Review in one sentence: A breath of fresh air from the usual Action-Romance-Shounen category that I still enjoy that was almost ruined by an appalling start and horrid description.

For every manga there are drop points -- chapters where you feel like you have a good grasp of what the author wants to do with the manga and you can decide whether to drop the manga for good or keep reading. Unfortunately for this manga, the author gives you 2 extremely easy drop points at chapters 1-2 (oh look, another generic battle manga with some random gimmick and a million overused manga tropes) and chapters 5-6 (either "wtf is going on this mangaka has no idea what they're doing" or "god dam that character is so dam infuriatingly stupid"). Do NOT fall prey to them. Make it to chapter *11* (end of first arc) and decide whether you want to continue reading the manga from that point on.

Before I talk about the strengths of this manga, I want to address all the weaknesses first. The biggest glaring weakness is definitely the lack of direction and flow in early chapters. Chapter 1 reads like a generic one-shot. Chapters 2-3 are completely without direction where the authors could not decide between exposition, character development, world building, or overarching themes. As a result, the early chapters of this manga are extremely unfocused and make a mess of what later becomes a much stronger story with clear direction.

I will blame the terrible start on manga sales. It's hard to sell manga so it's easy to go with the safe "boy meets girl boy has super powers boy defeats enemies" route, but I am extremely grateful the authors stray away from that route extremely quickly. But, at the same time, since it's a review, I have to talk about it. The effects of the abysmal start are seen until chapters 8 or so. The authors have to keep using plot devices and dialogue that seems extremely forced on characters that appear ill thought and fleshed out. Characters appear to behave randomly with no forethought to try and elicit cheap emotions with no background information making them extremely shallow paper cut-outs. However, all of these problems are fixed, to various degrees, as the manga goes on.

On to the strengths of this manga. (again, all of this only applies if you make it past chapter 11 and everyone should definitely give it a shot until then. 11 chapters isn't even that long) The characters are great! The main protagonist is funny, after the author removes the non-nonsensical tropes forced on him during the early chapters, and his character is impeccable. He doesn't dole on the power of friendship or love and he doesn't go into a cave to power up every time there's trouble. He's a strong lead at the beginning with visible flaws and weaknesses, making him overall a likable character that's still being fleshed out as the manga progresses. All supporting characters are fleshed out (again, after the bad start) and have their own motives, personalities, and purpose. No character feels "wasted". There are some random characters thrown in for comedic purposes, but it's not rampant and they engage in meaningful dialogue with the protagonist. The love interest isn't stupid, nor a damsel in distress, nor any other terrible manga "heroine" standard. She's her own person and, while dependent on the protagonist, also has a life outside of just being a heroine.

The art is great, a mix of heavy and dark with light and carefree for the appropriate moods. Not too much stupid fan service for no reason. There are deeper undertones, specifically on things like death, life after death, a person's impact on the world during his lifetime, and the process of grief, but they don't harp on it until your ears bleed. If you want to read deeper into the manga that's your prerogative, and it's there for people who want a slightly deeper experience, but it's also easily ignored. Dialogue and situations are believable, though somewhat outlandish, and the whole setting is pretty novel. At the end of the day it might turn out to be a battle manga, but it doesn't clutter up chapters with full page length sword swipes or people explaining in stupid intricate detail about exactly how their attacks work. In fact, there really isn't that many battle manga tropes present at all.

So, at the end of the day, it definitely accomplishes what it sets out to do. No, it's not as dark, or deep as the josei/seinen/shoujo manga you're reading but guess what? This rating is not for a josei/seinen/shoujo manga, I'm rating a Shounen/Action manga and in that category it easily stands out from its peers. An extremely enjoyable manga with a great cast, good dialogue, fine art, and strong direction. Were it not for it's abysmal start, I would even rate it higher at a 9.5.

... Last updated on February 16th, 2014, 1:10pm

Noragami is my new shounen genre infatuation. The first few chapters were really lackluster, so I originally dropped this series, but I picked it back up after watching the anime, and I'm hooked. The manga does an amazing job of balancing comedy, angst, and action. I swear the mangaka is like the god of pacing.

...Or I may never have found this! The anime (by BONES, who always does a fantastic job of making an awesome manga even better) was so beautiful and amazing I just had to check out the source material and lo and behold, it's just as beautiful and amazing as the adaptation! The art is gorgeous, the plot is exciting and heart rending, the characters are gut-busting fun and lovable (I don't know how, but Yato has mastered the skill of being both stupid and cool simultaneously) and the suspense kills me like nothing else. This is one of those mangas I hope never end because I would sink into depression when I couldn't read any more of it. Very balanced and well thought out--many thanks to the author for creating it!!!

I agree with cnd, the description is misleadingly cliche and the first chapter disappointing. With that I opted to watch the anime as an alternative. On the contrary, the anime completely skips the first chapter and really got me hooked on the actual premise of the story, getting straight to the involvement of main characters.

On the surface this manga sounds like many others, and its themes of spirits, sentient weapons, token cute high school girl and such overplayed. However, what makes it more than that is its involvement of "sin", empathy and the humanness of those long dead. In addition, the characters are quirky, fun and have real personalities - it's not about action or dramatic wow-factors but their relationships and how each character is important to the story.

