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It’s shows like Noragami that give predictability a good name.
Noragami was many things, but among the most prominent was consistent. All season long it duked it out for best new series – albeit of a weak season – with Space Dandy and Hoozuki no Reitetsu. And while the anime-original arc wasn’t on the same level as the first nine episodes and thus probably nudges Noragami down to third overall, most of the variance in my ranking over these last three months was due to the fluctuations in quality among those other two shows – Noragami’s arrow flight has been straight and true from the beginning. Never transcendent, but always vastly entertaining and superbly executed.
The current complaints about the anime ending from manga readers (a full-throated roar) were no less predictable than the quality of the series, but I felt the original material was fine. If it was a step down from the near-brilliance of the best moments of Yukine’s arc, to this anime-original viewer it certainly felt consistent with the tenor of the show. By the nature of its construction the ending reduced Hiyori to a more passive role – her memory loss was the plot driver more than her character as a whole – but the Rabo subplot was quite believable and even moderately compelling.
There isn’t much new in terms of character movement in these last three episodes – more an entrenching of what came before – and they’re basically plot-driven. If that lessens the emotional impact some, I think it serves the purpose of not closing any doors on a potential second season. If there’s significant development on the character side here it’s in Yato’s increasing attachment to Hiyori, which he certainly displays more broadly in the finale that at any other point in the series.
The first nexus moment comes when Rabo (at Nora’s suggestion, naturally) destroys Hiyori’s memories. The cliche route here would have been for that to send Yato over to the dark side and return him to his old self – perhaps with Hiyori recovering and calling him back – but happily Noragami took a different turn here. Yato’s control – and/or his desire not to do what Rabo and Nora want and go back to full Calamity-God mode – is stronger than one might have expected. He’s pissed, but not blind with rage. He seems to be thinking rationally – first defeat Rabo, then try and figure out a way to bring Hiyori back from the soulless “sack of meat” Rabo says she’s become with her memories destroyed.
That Nora was pulling the strings here was never in doubt, though the full extent of her reasoning for wanting Yato to change back isn’t fully explored (after she fails she mentions going to talk to “Father” about next steps). Rabo, by contrast, seems like a pretty straightforward guy. His worshipers are gone (much of the ep takes place at his derelict Shrine), he’s been dormant for 500 years, and he wants to see the Yato God that he wreaked havoc and destruction with during their salad days. That he ultimately wants that because he wants Yato to put him to rest at last is a fairly predictable development, I admit, but one that feels consistent with the themes of the series.
In the end, that’s exactly what happens – Rabo gets what he wants, but without Yato turning back into what he was. Why Yato managed to stick around and change with the times and Rabo didn’t is an interesting question, but this change seems to be locked-in and sincere. Call it whatever you will – just as you can call Yato’s scent being the trigger for Hiyori to break Nora’s spell and regain her memories what you will – but at the very least there’s obvious affection between the two of them at this point. Hiyori even insists that she “wants to stay with Yato forever” – again, draw your own conclusions (Kofuku certainly does). But in refusing Yato’s offer to cut all ties with her, Hiyori makes it clear that she’s not interested in going back to her old life – even if it means she remains stranded on the boundary between two worlds, increasingly drawn to the Far Shore.
There’s certainly plenty of grist for the mill for a second season here, both in terms of plot and character. I’d be very interested, in fact, in seeing whether Yukine’s transformation to boy scout is as smooth and simple as it seems to be so far. There’s also the Bishamon arc, which manga readers speak highly of, and would seem to be a prime candidate around which to build a theoretical second season. Current guesstimates based on Stalker put the first volume at around 4500 combined units, which would likely be marginally profitable but on the light side for a series to get a continuation (second seasons almost always sell less that first seasons). BONES as a studio is perhaps less allergic to sequels than most, though – we can make a better guess after the hard numbers come in next month.
For my part I’d certainly welcome more Noragami. It’s clear that this is a well-written manga – if not especially profound or revolutionary, a smart and savvy take on an interesting premise. I like all three main characters a lot – including Yukine, who most readers of the manga seem to hate – and I especially thought the world-building aspect of the series was excellent. This was all brought to life with outstanding production values by BONES – superb direction, terrific music, clever and funny visuals, and a strong cast (yes, including Kaji Yuuki, who was perfectly fine here – which is at the top of his quality range). I also thought Noragami balanced humor and drama exceptionally well, especially in the early episodes. They were some of the funniest of the season, but there was a growing sense of darkness that was impossible to miss. It was a fascinating combination.
