Noragami

Noragami is an American-Canadian animated series created by Amile John and Yail Darlene. The series aired on The WB Television Network, through their programming block Kids' WB from 1999 to 2003.

Plot
Hiyori Iki was a normal middle school student until she was involved in a bus accident while trying to protect a stranger. This incident causes her soul to frequently slip out of her body, and she becomes aware of the existence of two parallel worlds: the Near Shore, where regular humans and creatures reside, and the Far Shore, where phantoms (demonic beasts) and human souls linger. Through her soul, she meets the strange, nameless god without a shrine, Yato. Yato is determined to make a name for himself out there by accepting any wishes for five coins, including Hiyori's to fix her body. Along with Yato's Regalia — a weapon from a spirit (dead human’s soul), and named by the god in question — Yukine/Yuki, the trio go through many adventures struggling with their friendship, identity, and pasts.

Characters

 * Cam Clarke as Yato
 * Carolyn Lawrence as Hiyori Iki
 * Jason Marsden as Yukine
 * Corey Burton as Tenjin
 * Cathy Cavadini as Kofuku
 * Maggie Roswell as Bishamonten
 * Tom Kenny as Rabo
 * Gregg Berger as Ebisu
 * Harry Shearer as Ōkuninushi
 * Bebe Neuwirth as Mayu
 * Jack Angel as Kazuma
 * S. Scott Bullock as Daikoku
 * Ashley Johnson as Nora
 * Michael Sorich as Kuraha
 * Kenneth Mars as Kugaha
 * Pamela Adlon as Aiha
 * Billy West as Akiha
 * Lauren Tom as Karuha / Kazuha
 * Tara Strong as Kinuha
 * Elizabeth Daily as Tsuguha
 * Neil Ross as Yugiha
 * Jodi Benson as Tsuyu
 * Clive Revill as Kouto Fujisaki
 * Chris Edgarly as Hashimoto

Development
Amile John and Yail Darlene originally envisioned Noragami as a comic book series, which, according to Darlene, only had about three volumes planned before being scrapped.

First season
In 1997, John and Darlene were given a second chance to remake the comic, this time as an animated series, via a letter from Mala Miles to produce the series for his animation studio, Bear Bones Productions. The series was first unveiled as an test short from Bear Bones, with Film Roman and CinéGroupe announcing to co-produce the series in early 1998. The series was pitched to various networks throughout 1998, with many of them dropping the series. The WB picked up the series via a two-season order in December 1998, through their Kids' WB programming block. The series premiere on September 18 was the highest rated premiere on Kids' WB.

Second season
In early 2001, Amile John confirmed that the second season rumors were true on behalf of the network. Co-creator Yail Darlene confirmed that the second season, titled Noragami Aragoto, was in production, and it would premiere depending on "how finished [the studio] is".

Animation
The first season was animated by Fil-Cartoons in the Philippines and Wang Film Productions in Taiwan. Animation duties for the second season were split between Wang and Bear Bones Australia.

Merchandise
During 2000, toys were sold as part of Burger King Kids' Meals, and at Subway and Dairy Queen restaurants.

Tokyopop released Cine-Manga books adapting various episodes under license from Bear Bones.

Video games
Several video games based on the series were released during its original run.

Home media releases
Artisan Entertainment released both seasons on DVD in 2004. Lionsgate released the complete series including the four direct-to-video films in 2006 and individually re-released the DVD sets in 2009. The DVDs present the series in the original widescreen aspect ratio that the series was produced in, and not the 4:3 ratio the series was broadcast in.

In June 2019, Shout! Factory announced that the series will be re-released on DVD and Blu-ray in time for the series' twentieth anniversary. Both sets were released on September 18, 2019.

In September 2019, the series was added to Amazon Prime, as part of Bear Bones' deal with the service. The series was also made available through FilmRise and its streaming partners beginning in 2022, following Bear Bones entering a SVOD deal with the company.