Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. We’re now entering the second month of the sequel arc and I think it’s time we take a look at a fan favorite Noragami. The first anime was released in 2014 and garnered quite a fanbase. How couldn’t it? It was funny, dramatic, suspenseful, and had a good story. The whole story focuses on a stray god trying to get recognized in the world and find his place in it as well. It was an underrated series that deserved more recognition than it deserved. That’s why today, I’m taking a look at the sequel aragoto. When translated aragoto roughly means rough style or and is an abbreviation of the word aramushagoto which means reckless warrior matter. Released in 2015 and done once again by Bones (Space Dandy and Mob Psycho 100), aragoto continues the story where it left off and actually got a rating higher than the first season. Is the second season really better than the first season? Let’s take a look and watch Noragami Aragoto.
Opening and Ending theme
The opening theme for this season is “Kyouran Hey Kids!!” by THE ORAL CIGARETTES. While the first opening is still the best in my opinion I actually did like this song. Just like the first opening, this opening gets you pumped up for the anime and makes you to cheer on Yato and all his friends. The build-up is great and leaves to a satisfying ending but it just didn’t get me as pumped as the first opening which is why I prefer the first one over this one.
The ending is “Nirvana” by Tia. I really felt nothing when watching this ending. It’s not a bad song, it just never stuck with me, at all. While the ending is heartwarming and Tia once again sounds great, I never found myself growing fond of this ending.
Episodes 1-4
We start the season off with Bishamon having a nightmare where Yato kills all her regalia (let it go woman. How long are you gonna hold this grudge?). After that we focus on Yato, Yukine, Hiyori who are babysitting a baby when all of sudden a bunny phantom appears (too bad it’s not the sexy one otherwise this would be a joyous occasion). The phantom came from the baby who was just longing to have someone to play with and if they don’t handle the phantom soon it’ll possess the mother and kill the baby (geez, dark). Yato and Yukine manage to kill phantom all while destroying the place. After this we return to Bishamon who saves a spirit from becoming a phantom and makes the spirit one of her regalia naming her Mineha and bringing her back to her manor where we see Bishamon has a lot of regalia which makes since seeing as how she saves all spirits no matter what. With so many regalias you can imagine this would cause a huge strain on Bishamon’s well-being and sure enough it does as one of her regalias have stung her and she falls ill. Kugaha another one of Bishamon’s regalias and the one who makes her medicine tells her about Kazuma having contact with Yato and helping him in an abulation which Bishamon doesn’t believe and just laughs it off calling it a rumor. As the episode contines we see Yukine befriend another regalia named Suzuha who just happens to be one of Bishamon’s regalias (well they’re relationship won’t last long thanks to their masters).
In episode 2 Yukine continues to meet and hang out with Suzuha not telling Yato that Suzuha is a regalia of Bishamon. We see that Suzuha likes to do gardening work and is working hard to revive a cherry blossom tree he and his frined Tomoko planted 30 years ago. Suzuha tells Yukine that Tomoko was a human girl who despite being alive could see him and communicate with him like a normal person (the girl who spoke to spirits). Every summer she would come to visit her grandma and each year she would see Suzuha tending to the flowers around the cherry blossom tree. The only problem was each year she would forget Suzuha because humans eventually forget spirits if they don’t have constant interaction with them. Eventually, Tomoko stopped visiting in the summer (most likely a boy) but Suzuha continues to look after and nurture the cherry blossom tree should Tomoko return to see it. After hearing this story Yukine is now worried that Hiyori will eventually forget about him and Yato as she gets older and continues on with her daily life. Yukine expresses his concerns to Yato and tells him that Suzuha is one of Bishamon’s regalias. Speaking of Suzuha, Kugaha kills him and this in turn causes a blight to appear on Bishamon. Once Kazuma sees this he gathers up all the regalias and has Kugaha inspect them all where nobody has been corrupted. Bishamon shows up to see what all the fuss is about and we see the blight is gone (the plot thickens). Yato goes to inspect the cherry blossom tree and figures out that Suzuha was killed by phantoms (a modern day Sherlock Holmes that Yato) and then gets attacked by Kugaha. Yato manages to defend himself and forces him to retreat (scene here: https://youtu.be/pShztEcnqUc) where we see Kugaha is working with Nora to take down Bishamon.