If there’s one element in the series I’d take issue with it’s in the way it treated Yukine’s situation – and I’m still not sure just how it treated Yukine’s situation. I’ve written about this plenty so I won’t re-hash it in detail, but I saw nothing to change my view that Yukine wasn’t the bad seed the series seemed to be treating him as. He was just a normal kid who got royally screwed by fate, and I still feel much of what transpired could have been avoided if Yato had simply communicated with him a little. In the end I’m still not sure exactly what Noragami wants the take-away here to be – perhaps it’s simply that the lot of the Shinki simply isn’t fair, and they have no choice but to deal with it. This is not a democracy, and Kami and Regalia are not created equal.
All in all I consider Noragami a solid success and one of the highlights of an otherwise dismal season. I think it did a superb job in bringing its setting to life, and it certainly leaves me wanting to learn more about it. Stylistically the show still feels like a hybrid between two of my favorite studios, BONES and Brains Base, but that it’s a BONES production there can be no doubt. They usually deliver the goods, and they did here – Tamura Koutarou is a name I’ll be looking for on top of the staff lists of future BONES productions. 2014 is looking like the year of BONES, and if Winter is any indication we can be very glad for that.
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blip
March 24, 2014 at 9:01 amI don't want to be obnoxious, but I really think the manga did the "I want to be with Yato forever" part WAY better. I won't spoil it, but the buildup to the moment, the situation and the characters involved gave that moment a greater impact. Yato wasn't the one who wanted to cut ties with her, see. The way they used that line here cancels out the possibility of using it again in a second season (if there is one) with the same effect, which is a real pity. I mean, it was acceptable in the anime – I just think it was a bit lackluster and toned down in terms of emotional impact.
anthony Ramsey
March 27, 2014 at 1:27 amwhat Manga issue does this episode cover?
chataolauj
March 31, 2014 at 1:19 amNone. This was basically a filler. Hiyori never lost her memories and they never met Rabo in the manga.
Roger
March 24, 2014 at 9:25 amokay, i guess they are planning for a second season.
however, i am not with you on the ending. it actually fell like a bit of a whimper to me. the battle between Rabo and Yato was awesome but felt kinda empty, cause really, we knew nothing about Rabo to really understand why he wants to kill Yato, while that supposed twist of him simply wanting to die from Yato's hands was a meh.
yato's side is also a frustration, again being that we knew nothing about his past as a god of calamity (we don't even know why he chose to switch) to really care about this particular conflict. that twist of hiyori simply willing herself to regain her memories also took out a lot of the sense of urgency built leading to this part. not to mention nora.
honestly, this arc feels more like something tacked on just for them to have a finale after that great yukine arc. if they really wanted a more naturally flowing finale for this one, then they should have followed suit with one centering on Yato's conflict with Bishamon (something that they opened up only to disappointingly drop in exchanged for this). that would have provided a more interesting closure while still leaving room for a second season.
i can't help but contrast this with how Arpeggio: Ars Nova did its finale. that one also did an anime original ending, yet gave a more satisfying closure to its characters' stories. then ending was truly a culmination of the character developments in the series. compared to that, this one really went nowhere.
chataolauj
March 31, 2014 at 1:20 amIf you want to know Yato's past then you have to read the manga. The manga is still continuing by the way.
whemleh
March 24, 2014 at 9:38 amI think if there's anything that Noragami really stood above the rest in, it may have been the music. It was pretty much excellent in every way. The BGM really did wonders for the tone of the series, and always seemed to start at exactly the right time. Definitely my favorite OP and ED of the season as well.
The only real criticism I can give to the Rabo arc is that it felt like an anime-original arc, and I generally don't like villains whose entire purpose is to be defeated by the hero. Still, a lot of it really worked for me and I especially liked where Hiyori's memory returned (although I have no idea how that happened). It was just a very well staged scene.
