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Ahahaha xD! It appalled me when I realized that I had not written a review for a manga that occupied 80% of my lonely high school life and also, introduced me to the world of manga.

Note: This review will contain personal bias xD

So I had grown up with anime as my sibling, but my entry into the world of reading manga came at a fairly later stage, aka, middle school to high school transition period. I had seen AMVs of this anime on youtube and decided to watch it and what do you know, I loved it. However, after learning it had a manga behind ... it, with ninety-nine chapters at that, I decided I had to read it.

I'm well aware that by this time, your normal shoujo category is saturated with over-the-top characters and the stereotypical 'Perverted-but-secretly-nice-and-terribly-perfect-good-looking-Prince-desu!" guy and your "AVERAGE" girl, who somehow ends up winning his heart and bla bla bla~

But SA is... different.
Different to me at least, because of the following (not exhaustive) points:

1. The female protagonist isn't a doki-doki idiot.
2. The guy falls in love at first.
3. The girl is so horribly dense that it's kinda frustrating but that's one of her most attractive traits (in the context of SA, at least)
4. The comedy is hilarious, tbh.
5. The storyline is unique compared to most other shoujo manga out there.

I'll keep my review rubric as short as possible:

Storyline: 10
I actually really really like the storyline. It's refreshing to see, even after all these years, a setting and atmosphere in SA that's different from your usual typical shoujo manga. I like the competition and Hikari's perennial death-wish to beat Kei in everything that happens. It's cute. SA is not supposed to be realistic, but more entertainment, and it pulls that off successfully.

Art: 10
I always find Minami Maki's art appealing to me, I don't know why, but I like it a lot. Maybe because it's slightly different from the style you see a lot around, these days. But it's like that for a few mangaka - you immediately recognize their art style on seeing just a single panel even though there's no caption to indicate what manga it is and from who. Minami Maki's one of those artists.

Characters: 10
These days I'm highly picky. During my high school days I used to be liberal in watching and reading whatever I could and hell, I'll admit that shoujo used to be "THE" thing for me because... hey, I was 15 and wanted to have a high school life as entertaining as these female protagonists I kept reading about. Since I'm really choosy in what I watch and read these days, I make it a point to only give a try to those things that I find TRULY worth it. However with SA, though having read it years ago, I still feel that the characters are honestly some of the most entertaining people in manga ever. I don't want to dig too deep into how realistic it is, because SA is not supposed to be realistic! Hikari, Kei and the others are all truly colorful, hilarious and MASSIVELY entertaining.

Overall: 10
For me this manga brings back a lot of nostalgia. Not only did I enjoy it a lot but it made me appreciate the work that goes into making a story using pen, ink and paper and a lot of effort and time. I have a LOT of personal bias in saying I love this anime, but hey, who doesn't? In SA, you have ninety-nine chapters of entertainment to get through and it does a GOOD job of keeping you busy and engaged. Also since it's slice-of-life, shoujo and mostly just pure fun, you can go back years later and read it all again from scratch and STILL enjoy it. You know what? I think I'm going to read it again now.

Thank you for reading!

I should probably say that the only reason the anime did not live up to expectations (despite the fact that it was a BONES production - I'll get to this later) is because it veered off the manga at the very end.

ALRIGHT, NOW THAT SAID, Let's begin my mediocre review.

I. Story/ Plot & Pacing:

Like many others I watched the anime first. Yes, I liked it. And Yes, there were plenty of things I didn't understand AT ALL. The reason being that the manga takes good time explaining various things (it has excellent pacing btw, the manga) but the anime is just 12 episodes. 12 episodes ... of 25 minutes each, no, not even that will do justice to something the manga explains in 12 chapters. This might sound unbelievable, but... well, that's the truth. The anime is rushed, especially with regards to Yukine's Arc (which is the first arc) and because of this, I think, Yukine's character doesn't develop as well as it did in the manga. More of that later.


