Story: Aragato, as I will refer to this second season of Noragami as, continues the story of the our titular main trio of characters, Yato, Hiyori, and Yukine as they continue fighting Phantoms and dealing with various godly issues.
From a story standpoint, Aragato picks up directly where the first season ended, moving onto two more arcs, the Bishamon and Ebisu arcs, where the show puts more focus on those characters rather than our main cast. What makes this season different than the first one is how more developed the world is. More of the world of gods is introduced to us, as well as the backstory to previously unknown developments in the first season, including who Yato is (kind of), and what was up with Bishamon's boundless hatred towards Yato.
One more thing that makes this season better is the fact that the show really puts focus on Yato as a character, as the arcs that are presented here really put emphasis onto Yato as a character and really develop him as he works his way up the proverbial 'corporate ladder' in order to become an important god. Not only for Yato though, the story arcs that are presented also develop the characters that they're named after; the Bishamon and Ebisu arcs. These gods in addition get quite a bit of attention and really make sense.
All in all, the big issue that I have with this show is the fact that the show didn't really put much emphasis on Hiyori or Yukine. Sure, the show was never really about either one of them personally, but as members of the main cast, they weren't really all THAT important in context, and because the show focused on Yato primarily, they were shelved off to the side most of the time. Also, the last episode wasn't really all that grand. It just kinda trailed off after everything happened. I know the climax happened before, but it just seemed like it was just leading into another season which I do hope we get, cause this story is really good.
Overview:
+ Character development
+ Interesting story arcs
- Kind of a bland end
Characters: As mentioned before, the characters for Noragami are more or less split into characters that carry a lot of weight for the show, or just simply add to the story.
Up first, we have Yato, the main protagonist in this entire Japanese god story. Reprising his role as the Delivery God, Yato himself takes a huge brunt of development in this story, particularly in the second half, as he aids the two featured gods in this season with their issues and problems. Yato changes, he changes over the course of the entire season so much that you the growth really becomes apparent from episode to episode. It's great change that is really appreciated because you don't get to see the amount of development or attention he gets all that much anymore.
Other characters that deserve mention are Ebisu and Bishamon. As the two other gods that take the main role in this season, both of these gods have issues and major problems that Yato spends the entire arc fixing and helping. In addition to Yato changing, these gods of fortune are shown to alter themselves as time goes on, growing alongside our main character, creating a change that is both noticeable and pleasant to watch. (Sadly, I can't say how or why because...spoilers.)
The one problem I have about this season comes with the fact that Hiyori and Yukine both are sort of shafted to the sidelines. Both of these characters while extremely important in the first season, don't really have all that much of an impact as a whole in Aragato. They're important to some extent, adding to the series since they are the two most important people to Yato, but in terms of importance and development, they don't really contribute to that aspect all too much.
Other characters for the most part serve a similar role to Hiyori and Yukine. Since they are more or less related to the respective gods that they are associated with, (Like Kazuma to Bishamon), their change or role in the series stems off from that part about them and really nothing else. That's not to say that's a bad thing since they're supporting cast, yet they still take a good foothold and have quite a lot of importance in the series.
Overview:
+ Good character development for featured gods
+ Good supporting cast
- Most of the Main cast gets kind of shafted...
Art: The animation for Aragato was produced by Studio Bones, and as such, hosts a fantastic artstyle that reflects the style of the series. The artwork is very clean and holds both a mystical and eerie tone to it, as the Phantoms and Yomi both have that feel to it.
in addition, the fluidity of the battle scenes and the appearance of the more magical aspects (like huge magical rings) are both outstanding to look at. While maybe not as fantastic as other things in terms of staggering beauty in terms of fight scenes like other fight scenes in recent years, but it's still great to look at.
Overview:
+ Good, clean art
+ Fight scene fluidity
Sound: Like last season, Noragami employed a rock band to give us once again, another great OP by the name of "Hey Kids" by the Oral Cigarettes which is not only an action heavy song that fits with the visuals of the OP, but is also very memorable and quite addicting to listen to.
The ED on the other hand doesn't really fit with the show as it sounds...rather happy and joyful. It's pretty memorable and it's a good song but...it doesn't really fit Noragami.
Overview:
+ Great and memorable songs
- ED doesn't really fit...
Personal Enjoyment: I enjoy Noragami. As a series, it boasts a lot of connection to Shintoism and has great and enjoyable characters in addition to a very engaging plot that never deviates from what it wants to do. It's a consistently great series that I very much enjoy watching.
Did I like this anime?
Noragami is a series that never fails to impress me. There are virtually no flaws with it as for me, it never fails to engage me into its plot and throughout the whole series, I never lost any interest in watching it. It gripped me in and I was always happy to see another epsiode come in.
What didn't I like about this anime?
I'm not a big fan of the fact that Hiyori and Yukine both really never make too much of an impact in this season. Sure they are in the show and they help move the plot along quite frequently and well, but they just felt a lot less important this season and as such, I was a bit disappointed simply because they didn't have as much impact on the plot as they did before.
Would I recommend this anime?
Overall, Noragami as a series is one that I would recommend to watch. It's a very well written story that I feel is just good period, something that you don't normally see with a lot of anime these days. It's not without its flaws, but they're not so glaring that they would hinder the watching of the series. That being said, only watch Aragato after the first season because it wouldn't really make sense to watch season 2 before season 1.
