Noragami spends much of its time exploring the spiritual world that makes up the series and focusing on the God/ Shinki bonds that make it up. Within the series, Shinki are spirits that become bonded to Gods that serve as their tools to fight against corrupt threats. As gods don't exist with concepts of human sins and have their life force linked directly to a Shinki, the Shinki must keep their desires and thoughts in check lest the emotions and thoughts are felt by the god and cause them to suffer. If the Shinki gives in too much to negative emotions and desires, it has the negative effect of causing the god to eventually die from being corrupted by their Shinki's sins. This dynamic is explored throughout much of Noragami's run as it explores the relationship between Yukine and Yato as the former tries adjusting to their unique union and finds himself giving into temptations from not being among the living world any longer. Hiyori finds herself trying to assist Yukine and Yato in their uneasy relationship and dealing with ayakashi threats as she becomes a source of support for the two in their ordeals. The drama facing their developments is the highlight of the series as the bond between the three is a genuine one that gradually develops throughout the course of the anime's run, particularly when things with Yukine's ordeal get resolved in the ninth episode.
The major components to Noragami that make it a mixed bag have to do with its comedy and exploration of Yato's character. I'll first cover the comedy since it's the more straight-forward to address. The series often mixes in comedic elements that show exaggerated takes on some of the character's notable quirks such as Yato's obsession for money and Hiyori's love of professional wrestling. Noragami is smart enough to known when to add in its comedic scenes so they don't intrude upon more serious moments in the series, though I did find the gags it pulled to be a bit hit and miss in terms of timing. The comedy does really miss its mark during an early episode when it does an exaggerated fall scene where Yato and pals are trying to help a down-on-his-luck office worker avoid committing suicide through recalling the true identity of his lover.
The show's exploration of Yato's past also has its high and low points. On the one hand, it is a major component of Yato's character as the bonds he establishes with Yukine and Hiyori allow him to establish positive relationships that allow him to appreciate things in the present as early episodes hint to him having a rather violent and dark past and he actively avoids relations with a Shinki named Nora due to her reminding him of this. His past does get fleshed out in the final three episodes of the series when confronted by a former comrade he had, though this story arc does suffer in quality due to some rather rushed plot development as these episodes lack the solid pacing given to the development of Yato and Yukine's developing relationship. This issue also extends to a plot during the middle of Noragami's run when Yato comes at odds with Bishamonten, a war god with a past grudge to settle with him. While an interesting plot development, Noragami never goes into a great deal of depth on exploring what led to their issues. Much of this is more likely due to the show's manga source material still being ongoing and will likely be more explored with the show's current season airing, Noragami Aragoto.
Still in spite of its flaws, Noragami is a decent supernatural action title that offers a good deal of development and chemistry on the relationship that develops between Yato, Yukine and Hiyori; as well as offering a good deal of exploration on the spiritual world that makes up the series. It's still worth a look if you like anime titles influenced through Eastern folklore with their story elements.
