Noragami – 06-07

Lions are the official travel form of badasses.

Okay, one more post. Noragami has bee more dramatic in the recent episodes, but the plot is moving ahead at a good pace~. Plus Daikoku beat up Yato again, so there’s something.

Not so innocent anymore

Killing the little girl (or I guess “re-killing” her since she was already dead) in the last episode seriously took a toll on Yukine’s mental health, it seems. He was tempted to sin before, but now Yukine is stealing and doing all kinds of things instead of innocently being slightly attracted to Hiyori’s female charms. I don’t want to say “attracted to Hiyori” exactly, since who knows if he really is or if it’s just hormones. Hiyori isn’t helping the situation either though. Maybe getting mad at him might have made Yukine run off again since he seems to be in a state of mind he’s being antagonized. However, covering for him stealing isn’t helping much either. For one thing, Yato knew exactly what Yukine had done so lying didn’t make the situation better. Of course, Hiyori probably wouldn’t have known that Yato knew. The real problem with Hiyori covering for Yukine is that he might think that his actions are even more justified. Part of the reason why he stole was because he wouldn’t get caught and now he has Hiyori to lie to Yato about it. He even did it again in episode 7 with a charity box, which is in some ways worse than if he had taken from the register.

At first it looked like Yukine had a really crappy life considering the restrictions on him, but now, he’s turning into… well, your typical scared Kaji Yuki character. They certainly chose an appropriate seiyuu here. Yukine’s life still seems unfair since the incident in the last episode really took a toll on him and Yato isn’t exactly sympathetic. Plus, now Yukine’s life is threatened by Bishamon just by association with Yato. Yukine didn’t even have any relation to anything Yato did in the past, yet he’s still the one being targetted. However, Yukine’s attitude certainly isn’t helping the situation. All of his hesitation over the fight with Bishamon only hindered Yato and probably could have killed Yukine if Hiyori hadn’t retrieved Kofuku to help. He totally didn’t realize that it was a kill or be killed situation, and Yukine’s problem overall seems to be that while he’s aware on how other’s actions affect him, he doesn’t quite realize how his actions affect others. Or for the things that he does realize, he doesn’t try to fix them. Yes, he’s a kid and he’s in a really difficult position at the moment, but he needs to grow up or else he’s going to die again. If not by Bishamon, then maybe by Yato.

Yato isn’t the only one who is more than he seems though. It was somewhat less important than Yato’s past in this episode, but Kofuku is also more like a god than she first appears. She may seem like a ditzy girl, but she’s capable of creating calamities if she wants to. …And not just in the lives of unassuming businessmen who are easily charmed by young girls. There were hints of this nature when she first told Hiyori that Yato has killed before, but really, Bishamon is the only god so far who really seems to be the part. Er, her and Tenjin. Though they’re impressive in different ways.

Bishamon seems like she has everything under control. She has multiple shinki and all of them seem to work as a really effective team. They don’t even seem to have problems with impure thoughts like Yukine, and some of them act as sentient clothing, so that’s kind of impressive. Plus, despite the grudge she has against Yato, it seems like she’s a good enough god. Her subordinates seem to worry about her, and she also seems to care for them in her own way since the whole reason why she wants revenge against Yato is because he killed on of hers a long time ago. Perhaps she acted a bit rashly with them in the fight against Yato, but she did care when they were injured, so she can’t be that bad of a person. Kazuma seems to have a weird relationship with Yato too, considering his god. Yato seems to be his benefactor of sorts, but who even knows how or why. Bishamon doesn’t seem aware of that relationship either, so it’s a mystery as to how the two characters are related. …He also looks a lot like Okumura Yukio from Ao no Exorcist, but hopefully that’s not the only reason why FukuJun was hired as his seiyuu.

Overall, Yato seems to be having extreme difficulties and he seems to finally be nearing the end of his patience. We’ve never seen Yato be so serious for such a long period of time, and it doesn’t help that he’s being attacked either. There was also confirmation about the rumour that Yato has killed before. Not only that, but another god of war’s shinki. Also, in this situation, Yato’s pretty close to death himself. The smart thing to so would be to let Yukine go, but Yato seems against that. Yukine seems useless as a shinki with the way he is now, but Yato still hasn’t unnamed him for some reason.

Finally, there was the explanation of what a Nora actually is. Gods seem to have a unique perspective on dishonour and such, so their view on a Nora seems interesting. Having a few names doesn’t seem like a bad thing, but to gods, it must seem like a betrayal. …Yato really has a lot of mysterious connections. Nora seems to have a lot of gods, but she’s really stuck on Yato for some reason. And in return, he also doesn’t seem to want anything to do with her. …The guy who was with her is the Sakurai anime-only character I was talking about earlier, so his part in the plot is also a rather large mystery. Though seeing how everyone seems to be connected to Yato in one way or another, he probably fits under that category as well.

Yes, things are going well. Yukine has been acting up for the past couple episodes, but the progression of corruption hasn’t been too fast. The story has given a lot of insight into just what made Yukine act this way, so while his actions might be annoying right now, at least we know why it’s happening. In contrast, it’s really hard to tell what Yato is thinking or why he won’t let go of Yukine. Shinki can’t be that hard to come by, can they? Well, I can’t really say much about the plot other than this anime is progressing really well and I have no complaints whatsoever. I’m just really looking forward to seeing the conclusion of Yukine’s problems animated.

Hopefully not like this.

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.