I'm pulling from the friend recommendation list again for this week. Let's see what we have here. BACKGROUND:
Per usual, this series is one I've never heard of before. What piqued my interest about it was my friend's short description of the manga, as they mention that it has a few Shinto elements. I was curious as to what that exactly meant. SUMMARY: In the first chapter of this volume, we are introduced to Yato, a minor god who seeks to be revered and worshipped by many followers. Sadly, he's the furthest he can possibly be from that goal, and in order to build his following, he provides a sort of problem-solving service where he helps whoever who calls for a small fee. Here, he helps a girl in middle school who is being pushed close to the edge to the aggressive bullying she faces, and in the process, explains the nature of this world. Yato explains how the world is divided into two halves, the Near Shore (the land of the living) and the Far Shore (where the dead and other supernatural beings reside). It's established that these two worlds pretty much exist on top of one another, but most humans can't perceive anything from the Far Shore. On the flip side, there exist beings called ayakashi that like to hang around or otherwise manifest when there are a lot of negative emotions floating around, and they can be a threat to the unsuspecting. In order to defeat the more dangerous ayakashi, Yato has the help of a Shinki, a human soul who can transform into a weapon. For the first chapter, Yato is assisted by Tomone (who transforms into a dagger), but she decides to resign after seeing how Yato resolves the conflict of the first chapter. The story truly begins after the first chapter, as Yato, now alone on top of being homeless, struggles to find work (only managing to get a call from a kid who can perceive bits of the Far Shore). This job leads to a fateful encounter where he is saved from a bus by a girl named Hiyori Iki, who, by some miracle, doesn't die due to the impact. However, Hiyori learns that the accident caused her soul to essentially come loose, as she can slip into an out-of-body experience involuntarily (leaving her corporeal form asleep). Hiyori seeks out Yato, enlisting his help so she can be restored to normal. Much to Hiyori's chagrin, Yato is in no rush to fix her problem, stating that he can't really do much without a new Shinki. Annoyed, Hiyori takes it upon herself to find one for him, but she ends up bringing a dangerous ayakashi instead. Things look dire until Yato chances upon a free-floating spirit, whom he calls upon as his new Shinki. Christened Yukine, the new Shinki reveals himself to be quite the sassy one by giving Yato shit, and the volume ends with the main cast established. This first volume feels very much like one of those setup volumes, as it largely introduces the main characters and establishes the world but not much else. We do meet the cast and get a sense of their personalities, but only get a taste of how those personalities will clash with one another. Yato is easily the most fleshed out character at this point as he gets the most screentime, while I've yet to really latch onto Hiyori (who, so far, only has one quirk I find notable) or Yukine (who is literally introduced at the very end of the volume). Yato is a rather brash fellow, as he's determined to be a universally renowned god but sees himself above the very tasks he finds himself doing. It's honestly a bit hard to get behind his goal especially with his attitude, so it will be interesting to see if he grows as a character when he has personalities like Hiyori (who is determined to solve her problem and will badger him for it) and Yukine (who can bring an equal if not greater amount of teenage attitude) to serve as his foils. As of now, the main goal of the heroes is clear as well (getting Hiyori back to normal), but this volume presents next to nothing about how to achieve that goal or what conflicts they'll face along the way. There is a singular hint implying that Hiyori's condition may present more danger than is readily obvious, but it's much too vague at this point for me to be really intrigued beyond wanting to know what that means. What captivated me about this manga is its world-building. Of course, the idea of a physical realm and a spiritual realm existing seamlessly is nothing new at all, but the story taking inspiration from Shinto (which I only have a surface-level familiarity with) gives it a fresh spin in my eyes. I also thought the concept of the Shinki is a really cool idea, and I wonder if later chapters will introduce more of them as well as different wielders. Lastly, I am quite curious if any more gods show up in the story, as we only really meet Yato here (and as he is now, it's hard to believe that he's the god of anything). The art features a solid level of detail for both the characters (primarily the faces) and the backgrounds, and I enjoyed the variety of shades used throughout the book. Everything really shines when depicting action sequences (which look intense with all the speed lines and such) against the more hostile ayakashi, many of which have quite otherworldly designs. VERDICT: Vol. 1 of Noragami is mostly just setting the stage for a much larger story, but I liked what they established about the world so far. I'm quite curious to learn more about what kind of beings inhabit the Far Shore (including the gods) as well as the potential of the Shinki concept. For the main cast, I've yet to really become invested in them since these early chapters don't give me much to work on, but I don't doubt that later volumes will give them more. If you like fantasy stories with two separate yet intertwined worlds or anything with a supernatural slant, you may fancy this manga. I'd probably suggest reading more volumes than I did and go beyond Vol. 1 in case you don't find it sufficient, though I naturally cannot speak to what later volumes have to offer. - end -
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
June 2024
Derryck
|