As for Yukine, according to the manga readers his troublemaking was toned down considerably for the anime, so it could be a case where they changed his behaviour that but didn't change how the series treated his behaviour, which in turn made him seem not that bad to an anime-only viewer like you or I.
Great series overall. As always, thanks for blogging! Bring on season 2!
jim
March 24, 2014 at 9:47 amThe Rabo arc was basically a rip off of Ruroni Kenshin / Batousai (which may or may not be a copy of some other story I don't know about) only with gods.
I will not hold back in saying that the show does a very good job with the humor and execution, but ultimately, this is the kind of show I'm just growing out of. The fight scenes and mannerisms of the characters just have this air of immaturity, and not really in the youthful sense, just very simple and easy to follow. If a middle schooler asked if this was a good show, I would definitely recommend it, no doubt. However, at the age of 23, I'm just moving on to different things. I've started watching stuff like The Wire (amazing show) so a lot of the anime I've been watching just feels very very shallow and juvenile. I'm just glad there are shows like SD, gin no saji, and hunter x hunter to keep me from leaving anime, which I still think is a great art medium, I just want to see more of the "art" aspect rather than seeing studios picking up shows that will make the most amount of money.
sonicsenryaku
March 24, 2014 at 9:51 amSupposedly i heard somewhere that the staff behind noragami felt as if they would need 10 eps to tell the bishamon arc (makes sense since those chapters are pretty hefty); that at least is a good sign that they are thinking about it heavily. Overall this was a nice closer to this series; 40 chapters in and this series still remains a very well executed piece of work that is very deliberate with how it paces its story and what it hopes to achieve with its characters. All i can say is that from here on in the road of noragami only gets darker. I remember one of your post questioning whether noragami was a comedy with dark undertones or if it was the other way around, and its definitely the other way around, especially in future installments with some great character focus. I always enjoy a well-executed series and im definitely going to stick around for any future installments regarding this series.
Roger
March 24, 2014 at 12:24 pm"Supposedly i heard somewhere that the staff behind noragami felt as if they would need 10 eps to tell the bishamon arc (makes sense since those chapters are pretty hefty); that at least is a good sign that they are thinking about it heavily."
i find that particularly annoying. haven't read the manga yet. but seeing that they opened bishamon's arc early in the anime, that one should have been the one to naturally follow after yukine's arc, since they really built bishamon and kazuma's characters from the start. either that or they should have just completely dropped off bishamon from this adaptation to give the needed space for Rabo's buildup (since he was treated as the final opponent here).
i just don't get the logic of opening that particular plot thread here then leaving it in midair simply because they felt they needed more episodes to handle it.
sonicsenryaku
March 24, 2014 at 12:51 pmBishamon being a part of the plot that early in the anime (honestly it was more mid-way to be exact) is part of the sequence of events; that's how it was suppose to happen and it would have been nonsensical if they removed it completely or introduced it at the end of Yukine's arc. You can introduce a plot point and leave it hanging as long as you give your audience cues that the plot point that has been left hanging is important and will be addressed in due time (this happens all the time in television or any kind of story-telling medium; i dont think that's a fault) and I feel that noragami gave its audience enough cues to let them know that bishamon's grudge against Yato will be addressed.
Roger
March 24, 2014 at 1:23 pmyes, i know that removing bishamon completely would be a bad route, since kazuma is pretty important in yukine's arc.
what i am simply saying is that they should have continued with her arc as a natural followup, instead of suddenly swerving into a plotline (Rabo's) that wasn't properly built up. that could have provided a better closure for that arc (and the series) and set it up better for the audience to know that, yes, they will pick it in due time.
the idea here being "what if a second season never gets greenlit?" then bishamon's plotline will never get resolved (in the anime at least) because they decided to give the final arc to an anime original plot (which, honestly, didn't advance it beyond the yukine arc).
sonicsenryaku
March 24, 2014 at 1:42 pmtrust me, i know where you're coming from, but the bishamon arc is too meaty to pull off in 3 eps. That sucker needs about ten eps since an ep of noragami would probably be a 1 and a quarter of a chapter at the most; and then the arc after that is probably another ten eps. The arc kind of lead into each other with no real stopping point per se. If you're interested in spoiling yourself, go read the manga to see just what i mean.
