#nana discusses noragami

[hellanoragami-blog]

Chapter 83 Thoughts

After a few days, this is finally out! I had to take a lot of time to actually discern intentions, for this one. And I may have spent way too much time thinking about what could happen, in future chapters.

So, this lovely chapter starts out showing Yukine, tailing Father. We’re not made to focus on it much longer, because we’re soon moved on to a meeting between the Gods. (Introduced by Ebisu, looking disheveled from trying to dress himself without the help of his shinki.) Tenjin is the one to bring the topic to attention, which is: deciding how to handle Yukine, who has been touched by the God’s greatest secret.

It seems as if most of the Gods are in favor, save for Takemikazuchi. Though, it appears that he wouldn’t be willing to do the job personally. It leads me to think that even he doesn’t really want Yukine dead, even though he’s talking negatively about him in the next couple of pages.

Kofuku goes absolutely feral on him, unleashing a ton of bad luck and promising him the death of his financial assets should anything happen to Yukine. Ebisu brings up a good point, though; to do nothing would mean that the covenant was essentially a pointless sacrifice. The majority of them reach a mutual decision: they have to eradicate the sorcerer themselves. Heaven won’t help them, so they have to act solo.

This reminds Ookuninushi about something Kagutsuchi told him; that Amaterasu is going on a personal hunt with a select few Gods, and no shinki are allowed to know. Soon, they come to the conclusion that it is Yato that Amaterasu wants to get rid of--or maybe all of them, with Yato being their main target. (Also I just want to note that I was REALLY confused as to how Ebisu was that tall in pages 13 and 15, but then I realized that he’s probably standing on one of the structure’s platforms to be more at eye-level.) We then get Take’s extremely inaccurate depiction of Yato, the war god only mildly upset that he couldn’t defeat Yato himself.

C’mon, my guy; whose side are you on?

Speaking of Yato! We’re switched over to him and Kazuma. Yato appears to be trying to avoid being seen by Yukine--with Kazuma, specifically. (Which, of course he denies when Kazuma confronts him about it.) Kazuma then feels the serpent move, literally dragging him in the opposite direction; signalling that Nora is close by. And wherever Nora is, Father is. After a short conversation about whether or not Yato’s ready to face his dad, he gives Kazuma a look that indicates nervousness, determination, and resignation wrapped up in a neat little package. Of course he isn’t okay with it; but he made a vow to Heaven, and he has to go through with it.

So! Off they go to follow the serpent that will lead them to Father; unbeknownst to them, they have already been seen by none other than Yukine. The pair find Father, sitting defenseless in the park. However, Yato is still feeling a bit reluctant. Even seeing his father defenseless like that, he can’t confidently aim an attack yet. He instead thinks about his friends and found family, and wonder what kind of faces they’d give him if they knew what he was doing. He decides to just do it, and takes aim. But the attack is blocked by a borderline, who they first suspect as being Nora.

They’re both wrong! It’s Yukine, who had followed them to their hiding spot. Honestly? They both seem shocked to see each other! Yukine guesses pretty quickly that Yato is using Kazuma. He’s definitely not in his right mind it seems, especially since he’s being tormented by the God’s secret. He’s bothered that Yato is lying, or what he perceives to be a lie. Knowing that Yato knows his past now, and hasn’t told him--it’s made him angry.

And this is where the desperation and panic starts to set in. Yukine stings Yato, and Yato tries to go after him and talk to him, but Yukine wants none of that. He draws a line between them, overwhelmed by the torment of his own past and struggling with who he is and who he was before. I think, at this point, he’s having a major identity crisis; as the boy who died.

The fact of Yukine’s death is more prevalent than ever. He feels like everything he’s lived for as ‘Yukine’ has been a lie, and coming to terms with that is enough to make even a regular person freak out--much less a child. Desperate to separate himself from it, he throws the hat Yato made him on the ground and starts scratching at his name; trying to get rid of it.

Meanwhile, this is having a profound impact on Yato’s health, and despite him trying to tell Yukine that he’s hurting him, the teenager is simply way too overwhelmed with his own grief and anger to listen. And then, he seems to recall something.

His name.

At the exact moment, Yato collapses. It’s hurting him both physically and mentally, no doubt. He’s spent almost a year with this kid, his pride and joy not only as a hafuri, but as his friend and, in a way, his son. It’d hurt to have your child denounce the name you’ve given them. To see them so desperate to separate themselves from you.

Seeing Yato on the ground seems to jar Yukine out of his mental state, just a little. You can see his gaze clear up, but he’s so devastated by what he’s done to him now. Feeling scared and not knowing what else to do, he runs away.

We see Father soon after, musing that Yato and Kazuma seem to be serious. He resolves to take Yukine then, and we also see Nora with him--kind of confirming her involvement in the plan. However, she looks none too happy to be doing this.

It’s a good time to remember that if a name breaks, or if a shinki is released, they cannot be named by the same God twice. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out, in that case. Will Yukine’s name break? And if so, does that separate him from Yato forever? I feel like things will only get worse from here, before they get better.

I also definitely want to know Nora’s thoughts on the situation, and what route she’s going to take. To help Yukine reunite with Yato, or aid Father in convincing Yukine to fight against Yato? And if Yukine has truly remembered his name, will his past be sure to follow? And how will he deal with it?

More than ever, I wish Hiyori were here to help.

[vikuu-chan]

NORAGAMI CHAPTER 92.1 SPOILERS

As I am no longer allowed to post SPOILERS images of Noragami chapters, I will post chapter summaries instead. I apologize in advance if there are mistakes in the texts because I am French, and my level of English is not very good.

The chapter begins with Yato and Kazuma hiding inside a garbage can. They observe people in the street that Yukine manipulates with his "righteous net". Yato finally remembers the promise he made to Amaterasu and realizes that the ooharai will soon arrive.

then, we see Nana and Arahabaki in the middle of a discussion. I don't know what they are saying to each other but Arahabaki is probably going to participate in ooharai. Then Nana goes to bed, and starts crying in her sleep.

Then we come back to Yato who this time faces his father and Yukine. The confrontation between them is about to begin.

This will be the only image I will share with you. I don't want to have any problems. Anyway, as soon as the chapter is officially available, I will share the pages with you in better quality.

Please don't post the SPOILERS images of the chapter if you find them, otherwise you may encounter problems!

[kanotototori]

So, what’s the deal with Nora?

Norasquad, how are we doing? Whew.

My thoughts are everywhere but I’m gonna try to make this as cohesive as possible. Thanks Nana at @hellanoragami​ for brainstorming with me! TW for discussions about miscarriage and stillbirth and all that it entails, disease, death, very brief mention of abortion, one potentially upsetting photo of starving children, all that not-so-good stuff. 

I believe that Nora is the spirit of a baby that was miscarried or stillborn. Some more thoughts and theories, as scattered as they may be, under the cut since it’s gonna be a little image-heavy.

Right off the bat, here are some things that make Nora’s state pretty clear:

Her words that she’s just a “fake little girl” (aka, she’s not actually, physically a child but a baby who died before she could really even live and be a “person” in the loosest sense of the words), her apparent jealousy that Hiyori was born “normal”, Nora expressing how she “wanted to be a girl” just like Hiyori (she uses onna no ko here, "little girl”, like in the previous sentences), her squished, bug-eyed, distinctly baby features...

Nora’s tail coming out of where her umbilical cord should have been...

...And her turning into a literal baby curled into fetal position before falling into a circular pond full of water, which just... wow, not even subtle there, just smacks of womb imagery. (And here we thought Nora was associated with water because she was drowned as a child, not because of its association with embryonic fluid!)

And, of course: the “memories” Yato saw when he first named her. Darkness (of the womb), a heartbeat (her mother’s), and muffled sounds (from outside the womb, as fetuses can hear sounds from around 18 weeks). Father likely didn’t tamper with her memories - she had no memories other than that in the first place.

So, Nora’s a baby. What now? How can she even be a shinki?

Well, my friends, in Buddhist mythology (yes, it always comes back to Buddhism when it comes to Trash “I was a Buddhist priest probably” Dad), everyone has a soul - and by that, I mean everyone. That includes the souls of aborted, miscarried, and stillborn babies, who are sentenced to stack stones on the shores of the mythical Sanzu River as penance since they have not acquired enough good deeds to cross to the other side and pass over.

(On the far right.)

Since the Sanzu River doesn’t seem to be a thing (unless Adachitoka is giving us a double-meaning here, with Nora having to be close to water metaphorically representing the Sanzu River that the souls of departed children must stack stones by) in Noragami, I’m guessing that the souls of all these children stay on the Near Shore and take the form of older children once named, if not already corrupted (but that’s not a problem for Father). Since even the souls of those who have passed on before they could really “live” have enough agency and innate identity to stack stones in the first place, they would easily have enough identity - a requirement for something to be named correctly - to be named and used as shinki.

Side note: Nora’s chest in her ayakashi form looks a lot like that of a child who has been starving.

Which brings me to my next point!

Why the Fuck Did Father Name A Random Stillborn Baby Spirit

It’s one thing to see a baby god born out of your wish and be like “Oh yeah, I’ll tell this little kid to slaughter a bunch of people when he grows a little older” but it’s another thing entirely to see the corrupted spirit of some random stillborn baby and think “Oh yeah, this will make a great shinki.” It’s insanity, even for Father.

.... Unless Nora wasn’t just a “random stillborn baby spirit.”

Let’s backpedal a little bit to Chapter 60.

As @invertedgoogle​ pointed out in a mutual Discord server we’re in, the scenery looks dead, dry, as if in the middle of a drought. Of course, droughts mean less food for an already usually-hungry populace of commoners, which means malnutrition, which means disease... conditions terrible for carrying a baby and both mother and child making it out alive.

And even if there was no drought, commoners had hard lives in the Heian period - they depended on good harvests for food (fun fact: malnutrition can cause stillbirths and miscarriages) and entire communities were devastated by diseases such as smallpox.

Smallpox, which can leave pockmarks, even on the face. I know a lot of people read the translation that mentioned her as a “freckled woman” but it is in fact specifically “girl with a pockmarked face.” Father’s “precious person”, who Izanami took the form of when he entered the Underworld.

I’m suspecting that Nora was, indeed, not some random corrupted baby wandering around but his own stillborn daughter with Pockmarks who might’ve died in childbirth as well since childbirth was pretty dangerous to even a healthy, fed woman before modern medicine but idk it’s a theory, who died in the womb before she could be born and named. Disease, malnutrition, and severe deformities/defects are all legit reasons for a stillbirth.

Why Father even calls himself “Father” (it seems like his ayakashi innately know to call him that), why he might’ve gotten the Brush, what pushed him to hate Heaven so much, why he bothers to have this patchwork “family” and“play house” in the first place with Nora and Yato, why he’s so emotionally unavailable towards Nora - all things that start to make a lot more sense once I started thinking about this theory.

I’ll just leave you guys with an excerpt from @echodrops​‘s Chapter 78 analysis:

The concept of “playing house” in Noragami is very interesting. It only comes up in the context of gods and humans; we’ve seen it three now in the context of (what is likely) a god playing house with a human: Kofuku hurt Daikoku by trying to “play house” and raise a child; Bishamon hurt her shinki (and was hurt by her shinki) for trying to foster a motherly relationship with them; and Father pretended at kindness and care for his “children” while they were all aware of the real truth.

You could argue that one of these things is not like the other–both Kofuku and Bishamon did what they did out of love, while Father is evil–but I wonder if the third case is really that much different than the first two. Why did Father raise Mizuchi and Yato like his children? Was this a one-sided endeavor in which he bought their loyalty with occasional moments of kindness? Is that all there is to it? Or is there something else going on here?

How much of Father’s “playing house” was pure cruelty… and how much of it might stem for a desire for the very thing Heaven denied him?

Anyway, I’m #1 Clown, signing out and dying on this probably-crack hill.

Edit: I’m stupid and forgot to mention how Pockmarks’ death could be tied to Heaven. Remember, when there is chaos in the Far Shore and between gods, upheaval on the Near Shore follows... chaos, failed harvests, disease, and the chain continues... I’ll leave it at that.

