I love to see the story of the spiritual world in a drama series. And that’s why Noragami touched my heart. You know I didn’t miss watching an episode of the last two series.
But now, I am a little bit upset as there is no announcement yet about Noragami season 3. What will be the ultimate fate of season 3?
Well, still there is hope. Though the production company hasn’t given any official announcement, we can figure out the possibility of the sequel.
There are some facts that let you know this possibility. Let’s explore more.
Total Seasons of Noragami
As an adventure comedy anime lover, today I will talk about the Noragami anime series. Well, Noragami is an extremely popular anime, and when it started people accepted it, and have a large fan base.
The series is basically based on manga series and the anime is written by Hitomi Mieno. The anime genre is adventure comedy. And the story goes around Yato, Hiyori, and Yukine.
Till now 2 seasons of the anime have been released. The first season started on January 5, 2014, and ended on March 23, 2014. There were a total of 12 episodes in the first season.
The 2nd season ran from October 2, 2015, to December 25, 2015. In this season, there were 13 episodes. And in both of the seasons, two additional episodes were released with manga volumes on DVDs.
Even after so much popularity, there’s no news about season 3. So without Noragami season 3, we won’t know whether Yato managed to get a grand shrine. The only way is to read the manga series but there are so many people like me who prefer the series more than reading the manga.
Till now, there’s no official announcement about the release of season 3 where fans are eagerly waiting to know what happens next.
Will There Be Noragami Season 3?
The first thing I will say is there’s no announcement from production studio Bones. Another thing is they never denied season 3 to be produced. So no one can say whether they will continue shutting news about the anime.
It’s been five years since season 2 ended and it’s very likely to think that season may not happen as there’s no news about it.
However, there’s a rumor that it may drop by the end of 2020 or at the beginning of 2021. Though it’s quite unclear as production is not confirming anything nor the manga creators.
How To Figure Out The Possibility Of Noragami Season 3’s Announcement?
It won’t be entirely fair to say we can’t assume about season 3. As an anime lover, I love to gather information about the anime I like for assuming whether there will be a sequel.
One can easily do this by looking at the source material, sale, and popularity. So I am sharing with you the information I have gathered. Then you will have a rough assumption of what can actually happen.
Source Material For Noragami Season 3
In the case of Noragami, the main source material is manga volumes. An ongoing manga series gives hope of having a sequel of a series. Here we can mention Classroom of the Elite season 2 which is likely to get released. But if that ends, then the possibility will be less.
Another criterion is to check how many source materials were adapted for anime series and whether there’s anything left. If there’s left, then it increases the possibility of a sequel like No Game No Life season 2.
Is Manga Still Ongoing?
the author of the manga Adachitoka is still releasing the manga. Till now, there are 22 volumes present and have 2 spin-off manga stories. The last volume was released on June 17, 2020.
The good news is the author writes a book each year on average. In 2017 and 2018 he released 1 book each year. And in 2019 there were 2 books. It looks like 2020 will get 1 book from the author.
How Many Volumes Were Covered For The Anime?
The first season adapted the first 3 volumes of the manga and the second one covered volumes 4 to 9. So, there’s plenty more to make a sequel. If the season happens, then it will continue from volume 10 of the manga.
The gist is, the manga is ongoing and there’s plenty more to take a step towards a sequel. So, the source material is not a problem for releasing Noragami season 3.
Sales And Profit For Noragami Season 3
Making anime is costly work and one season can cost 3 million dollars. So, when the production doesn’t see much profit from an anime, there’s no reason for them to continue it.
Here it’s important to look at the profit of Noragami season 2 to figure out whether it’ll see the green-lit. and good profit is the reason why Overlord season 4 is likely to be announced.
Blu-ray sales
The average sales of season 1 are 5,000 copies per volume. But it reduced to 2,000 copies per volume of season 2. So, it has seen more than a 60% drop in season 2 which is not good.
But in today’s streaming world, it shouldn’t be a problem because the production earns a lot from streaming.
Manga sales
When I was looking at the manga sales, there was a drop in sales in every volume on a regular basis. Volume 21 sold around 120,000 copies. Volume 22 sold 48,000 copies in its first week.
But the sale rate was more for the previous volumes like volume 12. It was sold around 300,000 copies.
Merchandise
There are 4 figures present of Noragami though I expected more. There are 450 goods for Noragami but approximately 60% of these are from the first season and 20% are from the 2nd one.
The overall scenario is Blu-ray and manga sales are decreasing in each season while the release date of the seasons was very close.
Popularity for Noragami season 3
Here we need to look at social media, google trends, and manga. When a series loses fans, then there’s no point making a sequel. Grabbing much popularity can lead to the sequel and that’s why Dr. Stone season 2 has hope.
Social media
The official website was last updated in September 2019. The official Twitter account has 170,000 followers and was last tweeted in December 2019. Both were about Noragami and Noragami Aragoto rebroadcast.
Google trends
Noragami season has gotten more popular than season 1 which is very unlikely and good for the next season. Even after five years, it has grabbed 15% popularity of season 2 when it peaked. And that is a very good sign
Manga and merchandise
It is said that because of the health issue of one of the authors of manga, the release rate is low. But we can assume that copies in print can be 5 million at least.
Also, there’s no new merchandise in 2020. Till 2016 the new goods release rate was healthy.
Blu-ray and manga sales don’t give up hope to look for season 3. So the chance may seem low for having a sequel. But we can’t say anything firmly as the franchise never said that it won’t happen.
Plot of Noragami
Noragami means “stray god” where gods were powered by the prayers of their followers. Yato is a nameless god who wants to become famous and have a shrine built in his tribute.
Hiyori Iki was a middle school student and was involved in a bus accident when she was trying to save a stranger. After the accident, her soul left her body to know the existence of two parallel worlds.
One was Near Shore where regular humans lived and the other was Far Shore where only demons and human souls existed. And then she met Yato. In return for fixing Hiyori’s body, Yato wished for 5 yen. Well, he helped people for 5 yen for constructing his shrine.
Yukine, the soul of a young boy, transformed into a sword at Yato’s command. The story continued with Yato, Hiyori, and Yukine’s friendship, identity, struggle, and adventure along with other interesting characters.
What Can We Expect In Noragami Season 3?
Noragami season 3 has got no confirmed information regarding its plot. We can only expect a further story from seeing the first two seasons.
According to the manga, season 3 will have a darker story than previous adapted volumes. The way season 2 ended, season 3 can focus on Yato mostly. It can be about his history and how he converted into a god.
Also, by the end of season 2, there was someone who he calls his father. So, the story can include this troubled relationship between Yato and his father.
Well, it’s all assumptions from how season 2 ended. Though the story can go in any direction.
Final words
Noragami is a brilliant anime and those who love dark world stories will love it so much. I can make anyone laugh and shade tears together. It adds humor to a deeper story which makes it more fascinating.
Who hasn’t watched it yet, I will recommend the anime series to watch. And for the fans, it’s very disappointing that Noragami season 3 has no news yet. But still, there’s hope because there are anime series that have more gaps between two seasons’ releases. So we can hope to have Noragami season 3!