II. Characterization:

While the manga brings out the very best when it comes to character development, the anime doesn't do so good a job. Again, this is because it is only 12 episodes. I enjoyed the anime when I saw it, but after reading the manga later on I understood what the anime had missed out on. Yato, Yukine, Hiyori, Mayu, Kofuku, Daikoku, Bishamon, Kazuma... they all have spectacular characters but the anime doesn't do them justice. Well, not as well anyways. For example you see Bishamon in season 1 and she's depicted as a revenge-hungry, Yato-blood thirsty villain - when in reality that's not what she is at all!
This would probably be the anime's biggest flaw - in twelve episodes there's only so much you can do.


III. Art & Animation:

BONES always delivers when it comes to this, and Noragami is NOT an exception. The art and animation is SPECTACULAR in my opinion and this is no surprise - BONES is famous for its high quality production team.


IV. SOUNDTRACK:

YES, IT IS IN CAPS. It's because Noragami's soundtrack is SO EPIC on SO MANY LEVELS that it's impossible to put it in words! Noragami's soundtrack defines the show's entire personality - something you don't find a lot of other shows having. Taku Iwasaki is a genius! After getting the CD and playing it on repeat for something like a month (I still do LOL), I find that I cannot watch OR read Noragami without this soundtrack playing in my head. IMPOSSIBLE. SPECTACULAR. ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT.


V. The Ending:

The only qualm I have is that the anime veered off at the end. After Yukine's arc, theoretically it is supposed to be Bishamon's arc. But to conclude as an ending to season 1, they decided to put in a subplot (Yato vs. Rabo) which isn't even in the manga, to be honest. It's a side story special instead. Integrating this minor story with the original was not... um, a very good choice, but I don't blame BONES because Bishamon's arc is a hefty piece. You need a minimum of 10 episodes for that alone, and I suppose BONES wanted to see how season 1 goes before going any further. Which is why the anime abruptly ends the way it does.

Hey, but then we have Season 2 which looks like it will stay true to the manga adaptation of the second (Bishamon's) arc! :D! Woohoo!


VI. Overall:

The anime was decent. I liked it enough to get into the manga (which I should mention at this point is ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT, SO GO READ IT!) and therefore, I am now obsessed with Noragami. With this show you will find yet another quality anime - I guarantee that.

I'm pretty sure that the a few of the low ratings for Noragami (like 5, 6 and 7) are because of the rushed-12 episode factor. If not for that, the ratings would've been pretty high - like the manga (and even season 2, yes!) has ^^/

I'll say it straight - a good manga is very hard to come by these days, especially one which will keep you turning the pages without stopping. Good quality manga is now rare (with a few exceptions of course, I won't deny that) and those with good solid plots, balanced comedy and angst and good art are even rarer.

Noragami is one that pulls off all of these brilliantly, in my opinion. It's truly a gem.

Here are my thoughts on it.

I won't lie, I didn't start off with the manga. In fact I didn't even KNOW about the manga. I watched the anime first, because well... ... Yato caught my attention (he does, doesn't he? xD) and so it started. I ended up really liking the anime and after quite a bit of extensive research, came to know that the anime and manga differed in some respects. I'm not someone who will normally settle for an anime adaptation that's different from a manga, so I delved into the manga instead.

Boy, was I in for a joyride.

I won't say much here, but the things I came to love about the manga are these:

1. First of all, the art is clean and neat on the eyes. No exaggerated, over the top details - you see too much of that in shoujo manga these days, however Noragami is shounen - and it's very well presented.

2. The story is fresh, unique and one of a kind. I don't know about the originality since god-and-human interaction isn't a relatively 'new' concept in manga - but with the way Noragami is designed, plotted and drawn, you will definitely feel so. What i really love about this part is the mixing of modern day life elements with traditional shinto culture. It will make you laugh and fall in love with it, guaranteed. You want an example? A god is born from people's wishes, and their status is elevated with the amount of belief, trust and remembrance people put into them. A popular god has a home in the heavens. And a plot in the heavens is allocated to a god by the Office & Administration Department of Heaven. Sound awesome? It is.