[noragami-ru-manga]

Amaterasu, names, and the box

 ____________________

There’s a lot of Noragami meta out there, so maybe this has been already discussed, I don’t know. Anyway, I have some thoughts on that trial by pledge scene, so now you have another analysis post. ____________________

When Arahabaki was talking about Nana in chapter 72, he said that after the Emishi had been defeated, he was executed by the Heavens, and she lost her name.

I’ve never really thought about it too hard and always assumed that he was forced to revoke her name before being executed, and was simply being a little aloof about it now. But if we take his words at face value, then someone else must have released her, and the only other character that, theoretically, could have done that, is the ruler of Heavens.

We know that Amaterasu has the power to summon any shinki as if she were their master. She can both turn them to their instrument form and revert them to their human form.

Does it mean that she can release them from their names, too? It’s hard to tell with 100% certainty. Amaterasu, the incarnation of sun, has been called “the source of life itself”, and we know that the gods use their life when they name shinki (I remind you that the word “mei” in the last verse of the naming incantation means both “command” and “life”). Maybe the reason why she can influence the bond the other gods create with their shinki by using their lives is because she is the source of life. Also, like I said, if Arahabaki wasn’t the one to revoke Nana’s previous name, Amaterasu is the only character who could have done it without actually breaking the canon rules concerning shinki names.

Which brings us back to the scene in which she delivers her initial verdict. See, Nana was locked in a box in her human form, after losing her name and with it - all of her shinki abilities (like using borderlines and spells, if she knew any) as well as any chance to turn back into a weapon, should her master Arahabaki ever decide to rescue her. However, Yukine kept his name. Why?

On meta-level, it’s pretty obvious. It is canonically impossible for a god to name the same shinki twice, even though that rule hadn’t been revealed at the time - the trial was in chapters 70-71, the “you can’t give a name to your former shinki a second time” rule was first mentioned in chapter 72. If Adachitoka had already planned that this rule would become a crucial plot element in the future, then releasing Yukine would have been unwelcome from a storytelling perspective. They would have to figure out how to get his name back and create an exception. It’s not like Adachitoka never break their own rules - the shinki who survived the GGS are a proof of that. But there are only so many exceptions you can make per manga.

Storytelling reasons aside, what in-universe motivation could Amaterasu have to leave Yukine his name and, by extension, his shinki abilities? She made it pretty clear that she was going to execute Yato. The Heavens didn’t exactly care if he could reincarnate or not. If he was reborn - ok, they could raise him the way they wanted. If he wasn’t, then that’s even better, -1 problem to deal with. So what would have happened if Tenjin hadn’t come up with the idea of a trial by pledge, which resulted in Yato, Yukine and Bishamon being pardoned? Would Yato really have been executed, or did Amaterasu have some sort of plan?

Amaterasu secretly helped our heroes retrieve Yato from Yomi by telling them (well, Kofuku) about the soul call - which, apparently, no one among them had heard about. This is one of the strongest arguments pointing to the Tsukuyomi theory - the sun goddess comes help rescue her brother, who is also the moon god, so leaving him in Yomi for all eternity is absolutely unacceptable. If we look at Amaterasu’s actions using this theory, then her leaving Yato’s shinki in his service could have been beneficial for her - e.g., so that Yukine could protect Tsukuyomi’s current incarnation, a.k.a. Yato. That is, if Amaterasu is an ambitious ruler who doesn’t want a legitimate claim to the throne from her brother. If Yato was executed only to reincarnate as Tsukuyomi, he could have become a potential rival. But if he remained an unknown god, everything would have been perfect - no competition, and the moon is still in the sky, everything’s fine.

If we disregard the Tsukuyomi theory though, why would Amaterasu help save Yato from Yomi, and why would she leave this opening for him at the trial by not revoking Yukine’s name? The most obvious answer I have is a sense of duty. It was brought to our attention multiple times how Yato’s past actions can have some interesting results in the future. I’ve already mentioned in my other post how Yato’s job as a magatsukami has brought him some good things, too, namely meeting and befriending Kazuma, Daikoky and Kofuku, and Ebisu. Amaterasu also mentioned that she came to his help in secret, driven by personal reasons. Could Yato unknowingly have helped the goddess of sun, so now she helped him out of gratitude?  What could the ruler of Heavens have possibly needed from some god of calamity, that she couldn’t have got anywhere else? The only thing that comes to mind is Yato’s ability to severe ties, which seems to be exclusive to him. What kind of ties and with whom Amaterasu could have wanted him to cut? It’s a mystery.

Maybe I am waaaay off with all of this and the answer is much simpler. Like, for example, calling Sekki to lock him in the box was much easier than trying to force Yukine in - he wouldn’t get in there voluntarily, that’s for sure.

Lastly, if Amaterasu has the power to release shinki from their names, then there’s your answer to “what do we do if Father dies, but the name Hagusa remains?”. Just ask Amaterasu to revoke the name Hagusa from Yukine - I mean, what could go wrong with that plan?

[noragamistan]

My oh my, I hear people are dissin my boy Yukine.

I'm all for discussing this peacefully so let's not get dramatic here we're all Noragami fans after all.

Alright. First of all, how dare you

second of all, this boy is 14. I don't even remember how I was when I was 14, so judging a boy that age is just unfair. Do not treat him as a plot device, if he was a plot device and not a well-written and extremely developed character, maybe he would've behaved differently. But Yukine is forever stuck in puberty, so of course he'd be hard to deal with and he'd have his doubts about himself and the people around him. Hell, I'm 16 and I'm the brattiest creature on Earth.

Now if we look at the current situation, we can find that GGS has been revealed to Yukine, and he's starting to break. If we examine the last cases of GGS, we will find that two had to be killed by their masters, and two overcame it.

Sakura:

Sakura is a grown, adult woman. She is very mature, and she is the one who taught Yato about giving instead of taking, having a significant part in shaping him into who he is today. She really loved Yato, evident by how she returned to him even after he used her to kill a man. The moment her past was mentioned by Nora though, the name Sakura began to crumble. It becomes a lie. Sakura is in fact, someone else. Who was she? How did she die? That question haunted Sakura.

She pleaded and begged yato to answer her question.

He told her.

And then she lost her shit.

Now, losing one's shit when you're a shinki could have many reasons and many explanations. I believe Tamanone was consumed by her hatred at how she died, and the fact that she had a blissful life.

Tsuguha:

Tsuguha looks much older than Yukine. She is a reliable, quirky woman, who loved Bishamon up to asking Aiha, the girl who bullied her, to keep Bishamon safe if anything were to happen to her in the Bishamon arc. When Tsuguha was touched by Nora, she started getting "ill" and then her name was revealed to her. She got mad! she became obsessed with it.

Why didn't her goddess help her when a man fell on her?

Why did a young girl like her, have to die in such a cruel way?

And then she lost her shit

Nana:

Nana was touched by Nora. She endured it. But Nana has gone through much, much much much worse than learning how she died. What's more, is that she felt like she had a much bigger goal to achieve (killing the guys on top), so the past didn't concern her. She was surrounded by her goal, she had someone who had shown her kindness beside her. She doesn't care much about death.

Nora:

Unknown really.

So as we can all see here. GGS can make you lose your shit no matter who you are.

Yukine's name is.... strong. Very strong. He was struck by Nora before, but his name was strong enough to not reveal his true name.

Yukine has always been strong. He has sacrificed his life for Yato, he promised to make Yato a God of Fortune, he stayed with Yato even when he knew he'd been killing humans up until recently. And still he stayed.

And Yato left.

Yukine tried his best to stay composed throughout the time Yato was training with Rekki. He met Nora, in which he saw his past self. A girl who feels that she has nowhere to go, and nobody tries to understand her feelings. He played with her, ate with her (even though he probably thought what he was doing was wrong), and took her in. Then Father JUST HAD TO GO AND MENTION HOW NORA DIED which sparked Yukine to think like that. OF COURSE, since he's alone and not even Hiyori is around, and Nora betrayed him, he feels like his name is a lie. There has to be some life in which he isn't left alone, in which he had a family who loved and trusted him. What he's living right now is nothing but a name covering another, a life hiding another. And Yato knew about his real life, and didn't tell him.

If Yukine was your typical character, he'd immediately get over it because he's already been given development. He's already been through all the blighting Yato thing. But this time, the problem is something that other, much more mature shinki have given into.

Yukine is a good boy.

Fight me

[sweatyato]

my one and only

Noragami one-shot |  2149 words

Characters: Yato & Yukine | General Audiences 

on ao3 by BeatrizCaelum (me)

Yato feels older than he has ever felt in thousands of years.

It is not a matter of being wise or even resilient, at this point, here, in the attic he has grown so fond of, looking at this small form under the blankets he’d do anything for. No, Yato doesn’t think he’s wise — if he were, Yukine wouldn’t be as tired as he is, sleeping through the birds’  melody outside. He suspects he’s alive solely because of love or some other equally incomprehensible feeling that is more human than divine. After all... What is a temple to his home? What is an army of shinki to his kid, or a legacy compared to Hiyori’s memories of him — of them? 

Soft. Yeah, yeah, he knows. Sentimental. Someone willing to make other people happy, Hiryori would say. Hm. That’s what she deserves. And for Yukine, well — the small bump sighs and Yato adjusts the blankets —, the hands that so tenderly ruffle his hair or pat his shoulder, Yato’s calloused, sweaty hands, they can’t have blood on them, can they? They can’t. They won’t. This softness, this love, is for them. Not for a believer or for the Heavens or something his old man can twist. It’s theirs. (Yato doesn’t have a surname to put them under. No umbrellas here. They can’t have Iki, not really. Maybe, one day, he could...)

Ah. You idiot. Hiyori is not marrying you. Well. He can dream. He can dream of so many things, even if they are not for gods, even if many of them make no sense to him as he exists now. He can dream of being a man; of growing up to someday find a soulmate in Hiyori; he can dream of mundane jobs and so much fresh snow on their backyard and joy and freedom; he can even dream of a younger Yukine, safe under his  — their  — care, from baby to child to adult to old man, his shadow taller than Yato’s own. Nowhere near his... that man.

Yato closes his eyes. Yukine knows.

He knows and he is alive. And that’s why Yato is tired. If Yukine hadn’t made it, Yato wouldn’t even be himself anymore. He was too late when Kofuku called him (she did a few times, in two days, and he regrets it so much not picking up the phone earlier), shaky voice bursting a Yukki is crossing the line that he can still hear ringing in his ears.

All seemed small, then. Father, Nora, Bishamon’s comatose state, Kazune, the Heavens. The world, the Near and the Far Shores, it all was Yukine, Yukine, Yukine. Yato left Kazune hidden and teleported so fast as he felt like he was the dying one. He didn’t even have to ponder on releasing Yukine; it wouldn’t make a difference, he already had had the most... crucial flashbacks to his identity and final moments. He was crying, newspapers spread covering the living room’s floor, and was too out of it to react upon seeing Yato.

He gathered his kid into his arms and decided what was the fastest way to kill him.

(There wasn’t one. He had no weapon. He couldn’t use Kazune even if he had brought him along, because then he’d have to come up with an explanation to why Yukine was transforming into an ayakashi. For someone who fought so much to stay alive over the centuries, Yato really didn’t think this through.)

But Yukine stayed very much human. 

Time passed and Yato felt the blond hair tickling his chin — not horns, not claws, not the ragged surface of wings —, Yukine’s rapid heartbeats still like an echo of his own, a boy’s shadow projecting behind him, the name persisting on his collarbone even with all the cracks. The gasping sounds his throat was making were nothing like a phantom’s deep timbre: his kid was his kid, although more lost than he could bear to watch.

When his old name escaped from his lips like a question, Yato just held him tighter.

“Yukine,” Yato murmured, “you’re Yukine.”

At some point, Yukine collapsed, sobs fading out. Yato answered some of his whispered questions of times long gone, memory after memory, and put him to sleep upstairs, as silent as he could, as if to not disturb his miracle.

Yukine should be gone.