Zeta Zero
March 24, 2014 at 1:46 pmSimply put, there weren't enough hours/minutes running time left to do a substantial continuation of Bishamons arc without it cutting off at a random juncture with no series closure. The other option would have been to insubstantially rush through it leaving viewers complaining about it anyway.
Roger
March 24, 2014 at 1:58 pm@sonicsenryaku
yeah i know. it's just that i feel that they could have left the bishamon arc at a better position than what it ended here.(bisha appeared, opnes up a conflict, thyen promptly got demoted to extra afterward). and, honestly, the Rabo arc feels more like a random Phantom fight than a proper villain battle (kinda obvious to you by now that i am not particularly fond of this arc).
admin
March 24, 2014 at 2:04 pmSometimes in adapting there are no perfect answers. In any event, one of the truisms of life is that manga readers will never be satisfied anyway – even if you adapt literally, some will complain that you adapted too literally. Trying to adapt when you don't have enough episodes is a task no one should envy.
Roger
March 24, 2014 at 2:29 pmagreed. which is why, I think, it would have been better as an alternative for them to have simply stopped at the end of yukine's arc, which was the series' high point. everything just drops off from there, such that you (or I at least) couldn't care less about the outcome of the final battle (aside from the fact that it was well choreographed)..
admin
March 24, 2014 at 3:08 pmSo just stop – make a 9-episode series when the production committee ordered a full cour? That would make for an interesting conference call.
maverickmann84
March 24, 2014 at 3:30 pmYeah the manga flows to smoothly from arc to arc to cut anything out, and the Bish arc was very long and arguably the Yukine arc was the less of it's own arc and more of the start of one arc that includes Yukine/Bish/Yato storylines. That's whats so good about the manga, that it doesn't feel too much like different arc but more like a novels where it's one cohesive story. (at least during what the English translations have covered 29 ch I think) And to be honest if you read the manga you should like the anime origna arc more bc of how well it ties into backstory of Yato/stray/father and that arc has been awesome so far. So it's not like its so out of place anyway.
sonicsenryaku
March 24, 2014 at 11:07 pmThe way i see it, the bigwigs in charge of the episode count of noragami wanted to keep it at 12 because they most likely werent sure how noragami would perform. Would the audiences like it enough to make it profitable? would the series bump the sales of the manga? would it overall be a success? because those questions did not have definitive answers, what better way to gauge how the series would do by just producing 12 eps rather than 24 and see how it would do. I dont think BONES wanted to take the risk of making 24 eps and not have the series be successful; after all, they were pretty quiet in 2013 and while this is their comeback year, they are being methodical about the way they release their content.
Roger
March 25, 2014 at 12:22 am@Enzo
they could always have the filler at the early parts and not at the end.
@sonicsenryaku
yeah i know. this just isn't what i was expecting as a closure after that really good yukine arc. the filler could have worked better as a lead-in to that arc (exploration of yato's backstory and all) and not as a follow-up
maverickmann84
March 26, 2014 at 12:59 pm@Roger Yeah it is a little weird to choose an anime original arc as a filler ending, but really there wasn't going to be any closure anyway seeing as the manga is still going. And since it has such good tie ins with upcoming arcs, if the choose to make another season, it will actually fit very well into the overall flow of the story. It was clearly written with the mangas storyline in mind.
beverley-chan
March 24, 2014 at 10:29 amThe problem with the hate on Yukine from manga readers was that when the anime started airing the manga was only translated until chapter 10 which is where the anime stopped, Yukine's punishment, and as you know Yukine's behavior was worse in the manga. Scanlation groups now are on chapter 22 (climax of Bishamon arc) while one person who translates the manga for those who want to catch up quicker has already reached chapter 30.
Yukine is the best character of the manga and he is one of the key players who really shines on Bishamon arc, without giving any details he demonstrates his potential and you can see why Yato wanted to secure him despite his questionable methods in doing so (in the manga other Regalias criticized how extreme Yato was and that it was too risky on his part). By the end of Bishamon arc it's impossible to hate Yukine and in the following arc he continues to demonstrate his worth. It's an appropriate decision the anime didn't have an original take on Bishamon and Yato's confrontation because there's many good moments to come if they make a season 2 (ideally a season 3 about Ebisu/Yomi would be even better since Ebisu/Yomi arc is even better than Bishamon).
