First Impressions / Noragami / Series Introduction

OP Sequence

OP: 「午夜の待ち合わせ」 (Goya no Machiawase) by Hello Sleepwalkers

「家猫と野良神と尻尾」 (Ieneko to Noragami to Shippo)
“A Housecat, a Stray God, and a Tail”

For only 5¥, what would you wish for?
Well, our heroine chooses to enlist the help of Yato (Kamiya Hiroshi), a lower-grade God who’s trying to save up enough money to build his own shrine. Since saving Yato’s life (from an oncoming truck), Iki Hiyori (Uchida Maaya) starts to sporadically become phantom-like. Her spirit leaves her body (after she falls asleep), she grows a tail and she resides within “limbo”. Hiyori bumps into Yato on more than one occasion and for 5¥, she asks for his help to return her to normal. This all sounds nice and dandy, but Yato has his own problems; he’s weaponless. Tomone (Imai Asami) got up and quit and now, Yato has no way to defend himself against phantoms (that manifest from negative human emotions). But have no fear! Something Someone’s coming their way soon…

There’s not a lot of shows this season that I’m excited for, but I also haven’t been this excited for a show since last summer. Noragami is simply fun to watch with characters that are captivating without being too exaggerated. I think the story is one that’s not completely unique, but the characters definitely bring it to life. Yato is quite a pitiful God… he’s not the typical strong protagonist that’s just waiting for something to happen. A little tidbit for those that haven’t read the manga, Yato actually works on a lot “small” cases just to make his earnings. So he helps high-schoolers being teased at school, he returns pets to their owners and he tries to “advertise” his business everywhere possible. He’s not exactly your definition of a God, but I think it works in his favor sometimes. All the help that he does provide, is well appreciated and that makes me happy for him.

On the other hand, Hiyori is who I expected her to be. Her reaction to her very unfortunate situation makes her quite empathic from my point of view. In fact, I actually got the shivers when the scene featured her alone in the hospital (and then Yato appeared!). She’s not your typical damsel in distress and she can pack quite a kick. I’m impressed by her secret closet hobbies and I think this brings more individuality into her character. The only thing is – I’m not sure what she can do for Yato. Usually the main couple of a story is forced together and they benefit one another in some way. In this case… I don’t really understand how Hiyori plays into the Yato’s career of becoming a God. He needs a lot more dough than that to make a shrine for himself.

As for the production value of this show, I’m very impressed so far but also not surprised. I wouldn’t consider myself a hardcore BONES fan, but I have high expectations of them (not to mention that they’ve consistently amazed me year after year). I love the fluid animation, and simply how well it adapted – the characters and scenes look exactly like I envisioned it to look. The opening sequence is also very well done and there are a lot of subtle foreshadowing sequences embedded within it (as most OP does). I’m indifferent to the song right now, but I can picture it growing on me. The ending was very reminiscent to me of Eden of the East’s ED, but the song was very true to supercell and reminded of Shaft too. Funny how that all comes together in a one-minute sequence. Overall, I simply think show is very pretty to watch and the seiyuus do a great job in their roles as well. So far, there are no flaws with the show that deter me from continuing onwards.

TL;DR – @RCCherrie: #Noragami’s first episode was to be expected. Sticks to the manga fairly well but it’s lacking more background info on Yato =S

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「ハートリアライズ」 (Haato Riaraizu) by Tia

Preview

56 Comments

  2. Didn’t know what I was getting into when I decided to try watch this :p (never read the manga). However, I was pleasantly surprised by how likeable the characters are, how amusing the comedy turned out to be, and how creepy the ghost scenes are. This episode was great, aside from feeling a bit fast paced (probably due to cramming the entire intro arc into one episode?). Anyway, this look like a lot of fun. This is the first anime this season that really surprised and impressed me in a good way (that’s not a sequel or a continuation from previous seasons).

    x
    Reply

  3. I’m so glad you’re blogging this Cherrie since after reading Noragami and seeing it animated, there is so much to discuss when it comes to how fascinating the setting is along with the characters, and I can’t wait to see how Bones adapts the rest.

    Dualash
    Reply

  4. Became interested in this once I read the preview and consider me a weekly watcher. The premise reminds me of Kannagi in that we have a god who is trying to increase his reputation by getting more worshippers (except there is no J-pop singing this time, yet :P), but with more action and a slightly more in depth storyline.

    Besides that we also have a girl interested in wrestling (Mayo Chiki and the World God Only Knows anyone?), an MC who reminds me too of the guy from Eden of the East, and what is so far excellent dialogue. This was a funny episode all around, looking forward to the next episode 🙂

    Pancakes
    Reply

    1. Yay! If I can convince one or two more people to watch on a regular basis with me, I consider my goal as a blogger complete =)

      I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing that I get so many references from a single show. In this case, I don’t mind because it’s not trying to mimic other anime… but sometimes it’s a bad thing because that means the show lacks originality T_T I hope that doesn’t turn out to be the case later on for this one.

      Cherrie
      Reply

  7. Heh. This series reminds me of Pratchett’s Lesser Gods… A God that has fallen so hard he can’t even afford own temple, and is working like low-level detective?
    Add to this kick-ass not-your-usual damsel in distress and I’m sold.

    ewok40k
    Reply

  10. Not very good, but certainly not abysmal. It looks beautiful and has some interesting gimmicks to utilize, but something doesn’t feel right with the comedy. The exaggerated white faces weren’t funny, the delivery timing was off and the jokes themselves were predictable and generic.
    Anyways, I’m looking forward to see whether the next episode improves.