Yato doesn’t understand. He almost doesn’t want to to know. Is it because he’s a blessed vessel, like Nana? Is it because even though he feels sad, he doesn’t wish to have his old life back, he doesn’t resent being dead anymore? Is it because nothing can really affect him worse than once being trapped by Heaven? Or Is Yukine’s abnormal strength something else entirely? 

Maybe it’ll be a long time until he finds out. Maybe he won’t, ever, even after countless centuries. But if Yukine can stay with him, he doesn’t care.

“Hhhg,” Yukine’s groan startles him. “Yato?”

“Here,” he answers immediately, hand already reaching out. Just there, just in case, but Yukine’s eyes are closed and he stays still.

“I feel like,” his voice is hoarse, and it takes some time for words to form, “like I died twice.”

“You kinda did,” Yato swallows. “You got back your memories, your name and you’re here. I didn’t think this was even possible.”

“I don’t feel like I’m here.”

Yato’s heart tightens. “It’ll take you time to... get used to this. Two lives, one mind.”

“I don’t... I,” a sob muffles his words. “I’m so tired. Nothing I saw was good. Nothing I saw was fair. My... He..”

“I know,” he sighs. “I know, kiddo. But, please, you can’t let this get the best of you. You’re okay now, but... If you start having too many negative feelings, your body might give up on being human.”

Yukine cracks one eye open. “What do you mean?”

Yato tells him everything. The God’s Greatest Secret, what happened to Sakura, what should’ve happened to him. Then, his plan of tracking Nora to get to his dad and even about Kazune. At this, Yukine tries to get up to smack him on the head, but he trembles and lays down again.

“You have no idea how much I want to punch you,” he grumbles, even though Yato does have all the ideas. “Dumbass. But, yeah. I get it. You don’t want to use me for that.”

“I really, really don’t.”

“Isn’t Sekki your best option against Chiki now, though? I mean, it’s not like she can — “ Yukine’s eyes widen suddenly. “Shit. Shit. I forgot. You don’t know. There’s no Chiki. Your dad released Nora.”

“What.”

Yato feels his brain short-circuit. There’s no way his old man would do this, even if he found out about the tracker spell. He wasn’t afraid of Yato, that’s for sure. Would he sacrifice his most loyal and most powerful weapon in order to escape the Heavens? Once a shinki is released, the old master can’t name them a second time.

Then again, most rules don’t apply to his dad.

“Shit really hit the fan while you were gone,” Yukine glares at him. After a few seconds, his voice lowers as a slight blush spreads across his face. “Um. Yato.”

He blinks, fearing Yukine is about to ask something he doesn’t know how to answer. “What?”

“Is — is Kazune a better shinki than me?”

Ah. Yato smiles. He does know the answer to this.

“No one is.”

“Duh,” Yukine spats, but Yato can see  — and feel  —  his relief. “I’m still gonna beat you to a pulp, though.”

“You can do whatever you want,” Yato means it. “Just stay with me. Please.”

His kid’s expression grows solemn. “I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

“Okay,” he nods. “Good. Me neither.”

Not for now, at least.

They share an uncomfortable silence after this, nothing but each other’s presence to ease their thoughts. Not for the first time, he wishes Hiyori was here, but it’s not fair for her to always have to comfort them, as if she’s the Goddess, after so much happened to her, after what she has already done to help.

After Yato’s mistakes.

“I...” Yukine’s voice trails off. 

Yato knows his kid is working on some courage to say whatever is weighing on both of them—, a vicious feeling that has Yato’s weak on his knees even if he’s sitting —, so he waits. 

“Is,” Yukine coughs, “is this why you kept me?”

“This...what?” He asks, not unkindly. 

“You kept me even though I was killing you because you saw yourself in me,” they lock eyes. “Because of our fathers.”

Yato says nothing for a long time. 

A bird flies into the room through the window and lands on Yukine’s nightlight.

“Bakagami,” Yukine calls. “It’s... it’s fine. I’m not mad. I mean. It’s what saved my ass, so it’s not like I can compl— ”

“It’s not that simple,” he interrupts.

“It’s... not?

“It was like that in the beginning, yeah.” He admits. “I wanted to give you something good here because of what I saw in your memories. But, then... Well. Stuff changed.”

“How so?” Yukine slowly moves to a sitting position. This time, he’s the one who reaches out, and Yato takes his hand with a small smile.

“After some of our misadventures, as I got to know you more and more... I realized I wanted you to have a good life this time no matter what had happened.” He says. “Even if you had been the happiest boy on Earth in your past life, I’d find a way to make you even happier with me.”

“Ah,” Yukine blinks, face coloring a little bit. “Yato...”

“You deserve it,” he insists. “Not just to make up for some violent past. You deserve to be happy because you are you.”

His grip on Yato’s hand tightens. “He didn’t think so.”

“Your father was —”, Yato swallows down a growl that belongs to Yaboku. “I’m not discussing his... actions. Just thinking  of how he dared to — it makes me want to —”

“Hey,” Yukine whispers. “Breathe.”

“Sorry,” he clears his throat, but can’t make himself fake even the slightest of smiles.  “Anyway. I’m... I’m sorry that you remember him now. I guess it’s okay if you think about it, but only if you don’t let it consume you, okay?”

“I’ll...try.”

“I’m gonna help ya,” he promises. ““I’ll be here to annoy you out of your bad thoughts. Whenever you feel like crying or whenever you can’t help but wonder what’s like to have an actual dad. I know the feeling.”

“I won’t,” Yukine all but snaps.

Yato hesitates. “It’s okay. There’ll be times when you’ll get sad— “

“Not that,” he rolls his eyes.

"Uh...? What, then?”

Under Yato’s questioning gaze, Yukine suddenly looks panicked. He mumbles something inaudible and dives into the covers again, hiding his face from view. Yato is baffled at the behavior and at the funny emotion squirming inside of him.

“Yukine?” He frowns, one hand above his heart. “What’s this? You okay?”

“I don’t have to.”

“You... don’t have to be okay. Yeah. Take your time. You can— “

He stops when he hears a muffled scream that sounds like, “clueless moron that can’t use his brain to save his life!”

“Hey,” Yato protests. “It has been just one year. I’m not fluent in teenager yet.”

“It's not like I don't know!” Yukine says, a bit too loud and a bit too quickly. “It’s not like I don’t know how a dad is supposed to be. I'm not exactly missing one with you here.”

With you here.

Yukine hides impossibly more under the blankets and at this point it must be hard to breathe, but Yato doesn’t remember how to move his arms to free him. His mouth hangs open, his eyes dance around the room without a spot to fixate on, his thoughts collide with each other in desperate need to make sense, one, two, three seconds pass and he chokes on whatever is that he tries to say.

“Yukine,” it’s the only word he can manage because it’s his favorite one.

He’s already lunging forward before his kid can try to say anything at all. The fall is soft, but Yukine lets out a little oooof that seems both happy and embarrassed, and Yato curls up around him, tugging on the blankets insistently.

“Not letting me look at your face, huh?” He snorts, pressing his forehead to where Yukine’s must be. “Punk.”

“Go. Away.”

“I can feel your smile through the fabric.”

“Maybe you’ll feel me kicking you on the balls through the fabric, too.” 

“I love you.”

The feeling in Yato’s chest does a somersault.

“It’s definitely kicking time right now.” 

Yukine doesn’t kick, or move, for a while. Neither does Yato. For the first time in his life, he’s not sad when he thanks Sakura for teaching him what love is.

[blessedyuki]

What are some of your fave noragami analogies/rants/theories? :D

OH BOY I COULD TALK ABOUT THIS FOR HOURS

Well, obviously, the Tsukuyomi theory is the most popular theory in the fandom, and one that I love reading about. I feel that there’s so much foreshadowing in the manga at this point, that we have basically adopted it as truth. Even if it doesn’t end up happening, I’ll still welcome the Tsukuyomi headcanon (and would love to read more fanfic on it!).

I also love speculation on Father (in case that wasn’t clear already). He’s such an enigmatic character, and at the same time he has so much charisma, that I could spend hours analysing every single thing he says and every facial expression he makes. Not getting to see more from Father animated is probably the thing I hate the most about not having a Season 3.

I also love talking about Shinki and Hafuri, and I have a quite long analysis piece on this past arc. It mainly focuses on the burial/blessed debate relating to Kazuma, Yukine, Kiun, and Nana.

As per things I would like to see discussed more often: Gods of Fortune (whatever happened to them?), the Iki clan, the Emishi war, and basically stuff that happened before the beginning of the story.

[kurisus]

Noragami general thoughts

Special reread edition, since I finally finished my reread and am ready to die when chapter 73 (which doesn’t exist) comes out

This is going to be very long so buckle down

The ENTIRE outcome of Kamuhakari was foreshadowed starting in the Underworld arc.

Meaning Adachitoka had all of this planned for a VERY long time

You can see from my Snapchats that beginning with Ebisu’s forceful execution the characters are kinda like “Uh idk if that’s entirely necessary” “Why does heaven think of this as a game” and so on

Not to mention later on Kazuma talks about becoming Yato’s enemy and protecting Bishamon till his last breath

And Yato half-jokes that he will commit high treason

Overturning heaven’s rule is discussed several times as well

There’s a lot more but you get the gist

Not to mention, this arc also plays on the Underworld arc’s use of irony, except here the irony only becomes apparent once you’re looking back on it knowing what happened

Point being, there was a lot of obvious foreshadowing we overlooked because of the month-long wait and there being more important things to focus on at the moment

Remember when everyone was praising Yukine for becoming a hafuri? And then you find out that maybe that’s not such a good thing, and then our three known hafuris are all put through different hells concurrently (really, it’s no wonder Kiun doesn’t want to be one)

Not to mention the whole “blessed” and “burial” thing and the very real possibility that Yukine died by being buried alive, though I’m also pretty sure Amaterasu or someone used that phrase when he was sealed in the box (which was also called a stone coffin or sarcophagus....hmm......)

One of my main reasons for rereading also is because after chapter 72 everyone’s pretty much in agreement that the arc is over and we can put these nasty memories behind us

Also because there IS disagreement about how the arcs divide up so I wanted to see if the arc being over was the case

Because I always thought we were in the same arc since chapter 42 or so, but then I see people talking about the “Sakura arc” and “hospital arc” and “rebellion arc” and that sort of thing so I was like “am I remembering wrong are we in a new arc”

So pretty much everyone agrees about where the first three/four arcs of the show begin and end--Introduction, Yukine, Bishamon, Underworld, and after is where we run into problems

I’m hoping that my viewpoint can provide us with a little more consistency as far as what exactly happened

Basically, the arc I’m gonna call the “god’s greatest secret arc” began with chapter 43 (42 kinda hinted at it but the term wasn’t dropped until 43) and continued through all those other things

The reason those other mini-arcs aren’t their own separate things each is because we never got a break

After the Yukine arc we got a couple of chapters to calm down, same with Bishamon, and the Underworld arc had two chapters to close out the resolution since a lot of stuff happened, and then chapters 40 and 41 were just kinda random silliness (especially 41; 40 was about Yato trying to become a god of fortune so it was looking to the future) and then 42 begins to shift the tone back to dark

The so-called Sakura arc was only like three chapters, as was the hospital arc, and there was no break between those and the chapters around them; the dark tone shift kept right on going through the end of Kamuhakari

So did chapter 72 end the god’s greatest secret arc?

Well, I hate to admit it for a multitude of reasons (this arc STILL not being damn over being the primary one), but I’m not so sure it did

It COULD have, but we really need more information to determine so and I don’t like saying it because we’ve been waiting SO LONG for this arc to end

It seems to me that 72 was more of a bridging point--whether this is between two arcs or just continuing to a different part of the same one remains to be seen

There definitely was an ending there, don’t get me wrong: the good guys won their fight, everyone lives, they’re spared and cleared of charges, and they all go back home

Not to mention the fight at Kamuhakari was a buildup of stuff since the 40′s, like the god’s greatest secret, Kazuma betraying Bishamon, Yato finally becoming a god of fortune, and the whole deal of if a god can actually change their nature

But there are also a LOT of unresolved plot points: what will become of Kazuma, what Nana will do now, Yukine remembering his past slowly, the heavens still not willing to let Yato and Bishamon off the hook so easily, the list goes on

On that note, I’m still unsure as to the reason Kazuma stung Bishamon--the eye on his neck appeared after he said he was going to protect her, so was this when he decided to flee?