I'm really liking where this manga is going (and anime, I hope it gets a second season), it also has a nice direction and transition in its arcs.
Sidenote: I find a lot of its idiotic scenes hilarious. Yattoooo

... Last updated on March 2nd, 2014, 4:06pm

I'm loving this manga. The way they use Gods in this story line is superb! It had a rough start, but once it started running, it started running! The story is action thrilled and I really want to know about the main protagonists deep past. All the characters are relatable and nobodies perfect, which is just amazing! The main character doesn't have an inhumanly brashness to him and doesn't think he can solve everything with his fists, a rare occurrence among Shounen that I have read.I'm glad I'm reading!

Gosh, I think it needs to be said again that this manga is NOT cliched! and the fact that the scans are so behind it's unbelievable, but it seems that it had no recognition until now thanks to the awesome anime. I can't wait for translators so I took a look at the rest of the chapters in Japanese and Chinese (too bad I can't understand) and I've read the summaries on tumblr.
This series is so freaking EPIC!! the anime is supposed to cover the first arc and 2 ovas. the first arc is amazing! and the chapters the ova are based on are so freaking funny and worth it!!

RECOMMENDED ENTIRELY!! if you think this series is crap are 'too cliched' you are missing out!

While going on a shoujo spree, I happened to look at the "male lead falls in love first" and started reading this manga. Admittedly it wasn't the best reason to pick up this manga but I'm glad I did it since it's been an amazing read so far. This manga's got so many things right in my book.
Personally, I've always like this theme of the spirits realm and "life" after death. At first, this manga reminded me of Bleach when it first started out. Fortunately, unlike Bleach, it sticks to the rich and meaningful side and evolves beautifully instead of spiraling down into pointless battles where everyone just constantly powers up. Also unlike manga like Bleach or D-gray man, it managed to get darker and more serious without giving you a sense of hopelessness.
Overall, I enjoy the beautiful art, the character development, the cute romantic subplot and above all, the relationship between characters. There is a great diversity in the master/servant relationships going on, making the plot and the characters more complex and captivating. There is also a good amount of foreshadowing which makes the reading experience all the more enjoyable.
All in all, I'm glad I've read this manga and will definitely recommend it to friends

none of the updates has disappointed me so far. there are so few manga in my ongoing list these days that keep me going awww~ this is great after each update like this one. i like how the story is going, the drawing, the characters.. all great

I've already read 60 chapters but the manga keeps getting more and more interesting. I adore supernatural shounen if they are done right, and thankfully, this one is.

I started off with the anime because of a friend who recommended it to me. It was amazing to watch something like that after a long break from watching anime. Then, after season 1 was finished, I came right on to the manga. I did not start with chapter 1 but did swipe through pages to see whatever the difference was.

Noragami uses some really well thought concepts which have succeeded in impressing me. It's been a while since I've read a manga like this one.

1. It's true that Gods exist only because we believe in them. That's exactly what Noragami shows you. Any God will disappear if no human remembers them. That's why, for a stray god like Yato, it's hard to stay alive (though technically he's already dead).

2. Gods get 'stung' when their Shinki does something bad, which eventually might end up killing them if it continues. I see it as a bond that Gods and the Shinki share. Shinki are the sacred treasure and must be pure. They were humans so of course they'll have desires and wishes. They'll want to live like a 'real human'. But now the God is their family. The blight that God's get is like a way of asking them 'If you can't take care of your Shinki, how'll you serve all the people who worship you?'

3.


4.


It's obvious that the manga has few flaws. Everything does. But regardless of that, Noragami is going great. There are two possibilities: the mangaka gives a bizarre, or at least a satisfying explanation for everything that she is building up, or she rushes things and makes a crappy ending where you're left with the feeling of 'WTF??' I'll be seriously pissed if the latter happens. There are some really high hopes I'm having with this manga and I hope I won't be let down. The art is a plus point, btw ^

I also like how this is one of those manga where the main lead isn't portrayed as some super powerful kickass dude with hidden/inborn talent who beats down everyone else. Nope. Bishamon is clearly way stronger than Yato (or at least she is right now). Besides, all the characters are very likable. Even Hiyori isn't a female lead just for the name. She has been useful so far. I'm also hoping for some secret related to why she can see Yato and the others (which may happen considering the hints we get after the meet up with her grandma and brother and how she was able to look into Yato's memory about his past).

... Last updated on January 28th, 2016, 11:04am

I thought by reading the reviews my expectations can be ruined but I still gave it a try any way. Turns out it was way more amazing than I expected. An emotional rollercoaster, with fantastic bonds and relationships. You may get sad for characters along the way but that just goes to show how much thought the author put into these characters. One thing I can say that's good is the writing even if you may not agree with the direction this is going.
Since the manga is not complete yet and I need to see how it ends I will give it an 8 for now.
I'm waiting for chapter 93 and catching up on the manga for any new comer should take at least 3 days.
This will be updated when ready

PS. About the Romance, it none of that over poetic garbage that we enjoying eating up but a normal romance were feelings are discovered realistically. They make it less dramatic she like him he likes her you don't have to figure who likes who because the characters are honest.

... Last updated on January 18th, 2022, 7:42am