First Impressions: Noragami Aragoto (ep. 1-7)

Well, the fall anime season has fallen upon us fallen mortals, and with the falling of the leaves comes the rising of new anime.

And then some.

For this particular article, I’m gonna be focusing on one of the “some”:  Noragami Aragoto, a show who’s first season was well-received by the community, so much so that we wished we had more.

Well, this is it.  We got what we wanted.  But now the question remains:  how does it stack up with the original?  Is it still the same action-packed, funny, and thoughtful story of an unknown god, his blond-haired weapon, and their female companion who’s spirit can leave her body at any remote time?

Yes, and no.

Hooray for vague answers.

But hold the phone, cuz I’m about to shed light on that statement.

My name is Ken, and today, I present to you my two cents on the first 7 (yeah I’m rather late, I know) episodes of one of the season’s hottest shows:  Noragami Aragoto.

Now, I will be discussing the Bishamon arc that the first-half of this series covers.  Minor spoilers along the way, so be warned.

In the second season of Noragami the main focus is on Bishamon, goddess of war.  Being a goddess haunted by her tragic past with regards to her losing almost all of her regalias, she has taken on the role of a caring mother to probably hundreds of regalias under her name.  This isn’t exactly too healthy for a god, however, as her health starts to worsen due to her constantly receiving blights from who knows which of her regalias (since there were so many, nobody could really keep track).  Despite this, her sole agenda remain strong:  to get revenge on Yato for murdering her previous clan.

In terms of the story so far, it is rather fantastic.  we get a different character-focus this time around, the story revolving on Bishamon, Kazuma, and the rest of her regalias, as internal conflicts combined with a sinister propaganda leads to the goddess’ deteriorating health.  This is terrific in expanding not only the setting, but multiple characters’ backstories as well.

As Yato and co.’s backgrounds have already been est
ablished (more or less), this is a breath of fresh air, as Bishamon and her relationships with her regalias provide a great parallel to Yato’s own:  out of respect and concern for their mistress, Bishamon’s regalias prefer to keep their issues to themselves and not open up to their goddess so as not to worry her.  Ironically, this causes more problems, as these bottled-up issues developed into bigger blights, thus making Bishamon’s condition worse.  On the other hand, Yato and Yukine fight and bicker quite a lot, but it’s part of their healthy relationship and allows both sides to address their thoughts more openly, rather than hiding it from each other.  These parallel’s make for great storytelling, and Noragami excelled in that respect.

As for the action, it’s still there, and bloody hell is it amazing.  It’s not an immense spectacle a la Fate/Zero or anything, but it is still rather entertaining and definitely one of the highlights that the show, thankfully, keeps from its first season.  In terms of its animation and soundtrack, nothing much has changed, and that’s a good thing, considering that both were good enough to begin with, so if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it, I guess.

Also, did I mention how good the OP and ED are?

In essence, what do I think of Noragami Aragoto so far?

Well, with regards to the question I posed at the beginning of this article:

No, it’s not like the first season at all.

It doesn’t focus on the main 3 protagonists, but instead, takes a different approach and develops a different set of characters in a way that allowed the viewers to have a clearer insight on their backgrounds as well.  With Bishamon in particular, we got to see a different side of the war goddess, which gives her a form of depth to her character.  The parallels formed between Yato’s family and Bishamon’s only made for a more interesting point, and by the end of the arc, you feel that something has definitely changed somewhere, and that’s pretty much a sign of the intricacies of this story arc.  All while expanding the universe’s setting (Bishamon’s palace, the concept of the gods having a “council”, the concept of gods/goddesses being “reborn” and starting as children, blessed vessels, etc.), which just adds to the experience overall.

Combine those with great OSTs to heighten whatever mood it’s currently in, as well as animation that is above the standard of modern shows (props to Bones), and you can’t really go wrong with this second season.

And so, with regards to the question that I had at the beginning of this article:

Yes, this is the same old, action-packed, funny, and thoughtful Noragami we’ve all come to love.

As per usual, leave a comment down below pertaining to your thoughts on this topic, on the show itself, or if you would like me to review or make a first impression about anything.  And, speaking of liking, give the article a thumbs-up if you enjoyed it.

Aaaaaaand, with that, I bid you all adieu.  This has been Ken, for thebuttonsmashers.com Anime Reviews, and I’ll see you guys in the future.

Byeeeee.