At the start of episode 3 we see that the regalia responsible for Bishamon’s blight is a girl named Aiha. She used to be one of Bishamon’s elite fighters but got replaced by a new regalia. Jealous and angry, Aiha began harassing the new regalia and now it’s caused a blight to appear on Bishamon. Not wanting to be an outcast or get caught by others, she’s been hiding her corruption and thanks to Kugaha she’s been able to hide it easily. Kazuma finds out about Suzuha’s death and Yukine desperate to find out what happened to his friend follows Kazuma back to Bishamon’s manor where she’s ready to bust a gap in his ass but Kazuma protects Yukine and he finds out that Suzuha is dead. After hearing this, Yukine just shoots on Bishamon calling her a failure as a god who couldn’t protect one regalia and is terrible to the other regalias who are forcing themselves to stay happy as to not cause Bishamon any worries or problems (damn Yukine. Shots fired on all cylinders). Bishamon finds out that the rumor about Kazuma helping out Yato and Yukine in the abulation was true and she gets even more pissed and exiles him from the manor (Kazuma, you’re fired). Not having any other place to go, Kazuma goes to stay at Kofuku’s place who welcomes him with open arms (for someone who causes people misery she is one graceful god). Yukine falls into depression over the death of his friend which causes a strain on Yato (have you learned nothing from the first season?) and he gets attacked by Aiha who lures him away from Hiyori where she gets attacked by phantoms and captured by Kugaha. Kazuma tries to save her by restraining Kugaha but it doesn’t work because Kugaha is actually a nora. He uses this to capture both Hiyori and Kazuma and takes them back to the land of the gods as bait to get Yato to fight against Bishamon.
Episode 4 opens up with Kazuma and Hiyori locked in cell somewhere beneath Bishamon’s manor. This is bad for Hiyori because if she stays in her astral form for too long she’ll die (https://youtu.be/6nSKkwzwdW4?t=3s). While locked up, Kazuma figures out that Kugaha’s plan is succession or creating a new Bishamon. In this world gods are born from the wishes of men and as long as people pray, believe, and wish for Bishamon to exist she’ll exist. Basically, as long as people believe in Bishamon she can keep dying and being reborn as often as she wants to be. The only downside is she’ll forget her past life and be reborn as a completely new person. Kugaha’s plan is to control the new Bishamon and mold her into the god he wants her to be. But in order for the succession to occur the current Bishamon must die so Kugaha is going to use Yato to kill her and in turn Yato himself will die as well and since he doesn’t have any believers he’ll die permanently (in fact we find out later that if people stop thinking about him completely he’ll just up and vanish). We also learn the truth about Bishamon’s hatred for Yato and why Kazuma is so indebted to him. Long ago in a distant past (Seras: I, Aku, the shapeshifting master of darkness) Bishamon had a large clan of regalia much like the one she has today. The clan was like her family and she loved all of them (but the bigger the family the bigger the problems) but one day one of the regalias stung her and nobody came forward to confess to it. Days went by as Bishamon’s condition worsen and distrust within the clan kept rising until finally they began attacking each other and Kazuma got a front row seat to it. In order to save Bishamon, Kazuma went to Yato and begged him to kill the clan. Yato heard his request and together with Nora (who we find out is named Hiiro) he killed Bishamon’s clan leaving only Kazuma as the sole survivor. Bishamon wept for days over the death of her clan and soon her sadness turned into hatred for Yato and she vowed to avenge her clan one day (wow. So Yato saves her and she repays his kindness by trying to kill him? Crazy woman). Yato gets Tenjin to let him and Yukine into the land of the gods on two conditions. One, nobody is to know he was involved in this and two, once Yato has rescued Hiyori and bought her back safely he must cut his ties with her forever. Yato agrees to this and he and Yukine are sent to the land of the gods where they blast through the front door of Bishamon’s manor (https://youtu.be/y6_NaBw-4Cg) and take Bishamon head on in a fight (where rage is the theme and everybody is trying to kill each other). Despite being weak from her stung, Bishamon still proves to be a formidable opponent for Yato and manages to use her many regalias to her advantage by cutting him off from Yukine. She goes to deliver the final blow but Yukine defends Yato and dies (scene here: https://youtu.be/Dq0Y8tvR06g).
