Noragami Aragoto 04-06
Bones does some pretty nice shots sometimes.
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Kyo’s feeling under the weather, so it’s just me for now. It’s been a while, but I’m just in time for the Bishamon arc’s finale, so let’s talk about that. …Though I guess I should talk about what happened before it ended first. |
Yukine has really grown up! From the first season where he was more emotionally unstable, he now is able to get things together. When Hiyori was in danger, despite it maybe being his fault due to his negative emotions, he got right back on his feet and was ready to get her back. He even put his life on the line for Yato, which ended up paying off pretty well. How he was able to evolve and become a hafuri, it just shows how much he now trusts Yato. Plus with his strength being based on his emotions and beliefs, having him being able to defeat other shinki to protect Yato says a lot about his conviction.
Though speaking of that, Hiyori and Yato also seem to share a pretty important relationship since she knew she could stop him. Plus in an earlier episode, it was mentioned that Yato’s reason for staying in the same place for so long was her. But other than stopping Yato and getting kidnapped, Hiyori didn’t do much this battle. …Not that it was her choice to do that, thanks to the whole being kidnapped thing. Plus she was good moral support for Yato and Kazuma (as she generally tends to be).
So we finally got a look into the past of Yato and Bishamon, and Noragami really did a good job at justifying everyone’s actions in the incident. Of course Kazuma would see Yato as a benefactor, since he saved Bishamon and of course Bishamon would hate Yato for killing her family. Bishamon’s unwavering devotion to her shinki (even if they’re undeniably hurting her) may seem like a little much, but at the same time, it’s firmly part of her character. Even to the point where she was so blinded with rage over the past incident that she didn’t fully grasp what was happening in the present and only saying that killing Yato would stop everything. I suppose she kind of just let her shinki die this time from the masked (or her hurting them with the corruption), but at the same time, she obviously wasn’t in her right mind and was too caught up in the past.
As for Kazuma, he probably should have told Bishamon the truth behind everything and maybe they could have avoided this battle between her and Yato altogether. But he probably didn’t want to hurt her any more than the incident already had. Plus some part of him probably liked the newfound attention he was given as well. …And I can’t really complain since Kazuma and Bishamon’s relationship is pretty adorable between her trust and his devotion. But on the plus side, things have worked out for the best since Bishamon’s whole family seems to have a better perspective on having a healthy god and shinki relationship. The shinki may hurt her a little now and again, but like Bishamon said about humans inevitably hurting her and it being okay, people do that to each other all the time. The important thing is that they work things out.
Kuguha’s reasons for doing things weren’t the greatest. Sure he didn’t sting Bishamon and he thought that he was doing the right thing, but at the same time, Bishamon is a god. I always liked Yato’s line in this arc about how since they’re gods, whatever they do is righteous (and it’s backed up with how they can steal or even kill without being stung). So with that logic, having Bishamon being judged by a human like Kuguha, it makes him too full of himself. How can a mere human decide what’s best for a god? So having him banished was a fitting end, since he really did care about Bishamon in his own twisted way, and that would have hurt him the most. Maybe Bishamon was a little soft in not killing him, but she cared about him in her own way too since he was her shinki. They never went into why Nora was helping him, but hopefully that comes up in time.
Aiha at least worked to redeem herself, as the battle would have probably gone as Kuguha had planned if Hiyori wasn’t able to stop Yato. The same goes for Kazuma and Bishamon. Aiha was pretty naive to think that her actions would get Bishamon to like her better, but I suppose it helped move the plot along so it got to this point. Plus at the end, everyone seems to have forgiven her, so it’s nice that they can continue acting like a family of sorts without harsh feelings towards her. Some more exposition on why she wanted Bishamon to pay attention to her would have been nice, but I suppose we saw a lot of Bishamon’s shinki give the same sort of “I wish she would pay attention to me more” type story, so that gave a general idea of what all of them were thinking.