    Sylpher
    Reply

  11. A pretty lackluster first episode. The humor mostly hit-or-miss, and i have no idea why, but pacing felt really slow at times (particularly when Yato explained the supernatural stuffs to the chick). Perhaps this sounds like nitpicking, but the thing that got me scratching my head is the appearance of twintail chick inside a bleak classroom surrounded by hostile students. That scene strongly gave me impression as if she would be the main focus of the episode, yet that never occured and instead only Yato finishing off the snake-like monster. I’m going to give 2-3 episodes because the characters seems interesting enough, and i’d love to know the guy who will become Yato’s personal weapon

    Amiluhur
    Reply

    1. That twin-tailed girl was actually the focus of the 1st manga, iirc. Its a story that introduces us and summarizes what Yato and what he does: a down and out god who does small jobs, leaving his number everywhere, etc. The story was probably cut since we can pick out most of those things from context.

      Asta
      Reply

    2. What Asta said.

      The entire first chapter is just an intro with that girl and how she’s being bullied by her classmates. The phantom (sea-creature looking thing) is a manifestation of the negative emotions surrounding her and it haunts her. Yato helps her out after she calls him (when she finds his number on the bathroom stall). That’s a quick summary of the first chapter, but it takes away from the overall story so I guess it was chopped out. The viewer should probably get a better sense of Yato and his personality from the first few eps. ^^

      Cherrie
      Reply

      2. I agree with skurai, though Magoiichi’s hatred is understandable, he does pretty much redeem himself as a character around chapter 20+. I think the english translations are only at 13 though? (if I’m right) :3 so no worries, you’ll probably not hate him all that much by then — when the english translations catch up with the raws, Magoi.

        zzinc
        Reply

  13. I see a lot of BONES in Noragami. it’s a good thing, I missed BONES.

    there is the crazy/bizarre comic touch. it was funny, though sometimes a bit too pushy. leave something for later. I don’t want the jokes to be too repetitive like KyoKan (yeah, bad comparison…).
    I really like the 2 MC Yato and Hiyori. there is good chemistry developing between them and with the comic touch…again – BONES typical since it gave me vibes of BONES shows like soul-eater..yet as individuals the characters are pleasant enough.

    looking ahead this show is funny and nice for now. I’ll see how it’ll move on.

    thedarktower
    Reply

  17. They sure are throwing a lot of money in to this. Felt like watching an amalgamation of a KyoAni and a Shaft show.

    Nice first episode. I have high hopes for this. This is BONES after all.

    Swarz
    Reply

  23. I was very impressed. The laughs were genuine, the characters were awesome, and the writing was superb. I give it an A as far as intros go. This was great. Looking forward to following this show this winter.

    J_the_Man
    Reply

  24. The scene at the hospital when Hiyori goes all scared cat ffffft on the couch, reminded me of Hachikuji … started to feel so nostalgic … but luckily Hiyori rescued me by faking the call to the police, that made me genuinely lough 🙂

    She is my favourite girl this season so far, colourful, funny, and with a good heart. Superb expressiveness by BONES surely helps too.
    Thanks for covering this, Cherrie, I’ll be following. See you around

    Voyager
    Reply

  26. We have a winner! Opening with Tomoe, his Shinki, quitting on him was hilarious. “You’re supposed to give a month’s notice!” I thought Hiyori was going to bargain with him saying “I saved you twice! You owe me!” The five yen price finished me off. Reminds me of Hataraku Mahou-sama. Hoping this keeps going at this level.

    Bear
    Reply

  29. Been reading this manga since 2 yrs back, so glad they finally made this into an anime <3 Not to mention they had to pick Kamiya as Yato <3 And I can't help but keep picturing Levi (SnK) the whole time I listen to him as Yato saying those stupid stuff LOL

    Really impressed with how they put everything together in the first episode, its hard to get a lot of background out of Yato because in the Manga, you also don't get that until much Later~ When is Yukine coming out? Can't wait to hear Kaji as Yukine~

    Miyu
    Reply

  30. To be honest I find this series the most entertaining among the currently shown winter titles (Up till to aru)….

    Unlike the hyped “dandy” which made me yawn after the first half, this one made me excite on how will be the interaction between yato and hiyori will be.. heck even “nobanagun” entertained me more than dandy…

    anyway will made this show on top priority level XD

    BaKaYaRou
    Reply

  35. Finally had a chance to watch some of the new season. TBH, I had no idea what to expect from this show, and I must say I’m pleasantly surprised. Quite so. Of the few new shows I’ve watched so far, this is one of the best IMO. Both the lead characters were quite likeable (nothing I take for granted anymore), and there were a few genuinely funny moments as well. Only the first episode, but so far, this looks like a winner to me. No convincing needed – I’m fully on board for episode number two.

    daikama
    Reply

  39. This show completely got me in when Hiyori started to get all messed up during the frog battle XDDD

    “What the heck–?! Hyahhh!!! You want a piece of me?!” lol! I’d say, Hiyori~!!!!

    onion warrior
    Reply

  40. Cool atmosphere with enjoyable characters and entertaining comedy.

    Glad you got to cover probably one of the best shows this season Cherrie!

    Keep up the good work and I am looking forward to see more of this show with you as blogger!!

    For only 5¥, what would you wish for? Indefinite wishes of course ;P

    ~fineyristensen
    Reply

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