Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week.
read more
Advertorial
The Wonderful and Powerful Gods of Noragami
by FUNimation (Paid Advertisement),
Hiyori Iki was living a quiet and ordinary life until the fateful day that she crossed paths with a mysterious young man, dressed in a jersey and a fluffy scarf. Now she lives in a world full of powerful gods and their living weapons. In Noragami, modern Japan mixes with ancient Shinto and Buddhist folklore. Hiyori will not only be faced with mythical dangers, dropped in the middle of an ancient war of gods and phantoms, but will battle for her soul itself. FUNimation brings the first season to you at a special price, with a webstore Exclusive Edition that includes a Yato business card holder, and a bonus 5 yen coin to get you started as your own Delivery God. The set is ultra limited to 500 units, and can only be found at FUNimation.com .
On the outside, Yato appears as if he's a carefree teenage boy, known for wearing a jersey and fluffy scarf around his neck. Despite his playful exterior and aloof demeanor, Yato is a powerful and ancient Stray God. Now a self proclaimed Delivery God. He finds himself without a shrine and a Shinki, which is a loose spirit of a dead human, and can often be summoned into a sacred weapon. He dreams of becoming a well known god with a popular shrine, but is currently regulated to helping people for 5 yen coins. Yato has taken it upon himself to aid anyone who asks, no task too small or large. The question is whether he will be able to help Hiyori, and will he be able to escape his past and establish himself as a new god?
Tenjin
Voice Actor
English: Sean Hennigan
Japanese: Toru Okawa
Wise and poetic, Tenjin is not without humor. Although he is The God of Learning, assisting individuals who pray for divine intervention in higher learning, Tenjin still finds time to play jokes on Yato and take in attention from the ladies. The Shinto God of Scholars was originally a man by the name of Sugawara no Michizane, who was a politician, scholar and a poet. Directly after his death in exile, the capitol was severely damaged by storms, leading the emperor to have Michizane worshipped as the God, Tenjin. Today, many students and parents pray to the him, especially before entrance exams, and make offerings at shrines for their achievements.
The God of Poverty Kofuku, looks like your typical cute teenage girl. Whimsical and sweet, her greed for money is in sharp contrast to Yato, charging 5 million yen for her services, a stark contrast to Yato's measly 5 yen request. She has the unfortunate ability to bring luck to those around her, causing accidents and making people lose their jobs. Due to this, she calls herself Kofuku Ebisu, tricking people to think she is actually The God of Good Luck. Ebisu is one of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune in Japan, long being worshiped by fishermen to return with bountiful harvests and safe travels.
Beautiful and fearsome, Bishamon is a powerful God whose stunning looks are only surpassed by her desire for vengeance against Yato. The God of War commands many Shinki, however not through brute force, but by caring intensely for them. They manifest themselves as weapons of war, making her second to none on the battlefield. She is also known as Vaisravana, one of the Four Heavenly Kings in Buddhism. In Japan however, Bishamon is depicted quite differently as a guardian of Buddha's teachings and a punisher of evildoers.
Even if some small details are still missing, when finished, Look Back should, without a doubt, be acclaimed by most people.― Creating a manga is like creating a TV series: every week, readers wait for a new chapter to be published in their favorite magazine, and then they can also buy a full "season" when a compiled volume is published. Tatsuki Fujimoto is very familiar with this process as he seri...
Anime News Network's editorial team is digging deep into their repressed anime memories to trudge up the moments that left them in tears. What was the first anime to make you cry?― Anime News Network's editorial team is digging deep into their repressed anime memories to trudge up the moments that left them in tears. Below are some of the most affecting moments, from major character deaths to bitte...
Visual revealed for new season― The staff for the Spy x Family anime revealed on Sunday that the anime is getting a third season. The staff also revealed a visual for the third season. Anime character designer and chief animation director Kazuaki Shimada drew the below visual. Art director Yuni Yoshida designed the visual. The first anime season's first half premiered in April 2022. Crunchyroll stre...
Amane Shindō, Rie Takahashi, Lynn, Kanon Takao voice new heroines― A special event for the television anime of Rikito Nakamura and Yukiko Nozawa's The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You (Kimi no koto ga Dai Dai Dai Dai Daisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo) manga unveils more cast members for the new heroines, the January 2025 premiere, and a teaser visual for the second seas...
Momoiro Clover Z, MindaRyn to perform season's new theme songs― Bandai Namco Filmworks revealed more cast, a new key visual, a new promotional video, and a new commercial on Saturday for the third season of the That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken) television anime. Bandai Namco Filmworks also announced that Momoiro Clover Z will perform the season's second opening...
Co-founder Hideaki Anno's current studio Khara acquires Gainax's trademark― Anime studio Gainax announced on its website on Friday that it filed for bankruptcy in the Tokyo District Court on May 29. The bankruptcy proceedings are happening just short of the studio's 40th anniversary in December. Gainax's Statement In its statement on Friday, Gainax explained that its financial situation worsened sta...
Lynzee slays the Nosferatu Arucard, but isn't sure if she enjoyed the experience.― Welcome back to The Anime Backlog, the column where I chronicle my journey to overcome a backlog of 100+ anime titles. After slaying my behemoth of shame, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, I decided to dive into the quintessential dark and edgy series of the aughts, Hellsing Ultimate. Hellsing Ultimate Why Is It Impo...
Synduality: Noir perhaps ends up better than other video game tie-in series, but in the larger mecha genre, it's still an also-ran.― This second cour started as a big fat question mark. While the first half of Synduality: Noir had occasional drama, most of its runtime was all about chilling with its extended cast as they got into cool robot fights. While that lent the show a lot of charm, it meant t...
Before Summer Game Fest truly kicks off, Jean-Karlo checks out the upcoming Yakuza TV series news and Gen Urobutchi's deceptively cute rabbit puzzler.― Welcome back, folks! In honor of the Astro Bot announcement, I spent some time playing Astro's Playhouse over the weekend. It's a cute tech demo disguised as a platformer, helped by Astro being an adorable little mascot. The historical angle of colle...
Anti-hero or villain? Scar and Magneto present evidence for either interpretation.― X-Men' 97 has now concluded its stunning first season, and those ten episodes highlighted the best and worst of Magneto — a man who's been both the X-Men's nemesis and leader. Introduced at the very beginning of X-Men in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's 1963 debut issue, the "Master of Magnetism" has changed a lot in his s...