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absentminded_reader 's review for:
Noragami: Stray God, Vol. 1
by Adachitoka
Art style: ★★★★☆
Story: ★★★½☆
Characters: ★★★☆☆
I'm pretty beat today, and a bit under the weather, so I'm not sure how well this review will go, but I'll do my best.
I caught a few episodes of the anime of Noragami on Crunchyroll and thought I'd read the original source. At this point I am leaning towards liking the anime better, but this may be because the animation team has more experience than the original artist/author. The story is about Yato, a would be god, who is hiring out his services to mortals in order to build enough devotees and funds that he can get his own shrine. It's a clever concept that plays off of traditional Japanese concepts of gods, but with a modern twist. Unfortunately, the story takes a while to get going.
The art was mediocre at first. It wasn't bad per se, but it wasn't inspired. Then the calibre of the drawing increased a notch around the middle of the volume. From then on there was a creativity to the panels and action that I found pleasant. The artist/author, Adachitoka illustrated a section in the back of the volume that gives some insight into his skill level and competence. It seems that Noragami was his first solo project.
I'm wondering if the first half of the volume represents a false start because not only did the artwork improve halfway through, but the story did as well. Yato isn't a very interesting or likable character. None of the characters were at first. Then Adachitoka introduced Hiyori, the human turned spirit warrior. She is so much more well rounded than Yato. In many ways she is a typical high schooler, but she has a secret love for wrestling, and is just enough out of step with the world around her to enable her to see Yato. Saving him from getting hit from a bus changed her when she was hit instead. She now resides in both the physical and spiritual world. Her spirit has a tendency to leave her body accidentally, giving people the impression that she has narcolepsy.
Her character is so delightful that I can only assume that Adachitoka finally became engaged with the story once she was introduced. Yato needs work, but as long as Hiyomi is along for the ride the story should be entertaining.
Story: ★★★½☆
Characters: ★★★☆☆
I'm pretty beat today, and a bit under the weather, so I'm not sure how well this review will go, but I'll do my best.
I caught a few episodes of the anime of Noragami on Crunchyroll and thought I'd read the original source. At this point I am leaning towards liking the anime better, but this may be because the animation team has more experience than the original artist/author. The story is about Yato, a would be god, who is hiring out his services to mortals in order to build enough devotees and funds that he can get his own shrine. It's a clever concept that plays off of traditional Japanese concepts of gods, but with a modern twist. Unfortunately, the story takes a while to get going.
The art was mediocre at first. It wasn't bad per se, but it wasn't inspired. Then the calibre of the drawing increased a notch around the middle of the volume. From then on there was a creativity to the panels and action that I found pleasant. The artist/author, Adachitoka illustrated a section in the back of the volume that gives some insight into his skill level and competence. It seems that Noragami was his first solo project.
I'm wondering if the first half of the volume represents a false start because not only did the artwork improve halfway through, but the story did as well. Yato isn't a very interesting or likable character. None of the characters were at first. Then Adachitoka introduced Hiyori, the human turned spirit warrior. She is so much more well rounded than Yato. In many ways she is a typical high schooler, but she has a secret love for wrestling, and is just enough out of step with the world around her to enable her to see Yato. Saving him from getting hit from a bus changed her when she was hit instead. She now resides in both the physical and spiritual world. Her spirit has a tendency to leave her body accidentally, giving people the impression that she has narcolepsy.
Her character is so delightful that I can only assume that Adachitoka finally became engaged with the story once she was introduced. Yato needs work, but as long as Hiyomi is along for the ride the story should be entertaining.