And now thanks to having the truth of the first incident come to light and having the same kind of thing happen twice, things should be different for Bishamon’s family. Plus Kazuma will probably lead things differently thanks to Hiyori pointing out how Yato’s relationship with his family works and how hiding everything would be difficult for Bishamon. Though it’s nice that Bishamon picked up on that kind of thing too, since she had the communication diary thing started while Kazuma was unconscious. This way, it’s not just Kazuma telling Bishamon what to do, but her working towards that goal on her own as well.
That type of logic applies to her killing her own shinki that were swallowed by the mask as opposed to Yato doing it. This way, Bishamon is learning from her experiences by herself instead of having history repeat itself and Yato doing all of the dirty work for her benefit. It was probably really hard for her to do it, but it was probably the best thing that could have happened in that situation.
Well Bishamon and Yato should have a better relationship from now on since they parted on decent terms. Plus we learned a lot about how Bishamon is in general, aside from her grudge towards Yato and how she had a lot of shinki. Though I’m not really sure why the two side shinki talking (while the masked thing was attacking the others in the next room over) was totally necessary besides giving a reason to go back to watching all of the other side shinki die. Plus I guess it showed how the other shinki/humans are resilient since the one girl went from not caring about dying to wanting to live since someone cared. But that aside, this arc was a pretty decent mix of action and talking. Plus Bishamon’s hair! I kept staring at how nice it looked these past few episodes… But anyways, Noragami is always good at having the action scenes (or other scenes) look really good, so I wasn’t disappointed here at all. Time for the next arc!
Though Nora is going to be bothering Yato again and that doesn’t mean anything good.
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: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
A high note ending for a purely awesome arc that hit a number of feels, positive and negative. I think now Bishamon has a firm grasp at the risk of having an excess of Regalias yet you’re also left asking “Is it wrong for her wanting to be so kind simply for the sake of it?” An ideal example of the scenario “You can’t have the cake and eat it, too” which to this day is true but feels like bitchy metaphor to swallow.
Now that Bishamon knows the truth behind Yato’s extermination of her past set of Regalias at Kazuma’s request, unless she’s the spiteful type (which she’s not), she can’t reproach him as much as she would want to since it was for her sake. I’d like to see how future interactions between her and Yato will go given that everything’s out in the open.
Kugaha’s end is one I’ll have to settle for. I feel he deserved a far harsher punishment for harming his master and wiping out most of his fellow Regalias out of his selfish, conceited reasoning but getting eternally discarded might be sufficient enough. Not to mention having the audacity to say Yato failed his duty. The guy obviously forgot his place.
Congrats to Yukine’s continued growth from the whiny, naïve brat he was last season. He still gets overly emotional at times but he’s able to quickly put himself back in check. According to Bishamon, a Regalia becomes a Blessed Vessel when the Regalia is completely loyal to the master. This probably means Yukine will remain loyal to Yato even in spite of his ongoing idiocy. Best of luck to him after what’s already happened in the past.
I’m still waiting for Nora to get her much deserved comeuppance. It remains an infuriating and puzzling matter. She has so many names from previous masters who have otherwise declared her fruit from a poisonous tree. How is it possible she is still able to find those willing to take her in? You can’t tell me there’s something special about her that’s considered valuable. Nora exudes nothing but discord and betrayal.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Loli in a yukata?
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Whoooaaa I did not expect this arc to be so…intense. I really liked it! I thought season 1 was incredibly average, mostly because Yukine was so bratty through it all that there was no room for me to enjoy anything once he was in the picture. I’m so glad he’s grown as a person (er…ghost…sword..thing) and become reliable, independent and strong. He’s still a big sensitive baby, but he’s learned to suck it up when he needs to.
Of course, this arc isn’t great just because Yukine stopped being annoying. I loved everything about Bishamon’s story and how she came to so many wrong conclusions based on her past trauma. She really just wanted to do what was best for others, she just got a little lost along the way. Looking forward to seeing her in the future getting along with her regalia a little better. I want to see more pages from that diary hehe
Bring on the next arc!
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Though Nora is going to be bothering Yato again and that doesn’t mean anything good.
She’s only 1 half of the problem. The other half’s her true master, Show ▼
For the next arc, I’d strongly suggest reading up the Shinto creation myth. It provides important backstory.
http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/CS/CSJapan.html