Some anime watchers appear to have doubts which I can't understand about the God-Regalia system. It's a symbiosis, Gods can't defend without Regalias while Regalias have a safe place to live. The most important thing is trust between both entities to make it work. In the manga this is more clear because every God we encounter has a completely different view on the treatment of Regalias. The situation with Yukine must be seen as a lack of trust/failure to accept his condition from Yukine's part and irresponsibility from Yato's part. Both sides are meant to be blamed, maybe more on Yato who wanted Yukine to reach his lowest point.
As you can see with Rabo a God is created by people's wishes, meaning that when people no longer have such wishes the God disappears. This is not a problem for the famous ones like Tenjin or the Seven Lucky Gods, but minor ones who were moderately known and only served a purpose during a certain period are doomed to die like Rabo with Yato being the only exception (and it's one of the main mysteries, how someone without a shrine nor followers like Yato has been able to live for centuries when normally he should've died long ago).
On the rest I agree with your opinion about the filler. It was inferior compared to the previous episodes but it didn't contradict anything with the established canon. Thanks for blogging the series and I look forward to your opinion on the rest of the finales left
litho
March 24, 2014 at 10:49 amSo let me get this straight. The first half was based on what's arguably the weakest arc in the manga – what I call the angsty Yukine and nosy Hiyori arc – and the secong half is an anime original? WTF?!!
Think I'll just stick to the manga. It got pretty good after Yukine stopped raging about not having a PSP.
MgMaster
March 24, 2014 at 12:06 pmNoragami is one of those shows that has BONES consistency written all over it,which I find it hard not to like.
I thought the ending provided a rather decent closure. They still have plenty to do with Bishamon & Nora though and I guess there's a good chance they will so I'm very much looking forward to a 2nd season!
Maxulous
March 24, 2014 at 12:26 pmThe episode I've liked the least since the first two, but in the larger scheme of things it was an admirable (and efficient) way to wrap. A shame this won't be the BONES show returning to us in July. Where out of the exceptional came the mundane, out of ordinary came the exceptional.
Kaji was more than perfectly fine, proving himself irreplaceable given the right role.
Ronbb
March 25, 2014 at 4:35 amKaji's performance surprised me…I'd say a job well done.
Zeta Zero
March 24, 2014 at 1:02 pmThe filler was a step down from the previous material, but I think it was the right way to go considering the remaining time constraints. It's better to have original filler to stall for time than go off the rails with cannon characters/material. Matching the tone of the work is important, which this Rabo arc did, and sets the series up for potential continuation.
I still think those manga readers were too quick to criticise Yukine whilst simultaneously absolving Yato of any blame.
thedarktower
March 24, 2014 at 2:10 pmNoragami was one of the best series this season had. it is so consistent and so good with the combination of all right elements with the right touch.
the main dish for us was Yukine arc. I really liked it. but it also the only beginning of the story of Noragami. now I understand your issues during this arc. but I don't think the series really tried to show him as bad guy/seed. in the manga we had more bad situations with him and his attitude was sometimes more harsh. but in the end, both anime and manga are here to show that Yukine isn't bad or something. it's just circumstances and all.everyone has some..bad thoughts and emotions from time to time, it's just that in Yukine's case it bears more weight since it's dangerous for him and Yato. we saw it all along during other events whether it's students who wanted to commit suicide or something.
as the fellows said above me, there wasn't enough time left to continue with the following Bishamon arc, which I very much like. it's good material and is very consistent with the themes and funny and all. instead, we got a filler with the character known as Rabo, another calamity god. it wasn't as bad as it sounds. of course, the manga material is better, but I wasn't disappointed of the material or something. it was good enough. and I really liked the action and swords-fight in the last 2 eps. reminded me sword of the stranger a little.
ending itself was good. however, I am not quite happy that the Hiyori said directly to Yato that she refuses cutting her connections. of course I know it's her thoughts and all and I understand that they wanted to…bring some end to this, at least for now. but the next arc is also related to it. and it's important stuff and all. the bottom line is that it has importance in the next arc and it's like they are messing a bit with it (but not that much..so I'll forgive them :-P)
all in all, fillers or not, Noragami did very very well. great production of BONES by all means – music, animation, story (that counts, yeah). it's good to have BONES back with such series that so fits to it…
hopefully, disc sells will go well. and all that left is cross fingers for S2 ASAP!
thanks for blogging Noragami!
