Common Name: Noragami / Noragami Aragoto
Alternative Names: Stray Gods
Score: 9/10, 5/5
Length: 1 Season of 12, 1 Season of 13, 4 OVAs
Genre: Action, Supernatural, Comedy
Summary: Japan is a nation that possesses nearly as many Gods and spirits as it does normal human people. These Gods, born from and given strength by the desires of the human populous, work ceaselessly to aid and protect humanity from themselves. Just like how Gods are created from faith, demons and monsters that terrorize the human world are born from humanity's more negative emotions. So, it figures that a stray God like Yato has little trouble finding trouble to take care of. Unlike most gods who reside in the human world, though, his aid is not limited to a single task since he possesses no formal shrines or worshipers. Instead, Yato is content to take any odd job that he can to one day gain the funds necessary to build a shrine of his own. One such job is to offer the young Iki Hiyori some assistance with a very personal problem: her soul tends to just slip out of its mortal shell every now and then. Uncertain of where to begin with this problem, though, Yato is determined to find the answer to Hiyori's problem, either through increasing his own godly strength or by simply asking another God for their advice on the matter, assuming there are any still willing to tolerate the existence of a stray god.
Review: For the past couple reviews I noticed I've been harping on one topic in particular: the issue of expecting a show to be historically accurate when it makes references to known concepts and ideas. Yet, in the case of Noragami, I'm inclined to forgive any historical inaccuracies and ideological inconsistencies simply because it takes those old ideas and runs with them in a way I like. It's kinda funny when I think about it. Granted, I've never tried to claim that I come at my reviews without some kind of bias, particularly when I'm working within the looser framework of the Recall series in which I struggle desperately to even remember what I'm trying to talk about. Here's the thing though: while I might be inclined to hate on shows that take names from history and literature and use them for their own purposes, I don't think concepts of faith need to follow that same standard. In the case of history, taking names and places and adding them to a fictional work demands the understanding that the audience knows about the mythologies and histories regarding those people and places. From where I stand, warping those understandings into something wholly unrecognizable from the original concept of that character or event is akin to blasphemy. It's a crime against the concept that is only made all the more offensive when the author would have been better served calling upon their own, original idea rather than stealing someone else's identity. I had issue with this in Jubei-chan just as much as I did in Alice to Zoroku. Maybe I'm just being a stickler, but I feel like name dropping or calling back to something that happened and then not using it as the name implies is just lazy, if not offensively insincere.
So, why is it that I have no problem with Noragami taking the religious figure of Bishamon,
the Japanese version of the Buddist deity Vaiśravaṇa, and turning him into
a cool as hell, gun-toting crusader goddess?
While I might take issue with that idea when it comes to matters of human history and literature, it's hard for me to peg why that kind of twisting of ideas doesn't bother me when it comes to myths, legends, and the nature of the divine. I mean, maybe it's because I just don't put nearly as much faith in the idea of faith being fact as I do in history being factual even though I'm well aware that history can be just as fictitious as mythology. History is written by the winner, drunk on power and glory, after all. Or maybe it's just that I'm more willing to forgive shows that take those name drops and then make something amazing out of them, reducing my past gripes into me simply looking for even the pettiest of reasons to hate on a bad show.
I might just be covering my ass in saying so, but I'm more inclined to put stock in my first reason.
The way I see it, the concept and representation of Gods is already a naturally fluid and vague idea since they are ultimately a human creation. Gods are, essentially, whatever we want them to be and can be twisted in whatever manner we want so long as they make sense to us. From the Buddist incorporation of the Hindu faith and then Shinto's incorporation of that faith into its own to the mirroring of ideas seen in both the Judeo-Christian concept of God and the Greek vs. Roman pantheons, deities are proven time and again to be highly malleable concepts. As people move around and meld together, their ideas begin to change as well and not even Gods are free of that kind of adaptability. Looking at Japan's staggering ability to warp various religious ideologies to suit their own ideals proves that fact without any way to argue otherwise. So, I guess it makes total sense to me that Gods, demons, and their various iterations can be presented as entirely different beings from what we might initially recognize. It's just a matter of figuring out what outfit that deity put on this time and roll with it.
Before I start sounding like I'm bashing on religion as a concept, though, let me be clear that I am
someone who believes in a higher power. I'm just not sure what form that power takes.
Here's the funny thing though: you might think my monologue up to this point has had nothing to do with the show itself and you'd be only half right. One of my favorite things about Noragami is that it seems to acknowledge the fluid nature of the divine while it simultaneously focuses in on these very beings, giving them a form and shape we can identify while simultaneously highlighting their very erratic nature. This kind of idea is presented mainly through the show's titular "Stray God," Yato, in that he is very much a being that changes who he is to each person he interacts with since he is a God without a solid idea of who he really is. Yet Yato isn't the only instance of this kind of fluid nature. Bishamon, the goddess I mentioned previously, undergoes similar role changes based on what role she needs in those moments. War god, god of fortune, god of destruction, god of law and order--Bishamon is all these things but none of them truly define who she is personally since all those titles are just her job. Just as inclined to anger as they are kindness, it's fascinating to regard and analyze the Gods that make up this show because they are simultaneously characters we can grow attached to and love as well as beings that possess little to no personal identity of their own since humanity has never bothered to consider the daily lives and personal relationships of their minor deities. It is worth noting, however, that kind of fluidity isn't seen in some of the show's more easily identified deities like Izanami, who is very much a character that is solid in her insane imagining and consistent with most iterations of her I've seen in the past. To be blunt, this kind of insanely deep analysis and character concept is the reason I love Noragami as much as I do, but it isn't the actual appeal of the show.
If you want to talk crazy with me about this show sometime, though, feel free to hit me up. I will drop
anything I'm doing to dig deep into the fan-theories and conspiracies that surround this show.
As much as I'd love to ramble on and on about fluid Gods until the end of days, the real reason people like this show is the lovable cast of characters it has to offer and all the dramatic bullshit they're forced to suffer along the way. Centered primarily on the establishment and development of the stray god Yato, Noragamii is a story that ends up being fairly equal parts comedy, drama, and action. It's just kinda one of those every-person shows that has something for everyone that is held together, from start to finish, with both a gorgeous aesthetic and characters that are just as cool as they are funny. It's just hard not to laugh at Yato's misfortune one moment to whooping in excitement as he makes killing monsters look like a work of art. Along the same lines, Hiyori's attachment to Yato and Yuki, his personified weapon, drives home all the more reason to grow attached to these characters since she, herself, seems to care about them a great deal. No matter who you are, there is a character for you in this show who will get you invested in them for the silliest of reasons only to blow you away when that character's complexity is revealed. To put it as simply as I can, Noragami is just simple dumb fun that has a way of getting its hooks in you before sending you on a wild ride that'll bring you to tears. My only real complaint against the show is that it ends on a pretty massive cliffhanger that has left me begging for more for a few years now. Should you check it out? Hell yes. Should you try to dig into this show's conspiracy theory-level nonsense as much as I did in this review? Probably not, but I'd be surprised if the desire to do so doesn't strike you at some point.