwork is awesome, especially battle scenes! Character design was also really good, I felt that the characters matched their appearances quite well, and nothing was too overdone (something I have a bit of a bias against)
Sound: Loved the rock style opening, and the OST during the battle scenes especially were fantastic and set the mood really well. The ending song was also quite good, setting a more gentle tone. But the most wonderful thing about sound was definitely the amazing cast of seiyuus! The voice actors were amazing, with Yato being voiced by Kamiya Hiroshi, who I absolutely adore! How he manages to juggle the different sides of Yato is superb, and Kaji Yuki as Yukine was also fantastic! He's always had a penchant for voicing young troubled boys, and this time he did a great job yet again. Fukuyama Jun is also one of my favourite seiyuus, and despite being a supporting character, he made quite an impression as Kazuma too. Overall, the voice cast is just superb!
Character: This is also where Noragami shines for me. The happy-go-lucky guy with a dark past has always been my weakness, and Yato is exactly that. He comes across as idiotic and funny, but has a dark past; he acts like he doesn't care, yet does so much for the people he cares about. Yukine is a typical boy in puberty, filled with his share of problems that we all go through at that age, with his case being much worse because he's already dead.But he manages to over come his issues, and shows the greatest change among all three main characters. Hiyori is a favourite of mine, being such a difference from the typical girl, instead pulling out a martial art/wrestling move in her first appearance, and always reacting in a way that I didn't see coming. But Noragami manages to make every character shine, with even supporting characters being fleshed out and developed really well, so you felt like you could relate to all of them.The supporting characters are the key players that make this anime shine, and I enjoy seeing their interaction with the main characters.
Overall, Noragami is a great anime, with colourful characters, a fast paced storyline, and a good balance of action,comedy and drama. Really hoping for a second season!
