Noragami Review

Full Review

Pro: Great fluid animation, fun to watch, Great character development

Con: Way too short, does not take time to explore all ideas as of yet.

Final Thoughts: Noragami was a fun studio bones studio trip to be taken on, too bad it had to end so soon. The great animation and overall solid storytelling should be enough to please many anime fans. There is at least something that everyone can gain from seeing this. I imagine funimation will pick up dubbing this series soon and maybe we will get a second season in the near future. (I got my fingers crossed)

Story: The only major complaint here is that the story likes to put all of its pieces out on the table, but fails to put most of them together. The only story thread that seems to get resolved is Yukine's which is good, but works better as a side conflict rather than the main focus. I really wanted to see more of Yato's development explored as well as his relationship with Hiyori. All in all the series was just too short. We get a tiny filler conflict at the end that really does not amount to anything "special". It is a filler ending done better than most, but feels a little too rushed. It feels like the Blue Exorcist ending only shorter and overall better. In other words Blue Exorcist spent a longer time trying to develop its filler arc, but it was not as engaging as Noragami's filler arc which is shorter. In any case it really does bother me how short it is. I wanted to spend a longer time understanding these characters and story threads. Unfortunately Noragami only manages to knit a tiny beautiful quilt in the end. Its still funny and not cluttered with fanservice or too many cliched gags.

Characters: There are very few anime's now-a-days that takes it time to respect its characters. (Not just the main ones either) Hiyori is not merely a stoned faced love interest or fanservice figure, instead she plays a major role in the story and helps move it along. She is given an likable attitude that is both girly and self reliant. In other words she is the total opposite of Asuna from SAO. She is a little uneasy at first (as she should be), but grows into understanding the gods and tries to do everything she can to assist them, leading her to resort to more drastic measures to ensure their safety. In other words she is given respect as a vital character. Yato is also extremely likable. He reminds me of a mix between Tamaki Suoh (from Ouran host club) and Kenshin (from Rouroni Kenshin). In all honestly these two characters can hold their on without much development expect for Yukine. Yukine is given more development which is needed seeing how he does not come in until the second third of the show. Like I wrote before through the thing that makes all the characters stand out is the respect given to them by the writers. For this it deserves credit.

Art: Its gorgeous, stylish and fluid next-

Sound: The opening and ending themes are fantastic. The music reminds me of soul eater: in other words its pretty good.

Final Score: 4 stars

Recommendations:

Soul Eater/Rorouni Kenshin/Bleach

#noragami #review #4stars #winter #2014