Haha man I really missed a lot of stuff in the recent chapters because I was reading with a very elevated heart rate so the small details flew over my head but now that I know how it ends I was able to calm down somewhat and figure out the bigger picture

The trio is back together for now, but all is not completely secure, concerning Yukine especially

Oh my god I have so many feelings about Yukine

He DIDN’T want to go to Kamuhakari, he DIDN’T want to fight Takemikazuchi, he DIDN’T want to defy heaven

Talk about not deserving something, damn

No wonder Yato blames himself for everything--Yukine wanted no part in this but got dragged right into the middle of everything

Honestly, this just makes everything so much worse because I think I knew of this but didn’t really think about it and/or forgot the extent of it

I’m sure this is also a fact that Yato is painfully aware of, so it will be interesting (suffering?) to find out how he progresses from here

Basically, in summary, this arc’s “end” is tentative at best because it seems like a bridging point to another segment of the same damn arc

But again, we won’t know for at least a few chapters yet, so we’ll see how everything pans out

If this arc is not, in fact, over yet, we’re left with the frightening and all-too-real possibility that this could be the final arc of Noragami and they just started moving into it very early

I have my doubts about that but I don’t think we have too many arcs left either way considering the typical length of monthly mangas and how long the god’s greatest secret arc was (at most, two arcs are left in this series’ run)

Honestly, the whole Kamuhakari event was so painful to read monthly (I caught up a couple weeks before 55 came out so I’ve been here since before then even) and we were complaining about how much it “dragged on” (a term I’ve always been reluctant to adopt because there was a lot that needed to be resolved after all)

But rereading it does give me a new perspective; the fight goes by MUCH faster and MUCH more cohesively when you look back on it in this way

So actually, while this single fight was longer than the whole Underworld arc, the second time around it has a lot to it and is very complex but it is a fast read as well

If you get the feeling that the fight did drag on I do recommend you reread it since your perspective does change a lot

That being said, I will always have awful memories of waiting month after month in the hopes that finally this stupid fight will be over since I was anticipating the arc’s end from the moment Bishamon pulled Nana from the box, and things still went on for over a year after that

And THAT being said, I almost feel like it couldn’t get worse but Adachitoka will challenge that and hurt me much more than ever

So what I’m expecting out of the next few chapters, aside from some comedy for a damn change, is an explanation of the covenant, some light shed on Father and Nora (Yato DID say he would explain things to Tenjin and Ebisu later), and Yukine’s past because now that it’s starting I’m just so rabidly curious

I’m sure I forgot a lot of what I wanted to say but this post is already a fucking novel so just take it for now

[shinkineyuki-moved-blog]

Chapter 59 Thoughts

I pretty much read the chapter as soon as it came out. And, uh...I am shaking. I have many concerns like wow.

There is a lot going on here. Like, a LOT. A lot of religious jargon, and a lot of political jargon. But most of all, historically, things seemed to be skewed. How the heavens deal with incarnation itself seems fucked up, for lack of better word.

Anyway! Chapter picks up literally where it left off. Bishamon went to go search for the hafuru-mono, or the hafuri that turned on her master and quite possibly the heavens as well. (We’ll call her Nana.)

Kazuma and Yukine were NOT able to reconcile. This kind of upsets me, but there are far more important things to worry with--at least in my opinion.

Hiyori wakes up in her body and reflects on the fact that Kofuku tied her plaque to Yato’s. This foreshadowing obviously implies that something will go wrong, lol. Really though...their relationship is going to face a serious hurtle and their friendship will probably be compromised.

Bishamon clearly isn’t at the conference, and so, Yato is pulled back to mingle with the Emishi.

Now, let’s talk about this right here.

They were defeated by the heavens. Supposedly for trying to breach territory/going rogue, as the later tale stated. Going rogue is looked at as inexcusable it seems, because so many Gods were killed for it.

Just like in Ebisu’s case, they wanted to confiscate his guidepost. It’s said that what happens next, is that they give the newly incarnated God a shinki directly from the heavens, one that is loyal to their regime. That shinki in turn dictates their agenda, basically. The Emishi are known, and always will be known, as ‘the ones who lost to the heavens’. They’re branded. The one speaking also points out that the system is in need of a change, although it probably never will. I’m pretty sure this is a jab at how Heaven is running things. (Shittily.)

It’s also said that “all Gods have their natures”, and it’s up to the shinki to nurture or suppress that particular nature. Heaven’s instruction towards reincarnated Gods seems like one gigantic brainwashing plot to me, (“influence them while they are young to do as they are intended by our plans”) and I think it’s been going on a lot longer than anyone realizes. 

That’s right. Some of y’all know where I’m going with this.

I’ve always been following that Tsukuyomi theory, you know. Where Yato’s the reincarnation of the moon God and he was basically raised away from his true identity. That is looking to be too real for me.

People may ask, ‘but people would have recognized his face/know about the reincarnation even as a rumor, wouldn’t they?’

Well, yes, in theory. But Amaterasu, if going true to that theory, is so obscure that no one even knows what she looks like. No one knows her business, because she is above everyone. Not even the more major Gods know what she looks like, or her status as far as being alive/reincarnated goes.

The heavens may be at fault, though. Everything in this chapter is serving to reveal more about the fact that they are not as good and just as anyone thinks. Heaven could be turning against the very principles that they are supposed to be following. So if they meant for Tsukuyomi’s death to be covered up and kept secret from everyone, they would do everything to keep it hidden so he won’t turn against them.

Having him live as a minor God would be enough to keep him excluded and oblivious to whatever plot or lifestyle they are trying to perpetuate. Hell, Tsukuyomi’s disappearance (if the theory is true) might be WHY the heavens are in such disarray. They literally could have gone the mile to send the sorcerer and Nora to make sure he stays right where they want him to be.

When Sakura came along, she tried to put Yato onto the path of goodness. She did her best to sway him from what nature he was being imposed. So she had to be taken out, and that was were the God’s greatest secret came in.

To take her out before she could do any real damage to what they were implementing.

It was early enough that he could have been swayed right back to where he should have been.

Yato is a God that thrived on praise as a child. He killed because he thought that it was what he was meant to do.

But maybe it isn’t after all?

There’s tons of symbolism regarding Yato and the moon, so...

Ahem, anyway. I’m rambling.

So after talking to the Emishi, the scene switches to Iwami and Kazuma. Iwami explains the war that happened regarding the rogues, implying that Nana turned on the heavens along with the rogues. This war happened many many years ago (way before even Bishamon’s time) so the heavens have been pulling shit since very long ago. Maybe Nana isn’t as much of an enemy as the heavens are making her out to be.

Hell, if anything, the Heavens are the enemy. Nana just wants revenge.

Anyway, the chapter ends with Bishamon naming the hafuru-mono. Nana. She intends to use her to take down the sorcerer. Nana is a full armory of weapons, so she’d certainly come in handy. I’m actually interested to see how she will integrate into modern society, if Bishamon allows her to do so.

That concludes the chapter though. As for predictions, I think the God’s Greatest Secret is putting a real strain on Yato and Yukine’s partnership. 

Yato is easy to forgive Kazuma, because he knows what the situation has done to him. He knows the God’s Greatest Secret, and he knows what it can do to a shinki even if not directly affected.

But he knows pushing Yukine any closer to that would spell certain doom, so he’s trying to keep the situation as casual as possible.

But because Yato isn’t regarding Kazuma as an enemy when Yukine feels that he should be, it basically looks like Yato is disregarding his concerns and judgement.

It’s putting him in a REALLY bad place and making him feel quite a bit of insecurity, I’d imagine.

And as foreshadowing painfully showed, he might be next to turn on Yato. Besides, Mizuchi warned him of Kazuma’s betrayal, which inevitably happened. He may start to doubt whether or not she is the true enemy. 

Yukine was human after all, and a human can be swayed quite easily with the right amount of manipulation.

Also, I’d be keeping an eye on Bishamon. I don’t know what exactly her plan is as far as taking out the sorcerer goes, but I’ll have to keep an eye on her. She may be the next one to be taken out for treason.

[hellanoragami-blog]

Chapter 81 Thoughts

I really, really, really didn’t want to analyze this chapter when the second half dropped. Mostly because it’s one of the worst chapters to deal with emotionally, to date. But hey, the show must go on, right? This was a lot to deal with, so excuse my thoughts being more or less all over the place.

The chapter starts off with Yukine reiterating the question, “How did I die?”. There are junior high students walking past him, emphasizing the concept of life and what he’s left behind. Notice how his shadow is several shades lighter than the others, which is no doubt a reminder of the fact that he is no longer living; he is not a denizen of the near shore, thus his presence within it is fleeting.

The chapter pans back to Kofuku’s, where everyone is finishing up the renovations and socializing. We have Kofuku antagonizing Takemikazuchi to stay, which... he clearly wants no part of. And Kiun? Mistaking milk for salt? Either he can’t read, or he’s jerking Daikoku around for laughs. Either way, he manages to get a slight rise out of the guy. Mission successful! They greet Yukine, who--after a few words--asks them if they remember how they died.

BIG no-no.

The falling of a roof panel masks the question, which I thought was the sound in which the shinki were reacting to. (I’m sure now that the point of the roof damaging gag was to create a sound so that the shinki wouldn’t hear Yukine’s question.)

Upon re-reading, it’s apparent that a high-pitched noise following the crash is what seems to do it. Curiously, the Gods are unaffected. But it seems like they know what was asked, despite the crash. This makes me believe that the noise is a sort of alarm set in place as a protection, maybe. Or, at least a warning. 

They quickly take their leave along with their shinki. Kofuku’s in tears, apologizing to Yukine as she goes. Then, they’re gone--leaving behind an extremely confused Yukine, all alone.

The scene switches to Yato and Kazuma, who are having trouble hitting their targets. This is because they are not synchronized. Yato is still calling him Kazuma, and not the name he gave him. This is likely putting Kazuma at a distance, and Kazuma is doing the same by stinging Yato.

Unless they can both work through their current trials, I don’t see them being able to match up enough to go up against Father. As much as I hate to say it, this might just be a waste of time if they don’t improve soon.

All this is going to accomplish is Yato being too weak to fight because he’s blighted, and Kazuma missing the one possible shot he does have.

The chapter pans back over to Yukine, who has delved deep in trying to figure out whatever he can about himself. This is a long-shot, especially considering that he has absolutely nothing to go on. No names, no dates, no locations... nothing. It’d be a stroke of convenience if he did actually end up finding anything. (Too convenient, I’d say.)

Luckily Nora shows up, and asks what he’s up to. Upon hearing his spiel about wanting to know more about himself, we can see her grow increasingly perturbed. She takes the newspapers outside, then rushes inside to grab a match. All the while reprimanding Yukine for doing precisely what she told him not to do. She explains that he’s been abandoned, just like she has. He’s very contagious, so everyone is keeping him at a distance. Understandable, but still. 

The thing is, Yukine doesn’t understand. Of course he wouldn’t, because there’s nothing wrong with wanting to learn about something, generally. Yukine doesn’t get how he’s never thought about it, because it really is a topic that should have been obvious, right? So he really wants to know who he was before he died. He wants to know about his family, and where he came from. Nora voices against him questioning this further, which he pushes back with wondering, aloud, if she knows something.

Then he hits the nail on the head with asking if their masters know their pasts. 

Nora gains an extremely threatening look, one that is clearly a mix of ‘back off of it’ and ‘holy shit’. Her hand trembles as she momentarily hesitates in lighting the papers on fire, displaying just how bothered she is by the whole situation. She claims to have no idea and drops the match, and walks away. Yukine calls after her, accusing her of lying. But she’s already gone, so he works on putting the fire out.

He said he’s happy to know of a time where he was alive, and says that he wants to meet his parents. Honestly, this whole page only managed to nauseate me because I knew better. He has this idea in his head that he probably had a good family, that he was just the result of a tragic accident. Sadly, we all know that this isn’t the case. I can’t say much for his mother, but I’m certain that his father wasn’t good to him. (Hell, he’s the one who killed him, after all.) It’ll hit him that much harder when he figures it out, I think. Aside from his dad, I hope we get some information about his mother and sister, when the time comes.