Episodes 5-8
In episode 5 we see Yukine gets revived and has returned as a blessed vessel because of his sincerity and loyalty to Yato (that’s right. Despite the fact that Yato can’t provide a house for Yukine and steals his money, Yukine still remains loyal to this lousy god). By becoming a blessed vessel Yukine’s power has increased and he’s now two swords instead of one. With Yukine’s power up Yato’s able to hold his own against Bishamon but she’s still strong. Even when the blight begins spreading throughout her body and Kugaha releases a phantom to kill the non-weapon regalias in the manor, she manages to keep up with Yato (well that’s a war god for you). Bishamon goes into a blind rage and begins to corrupt her regalia but tells them to keep attacking and kill Yato. Aiha no longer able to watch her master suffer releases Kazuma and Hiyori where they arrive and Kazuma stops Bishamon by confessing he was the one who asked Yato to kill her clan (you never told after all these years? Asshole) and never told her because her hatred for Yato made her strong again and he was afraid that she would disown him for his treachery (double asshole! Kazuma, I know you wanted to help Bishamon and at first this worked out well for her but you could have told her the truth when she got more regalias. Because of Kazuma’s stupid reasoning and logic he not only endangered the life of Yato the guy who saved his master’s life, but he endangered his master’s life again because of all this bullshit. Nice going).
In episode 6 we wrap up the Bishamon arc as nicely as we possibly can. Kugaha comes out and begins badmouthing Bishamon for her embarrassing behavior calling her a failure but Yato uses Yukine to slice off his hand and tells him that Bishamon wasn’t mistaken in her way of thinking because gods can make no mistakes. Bishamon doesn’t kill Kugaha but instead retakes his name and banishes him from her manor. She then goes to do what must be done and defeat the phantom within her manor that has eaten her regalia. Using a cane sword (just like good ol’ Grandpa Nitsuj. Everybody in the neighborhood knew not to mess with him when he got that cane) Bishamon kills the phantom all while hearing the cries of the regalia it ate (accept the burden. This was all because of your own foolishness and failure to connect with your regalia). After that’s all done they do an abulation on Aiha and return her to normal and we see that Bishamon and her clan are making strives to better communicate with each other and be more open with each other (and that’s how a family should be. Don’t hide stuff from each other and be honest with your feelings. Even if that means arguing with each other it’s better than just keeping it bottled up).
Yato, Yukine, and Hiyori return from the land of the gods in episode 7 and in keeping with his promise to Tenjin, Yato is prepared to cut his ties with Hiyori. Not only will Yato and Yukine not be able to meet with Hiyori again but she’ll forget all about them. Hiyori stops them saying she wants to be with Yato and Yukine forever and once Yato remembers the wish Hiyori made with him he doesn’t go through with Tenjin’s condition and Hiyori’s ties with Yato remain. A few days go by and Hiyori takes her advancement exam and enters the high school she wanted to enter with ease (I bet she didn’t flunk history. Seeing as how she’s hanging out with gods and such). While that’s going on we go to the land of gods where Bishamon has been bought before the gods in a tribunal to discuss her recent behavior (a childish temper tantrum because she couldn’t get her shit together and blamed others for it) and the masked phantoms appearing who are said to be stronger than normal phantoms and are under the control of someone else. Bishamon believes that it’s one of the other gods conjuring up these mask phantoms and the gods decide to look for Kugaha to find out who this conjurer is. Back with Yato, he receives a visit from Ebisu one of the seven gods of fortune who wants to buy Yukine and is prepared to offer him a large sum of money (scene here: https://youtu.be/eIx9c7uI2CY, *laughs* that money slap was priceless). Ebisu and the other regalias ridicule Yukine’s poor behavior (when somebody flashes you with a suitcase full of money, you try keeping a straight face) saying that now that he’s a blessed vessel he’s essentially a demi-god and it’s his job to act as Yato’s voice of reason, keep him on the right path, and give him advice when he’s lost. Ebisu also ridicules Yato for not having a shrine and leaves the money telling Yato to build himself a shrine (wow, burn). Yato of course has no intention of handing over Yukine and Yukine goes through his own troubles on deciding what he wants to do for Yato as his second in-command (or Jiminy Cricket now that I think about it). Yato and Yukine get a request from an old lady