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.