Nora sits outside of the gate, looking almost tense as she listens to his sobs. I really want to think that if she is still related to Father and his plans in any way, that she’s having second thoughts. She genuinely doesn’t seem to want Yukine to find out the secret. Maybe she believes that he isn’t strong enough to overcome it? Either way, I can understand why she’d want to discourage him. I just wish she could be crystal clear on why he shouldn’t pursue that truth. Unless she actually can’t, but only time will tell.

We finally get a look at Hiyori, who is with Ami and Yama. Supposedly on their way home from school. Hiyori pauses at the shrine to thank the Gods for their services, and she catches Tenjin and Ebisu forcefully snubbing her. It’s obvious that it bothers her, even if she says it’s fine.

She catches sight of Trash Dad, who is flying by on a bird ayakashi. When she confronts him, he tells her that Yukine now wants to know who he really is. He also reveals the interesting fact that a shinki will only question their death if it’s brought up by a person from the far shore; hearing it from the other side won’t mean much. As Yukine did, when Hiyori hinted at it originally. As it stands, Yato is losing everyone; and Father is making sure of that. I mean, face it--no one wants to risk their shinki to stand with him. It’s different from the covenant, where they’d at least have a chance to win. Here, there isn’t one. If they lose their shinki to the secret, that’s it. They’re gone forever, as far as they know.

I guess Father’s had enough of Yato trying to do his own thing; he’s going to force him back by any means necessary, even if it means taking everything away from him. He says that the only way Yato will be able to deal with Yukine will be to either release him, or kill him. (Okay, look. I really just don’t buy that. I don’t know why, but I don’t.) Hiyori becomes angry at this, and elects to attack him. He has his wolves counter attack, leaving her alive, but injured.

Okay! There are a couple things I want to talk about. We’ll tackle Hiyori, first. It’s clear that she’s injured. On her side, on her tail--she’s bleeding from both areas, but Father decided to keep her alive. So that begs the question of, “What are the consequences of this attack?”. Father’s parting words make it sound like death would have been better.

How will this attack effect Hiyori, and what impact will it have on their relationship? Even if this is all Father’s fault, I doubt Yato’s going to see it that way once he gets wind of what’s going on. I hope someone finds Hiyori soon, so that she can get the help she needs. It looks like her cord has also been damaged, so I’m pretty anxious to see what that’s going to cause. It’d have to be someone from the far shore who helps her since she’s out of her body, so our options are pretty limited, here.

The second thing I wanted to talk about was this.

The cat. We’ve seen it before, but only once--back in chapter 25.

It’s a weird looking cat, but I never really thought anything of it at the time. Well, until this chapter, anyway. The cat has never been mentioned or used by Nora or Yato, and hasn’t even been around at the same times. And aside from the eye marking on the bell around it’s neck, it doesn’t have that marking anywhere on it’s actual body. And it isn’t seen among Father’s collection of ayakashi that he uses.

There’s someone else talking to him on page 43 that appears to use the same format that shinki do. It’s obviously not the bird, because that one is an ayakashi. Could the cat actually be a regalia, then? I personally think it’s possible.

In the same way Edachi was also Father’s shinki, we never actually saw him use the guy. So this could be a shinki we’ve never seen the human form of. Or at least, not noticeably. I think Gods and shinki can recognize a shinki when they see one, so that’s likely why we’ve never seen the cat in the same frame as Yato or Nora.

And, that creature seems pretty damn affectionate with Father. I don’t like it.

I just hope that Yato comes back, soon. He put so much faith in Kofuku and Daikoku to look after his kid, and that plan fell through. And, Hiyori’s in danger, now. Father waited until the time was right to pull all of this, so this probably isn’t even the extent of what he’s going to do, sadly.

[hellanoragami-blog]

Chapter 82 Thoughts

Time to crack this egg!! Feels like it’s been so long, with last month’s chapter having released so early. But that’s alright! More time to think about it. I didn’t write this in one sitting, so I hope I didn’t miss anything. If I did, let me know!

The chapter starts out on a slightly confusing note, with Yukine talking to who I can only assume is Hiyori. He informs her that he wants to meet his family and friends, that it looks fun. She’s trying to discourage him from crossing a line where he shouldn’t go, by telling him that Yato was crying after he named him. She does her best to hint gently that his past might not be what he wants to see--that he’d be better off not knowing. He assures her that it’s fine, and directly after, jumps over the barrier.

The only thing I can guess is that this conversation didn’t actually happen. Maybe it was a thought process, or dream of Hiyori’s. Yukine’s dialogue here seems pretty innocent; almost childish. I suspect that it’s set up this way because of how Hiyori sees him. Because of his size, she initially thought him to be a quite a few years younger than herself. And I think that, even after learning that he was much closer to her in age than she thought, a part of her still believes Yukine to be young and in need of guidance.

This dream sequence is broken by her crashing into her door--she was most likely sleep walking. Her mother wakes Masaomi up to come help, who carries her back to bed. He checks her condition, and while doing so, inform her that he’s seeing the black ones coming closer. So much so, they are on the property. He suspects that their grandmother doesn’t have much time left.

There was some speculation that it could be for Hiyori, but I don’t think so. Hiyori’s grandmother was reading a rental catalog for home medical equipment, so I think her and Hiyori’s mother were discussing the need for one. It’s hinted then, that their grandmother’s health has deteriorated at least to a point where she’d need to go on bed rest.

Anyway, Hiyori then admits that even Yato said that there wasn’t much they could do about it.

Masaomi, confused, asks her who Yato is.

This of course, is a shocker to her. How could he forget, when he remembers everything else from the far shore, as she does? She gets worked up, but Masaomi has her lay back down. She has a fever, and has been sleeping all day. This is worrying, mostly because we know her cord is damaged, and her spiritual injuries are impacting her physical health. She tries to leave her body, but this proves to be unsuccessful.

It may seem worrying, but it actually looks like her injury is healing, at least. There’s less blood than there was originally, so perhaps she’ll be fine? At least, physically. I’m holding out hope. Although, I’m not sure if she’ll be able to leave her body again. I’m still wondering what Father meant when he said that he wanted Yato to experience unlivable despair. Like, why would it be if she’s going to live? Assuming that she eventually heals and is alright.

Hiyori recalls the face that she saw while fighting Father, and she comes to the conclusion that what she saw were his true features. No doubt, it was probably startling to her. I wonder if Father caused this to happen or not, for his true self to be revealed? It did give him the perfect opportunity to attack her while she was distracted.

But like Hiyori, once Masaomi is given details and reminders--by sneaking a peek through Hiyori’s diary in typical, insufferable sibling fashion--he recalls Yato. This leads me to hope that maybe Hiyori won’t actually ever forget Yato, completely. As long as she has something to remember him by, like documented events or people, she’ll be able to recall him. Masaomi acknowledges Hiyori’s prolonged interest in the guy, which leaves her absolutely mortified.

I want to make clear that I do think Hiyori will forget Yato and Yukine again, though. I don’t know how it will happen, but there are similarities in the textures Adachitoka has used to signify this occurrence. We saw it first in chapter 30, where Hiyori forgot them while spending time with ‘Fujisaki’ at Capypa Land:

And now, in this chapter:

In this situation, Hiyori is overwhelmed by everything she feels that she has to deal with. The longer she stays in her body, the further she gets from the far shore.

The scene shifts to Yato, with him wondering the specifics of how he’s going to defeat Father. He’s practicing his aim on an ayakashi, who looks none too pleased to be a part of it. It starts to chase him, and he seeks protection in the shrine where I suppose he left Kazuma when he went to visit Bishamon. Overhead, he sees Take flying by--and I think this gives him an idea!

We get a short, one-sided exchange between Kazuma and Bishamon, where we can see her shedding a tear as Kazuma leaves. I’m sure that she heard him some way or another--maybe she understands that he became a stray? In some cases, people who are comatose can still hear things around them. It’s not usually the case, but it does occur. She could also just be fading in and out of consciousness. Either way, Kazuma reports that she is healing well, so that gives me some hope that she’ll wake up soon.

Come on, Adachitoka! Give us some good news!

Yato informs him that they’ll be training on a person, instead of an ayakashi--and that person is none other than Take!

...Who is going around, warning the other deities of which regalia has fallen victim to the secret. He wants to get it dealt with, but he can’t find Yato anywhere. It doesn’t matter, though--it’s likely that all of heaven knows about Yukine, at this point. They’ll want to deal with him before it spreads. But Take doesn’t want to do it himself. As he’s complaining about this, he’s suddenly struck by an arrow.

Yato’s arrow, as we soon find out. Because we see Yato ‘cleverly’ disguised using a traffic cone with a face drawn on it. (The audience is not fooled.) While engaged in combat, we get to see that Kazuma actually has a decent array of skills--and they just seem to keep growing. He’s innovative, and works with what abilities he’s been assigned to make them even better. This is something that even Yukine hasn’t been seen doing, so Yato looks to have at least a fighting chance in defeating the sorcerer.

We are brought back to Yukine, who’s staring pensively at the gifts he received from Yato and Hiyori for his birthday. He’s pretty sure that he hit the nail on the head, because of how Nora reacted to his question. He resolves that if Yato is indeed going to target his Father, then he should wait for Yato to show up with him. But first, he’s still set on peeking in on his family. He thinks, as long as he has the charms that Yato and Hiyori made him, he won’t give in to the sorcerer.

Which, of course we know that it could go either way. It just depends on Yukine. However, seeing as his prime motivator is his past, I don’t think his resistance will be as strong as he thinks. Confidence is good, but it doesn’t guarantee a positive outcome. (See: The Heaven Arc)

Yukine heads to the park, where--by either mysterious or intentional purposes--he sees Father out jogging.

Now, as for what I think? Whether he went out to catch Father (perhaps Nora tipped him off where he could find him? Nora’s involvement is still a huge question mark at this point) or simply saw him out there by chance, I think he has an idea formulating. Father’s good at getting information.

So what do I speculate will happen? 1. Hiyori will forget Yato, soon. Or, at least to an extent. I think she’ll be okay, physically.

2. Yato will probably continue training with Kazuma a little more; I don’t see it being long now that he’ll confront Father.

3. Someone will arrive at Kofuku’s (Take?) to dispose of Yukine, but he will already be long gone. Possibly, Yato will be found and told, but even if he were, he still wouldn’t find him. Either way, I think Heaven will try to interfere.

4. There is a possibility that Father will tell Yukine that he would see all about his past, if he allows him to name him. That he’d be more than happy to tell him everything in exchange for giving him a name. Hey--he has to stick with him anyway to wait for Yato to show, right? So it works out. Father can be pretty persuasive, so I think we just might end up seeing Yukine agree to the terms and conditions. (Because who reads those, anyway?) And maybe, the name concealment business will come into play, as well.

I hope we get to see where Nora’s true feelings reside, in the near future. I’d like to think that, even if she is still following Father’s orders, she’s grown some fondness for Yukine, at the very least. I can’t wait to see if she has or not. I also hope that we get to learn more about Father, and what lead up to who he is now and what he believes in.

Also, I’m still praying that Bishamon makes a full recovery, soon.

[hellanoragami-blog]

Chapter 80 Thoughts

The next month is here. Honestly, reviewing this chapter kind of leaves my thoughts all over the place, particularly about both Father and Yukine. I’ll try to get this somewhat organized, though.

Starting from the first part, Yukine is woken up by Kofuku, who he temporarily confuses for Nora. Once the situation becomes apparent, however, Yukine is up almost immediately to check on Nora who has mysteriously vanished from the futon she’d made up.

Giving her the benefit of the doubt, it’s very likely that she woke up early and fled upon seeing Take and his crew there. Yukine did tell her before that the man would probably have her killed, so she’d know it’s unsafe.

At the worst, she is still playing Father’s game and went to meet him for a status report.