who lost her money in a money scam and track down the scammer to see he has a phantom but can’t destroy it because it’s so small and Yukine can’t cut it (what good is a sword if it can’t even cut a flea). Yukine has a plan and gathers up all of Ebisu’s money and makes it rain which causes the phantom to grow big and Yato and Yukine deliver the final blow. After this we end the episode on a real tearjerker as Yato is sulking about losing the money because he had every intention on using that money to build his shrine. To a god, a shrine is everything to them, it’s basically the world acknowledging that you exist and that they need you (which makes sense. God has churches, I have my blogs, and the Jack Bros. have their perverted antics). Yato really wants a shrine and Hiyori gives him a mini shrine (it may be small but it’s probably the best shrine I’ve ever seen). Once Yato sees this he just breaks down crying because this is what he’s always wanted ever since he was a child and now he finally has one (scene here: https://youtu.be/OXMkbSt9ZbU).
We start off episode 8 with Ebisu who seems to be experimenting with the masks that are used to control the phantoms behind the back of the other gods (naughty naughty). After that we focus on Yato who’s never been so happy in his life. He was able to get his shrine recognized by the other gods so now he can use his shrine to enter the land of the gods, sell merchandise, attend meetings, and gets some land to call his own in the land of gods (I hope he lives close to Bishamon). Yukine begins training under Kazuma in the hopes of getting stronger so he can help Yato out in the future (our little Yukine has really matured). Things have been going so well for Yato that he calls out Hiiro and tells her he wants to break his ties with her (good for you Yato. Get out of that abusive relationship). But Hiiro doesn’t handle rejection well and uses phantoms to attack him (scene here: https://youtu.be/B23y6zjqNPs?t=8s). After this Yato goes missing and everyone except Hiyori isn’t worried about him (such good friends). We finally do see Yato and see that he’s hanging with Hiiro and resuming his post as a god of calamity. It’s here that we see how Yato has been able to survive all these years despite not having that many followers, he performs acts of vengeance for people (sort of like Hell Girl except instead of going to Hell he instead charges you money). He does this for I don’t know how long until he finally comes to his senses and tries to escape but gets stopped by his dad who forces him to do one more job before he can be set free. Journey to the underworld and rescue a conjurer.
Episodes 9-13 and OVAs
Episode 9 sees Yato and Hiiro enter the underworld which is pretty much a cesspool for phantoms and the home of Izanami who will never let you leave if she catches you and she can’t be killed (Mira: Doesn’t that go without saying, she’s death. As long as there’s life there’s death). We see that the conjurer is in fact Ebisu and he’s come to the underworld with his regalia to meet Izanami and steal what’s known as a Locution brush. We see that he’s been blighted very badly due to his experiments with the phantoms and trying to control them (then stop the experiments. I don’t care if you can revive however many times you want, value your life). They make it to Izanami who can alter her appearance on people close to Yato and Ebisu and we get to see the Locution brush which has the power to create and control phantoms (control over an army of phantoms. Sounds inviting). She says she’ll give them the brush if one of them stays in the underworld forever and be her friend (alright, Hiiro, take one for the team). Yato and Ebisu have no intention of staying in the underworld so they fight each other in a good fight scene. I like how Ebisu isn’t good at combat so he has to rely heavily on his regalia to control him and fight putting a lot of trust into his men to him through. The fight seems to be in favor of Yato as Ebisu begins to succumb to his blight but Ebisu pulls an upset by using Hiiro since she once used to serve Ebisu in the past (you slut). This fight distracts Izanami enough for Ebisu’s phantom to steal one of the brushes so he and Yato can escape together (scene here: https://youtu.be/ik0VO_aNUYU). They begin making their escape but Izanami has no intention of letting them leave. Back in the real world we see Hiyori slowly begin to forget about Yato and Yukine because she hasn’t been around them for quite sometime and she goes to the amusement park with her friends for a triple date where this no name good-looking anime boy has the balls to overstep his boundaries, forget his place in anime, and kisses Hiyori (scene here: https://youtu.be/jIdB99hHbjw, and millions of fans stormed the author’s house and burned him alive for committing this atrocity against Yato).
