Noragami Aragoto – 02
Doctor by day, villain by night, and professional exhibitionist anytime else.
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Wah, I had forgotten how into this series I was. I just meant to refresh myself on what happens in the end of Bishamon’s arc and I ended up reading the Ebisu arc over the weekend. So now I’m now updated on how Noragami‘s world works and where the plot is headed, I guess. I hope the anime is just as good! |
Suzuha taught Yukine something pretty valuable with how living people will age and move on. In normal circumstances, Hiyori will age and forget about Yukine and Yato, like how Suzuha was left behind by his friend. Yukine already had some issues in the last season about how he was dead, so this probably wasn’t any welcome news. Though now he’s much more emotionally stable, and being sad over Hiyori moving on doesn’t seem like it will cause too many problems for Yukine anymore. Especially if he can have Yato for support.
Plus at the same time, there’s nothing stopping Yukine from making other shinki friends. Yato is a case where there aren’t really others like Yukine, but taking Tenjin’s family as an example, the shinki there seem have each other for support and companionship. Bishamon’s family is pushing that a bit to the extreme in how there are so many that it’s easy to feel isolated (as shown kind of by Suzuha commenting that it’s been years since Bishamon called his name), but it seems that one can strike a balance. Or I guess it could also be up to the individual since Kofuku and Daikoku seem to get along just fine on their own.
It’s interesting to see the difference between Bishamon’s relationship with her shinki and then Yato with Yukine. Everyone in Bishamon’s family (minus Kazuma) seems distant. They all respect her immensely and don’t want her to worry about them, but at the same time, they don’t confide in her and just brush off their worries as nothing to worry about. On the other side of things, Yukine doesn’t really show overwhelming respect for Yato, but the two share a closer relationship. Yato encourages Yukine to cry and let out his feelings. This definitely seems healthier than Bishamon’s family’s strategy of holding everything in and pretending that nothing is wrong.
You know what they say about sakura trees and dead bodies…
But now Suzuha is dead, making Bishamon’s problems just a little worse. She’s already dealing with being stung for some unexplained reason, and now there’s mistrust among her shinki. This was also probably made worse by Kazuma’s actions, even though he was just trying to help. Distrust can breed more distrust, after all.
If Kugaha wanted to keep it a secret that he’s a bad guy, he’s not doing a very good job at it. Maybe he’s hiding it from Bishamon and the rest of the family, but meeting with Nora to plot doesn’t mean anything good for anyone. Bishamon’s family seems to trust him, and he’s not raising any red flags with Kazuma, but he’s obviously plotting for Bishamon’s downfall. Plus he was a jerk to Suzuha before killing him. Which is interesting, since they seemed to have a good relationship before that since Kugaha was helping him with the tree, but that kind of has an explanation later.
The plot seems to be moving pretty fast compared to the manga, and it seems to at least be skipping a bit of drama between Bishamon’s shinki. I’m pretty sure that by the examination in the manga, the one who was hurting Bishamon was clearly revealed as well as their motives and how they’re working with Kugaha. But I’m sure it will be fine to speed things along, since the Ebisu arc seems pretty lengthy and there’s a lot of important plot points to cover in there. Plus the plot in the anime is coming across nice and clear without seeming rushed at all. Their focus on the emotional aspects of being a shinki has been pretty interesting thus far, and it’s also interesting to see Bishamon’s family slowly come undone from the inside… Not that that’s a good thing for Bishamon, but in a world built like this, it’s always interesting to see when things are pushed too far. That being said, the next episode looks like it goes into Aiha and her part in this (aside from cutting other people’s hair and glaring from afar).
Next time, a look into another one of Bishamon’s more suspicious shinki…
About Karakuri
University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
He is definately not ashamed of any part of his body!
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Everyone in Bishamon’s family (minus Kazuma) seems distant.
The main issue’s a lack of mutual honesty between Bishamon and her Regalia.
Neither side wants to look like they’re imposing their problems on the other, so everyone puts on a big smile and keeps quiet…which leads to this current turn of events.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
So, I’m going to say this with quite a lot of confidence, even though I’ve never read the manga.
Remember the first scene in the first episode? That was Bishamon stung to death, and there was Yato killing all her regalias. He was probably saving her and that’s the situation that’s building up again.
And I knew that some of the regalias were scheming stuff behind her back.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Dia Lovers, Dance with Devils, Seraph, Noragami. You in particular have quite a selection this season, Kara. I bet if you had the chance, you’d blog them all, right? 😉
Uhh, I still remember her appalling conduct last season so it disgusted me seeing Nora again, especially with that smug smile on her face that can’t seem to wipe off. Hopefully when this is over, she gets her just desserts. It’s long overdue.
The entire run, I’ve been trying to figure out Kugaha’s reasoning because his actions had me stumped and it rubbed me the wrong way how he tore Suzuha apart psychologically before having him killed. More so when it was apparent he was a mentor to him. So he’s punishing Bishamon for not staying true to her war goddess status… That’s the same mentality Rabo had for Yato last season. Come on, it’s not like they’re obligated to meet these people’s expectations.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
They don’t seem to realize that they just adapted to this new era where there is no war. What’s the point in being a goddess of war in a world where 90% of the army spends their day on drills instead of being out on the battlefield? Had they stayed true to their former status, they would’ve been long forgotten, right?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I don’t know if I would call what Bishamon has a “family” or even an extended one. It’s a city! How do all of them even have a chance to know each other, much less her? When those children “reassured” her shortly after Suzuha’s death the only thing I was thinking was “you guys are ghosts, you’re repeating motifs”. The personality only as strong as how close they are to her. If the power of a god loses even a bit of mojo, won’t they all unravel? Isn’t her power more vanity than anything else?
The sub-text I got was “how the mighty fall”.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Can I smack Kugaha all over? Ugh, he pisses me off so much and same can be said about Nora.
It’s sad how Yato and Yukine never get a break. Let them spend some time with Hiyori and Kofuku but nope, so many things brewing in the horizon… QQ