The scene changes over to Hiyori, who is still pretty troubled about where she left off with Yato. I believe she’s having doubts about her involvement with Yato, if only subtly. Life has her distracted and unable to go to him, and the confrontation with Kazuma before is obviously leaving her hesitant towards further confrontation.

Honestly not much to comment on here, save for my own worry over whether or not her belief will soon wane. Given the troubled and almost vacant expression she’s wearing for the cover of volume 20, it seems likely that we’ll see her attempt to hold onto Yato’s memory become increasingly difficult.

In fact, if we really want to stretch the possibility, we could say that this is Father’s intention, for Hiyori to forget. He knows very well that Yato’s busy, and with Yukine preoccupied with Nora, that means that there is a big chance that Yukine isn’t currently talking to Hiyori at all, or spending any time with her.

With no interaction between either of them, Hiyori’s memory really will rely on her willpower alone. Given that, it would make sense for this to be a part of Father’s plan, since he could use that against Yato. With Hiyori out of the picture, Yato won’t have anyone else to rely on besides his supposed lifeline. Making Hiyori forget obviously isn’t the Biggest Plan™, obviously, but it does seem to be a stepping stone in it. (I’m guessing he had to change plans when Nora became a sort of tracking device to hunt him down, lol.)

 We’re next given a look at Yato and Kazuma’s situation, if only briefly. Their teamwork seems to be getting better, but it’s still wildly out of sync and messy. To be efficient, a shinki and their master practically need to be one body, one mind to know exactly what to do in battle.

It’s clear that Yato and Yukine both know each other’s mannerisms and are able to predict each other’s actions, and that’s what makes them an almost unshakable force. Yato and Kazuma simply don’t have this type of bond, but that isn’t to say that they wouldn’t be able to come close if they continue working on it.

I’m happy to see that Kazuma seems to be calming down and getting his head back on his shoulders, as well. He’s not making any wild, spontaneously solo actions, so Yato’s influence may actually be the medicine he needs to become stabilized, haha. His worry for Bishamon doesn’t seem to be getting in the way of his actual ability to perform, at least. With this, I believe that he and Yato have the potential to become a good team, even if it wouldn’t amount to what Yato has with Yukine.

Boy, speaking of Yukine! The scene is brought back to him, and it’s clear he’s gone looking for Nora. While overlooking the river, he notices a little girl stop to look at him. Upon asking her what’s wrong, she tells him that she’s looking for her uncle. Assuming she’s lost, Yukine follows her in attempts to help her find who she’s looking for. The girl soon gets sidetracked by a cat, and dashes into a tunnel after it. Although uneasy about entering it, Yukine bravely pushes past his fear to go make sure that she’s safe.

I’d kill for a light to see how exactly this tunnel is laid out, but that’s not really important for me to know, I guess. It goes from Yukine peering into another part of the tunnel, to suddenly seeing the bits of memory that was shown back in chapter 70. Yukine suddenly finds it incredibly hard to breathe, and is suddenly seeing more bits and pieces of the moments leading up to his death. The space he was in made it difficult to move, but the last thing he saw before that darkness was his father.

Saying... something to him.

I don’t know exactly what it was, but fast-moon did think it to be parting words like, ‘See ya’. I can’t decide if Adachitoka were trying to put emphasis on the mouth movements for pronunciation purposes, or if they were trying to convey some hot, hot anger. Personally, I think it could be both. They’ve done the pronunciation thing before back in chapter 36, when Nora was saying ‘Yaboku’. 

Could he actually be saying part of Yukine’s name, then? It’s difficult to say, since the next piece of dialogue is silenced. But it’s inferred that two things are said, so ultimately it isn’t likely. (I did entertain the thought of his first and last name being said, but that’s a theoretical story for a different post all on it’s own.)

Anyway, Yukine is broken out of the spell by hearing Yato call his name. Most likely an illusion, since Yato isn’t actually there. It works well enough to pull him out of it though, and he manages to destroy the ayakashi on his own--and even collapses part of the tunnel in the process! It tends to happen when his nerves run high. Glorious light! Unfortunately, there’s a not-so-nice surprise waiting up top.

Papa! :D

Pffft, anyway, it’s confirmed that the girl is one of Fujisaki’s three nieces. Father is then sectioned off by one of Yukine’s border lines, and a question showdown happens that lead to more questions than answers.

He claims to be a human--one that chose not to live as a normal person. (Or, lead a normal life like the heavens intended.) That he ‘returned from the underworld, and because he was resurrected, he was called all sorts of things’. He goes on to say that heaven can’t categorize him.

He mentions that he lives and dies as someone outside of his control. The most interesting bit about this is that he possesses the soul; not the body. Characteristically, we have been shown that for a God to possess a person, they either need permission or a strong bond. But it’s implied that only the body is possessed. So what could it mean for a soul to be possessed? Does that mean that Father and Fujisaki’s souls combined into one? Or did Father simply become Fujisaki’s soul? Does he spend his whole life as someone else, or does he end up possessing someone who is already alive?

Perhaps he’s inferring reincarnation; I don’t know if Japan follows a different principle, but typically, when a person is reincarnated, the soul forgets their past lives. Could it be that Father simply is, and has always been Fujisaki Kouto in this life? Perhaps he’s simply carried an awareness of who he is and what he’s done with him, through various lives that he’s lived. For this to even be a thing, it would mean that Fujisaki never was a normal person from the moment he returned from the underworld. It would also mean that Father really is something that can’t be classified as ‘human’, or even ‘God’. To remember everything is possibly much worse than to remember nothing... Jeez. It’d be no wonder he’s so bitter.

He implies that he escaped from the underworld via a soul call, but says Amaterasu wouldn’t permit a human to return like that. Could it be that his punishment was for the heavens to take the life of the girl that he loved? I don’t doubt his information, but I do think he’s withholding a lot. Why, I don’t know.

And we won’t know! Because Yukine is angry and doesn’t want to hear it. :) His emotions ramp up again, causing his borderline to become stronger. He basically goes off on Father for not... being a good father? But then something just snaps inside of him, and he says something that he doesn’t seem to have full control over--or, at least he isn’t thinking before he speaks. In fact, that level of anger literally came out of nowhere. He even vocalizes this. Father seems pretty shocked by it, as well. Then Yukine calms down, and says that he doesn’t want to fight.

And Father, in the coy, evasive way that he does, says that he won’t do anything anymore. Yeah, he won’t. But who will? He still has a plan. You can see it on his face. He then thanks Yukine for being worried about Nora, and that it was probably the right call to let her go. But then he sets the ball into motion, so to speak, by telling Yukine that he’d rather not get her involved; that she died a terrible death. And what a sly expression he’s wearing. Even if he seems to wave him off cheerfully, he clearly has less-than-pure intentions.

It cuts to Yato, who’s being effected by the sudden feelings that Yukine is undergoing. Was it because of when he snapped? Or is it because of what Father told him? He makes the silent vow to be back soon.

Back to Yukine, the kids’ mom comes to get them, and Yukine wonders how Father knows how Nora died. Then, he begins to think: How did he die? Since it was just a choice of words, there’s no way to know how quickly things will progress from here. Will he be in and out like Tsuguha was? Or will it be immediately desperate to know, like how Sakura was? Either way, it seems as though this is the turning point for Yukine’s development.

Perhaps Nora will be the one who ends up having to deal with it. I’m partial to think it’ll happen a bit quickly, due to the fact that he’s already been seeing the same bits of his death. I think when it actually happens, it will be all kinds of messy and devastating--but he’ll survive it. He’s a tough kid. I just wish--or at least hope--that Yato would be there to help him when it happens.

[hellanoragami-blog]

Chapter 79.2 Thoughts

Heeeey guys. I’m up really early this morning, so I’ve decided to try to dissect the chapter. There is a lot of interesting things to cover, but overall I really liked it. It has a lot of pain and worry tied to it, though. A big thanks to @fast-moon for a speedy translation!

In the continuation of chapter 79, we’ve picked up directly where we left off. Hiyori has begun to read through her journal, only to find that almost all of them relate to Yato in some way or another. (It seamlessly ties into a discussion that Ami and Yama are having behind her, lol.)

But things take a serious turn, because Yama explains that Fujisaki has simply disappeared, and so has his father, apparently. Father is--we know--currently resting and recovering from the toll taken on his body. But what about Fujisaki’s father? Where did he go, and what are his concerns about his son’s injuries? Is that why he’s suddenly disappeared?

I wonder if perhaps we’ll see Father claiming another form, soon. With Bishamon now knowing his face, and the nuisance posed in further involving Fujisaki’s family, I feel as if Father wouldn’t want to gamble the risks of keeping his current body. (It’s confusing, because we’ve never actually seen Fujisaki’s father, nor do we know much about the relationship he has with his son. It makes it hard to pin down what exactly he’d be doing in this situation regarding his child’s injuries.)

Hey, look! Tenjin’s riding an Ox! Oh, wait. It’s just his regalia? Cool! We now know what forms two of his shinki take, as well as their alternate names. I don’t have much to say about that. But his conversation with Hiyori is different. As suspected, literally everyone know about Hiyori’s feelings but her--even Tenjin! She goes on to ask him, the one who would know most out of anyone, whether it’s true or not that Gods can love humans.

I kind of already figured his answer, and I was right in thinking that their way of loving is just different than human love. But it’s not inherently a good thing for a God to love a human. As he said, they get drawn more to the near shore.

The more attached Yato gets to Hiyori, the more he’d be willing to do to ensure her happiness and safety. This includes wreaking havoc upon whatever threat to her that he sees. (Think back to the Bishamon arc, where he was fully prepared to kill a fellow God under the false assumption that she had harmed Hiyori.)

Also- pg. 25, Amaterasu’s watching. ;)

Tenjin does have a valid point, regardless if we agree with it or not. Gods aren’t inherently the same as humans; they simply take the form of man. Just as Amaterasu is the sun, and Tsukuyomi is the moon. “Is pledging (romantic) love to something that isn’t a person a particularly logical act?”

In a non-biased context, the answer is of course, no.

Even with Tenjin urging her to cut ties with Yato, it’s simply out of her hands now. Yato is the only one who could do that, and with their fates tied, they’re stuck together. Maybe it’s inevitable that Hiyori will forget Yato, but it wouldn’t be permanent. That’s hinted in the fact that she’s able to recount this tale to us.

At the end of chapter 1, Hiyori uses the words, “Soon, Yato would meet me.” This implies that everything that is currently being told has already happened. The story already has an ending, and we’re being shown the story through her narrative. Already, this is kind of obvious by the small hints throughout the manga; the most popular one being when she isn’t able to recognize Yukine as a human spirit the way Yato can.

Hiyori’s description:

Yato’s description:

Again, notice Hiyori’s usage of past tense versus Yato’s use of present tense. Although we are also being shown what she’s telling us, we’re also shown things that she personally didn’t see, and this comes from Yato. Could he also be telling the story alongside her? I’m interested to find out. It may mean that they will in fact meet again. It certainly gives me hope!

Now! Onto some (mostly) lighthearted scenes!

We shift attention to Yukine and Nora, who are playing a game of badminton. But things go horribly wrong when Nora runs right into a trash bin, and ends up getting covered in rubbish. Yukine must have had the idea to take her back to Kofuku’s for a bath, conveniently able to do so because the Goddess of poverty is away in takamagahara to strike fear into the heart of Takemikazuchi for repair costs.

Nora is completely in awe of the place, exploring things she’s never seen before. It looks like a child’s wonderland, to her. (Notice she thinks almost everything in Kofuku’s house is a toy. ...To be fair, there are a LOT of toys in Kofuku’s bathroom.)

In fact, most of what we see of her in this chapter reminds me a lot of what we see in Yato: not a lot of experience in the way of doing things age-appropriately, and having a very naive approach to some things. (Seeing her with that shower shield around her face reminded me of a frilled dragon. Cute!) We also see two names on her, one on her hip, and the other on her arm. These were identified by fast-moon to be the names belonging to Ebisu and Take.

Clue One that things are not entirely as they seem. I don’t entirely distrust her just yet, though. She drops her hitaikakushi in the bath, and she gives it a look of what appears to be contempt. Does that mean that she’s growing more and more unhappy with who/what she was before? Or is it regret over her involvement in a possible plan executed by Father? She folds it not-so-neatly in her hands, and the scene changes to show Yukine attempting to cook.

