This review will be shorter than my normal reviews, but I wanted to get my quick thoughts on this anime out there. I'll probably post a longer review eventually. Also, there will be minor spoilers, and this might not make sense if you haven't seen the anime. You have been warned.
Noragami was a fun anime. It had some dramatic moments, well-executed action scenes, a fantastic soundtrack, and likable characters. However, where this anime falls short is its story, especially when it comes to balance. For the most part, its episodes have a balance of drama and comedy, setting the tone to be slightly-serious and fun. Then, episode 8 happened. Without spoiling too much, episode 8 felt like constant depression was being thrown into my face, which completely contrasted with the overall tone of the show, and there was close to no buildup to it. I don't mind darker content in anime, but you shouldn't always have to resort to it to make dramatic moments more dramatic. Sure, it's nowhere close to Higurashi or Fate/Zero, but again, Noragami's tone did not suggest that it would try to go for a darker psychological route, making episode 8 a completely unwelcome surprise.
The story also lacks consistency with its plot. The plot keeps on changing directions like the creators are worried that the audience will get bored of the plot that they started off with. First it's a story about Yato trying to help Hiyori get back to her normal life, then it's a story about someone wanting revenge against Yato from the past, then it's a comedy anime, then it's a psychological drama anime, then it switches back to comedy…you get my point. The problem with juggling all of these plot points is that close to none of them get resolved.
Speaking of which, the ending sucks. Episodes 10 and 11 were setting up this ending to be dramatic and solve everything, introducing another plot point where Hiyori is slowly dying due to Nora stealing all of her memories. Episode 11 ended on a cliffhanger of Yato and Yukine going to fight some villain that I honestly can't remember the name of who wants Yato to become a god of calamity again, and is using Nora as his weapon. The first half of the episode was actually pretty good, until the villain smashes the ball containing Hiyori's memories. This was a huge dramatic moment, and was displayed really well, until deus ex machina decided to show up and give Hiyori her memories back because…Hiyori could remember what Yato smelled like? What?! I don't mind deus ex machina as much as most people do, but to use it to justify an ending is just incredulous. Do you seriously expect me to believe that it was just some sort of willpower on Hiyori's behalf that caused her to gain her memories back when we literally saw the villains SMASH them!? On top of that, the anime chose to completely ignore any other plot thread that they hadn't finished already (mainly, the revenge plot, the romantic subplot and the main plot) and just decided to end the show there. The worst part is the fact that the anime deviated from the manga, so you can't even call it a "read the manga" ending. This just pisses me off.
As for what the show does right, it was able to create likable characters, albeit they did lack depth with the exception of my favorite character Yukine. Yato is a bombastic character who is slightly desperate but has a good heart overall, Hiyori…still lacks a personality after 12 episodes, and Yukine is one of the most well-developed characters that I've seen considering his circumstances. I'm not going to spoil anything about his character, but let's just say that a seed can grow into a dominating plant. The show also sports colorful animation and a fitting soundtrack.
Overall, Noragami isn't close to being anywhere near my favorites list, but it was still an entertaining watch despite its various story issues. If you have some extra time to kill, I'd recommend it, but this shouldn't be on the top of your "To Watch" list.
Noragami was a fun anime. It had some dramatic moments, well-executed action scenes, a fantastic soundtrack, and likable characters. However, where this anime falls short is its story, especially when it comes to balance. For the most part, its episodes have a balance of drama and comedy, setting the tone to be slightly-serious and fun. Then, episode 8 happened. Without spoiling too much, episode 8 felt like constant depression was being thrown into my face, which completely contrasted with the overall tone of the show, and there was close to no buildup to it. I don't mind darker content in anime, but you shouldn't always have to resort to it to make dramatic moments more dramatic. Sure, it's nowhere close to Higurashi or Fate/Zero, but again, Noragami's tone did not suggest that it would try to go for a darker psychological route, making episode 8 a completely unwelcome surprise.
The story also lacks consistency with its plot. The plot keeps on changing directions like the creators are worried that the audience will get bored of the plot that they started off with. First it's a story about Yato trying to help Hiyori get back to her normal life, then it's a story about someone wanting revenge against Yato from the past, then it's a comedy anime, then it's a psychological drama anime, then it switches back to comedy…you get my point. The problem with juggling all of these plot points is that close to none of them get resolved.
Speaking of which, the ending sucks. Episodes 10 and 11 were setting up this ending to be dramatic and solve everything, introducing another plot point where Hiyori is slowly dying due to Nora stealing all of her memories. Episode 11 ended on a cliffhanger of Yato and Yukine going to fight some villain that I honestly can't remember the name of who wants Yato to become a god of calamity again, and is using Nora as his weapon. The first half of the episode was actually pretty good, until the villain smashes the ball containing Hiyori's memories. This was a huge dramatic moment, and was displayed really well, until deus ex machina decided to show up and give Hiyori her memories back because…Hiyori could remember what Yato smelled like? What?! I don't mind deus ex machina as much as most people do, but to use it to justify an ending is just incredulous. Do you seriously expect me to believe that it was just some sort of willpower on Hiyori's behalf that caused her to gain her memories back when we literally saw the villains SMASH them!? On top of that, the anime chose to completely ignore any other plot thread that they hadn't finished already (mainly, the revenge plot, the romantic subplot and the main plot) and just decided to end the show there. The worst part is the fact that the anime deviated from the manga, so you can't even call it a "read the manga" ending. This just pisses me off.
As for what the show does right, it was able to create likable characters, albeit they did lack depth with the exception of my favorite character Yukine. Yato is a bombastic character who is slightly desperate but has a good heart overall, Hiyori…still lacks a personality after 12 episodes, and Yukine is one of the most well-developed characters that I've seen considering his circumstances. I'm not going to spoil anything about his character, but let's just say that a seed can grow into a dominating plant. The show also sports colorful animation and a fitting soundtrack.
Overall, Noragami isn't close to being anywhere near my favorites list, but it was still an entertaining watch despite its various story issues. If you have some extra time to kill, I'd recommend it, but this shouldn't be on the top of your "To Watch" list.
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