Noragami

By: Robert Murphy

Long has it been since the days where people would devoutly pray and believe in the many Gods that governed the aspects of Japanese life but to this day shrines still stand in tribute to some of the more well known Gods of that age. For the other Gods though this isn’t the case, enter Yato, a lesser known among the Gods of Japan but none the less he is one and he hopes to one day have his name known throughout the land with thousands of followers. In pursuit of this goal Yato goes around taking on any job or request that someone may have and often times this means doing jobs that a teenager would do when he comes home from school. It’s during one of these mundane jobs that he meets a young girl named Hiyori and she will prove to not only be a strong follower of Yato but the girl who leads him on the path to being a well known and respected God.

Now when it comes to anime that I have watched recently they have missed that something, that unique balance of strong characters, comedy and story but Noragami does all this exceedingly well. When you watch the show you genuinely feel invested in everything that is going on and it just grabs you, I myself got so hooked that I watched the whole show in one sitting. Yato portrays himself as an awe inspiring God but when you look at him he comes across as your average every day guy and this definitely the thought that goes through Hiyori’s mind as she attempts to save his life. He later states how unnecessary this was in retro spec. Yato though is just an exceptional character overall, he’s has that casual demeanor to his character as he travels from job to job, doing anything that’s asked of him no matter how small. But he does this because he needs to survive, what I mean by this is in order for a God to remain in existence people need to believe that they exist, as long as there is one person out there who believes than they can go on living. This is why you see Yato all over town signing his name on bathroom stales, on the sides of buildings, he needs it if he wants to exist and one day get that shrine.

As for the rest of the Noragami’s characters there isn’t one that I don’t find myself liking no matter how small of a role they have. Characters aren’t defined by one element like you know ones the ditz or ones the fan service character; they all have their own personalities and all just work. Hiyori you would expect to be the annoying or nagging character who constantly scolds Yato but she’s not and she’s one of those strong female characters I like to see like Kagoma in Inuyasha. What great as well is they don’t spoil Hiyori in any way either, when you see her “tail” in pictures and in the show I thought they were going to make her be that sort of a character but she makes fun of it in the show and then moves on. The story moves along at a smooth pace and manages to carve out a lot in its twelve episode length and while most of the story is happy go lucky, it can get serious quick. Learning about Yato’s past was an especially well done aspect to the series and tops of the shows wide array of feelings throughout the show which mainly hits its high note with the comedy it has in store for you all.

In conclusion, I wish that the show was so much longer than the twelve episodes I had but the show had just released this past winter so hopefully we’re in store for more. I cannot express how enjoyable a show and experience I had watching Noragami and all that it has to offer, visual the show is quite stunning and it moves along with great narrative and story. All the characters were quite enjoyable as well and they don’t get placed into one group, no matter how long they were on screen or how small a role they had they were engaging the entire time.

Good:

- Excellent visuals

- The show moves along a solid pace and has a great engaging story

- Yato is such a funny character and the whole show is great for a laugh as well

- Does have its serious moments and fights that are spectacular

Bad:

- Only twelve episodes long and will make you cry out for another season

Scully Rating 9.0 out of 10 

Noragami OP

By: Robert Murphy

Hey everybody, it's a new week which means new reviews, new shows to watch and new tunes for you to listen to and I thought a great one to share would be for the opening of the anime Noragami. The urge for a new anime hit me pretty hard yesterday and I stumbled across this show in my search, I'm gonna admit that I watch the whole first season in one sitting. This opening theme to the show is sang by "Hello Sleepwalkers" and the title is "Goya wa Machiawase" and is just one in a long list of catchy songs the show has in it. The show is just great and I hope to have the review for you all either today or tomorrow but until then enjoy the beats. Murphy out. 

Ground Floor (Season 1)

By: Robert Murphy

(Spoilers, you know the drill)

In the insanely competitive world of investment banking there is absolutely no time to have any kind of social life let alone a relationship but Ground Floor tells the story of one guy daring enough to try and have the career and the girl. Brody (Sklyar Astin) is the top dog at his company and hopes to one day be just like his boss Remington Mansfield (John C. McGinley.) At least that was the case until the night he meets Jenny (Briga Heelan) who works with him at the same company but as a member of the building support staff. It’s the classic story of trying to get two worlds to collide and see if opposites really do attract, Dharma and Greg comes to mind when I think of what the show tries to do and then I add the comedy feel of Friends to it as well. This is know coincidence though as one of the main writers for the show, Greg Malins, worked on Friends for years and with a partner like Bill Lawrence who worked on shows like Scrubs and Spin City, you can’t go wrong.

Ground Floor returns one of my favorite actors to the screen with star John C. McGinley as he takes on another very Dr. Cox kind of role, leading with an iron fists but somehow being charmingly insane. Then we have Skylar Astin’s character Brody, now Skylar is known for his role in Pitch Perfect which doesn’t really get me hyped about him but he does play the pretty boy roll of Brody exceedingly well. Brody’s character is meant to be equal parts a guy’s club man and the affectionate type and Skylar Astin does this just right. The show is mainly about Brody and how he is torn between two worlds, his job relationship and his real one and often times Mansfield feels just like a second girlfriend who’s jealous of Brody’s new one. Then we move onto Jenny who leads a relaxing care free life on the bottom floor with the rest of her friends that work as support team members for the company. All of these characters are such great supporting additions to the show especially the character named Harvard (Rory Scovel) who has a little bit of an unhealthy obsession with Jenny. His constant jealous of Brody is constantly hilarious as he’ll do anything to impress Jenny, even going so far as to make a framed pictured of her with a million tiny photos of himself.

What’s great about the show for me was how the floors of the building almost became the seating chart of a high school cafeteria where people sit with their own people and they don’t ever mix. Jenny’s and Brody’s friends point this out right from the get go as Mansfield points out how Brody is on the road of potential and she’ll steer him right off of it. Even though later Mansfield will fall in love with her before even knowing her name and seeing that she’s not some mid-level incompetent but really quite an impressive girl. The constant issues that arise during Ground Floor prove to be a challenge for the two though with Jenny spending the night in one of the episodes and Brody complaining she shut off his alarm when it went of at 4:30 AM. Or in another instance Brody must choose between going to the same baseball game that his company and Jenny want to go to and who he chooses to sit with. All of it had me constantly laughing and waiting for the following episode each week.

I do have to point out my one flaw with the show and that’s the odd tendency to include a dance number or a musical tune into 90% of the episodes you will see. It’s not that they aren’t good but it is more or a less of a question, why? Why are you doing this exactly? What’s the point? The only explanation I can gather is that they were trying to put Skylar Astin’s musical background to some sort of use in the show but really it isn’t necessary and the shows just fine without it.

In conclusion, Ground Floor gave me quite a bit of nostalgia for the old 90’s sitcoms that I loved to watch growing up and love to watch to this day, it feels much the same way that it did when I started watching Cougar Town, another Bill Lawrence gem. There is a bit of testing that you can notice while the writers try and find things that work and don’t but it doesn’t need to with what is already a big consistent of the show. I personally hope to see it back once again for another season especially when it came right down to the big ending cliff hanger for this season.

Good:

- Gives such an old comedy feel to it that I loved

- Very funny and full of laughs

- John C. McGinley returns to television and is just the same as I remember in Scrubs

Bad:

- The tendency for musical numbers

- There’s a bit of testing here and there with the writing but the show remains solid in what it does best

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10