In episode 10 Yukine goes to visit Hiyori and thanks to this she remembers Yato and Yukine and heads out to look for Yato since he hasn’t been seen in over a month along with Kofuku, Bishamon, and the other gods of fortune who are under house arrest because the gods have discovered Ebisu’s experiments with phantoms and an investigation has begun (guilty! That man is guilty). Thanks to Tsuyu, a servant of Tenjin who is actually the spirit of a palm tree and can communicate with trees (hopefully they know more than my tree who doesn’t know anything. (Tree): I know you’re an asshole. (Nitsuj): Don’t start with me! Jack Bros. Performed an experiment which bought my tree to life and now it won’t shut up. (Tree): You shut up. (Nitsuj): You shut up) she figures what’s going on in the land of the gods and finds out that Ebisu and Yato are in the underworld. Kazuma rescues Bishamon and heads to the underworld with her as does Yukine and Hiyori. Back with Yato and Ebisu, Yato acts as a scapegoat so Ebisu can escape but Izanami has set up a barrier so there’s no escape from the underworld (everybody gets in but nobody gets out. Just like a Beiber concert). Ebisu gets captured as does Yato but Ebisu uses the brush to open up a vent and uses that to escape the underworld but Yato gets pulled back into the underworld (again, toss Hiiro).
Nothing much to say about episode 11. Yukine and Hiyori spot the vent opened by Ebisu (it’s pretty hard to miss it). On their way to the vent they run into Kugaha (or the man formerly known as Kugaha) who still has a missing hand courtesy of Yukine (want to go for a matching pair?). Yukine fights him where Kugaha talks about how he’s superior to him because he’s a nora and how people fear him for it because he can’t be tied down by a name (maybe, but at what cost? Showing loyalty to no one and just bouncing around from god to god). Kugaha even manages to get inside the mind of Yukine when he brings up Hiiro and how Yato choose her over him (well it wasn’t as much of choosing her over him it was more I’m getting mauled by wolves and need protection). Hiyori snaps him out of it and he manages to beat Kugaha. They arrive at the vent where Bishamon is there with an injured Ebisu who’s barely conscious and begs them to save Yato. Hiyori wants to go to (are you crazy it’s the underworld! You go down there you’re not coming back) but Kofuku stops her and uses Daikoku to open up a vent which Bishamon uses to enter the underworld. She finds Yato all tied up in Izanami’s hair (Yato! Don’t look into her eyes) and attempts to save him. Back on the surface, the vent keeps closing on them and if they can’t keep it open long enough Bishamon and Yato will be stuck down there forever (well at least Izanami won’t be lonely). Ebisu tells them there’s a way to save them but it requires Hiyori.
In episode 12 Ebisu tells them that the only way to save Yato is to do a Soul Call which is where a human calls out the true name of a god. Hiyori calls out the true name of Bishamon and brings her back, however, when she calls out Yato it doesn’t work meaning Yato is not his real name. As she sits there trying to figure out Yato’s name, Heaven’s Punishers have arrived to execute Ebisu for his phantom experiments and it’s up to Bishamon to defend him. Hiyori manages to figure out that Yato’s real name is Yaboku (how did she figure that out?) and Yato returns from the underworld leaving behind Hiiro and a sad Izanami (alone again, naturally). Even though they got Yato back, the group still isn’t out of the woods yet as they have to escape Heaven’s punishment (perhaps a dance and song will please the gods). Bishamon and Kazuma take out a thunder dragon regalia so the gods use a pacification circle, one shot from this bad boy and your dead (it’s basically the Death Star of the gods). Yato uses Yukine and destroys the circle with one sword slash (damn~, Yato went Zoro from One Piece) but he can’t do nothing about the one on the ground beneath them which gets Ebisu.