(maybe cover the manga too?:P)
gedata
March 24, 2014 at 3:09 pmWeakish ending. The conflict between Rabou and Yato made me feel like I was watching Battousai vs Jin-E again. As expected they never did much with this Rabo fellow asides from making him that dude to spout "hey Yato, you used to be so evil n awesome n'stuff". Also it felt too hand-wavey on the subject regarding how Hiyori got her memory back.
tateami
March 25, 2014 at 3:21 amHah, good to see I wasn't the only one having RuroKen flashbacks. When Rabo said "mada" (mata?) I was expecting a second one per Jin-E, which prompted me to expect Hiyori would break the spell on her own, because that's how the trope plays. No surprises there. It was a nice (if very mild) twist to have Yato stay exactly himself, just someone who'd focused down to his priorities.
Which I think was possibly the entire point of the mini-arc. I mean, the manga is tight. So tight! Tiny throwaway parts end up having significant ramifications down the road, but the story just doesn't meander that much. It barely even takes a breath between its arcs. It just launches you into the next, which in turn is grounded (so far) in showing the consequences of the previous arc. For any other manga, I'd expect any of a number of tiny standalone three-part arcs available in the original, because many manga do meander. Noragami doesn't even make a pretense of meandering.
Which is why (knowing that the mangaka was the idea-person for the anime-only arc) I suspect the mangaka did have a point to make with this three-parter. The manga gives no sign of having a storyteller at the helm who wastes time, so there must be some reason we got this arc, despite its RuroKen homage. That brings me back to your review's observation, that Yato doesn't go the "revert to old self" routine. He just gets real focused. Given how unfocused — even scatterbrained and carefree — Yato has appeared so often, I wonder if the mini-arc's real purpose was to amelioriate something the anime hadn't really illustrated fully, compared to the manga: that as Yato chooses to be his 'old self', so he chooses to be his 'new self'.
Certainly that does have echoes of RuroKen (and the many others playing that trope), but it came without the usual declaration of not wanting to kill anymore, or not wanting to fight, or other promises Rabo/Jin-E types won't let him keep. Yato's shift to prioritizing seemed to me to be simply someone who's moved on. He's not even remotely RuroKen-angsty about it, at all. Nor is there any guilt; he just gets it done.
Plus, buried in there, it does raise questions (lampshaded later in the manga) about why, exactly, Yato is still around despite not even having a temple. Which as cliffhangers go, it's not a big one, but it is a huge question hiding under there. It might be that of all the ways to make (non-manga-familiar) people want more, pointing in the direction of that question might have been worth the RuroKen comparisons. I mean, the manga doesn't even bring up that how-is-he-still-here question until over twenty chapters in — and it seems to me, it's a question that rivals Hiyori's half-phantom state in sheer size.
Regardless, I'm ready to start digging for Chinese scangroups just so I can read ahead. Either that, or picket Bones for them to hurry up and announce a second season. Preferably with a good 56 episodes this time, to really dig into the story and give it full justice.
(Incidentally, the other half of the flashback in that last ep was from Sword of the Stranger, also a Bones production. They'd seriously saved up money for the in-betweening on that fight scene, and it had segments nearing the movie-quality of SotS's big numbers. Bones is really one of the few studios willing & able to pull out the stops like a fight scene deserves.)
admin
March 25, 2014 at 5:03 amIf you're gonna homage, may as well homage the best.
Thank you for that – very informative and interesting comment.
GlassShadow
March 27, 2014 at 12:14 amGood god, SOO glad I wasn't the only one having a major Kenshin moment. It contributed to my fondness for the episode – it wasn't the most original, but it sure was damn nostalgic.
Ronbb
March 25, 2014 at 4:32 amHonestly, Noragami was my most anticipated show of the season. Yes, it's nothing poetic and unique, but it's rock solid through and through. It has good production and entertainment value, and what I like the most was the bond shared amongst the main trio.
