Noragami
2014
Original language: Japanese
- animation
- action & adventure
- sci-fi & fantasy
The story
Yato may just be a minor god now, but he’s determined to make it big and he’s got a plan. Unfortunately, things just don’t seem to be going his way. He doesn’t have a single shrine dedicated to him, his partner has just quit, and now he’s got to find a new divine weapon. Just when things look bleak, he meets a girl named Hiyori and changes her life forever.
What it’s like
Bright, saturated anime colors with clean cel shading, sun-washed Japanese streets, and the warm glow of late-afternoon light falling across rooftops, shrine steps and crowded station platforms. Its shifts into the spirit world come with inky, washed-out backdrops, ghostly silhouettes and a sudden drop in color that feels like stepping under water. Sound leans on bright, bouncy pop-rock openings and lively incidental guitar, with quieter piano and wind moments for the tender scenes. The pacing is episodic and breezy, with comic bickering and slapstick giving way to tense, fast swordplay and then to slow, earnest talks about belonging. Its emotional register is wistful and funny at once: a scruffy, self-deprecating minor god and a lonely girl slowly building a found family, with a loneliness that is real but never bleak. Violence is present and occasionally sharp, with spirit fights, blades and some frightening monster designs, but it is stylized rather than gory, and bullying and emotional cruelty come up in the human storylines. For viewers who want a warm, funny supernatural series with a cozy core and a little edge, for a rainy weekend or a comfort rewatch.
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