In the final episode Ebisu unfortunately dies (oh my God! They killed Ebisu! (Shizuku): You fuckers! (Nitsuj): I’m pretty sure it’s bastards. (Shizuku): Not in my book). As a result, he gets reincarnated as a child and Yato sneaks him out to take him to his favorite restaurant as a promise he made with Ebisu before he died (there was also something burying him at Makeout Creek but that’s another story). He has no recollection of his past life nor does he remember anyone however we do find out that the reason he was studying phantoms so much is because he wanted to find a use for them that would benefit humanity (it would have been nice if you told us about this sooner) but was afraid to tell everyone because he feared they would detest him (fair enough assessment). Yato falls into a bit of depression feeling bad that he couldn’t save Ebisu but slowly recovers from it. Near the end he and Yukine go out for a walk where Yato tells Yukine he has killed many people (yes, we know) and how he doesn’t want to do that anymore and instead be a god of fortune like Ebisu (is that possible? Well I guess we could sponge up the mythology a little bit). Hiiro shows up (you escaped the underworld? Damn girl, you tough) and reveals that Ebisu’s death was all planned out by Yato’s father who is the real conjurer but used Ebisu as a scapegoat to avoid being attacked by the heavens (crafting bastard). Yato finally cuts his times with Hiiro shocking her greatly (scene here: https://youtu.be/6P5bFR3qm4c, cutting ties with your first regalia and friend. Pretty bold move Yato but I like it). Yato then ask Yukine what he can do to be like Ebisu (get a wad of cash and a nice suit) to which he says just keep doing what he’s doing and become a god who stops disasters before it begins. This sits well with Yato and Hiyori shows up offering a prayer having faith that Yato’s wish will come true. After the credits we see that the guy who kissed Hiyori (die) is actually a god and not just any god he’s Yato’s dad (oh my God, Hiyori kissed Yato’s dad) and he’s in possession of the brush and Hiiro.
Just like last season we got a few OVAs to go with this season. In the first one Hiyori goes on a skiing trip with her parents and Yato and Yukine follow her. While there they run into Kofuku, Daikoku, Tenjin, his company, Kazuma and Bishamon where all sorts of hilarious hijinks ensue. But the real fun comes in the form of a man who keeps trying to kill Yato only to see that his attempts don’t kill him at all (scene here: https://youtu.be/SpAob_rDzhc). Yato grows suspicious and begins accusing everyone of trying to kill him revealing all his wrong deeds to them. The man finally does one last attempt on Yato’s life by kidnapping him and throwing him into the ocean and once again it doesn’t work. The man reveals himself to be a horror writer who constantly gets his worked rejected because it’s not realistic enough (since when are horror novels realistic? We have Stephen King writing about clowns turning into giant spiders, killer cars, aliens making us smart so they can eat us, time eating meatballs, shit weasels, and Jack Nicholson being Jack Nicholson and yet he’s made millions off of these crazy horror stories) while idols get their published easily. The writer decided in order to get that realistic feeling his novels were missing, he would commit murders, get arrested, and then write about this whole experience in his novel (that plan is so asinine that just pointing out all the faults of it would be a waste of time). Yato reprimands the writer for his way of thinking and tells him to fight with his pen. This talk works and the man becomes a follower of Yato much to everyone’s disbelief (and the crazy shall follow the craziest and find comfort in each other).