When I was watching Noragami, I kept thinking what kind of anime I like the most. I think I still long for shows that are ambitious and poetic. However, ambition alone can't make a show great. To me, it's all about the writing, the characters, and how all the elements are weaved together in one neat and solid piece. It's only once in a blue moon that we can find a show that blows our minds, and in today's landscape, Noragami is, sadly speaking, rare and good.
I rank Noragami above Hoozuki and Space Brother. Space Brother was fun to watch in the beginning, but it failed to make me care for the characters. Hoozuki is extremely unique and witty, but then the aftertaste is short — again, I can't find myself resonating with the characters. Noragami, on the other hand, succeeded in entertaining me and making me care for Yato, Hiyori, and Yukine. For as much as it's plot-driven at times, I'm already sold and invested. The Rabo arc is a bit too short and lacking comparing to the Yukine arc — which had all the time to build things up. However, in my view, the way that it wraps things up while paving way for a potential season two is nicely handled and better than many shows that tried the same route. Like many here, I do hope for a season two to come.
Ronbb
March 25, 2014 at 4:43 amWhoops…I meant Space Dandy not Space Brother…
Yann
March 25, 2014 at 7:42 pmNoragami was the only (new) anime I really liked this season… Sad to see it go. I'm ready for the new season to start now! Hopefully it'll be better. Well… There's Mushishi, so it *will* be better 😉
GlassShadow
March 27, 2014 at 12:41 amWell, you guys already said everything there is to say about the show. It's got very consistent writing and beautifully animated. Even the last three episodes, while less strong, are engaging in their own way.
I'm squarely in the camp that Noragami needs a second season. In fact, I have strong feelings it will get it sometimes. We might not see it next season but I think there are plenty of reasons to it to happen. I've seen many people commenting that Bones isn't big on sequel for their adaptions, but we have to keep in mind most their adaptions didn't really need a second season.
Zetsuen no Tempst, Gosick, and the upcoming SE.N were already near-complete when Bones picked them up. The two longer adaptions – Soul Eater and FMA – followed the manga, but for obvious reasons, had to be refitted to a studio-original ending. Then Bones went back and did FMA Brotherhood to rectify the situation.
Un-Go and No.6 are both novel adaptions, so they work differently. Besides, you could only go so far with No.6 being what it is. In reality, the only adaption BONES has done that could've gotten a second season but didn't is Ouran, which holds up fine on its own.
Contrary to popular beliefs, Bones doesn't screw with source material if they can help it. They are one of the few studios I know that always show respect to the original work. Noragami is a different case altogether – narratively, it just doesn't feel complete. I would be frankly quite baffled if Bones does leave it hanging.
Maxulous
March 28, 2014 at 2:56 am"Contrary to popular beliefs, Bones doesn't screw with source material if they can help it. They are one of the few studios I know that always show respect to the original work."
Nice sentiment, but that creates its own set of problems too. More oft than not, source material turns into a let down – manga is never foolproof and shouldn't be treated as such.
I for one hated Brotherhood 'new material' (no matter how consistent it was) and ZnT second half was compromising.
anthony Ramsey
March 27, 2014 at 1:32 amWhere should I pick up the manga after watching the anime? I really want to continue the story.
Katherine Merkel
March 28, 2014 at 2:44 pmThe anime cuts and scrambles just about every event sequence and arc. And it also changes Hiyori's character to a hyper bimbo. She is way more mature and direct in the manga. Forget a second season this anime needs to start a new when enough material is available. All in all Bones screwed around to much for me to like the anime!!!!!
Katherine Merkel
March 28, 2014 at 2:48 pmThe thing is when the source material is so good. Its just ashame when the anime buchers it!!"
Katherine Merkel
March 28, 2014 at 2:52 pmI'm not saying the anime has to be 100% accurate but it should at least be 85% or maybe 95% accurate.
axlorg89
November 19, 2014 at 4:56 pmI absolutely loved this series, shame its not getting a s2. There were very few moments that I hated in this series (Hiyori saying she'll stay with him forever instead of "I want to stay with you a little longer". Hiyori is not dumb and knows she can't stay forever with Yato, but she wants to stay longer with him.) But some I absolutely loved (They showed snipbits of Yukne's past while it isn't revealed yet). One of my tops now.
admin
November 20, 2014 at 12:04 amI still think there's some chance (20%?) this gets a S2.