It’s obvious that he’s still struggling with his feelings over the situation. But hopefully, it’s not enough to be hurting Yato. Next, Nora rejoins Yukine for dinner. (In a very cute outfit, nonetheless. Adachitoka, are you trying to kill me with cuteness?? Lol.) Yukine next suggests they study together, and Nora says something that really seems to hit a nerve with Yukine.

“Dead people, studying? It’s pointless.”

Ahh. So it’s hinted that Yukine isn’t entirely accepting of the way things are, after all. Whether he realizes it or not, the fact that those words bothered him to that extent just shows that he knows it’s true, deep down. Trying to emulate a life that a living person would is essentially pointless, and he knows it. But it’s what makes him feel happy and fulfilled with what he has.

That texture, though.

We know by now, that when this texture overlay is used, it either foreshadows a topic resurfacing in a Big, Negative way, or when a character realizes something that could end up leading to a key event of sorts.

In short, this page felt very serious and ominous, and it kind of worries me. The word ‘promise’ is also used quite a bit here, which feels a little suspicious in itself. It’s also kind of scary, because Yukine just unintentionally showed Nora one of his biggest weak points. I hope it’s not going to be used against him later.

Nora, please. I’m beggin u girl. Have a change of heart.

It does look like she’s having a change of heart regarding Yukine learning the God’s Greatest Secret, though. Before, she wanted to destroy him with it. But now she wants to make sure he doesn’t get near it. Which he agrees to... but we know it’s going to happen, eventually. Sad to say, he’s already been inflicted with liberation. So learning about his past is inevitable.

Yukine reveals his worries about stinging Yato, which is important; at least he realizes that it’s bad to be getting his emotions involved like this. But Yato’s not around for him to talk to, and that makes all the difference. And with Yato being hit by both Yukine and Kazuma’s shitty feelings, it’s bringing him great distress and discomfort.

(Also quick note, I’m curious as to why the name plate says Iki. Iki would be Takamasa’s last name, wouldn’t it? Unless he took Sayuri’s name instead. Uncommon, but some people do it here in the US. Do people do that in Japan as well? I’m going to assume it’s the case for now anyway, since it’s Hiyori’s maternal grandmother’s house.)

Alas... Father. What are you doing in front of Hiyori’s grandmother’s house? How did you even find out where it was? (If he followed her home, that’s just creepy.) What I wanna draw attention to, though, are the blank pages of her journal. Blank pages. Blank. I hope it’s just the newest pages that haven’t been written in yet!

But... I feel very certain that Father is influencing something here, just from Hiyori’s mention of her body feeling heavy. (Yes, I think it was Hiyori’s dialogue, despite it showing Yato; particularly with the way it follows up in her POV in the next box.) Part of me is worried that the page is implying that Father is leaving, and he’s already set something into motion. I hope I’m wrong.

Hiyori... please hold on to your memories.

[hellanoragami-blog]

Chapter 79 Thoughts

I have a lot of thoughts regarding the future of Noragami, and not many of them are actually good. How the hell can 16 pages hold more pain than any regular 40-something paged chapter? Eugh. Everything being talked about just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I was gonna write this later today, but I woke up after four hours of sleep and literally couldn’t stop thinking about what happened in this release. So, I’m here to talk about it.

Right off the bat, I didn’t like this chapter. To start with Yato saying that he had to convince himself that Kazuma was his only option? He was literally backed into a corner by said person. He didn’t have a choice.

And Kazuma? Kazuma’s a mess. He went from aloof determination to get Yato to name him, to being utterly miserable and guilt-ridden. (Yato even says that he’s afflicting him, but probably not in the way of blight. Emotional baggage? No doubt. And emotional turmoil, while not as intense, is STILL a pain in the ass for any god.)

So it’s obvious that they’re both feeling pretty bad about what they’ve done. But maybe in the grand scheme of things, they think it’s worth it. I don’t know. First we had Bishamon tailing the sorcerer for a fight, which landed her in not-so-good condition, to put it lightly. It was essentially a failure. So to have Yato attempting the same thing, with little regard to his own life, is nothing short of heartbreaking.

So Yato’s pretty excited about the form Kazune took. It’s the first time that a shinki has ever become a divine garment for him, and maybe he sees it as proof of how far he’s come.

But then Kazuma dashes that excitement with an underhanded jab at his original purpose. I don’t usually let my emotions dictate how I analyze bits in this series, but man, I felt angry at him for saying that. It was almost like he was denouncing any progress that Yato had made as a god of fortune, or how hard he’s worked to become more than his past. Even with them being friends for so long, I feel like it was uncalled for.

Also, I dunno about you guys, but this panel actually felt worse than the ‘god of calamity’ panel, to me:

It’s almost, almost like something Nora would say. Or maybe even Father. I hope that this would be the only job that Kazuma intends to bestow upon Yato, honestly. He doesn’t need to linger on that ‘calamity god’ status for too long. Since a shinki shapes their god’s nature, it actually concerns me that Kazuma is now his shinki. If the guy sincerely thinks of Yato as calamitous, that’s how things are going to turn. I hope that Yukine’s influence has been strong enough that things don’t change too much. But, I guess we’ll see.

It’s revealed that both Yato and Bishamon have similar reasons for their naming process. I figured Yato’s reason a while ago--well, a friend of mine actually headcanoned it, and I accepted it until proven/otherwise. But honestly, I never gave much thought to why Kazuma remained Kazuma. I just accepted it as a course of events.

So, we next find out that Kazuma was born the second son to a salt wholesaler, and was decided to be the one to inherit the business. He died at 19, however, at the hands (NO PUN INTENDED) of his (assumed) jealous older brother.

Yato goes on to say how similar he is to Yukine, who was confirmed to be murdered by his father at the age of 14. This is something that has been speculated and assumed by the majority of the fandom, but having it confirmed actually feels worse than the assumption did.

He admits that he wanted to give Yukine a better ‘life’ after death, heavily implying that the kid’s actual life wasn’t so good. But he feels like he hasn’t done him any good, and wonders if reincarnation would really be the best thing for Yukine to ensure a kinder and gentler guardian in the future.

What?? Absolutely not! I’m sure majority fandom can agree that Yukine would not want that at all. He’s come to like Yato for being... well, Yato. Maybe he even sees him as a father figure. If Yato were to reincarnate, he’d lose that person entirely. The newly incarnated Yato would be a completely different person, in his eyes. He depends on Yato a lot more than he’d like to admit, so it’d strike him pretty roughly to lose him.

Yato goes on to repeat after Kazuma, and apologize to Yukine for betraying him. Which, yeah, he is--but possibly for a good reason? I dunno. I still feel like this mission could have repercussions. Yato’s ready to go into battle though. Kazuma... maybe needs a while to sleep on it.

To close off the chapter, we have Yato talking to the (now asleep) Kazuma about a girl he used to love, who got married off when he was 15. This information surprised me, because it confirmed that I was at least near the ballpark of Kazuma’s love life. While it says that she was married off when he was 15, I don’t think he really got over the Edo side chick. (This was coined and now I literally can’t stop thinking about it, lol.) I think up until the day he died, he still held feelings for her. Y’wanna know why?

Kazuma calls Bishamon ‘Viina’. I got this awkward feeling when I got to the end of this chapter--like, what if ‘Viina’ was the nickname of the girl he loved while he was alive? Okay, maybe that sounds a little out there, I know. But I remember that there was something about the scene where Kazuma gave Bishamon the nickname, and it just didn’t... sit right with me, for some reason? Until I looked back and took note of Bishamon’s expression when he said it.

That one panel holds so much... hesitance, I guess would be the word. I couldn’t put my finger on why until I considered these circumstances. Maybe it was, and she just decided to let it be. More so as not to coax any possible consequences. (She couldn’t have just said ‘No’, because what if he asked why? I dunno, I’m really just speculating.)

Ugh, but you guys. The amount of information dropped in this chapter kind of worries me. Particularly about Kazuma, it’s being done in such a way that feels like he may have a death flag over his head. Something that I really hope isn’t the case, because this could be a great time for some personal growth.

There’s so many things that we still need answers to, but I can’t help but feel that this really is the last arc. I’m not sure why, really.

As for my own thoughts, do I think Yato will be reincarnated? Honestly... no. I don’t think that’d be the end-game, as much as Adachitoka are hinting at it. That would basically make the entire growth of his character rather pointless--at least, in my opinion. As much as I would like his slate to be wiped clean, I don’t think he needs to abandon ship just yet.

In all honesty, it actually a bit scary how careless he seems about his own mortality. Wasn’t it he who tried to teach Ebisu about the importance of his current former life? He hasn’t forgotten that, has he? Yato, please--revisit your old viewpoints. Some of them actually held sound advice!

Something we also get in this chapter, is what looks to be mutual feelings between Yato and Hiyori. Normally this would be a good thing for the readers, but there is so many negative implications to go along with it, that I doubt it’s going to get positive traction any time soon. Best case scenario, they won’t actually do anything about their feelings until well after Hiyori’s an adult. And even then, it’ll be a tough road. (Looking at you, Kofuku.)

Eeeeeh, anyway, these are just my thoughts on this chapter. I’m an emotional mess over it so it was actually more difficult than usual to simply keep my feelings from interfering. I hope we get to see more of Hiyori’s side, next chapter.

[hellanoragami-blog]

Chapter 78 Thoughts

Holy moly. A short chapter doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s not much to talk about. In fact, there’s a lot to talk about. (Also, I apologize for the delay! I got mega distracted while writing this.)

We start out seeing Yukine helping Daikoku repair the roof from Take’s abrupt visit. Kofuku was nice enough to make them some lunch, which ends up being Russian roulette onigiri. The pair come down to talk, and Yukine admits that he has no idea where Yato is, and begins to admit that he’s feeling a little worried, despite the fact that he probably shouldn’t be.

He takes a handful of the rice balls and says that he has somewhere to be. Daikoku isn’t too far off the mark, saying that he must be going out to feed a stray cat, or something. The way he words it implies that a few days--at the very least--has passed since Yato’s been gone.

It’s revealed that Yukine’s been taking food to Nora. But Nora sees this as pointless, because she’s dead. She doesn’t need to eat. She even goes on to say that it’s silly for the dead to behave like the living. Nora explains that she doesn’t believe that what she had with father and Yato was family. She acknowledges that they were merely acting the part, but they’re not family, in reality. They were simply tools to spread depravity. She mentions how Yato started rebelling, and how she was not to get in the way of it. But secretly, she hated him for it.

Or... did she? Maybe it was possible that she envied him.

Yato was getting freedom, and he was probably the only good thing she had in their family dynamic. She didn’t want to lose that, but she probably felt helpless to stop it because she didn’t know how. So yes, she was probably angry about losing him as a brother, but envious because he was gaining more freedom to do as he pleased and she felt like she was not able to do the same. Instead, she kept vying for Father’s approval because it was what she had left.

Obviously, this is where she feels like she’s saying too much. I think she’s scared of facing her feelings in that moment. But Yukine steers the conversation to the obvious, that she just kept doing what Father told her to. It’s pretty obvious that Nora feels like she doesn’t have the right to think for herself. But she yearns for a ‘family’, hence the feeling that something is missing.

Maybe she was most happiest when they played house. Or when she got to play with Yato. Because she had purpose in that moment, and a feeling of belonging. It’s something that she wasn’t able to get, no matter how many names that she picked up. No one truly wanted her for her, or wanted to love her as their own. Except for Father, but even still, he uses her more than actually treating her like a daughter.

And there’s something interesting about Nora, as well; if you recall her past, she stopped wearing her kimono the way a living person would somewhere between Sakura’s undoing and Yato’s adolescence.

left over right (living)

right over left (dead)

Father said that Nora knew how she died, not that she knew what her real name was. But at the time of Sakura’s death, it looked like Nora knew what a God’s Greatest secret was; or, at least she had an idea. Yet she seemed shocked that telling a shinki their real name was all it took to destroy them. Up until Sakura, Nora just didn’t seem to think about her own mortality. So she had to have learned about it shortly before that.

