Noragami is relaxing to watch. Most of this effect is carried by the sound work in the series. It captures a complex, soothing combination of hip-hop and feudal Japan that is somewhat intoxicating. More on that later. But this effect fits in nicely with the series because it manages to mirror the effect that Yato's mysterious past has on his current journey.
I'd also like the say that this show really focuses solely on Yato. All characters exist solely in relation to him. The show suffers as an adventure series due to this, but it gives the work a nice sense of isolation. Really, the mood work going into this series is respectable, particularly for anything in the genre.
Story: 4
There's just not a whole lot going on here. Like I said, I find Noragami's best points to be about the atmospherics. The story does serve the atmospherics in some way: the Phantoms, mystery regarding Yato's past, the subtle tenderness of Yato's relationships, and some other things. In terms of heartwarming drama, there's not a lot going on here, and that is due to shallow characters. The action is sort of repetitive.
The story is really all on learning about Yato. However, by the end of the series, you're not getting the deep dive that you're craving. To me, the story should mirror Ruruoni Kenshin. Kenshin and Yato share the same path of life, where they are living in a way of absolving their pasts. Kenshin is a long story and, by the end of it (especially if you watch the OVAs), the audience feels like it has reached a satisfying conclusion about the relationship between Kenshin's present and his past. Noragami doesn't quite hit that. It's a short series, and it feels like the first few chapters of a longer story. It is a pretty conclusive ending, but there are threads left hanging in the plot and in Yato's character. It doesn't feel good. I felt myself losing interest in the dialogue pretty frequently.
Art: 8
The art suffers sometimes when characters are far from the frame. Usually, the animation quality is good. The character design is generally weak, outside of Yato and Nora. However, I will praise Noragami for its willingness to use different animation styles and techniques, and do it well. The Phantoms, Yato's daydreams about being a more regal god, the silhouettes of feudal Japan, dynamic color palettes. It's nice to see, especially for something that goes for a hip-hop vibe, which is all about blending and sampling typical music attributes.
Sound: 10
The sound is literally what carries this entire series. Without ambiance, this series is completely lost, and the sound is what delivers. Let's get the 'little stuff' out of the way. The voice acting is generally good. Not too forced, charismatic when it needs to be, etc. Pretty solid, but not extremely impressive or anything.
The meat is in the sound design. One topic I'd like to touch on is the use of silence in the work. The series knows when to cut the background track to create a more realistic experience. Many series will cut background music and a contrast to be dramatic, and this is the opposite effect. Noragami is tasteful in its use of sound and never really tries to shock you. Silence prevalent in the show keeps the show feeling natural and low-energy at its low-energy moments. Instead, the silence creates contrast with its high-intensity moments, but the high-intensity moments... aren't that high intensity.
In more intense moments, Noragami tends to use steadily paced hip-hop beats for action and droning, ambient synths for drama. Both accompanied by feudal Japan elements. It makes the intense moments... not that intense. Relaxing. And still enjoyable, because relaxing is enjoyable. You still feel the contrast of importance with these sound choices because of the stillness of the more average moments.
Something else to touch on is the appropriate use of pauses. Specifically character pauses between dialogue, action, whatever. Often, pauses are either far to short or far too dramatic, and feel strange because they often use a sound cut to create suspense. Noragami has super natural pauses that just make things feel a little more right. The conversation doesn't have to tug all the time, that's not how things work.
The sound makes Noragami what it is. If this approach to sound is replaced with something more conventional, Noragami becomes obnoxious and dull.
Character: 4
The characters are bad. Except for Yato. Yato is a tender butterfly who made a lot of mistakes as a caterpillar. He is also pretty entertaining. But at the same time, you don't really feel like you've seen enough of him. I don't know. It's not really worth talking much about the characters because they only exist in their relationship to Yato. They are flat. And this isn't a drama, so it doesn't matter so much.
Enjoyment: 7
I've talked a lot about how relaxing the show is. I stand by it. I definitely lost interest in dialogue pretty frequently, which shows that I never cared that much about the plot or the character dialogues. My feelings towards this show are a little floaty because they way this show interests me is so drastically different from what the genre generally shoots for. But my feelings on the show are positive.
Overall: 7
I feel like Noragami has something positive to offer to a viewer that is willing to listen to it.