3. The comedy. Oh god, the comedy. The days when you could actually laugh out loud while reading a manga are far and few in my opinion (again, there are exceptions) and well executed comedy in a storyline such as the one Noragami has needs some good effort. Well, I'll tell you that Noragami is FUNNY. The comedy is executed fantastically. It is FUNNY AS HELL so if you need some laughs, do read it. Adachitoka will not disappoint you.

4. The emotions. I have read a number of manga and somehow - maybe it's just me - but not a lot have managed to pull emotions out of me. Noragami certainly has. At the outset there is the emotion of loneliness. Yato's sadness will definitely touch your heart - does anybody like loneliness? Being forgotten by people someday is a pain we can all relate to. Though the manga is a shounen fantasy, the emotions Noragami draws out are universal. I feel them and you will too.

5. The romance. Hey hey hey, I said it was a shounen manga, so what's this doing here? Romance? Well, it's subtle, but it's there. Romance isn't the main focal point of the manga however, and I appreciate the romance - light as it is. However the thought of romance will also make you incredibly sad. You'll understand why as you flip the pages.

I'm not very good with reviews so I'll end it here. All in all Noragami is a delight to read, I laughed and I cried, and I think I'll continue to laugh and cry. I can't wait for chapter 60 to come out because this manga is one I'm sticking with. Noragami is worth everything.

Haven't read it yet? Go read it!

So here I am, in 2015, writing a review for the second and final season of the anime that was my entire childhood.

I was introduced to Inuyasha by my friend when I was in elementary school (year 4) on Animax. I used to watch other things on Animax, but I had never watched Inuyasha and had merely passed it off as "meh, i don't think I'll like it" until she persuaded me to watch it.

How wrong a half-assed judgement can be.

I started watching it and I wasn't able to stop. Inuyasha filled all my days and nights and it was the only thing I could ... think about. I even forged a makeshift tetsusaiga from thermocol and waved it around in front of the TV. I was entirely in love with this anime.

Okay, now let me get to the point. Kanketsu-Hen has the reviews it deserves (it is absolutely brilliant!), but there are people who won't watch it because of how the first season turned out. Okay, now, in the first season's defense - the manga was still going on at that time (beyond a whopping 300+ chapters at that!) so I don't blame the studio for going entirely off-track and feeding the TV slot times with fillers, fillers and more fillers. Eventually it was dropped with a disappointing end (understatement) and we waited and waited and waited for a conclusive ending.

And years later, determined not to be forgotten, Kanketsu-Hen began its airing on TV. And jesus-f*cking christ, was it GOOD!

I won't elaborate on Kanketsu-hen too much here, but I have a few words I'd like to say on why this anime is different from what you'll think it is just by looking at it. Here goes.

A few episodes of Inuyasha will give people the idea that the show has no depth. A hot tempered half-demon, a selfless and kind main heroine from another era, a gang of quirky characters, lots of evil villains, and the "REVENGE!" theme surrounding the entire plot in yellow ticker tape... yeah, it sounds so cliche, and average.

WRONG.

If you really watch Inuyasha, you'll realize that there is in fact, a LOT of depth to the series. The characters have real feelings, real worries and real emotions. Love is portrayed in all its complexity - just like how love is. There's no black and white throughout, plenty of patches of grey are present. The show is as real as a show can ever be.

Mindless fights and lots of unnecessary repeated fight scenes, not to mention the fillers that dragged the show to the end of the cliff in season 1, these are some of the reasons that push people away from watching the final season.

Here's my advice to you. Give Kanketsu hen a chance. You lose nothing.
I assure you that you'll be mind blown.

Ah one point before I end. The music. I cannot finish this review without mentioning the music. As i already have a weakness for feudal era Japan (started by.... yes, Inuyasha xD) the music, i found, was priceless. And I mean the soundtrack of the anime, built in through the scenes. Kaoru Wada is a genius.


I'm 19 years old today, I've spent my entire childhood watching this amazing series, and again this year on repeat, and there is no feeling similar to the one I get when I listen to Soutanshi.

Thank you for reading this review.
^^/