CriticalStallion

Works animated by Studio Bones are rather unpredictable. Sometimes they could end up as passable or even fantastic works of fiction (i.e Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Darker than Black) or they could end up as complete failures (i.e Zetsuen no Tempest). Noragami on the other hand fits in between those; a mediator amidst the good and the bad. I still remember the first season quite well but as an urban fantasy shonen, it did not do anything out of the ordinary and felt a bit too similar to other shows of the same demographic. There were a lot of interesting concepts and some great character interactions but the show never fully explored those in greater detail. Most of the time the show was mainly filler and the story arc that was given to viewers was an anime original and rushed beyond belief. With Aragoto however, Bones finally catches up to its source material and adds more substance that should have existed in the first season beforehand.

The story of Aragoto takes place after the events of the first season. Viewers should be aware that this is a direct sequel to the first season and newcomers stumbling into this with little to no knowledge of that will be confused and lost. The best thing about the story this time is that there is less focus on the various "jobs" our main heroes are given and more of an overarching storyline this time around. There is little fooling about this time around as the story is given considerable focus. The show is split into two arcs, which I like to call the "Bishamon arc" and the "Ebisu arc" respectively. Both of them are quite well presented in their own way with the first one being a rather intense insight into Bishamon's character and her conflict with Yato and the second arc introduces a new character called Ebisu into the mix and revolves around a new world known as "The Underworld." Both of these arcs have higher stakes and are more tension filled compared to the first season which I highly appreciate. However problems are visible in both. There were many moments where the writers seemed to have pulled out explanations from their asses in order to justify a certain event happening on screen that would seem implausible at first glance. The biggest issue I had was that they don't seem to be any different from other shonen I've watched. A lot of them in fact are rather predictable and lacking in worldbuilding or theme exploration. The human world is still given some focus, though not as much as the first season, and just feels bland and dull compared to the world of the gods.

The characters thankfully have a lot more development this time around. Yato's and Bishamon's backstories are explored in much greater depth than ever before and both of them actually develop as characters. In fact a lot of the characters from the first develop. The bond between Yato, Yukine and Hiyori feels a lot more palpable this time around and you could see that they have become much closer as friends. Yukine in particular grows from a whiny kid into a headstrong and confident individual who is more devoted to his master than ever. However this is not true for every character. Kofuku and her regalia for example still feel shallow in contrast to our main heroes and the show also tries to introduce more and more characters as the episodes fly by, most of which get little to no screentime. But so far characterization is an improvement and I can spot a third season coming soon which hopefully will improve these newly introduced entities.

Animation is pretty much on par for Bones standards. The backgrounds are very rich and detailed with a lot of them looking absolutely gorgeous. The Underworld for example is given a much needed feel of helplessness, isolation and darkness to compliment its grim atmosphere. Animation quality is usually very good in this show but the first episode has some glaring examples of distant shots of characters with practically no faces. This would annoy a lot of the viewers on their first go. Fight scenes look great with a lot of fluid movements and a nice array of supernatural moves to keep viewers enthralled. Tension is also high during many of these which should keep you on the edge of your seats.

The music is done by Taki Iwasaki who has incorporated a lot of eastern and middle eastern tunes to the mix. A lot of the tracks are reused from the first season which to me were incredibly pleasing to the ears. But the new tracks themselves feel completely different from Iwasaki's usual stuff and are quite forgettable.

Overall, Noragami Aragoto is a much needed improvement to the first season in terms of pacing, character development and overall sense of progression. Sure it doesn't seem much different compared to your average shonen but fans of the first season are in for a treat, especially those who felt that the first season was lacking in terms of substance. If you have not watched the first season then I urge you to do so if you're interested in checking out Aragoto as it does a great job of introducing you to the world, its concepts and its characters.

Now that'll be 5 yen please.