~Story~
The story follows once again the main protagonists Yato, Yukine and Hiyori and their interactions with the world; yet in this season it begins to focus on the goddess of war Bishamon. She is known to be kind, which causes her to take in a lot of shinki's when saving them from phantoms: this will naturally cause her quite some problems, as she isn't able to tend to them all. Pain, insecurity and paranoia are on the order of the day, and the fact that Bishamon hates Yato doesn't ease the situation at all.
The anime doesn't entirely focus on the goddess of war; it also expands on the world of the gods, in addition to their importance. In addition, it provides a bit of an insight in the underworld, while mutually introducing numerous gods and characters. It could be said that the story in mainly character driven, as it expands on Yato's past, as well as Bishamon's and surprisingly, Kazuma. Quite a lot of action was provided, which was well executed - although having its share of plot convenient twists - in addition to keeping good levels of intrigue throughout the series. However, quite some things were very predictable, as well as their respective outcome, which was a bit of a shame.
It also shared its slice of life moments in which it focused more on the female lead character, yet these were uninteresting as it didn't provide any story progression, neither character development. The pacing of the series was overall well done, although it had its share of some inconsistent jumps. However, what was personally a drawback, was the fact that it didn't expand on the different worlds of Noragami, meaning how these are related, as well as the phantoms and how these affect the various worlds.
~Characters~
The cast of characters in Noragami is by no means big; in fact, there are a handful of characters, which are for the most part distinguishable from each other, especially the main cast. Audiences will be rewarded with some more insight in Yato's past, as well some character development, albeit not impressive. This is because the main mysteries surrounding him are still not explained, and in fact, even more were added. Other positive aspect was the explanation on why Bishamon hated Yato, although the reason behind this were quite lackluster.
Moving on to Yukine, who in my opinion was the most intolerable character in the prequel, did undergo some character development. The fact that his constant wining and sudden outbursts were much less pronounced in this season was a welcoming change, yet it still happened, being in some cases overly dramatic. However, the main problem lay with Hiyori, who underwent zero character development, as well as fleshing out. She plays no important role whatsoever, other than just being a female lead who supports Yato. It is as if her problems with the phantom world lay forgotten.
As mentioned earlier, the story also began focusing on some gods, in particular that of Ebisu. Although it was interesting, not enough information was released to even begin to care for the character, hence making the events that follow a bit tensionless. Other gods were introduced as well, yet were never expanded on; some seemed to be interesting character-wise.
~Animation and sound~
The animation quality of Noragami is of high quality, what is expected of a show airing in 2015. The battle scenes are well executed, being diverse and well conveyed to the viewer in addition to being consistent: blood, anger, fear and the likes are well relayed to the viewer. The backgrounds are well drawn and detailed, matching with the different scenes. Character design is appealing to the eye, as well as diverse, yet a bit generic in some instances. In some cases inconsistencies could be found when for example these were in the background.
The soundtrack used is quite strange at first, as viewers from the prequel may have thought as well; nevertheless, it is befitting and catchy is some instances. Voice actors performed their roles well, in most cases matching with the personality of the various characters.
~Enjoyment~
Noragami was overall quite an enjoyable anime which certainly maintained me entertained throughout the whole series with the different aspects and mysteries presented. Expanding on the different character's past was a pleasant sight, although some were annoying, as well as underdeveloped, which was a drawback personally. The art style was nice to look at, as well as the catchy soundtrack. Although the different outcomes where somewhat predictable, in addition to some convenient plot twists which weren't convincing, I certainly could recommend Noragami for an entertaining time. Just don't expect impressive characters or stories.
Thank you for reading.