In the second OVA Yato takes Yukine and Hiyori to Capyper Land which is the amusement park (like Disney Land only with a much creepier mascot) where Hiyori got kissed by Yato’s dad. Despite her disarray for the place she decides to endure since Yato is so happy to be there. They run into Ebisu who’s also there to take in the sights after looking at some old photos and look after him for a while until he runs off after seeing Bishamon and Kazuma who play a few games and seem to have a romantic vibe going on (relationship outside of work and at work. How do they do it?). Kofuku and Daikoku also go on somewhat of a date while in the park and the grand finale comes at the end where we see the parade where Hiyori doesn’t want to watch and she makes a scene with Yato (scene here: https://youtu.be/i0fug4Jmx7A, can’t you guys go out one time without being the center of attention?). They eventually do watch the parade where Yato notices her sadness and believes she didn’t want to be there with them so he tries to leave but Hiyori stops him saying she wants to stay together with him longer (someone’s in love). The moment gets ruined by Kofuku who panics because of a cockroach and causes disaster to hit the parade where Yato has his childlike wonderment destroyed when he sees the mascots are actual people and not real Capypers (sounds like me when I found out Big Bird was just some guy in a suit). Luckily, Hiyori restores his faith in the Capypers (scene here: https://youtu.be/CT5ZkLSsDD0?t=1m50s) and she receives pictures from Ebisu about their day in the park.
Final Thoughts
Okay, this season, really was better than the first season. Starting off with the Bishamon arc I did like how we got a chance to dive into the backstory of Bishamon and Kazuma. Her story is sad and does a good job explaining why she has so resentment for Yato despite the fact that he saved her. I love how her story comes full circle at the end with her doing what she couldn’t do centuries ago and how everyone makes strives so that something like this never happens again in the future. The phantom mask arc was also good in that it expanded on the world of the gods and focused more on Yato and his relationship with Yukine, Hiyori, and Hiiro. We see how Yato is doing his best to carve out the path he wants to follow but others keep forcing him down the path they want him to follow. Yato is forced to face his past and decide what he wants to do. In the end he makes the tough decision to follow his own path and cuts his ties with his former life. Him releasing Hiiro must have been one of the toughest things he’s done. While their relationship had some patches she was still his regalia and the one who never abandoned him. In the end, both arcs were exciting, suspenseful, and gave us more information into the mythos of the gods and how this world works.
The development of the characters was also good. I like how Yato finally has a goal into what kind of god he wants to become. This is the one thing I think he was missing the most from the first season, a goal into what kind of god he wants to be. His relationship with Ebisu was surprisingly good. Even though they only had a few episodes together, their dynamic and relationship with each other was great and hopefully we see more of it in the future. I was impressed with Yukine’s development as well. He’s no longer acting like a spoiled brat but instead starting to understand and take his position seriously. He wants Yato to depend on him more and show him that he doesn’t always have to take on everything alone. Hiyori is the one character who gets no development but I did like her relationship with Yato. The moment where she gave him his shrine is one of the best moments in the series as it goes to show that she not only recognizes and admires Yato but that he will always have a place in her life no matter what. The rest of the characters have little to no development as well but they’re not a main focus of the story and didn’t really bother me all that much, so I’ll give it a pass.
The fight scenes are still good. This time each fight got the right amount of allocated time to tell their story as well as advance the plot. The animation still remains the same from the first season but I did like the various phantoms we got to see this season. I do wish they gave us a better scope of the land of the gods as I’m curious about the layout of the realm. Do some gods have more land than other gods because of their status in the world? Are they separated by regions? Are there other gods present besides gods from Japanese mythology? Questions that I would have liked to know the answer to. Once again, the soundtrack is out of this world. It’s catchy, mesmerizing, and fits the scenes perfectly. There’s a good balance between comedy and drama as once again Hiroshi shows us just how funny he can be when given the right material and allowed to be creative.
Is it better than the first season
Yes, I enjoyed this way more than the first season. The story has improved greatly, the character development was excellent for the most part, and the second season managed to retain elements we enjoyed in the first season that made the anime so enjoyable to watch.
Final Score
The final score for Noragami Aragoto is a 8/10. One point higher than the first season and a good successor. If you liked the first season you’ll love the second season as it fixes a lot of the faults we saw in the first season. So far a third season hasn’t been announced yet but I’m still holding on for a third season to be announced. If not, there’s always the manga which I’m currently reading and enjoying. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
(Tree): Yeah, thanks for reading all his shit.
(Nitsuj): You know what *picks up swords*, you’re going down! I need the wood for winter.
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