(Maybe when Father ‘punished’ her? I’ve considered this. Maybe he hammered the fact that she was dead into her, and this was when they stopped playing that little game of house. Maybe it was after that, that she started wearing her kimono as a dead person, because she thought that it would keep Father from being upset with her. That, or something similar.)

Even Yukine realizes that she just wants to have that, though. She wants to have a real family, and to be loved without her usefulness being the first thing people looked at her for. Family doesn’t have to be by blood; so dead or not, Yato and Yukine aren’t just playing house. They are a family. They made it themselves, and are both content with this.

Nora just... wants that. And there’s no shame in it, contrary to what Father has put in her head. Yukine struggles with his feelings and cheers her up via his own embarrassment--even at the expense of biting into a toothpaste-filled onigiri--and even gets a smile from her. I feel like she genuinely enjoys Yukine’s company, in the end.

But this isn’t all good, from Yukine’s end. There’s no way to know if he’s continued looking for Yato or not, but from the sound of it, it seems like he’s been spending time with Nora instead. But he shouldn’t be giving up the search just yet.

Maybe he feels that Yato isn’t in immediate danger, because Nora is no longer being used as a weapon by Father. (In other words, the guy isn’t a threat if he doesn’t have a weapon.) This is kind of a flawed thinking, though.

Sooner or later, Father will show up to get him. And Nora will have the choice to defend him, or let it happen. It’s hard to say what she would do. On one hand, defending him would be the right thing; he doesn’t deserve it. But on the other hand, if Father named Yukine, then that would give her the opportunity to foster a bond with him. Something that she no longer has with Yato.

Still, I hope that when the time comes, Yukine would have shown her enough kindness to sway her decision.

Then the scene shifts to Yato, who is naming a shinki who suspiciously looks like Kazuma, at first glance. (I see what you played, Adachitoka. But also, thank you for not having Yato name him.) The shinki turns into a pair of scissors, which wouldn’t be useful in battle. So Yato turns him away.

This is interesting, to me. Given Yato’s history, it seems like he’s had a pattern of getting weapons as regalia. Even Sakura, who was a kind and gentle spirit, became a short sword. And Yato even says, every shinki he’s named has just been ‘dollar store junk’. This actually gives me the impression that maybe Yato’s spirit is the one that has changed; he’s become a God of fortune and happiness, one whose goal is to help people. Not much need for a weapon, in that case. It’s hard to say whether or not even Kazuma would become a weapon for him.

Speaking of Kazuma, though... oof. He shows up to once again hound Yato into naming him, which Yato refuses because he knows Kazuma. He’s fond of him, and he doesn’t want him to be touched by a God’s Greatest Secret. But come on, Yato, you’re on a mission to name innocent souls just to get them killed. You’re doing the same thing you’re shaming heaven for. I hope he comes to this realization, soon.

After parting, it is next revealed that Kazuma has a ‘premonition’ of sorts. He intercepts Hiyori, who is out searching for Yato and has no idea where Kazuma has been or what he has been doing up to this point. Naturally, she tells him that everyone is waiting for his return, and that Bishamon would want him there with her. But Kazuma is honestly too far gone to listen.

He recognizes Hiyori’s feelings for Yato, and tells her that Gods and Humans can never be together. That being in love with a God is considered a sin. Which, I just really don’t think is the case. Why would it be? Daikoku and Kofuku are very obviously in love, and there has been no sin to come of it.

Plus, Kazuma wasn’t direct about his feelings, at all. Even if he had been, though, I think he knows that Bishamon just doesn’t have those kinds of feelings towards him. She sees Kazuma as one of her children, and nothing more. She loves Kazuma, but she’s not in love with him. There is a big difference.

This isn’t to say that Kazuma isn’t special to her--because clearly, Bishamon holds him higher than the Ha clan. Kazuma is her last surviving child from her previous family, so of course she would hold him in a different light of appreciation than her other shinki. Maybe Kazuma just misinterpreted these affections.

But there is another thing that separates Bishamon from, say, Kofuku or even Yato, here: Bishamon is an Amatsu-kami, and Kofuku and Yato are both (probably) classified as Kunitsu-kami. Amatsu-kami are heaven-dwelling Gods. Kunitsu-kami, however, are earthly Gods. It seems to me that these two different types of Gods follow different principles in life and love. Kunitsu-kami tend to understand human empathy and emotion more, and they don’t lack the ability to connect with their shinki the same as heaven-dwelling Gods seem to.

I think Bishamon sits somewhere between the two, though, and that’s what makes it so difficult for her. She understands human empathy just enough to have different values than the Amatsu-kami.

I also just really think that Yato would get it, if Hiyori were to tell him that she loved him. But whether he would allow himself to return those feelings is another story. (He does love Hiyori, but he knows that she is technically still a child, at this point. He wouldn’t accept her feelings yet, in that case. People tend to equate love with sexual attraction, but the two are also very different.)

I just think that the way Kazuma’s feelings have been perceived is his own fault. Then Kazuma literally throws Hiyori off the roof with a borderline, just so she can’t get too far. He says that he is going to try transferring his feelings to her, and that he is cursing her to never be satisfied with just pretending to be a family with Yato, and telling her to never go near Yato again. (A bit weird wording, since the scenario had always been called ‘playing house’, not ‘pretending to be a family’.)

I first thought that maybe this curse was metaphorical, like a jinx or something. But one speculator has said that the words were pretty straight-forward and that it was probably an actual curse. (I also shot a question to fast-moon to confirm or deny this, but I haven’t gotten a response yet.) If it is in fact a real curse, what exactly will happen to Hiyori?

She finally confronts her feelings, and starts crying. I think this is because she knows that there really is no going back, now. She can’t just pretend that those feelings aren’t there, because--as Kazuma said--they will never be enough. She’ll either have to be rejected or accepted. (And, even after rejection, it takes a long time for those feelings to fade. And even yet, they may never unless she forgets Yato entirely; doomed to always feel like there is something missing.) 

What’s worse is the fact that Kofuku tied their plaques; will they never be at peace with each other? Was Kofuku’s act what lead to this? It’s hard to say.

In the last panel, Hiyori’s tail appears to be missing. I formulated every conceivable way it would be positioned based on her posing, and unless it’s just curled into a spiral under her back or something, it would be shown, I think. 

Obviously I don’t think she is dead, but I do think something happened. I don’t know what to think, at this point. I really hope that Hiyori will be fine. She’ll survive, one way or another. But will she actually be okay?

And as for Kazuma... I’m upset with him, but I want to understand. Maybe he got too close to Tsuguha when he killed her, and he’s being affected by the God’s Greatest Secret? (They did say that it had the capability of spreading.) Or maybe this was just something a long time coming.

Maybe he’s so erratic and desperate to keep Bishamon safe because someone he loved while alive died protecting him. I dunno, but something changed him and he’s been on a downward spiral for a long time with no sign of stopping. 

Anyway, that’s my own take on things! I hope we get some more answers in the next chapter.

[hellanoragami-blog]

Chapter 76 Thoughts

This chapter was one hell of a ride, ya’ll.

So this chapter starts out with Hiyori telling Yukine that Yato ran off. Which I’m personally happy about. Mostly because it is much better that Hiyori told him and not Mizuchi. That being said though, Yukine’s very mature about it, for what little we see. He doesn’t freak out, and reassures Hiyori that they’ll find him. The one thing that I’ve learned though, that just because a character says x is going to happen, doesn’t mean it will. Throwback to Yato saying ‘Everything will be fine’ just before Yukine got packed into that sarcophagus. We can’t really take a character’s word as fact in this series.

The scene moves on to Yato’s conference with Amaterasu and her three sacred treasures. This whole conversation only brought more questions for me, personally. A human should not be able to return from Yomi in the same way that a God would be. (AKA, a soul call.) I’m thinking that this was only made possible under the assumption that Father was outside of his physical body during his time in the underworld. But even still, what is he? I’m still thinking Bosatsu, but it still doesn’t serve to answer the questions I have.

I’m mostly wondering why a human being able to return from Yomi would mean that Gods wouldn’t need to exist. Can that one single thing disrupt the natural order that much? This is a topic that needs better explaining, at least to me. So If anyone knew how to interpret that insinuation, please enlighten me! I genuinely want to know what she meant.

Next, we have Yato visiting Bakki to ask him if he can borrow Nana. He ends up being introduced to Shiiho, who turns out to be a... child!? What the hell, I was expecting some big badass dude. Someone like Daikoku, even. What a turn! But he’s a cute kid. Yato goes into Mega Papa Yato Mode and takes a moment to gush over how Shiiho reminds him of his little boy and that they could maybe be friends. This would have been a cute idea. Yukine needs friends, Adachitoka! 

We also learn that the children call Bakki ‘Father’, which given Noragami’s association with the title made me a little uncomfortable. It raised a red flag for me, but hopefully it won’t turn out to be anything.

Yato gets around to asking Bakki if he can use Nana, which earns him a great big falcon punch to the face. And here, any chances of a Yukine/Shiiho friendship is dashed because Bakki outright tells him to never show his face to him again. Boooo. :( (Don’t get me wrong, though! I completely understand where he’s coming from and why he would react like that. He still loves Nana very much and is obviously worried about her.) I’m hoping that Nana can talk to him and have him reconsider his thoughts towards Yato. He should understand what kind of threat Father is, and how Nana was a valid option.

We get a short conversation between Kiun and Take, with Take having tried summoning Eyami. (But why? As fast-moon said, he told Yato that he released her. Unless he was lying? Not sure.) He touched on the possibility of doing away with her himself, but that would be no better than what his predecessor did. 

Nana goes to talk to Yato after that, telling him that she was surprised by her father’s reaction. But Yato assures her, it was a natural response. We learn exactly how Nana stayed sane during the thousand plus years that she was locked away, and this was through hearing voices around her and writing the name that had been taken away from her, over and over again. Sadly, she can’t remember what is was even after all that.

But we do get a confirmation that Nana did learn her real name after all, so that’s interesting.

Then Yato learns from her that some people aren’t obsessed over their own morality; they’re more worried over someone they care about dying. I definitely understand this. This trait, though, would make a shinki stronger in dealing with the Secret. Yato endures a momentary lapse in control, wanting to force Nana to be his shinki anyway. But he knows how wrong that actually is, so of course he wouldn’t do it.

Nana takes her leave, and Yato comes to a realization that Bishamon is completely unguarded. There is no one watching her, and the sorcerer would take full advantage of that. (With all those shinki, I feel like someone should have been. Not that they could really do anything against Father, though.) We see Father stab Bishamon with the reverse end of Chiki, with the subtle intention that she may actually be dying for real this time. This is upsetting, because I REALLY hoped that she would pull through. I wanted her and Kazuma to talk about what happened. But now it looks like they won’t get the chance.

While Yato asks to enter, we see Kazuma approach. He looks... lost. I thought perhaps the smell of blood came from Bishamon’s side at first, but the text at the bottom implies Kazuma being stained. So whose blood is it, and where has he been? So many questions!

All of this considered... I know that I said before that it wasn’t likely for Yato to name Kazuma, Adachitoka threw a curve once again and it looks as if it might actually be possible. It may even be possible for him to survive the Secret, as well. That is, depending on how he died. Did he die protecting someone he loved? It’s gotta be likely, considering his protective nature of Bishamon as her shinki. Something always carries over for them. Maybe his protectiveness is one of those things. No one said their lasting effect had to be negative. (A person can not want to die, but also be okay with it in the moment to protect someone they care about. That is essentially what shapes a strong regalia, I guess?) 

Kazuma might actually be a valid option, here. The only complication that could arise in my opinion is the fact that he put himself below Mizuchi once. But things could change, given the situation. Kazuma will not react well knowing that she is the one who caused Bishamon to reincarnate. Even so, I don’t think Yukine would take it well at all. Jeez. This could open a whole new can of worms, actually...

Anyway! It seems like Yato’s on a time constraint here, given what Amaterasu said towards the beginning of the chapter. He’ll have to do this quickly, then. I look forward to seeing what happens next chapter.