There isn't a lot of comedy but the jokes they do make are funny and enjoyable. The animation is smooth and I like the concept of the story. It seems like Yato could go about more efficient ways of getting to a higher God status but I feel that he wants to do things his own way and no other. Which, when you think about it, every God would.
we find Hiyori slipping in and out of sleep, and her body, for half of the episode. This might have been boring but she uses this time to explore the city and see all the phantoms that are roaming around. She finally gets in touch with Yato who seems to have done nothing to solve Hiyori's problem in the last two weeks. Yato explains he has been looking for a new Regalia, a spirit who can transform into a weapon for him to use. After the last one quiet on him in the first episode he hasn't been able to find a new one. Hiyori confuses spirits with phantoms and not knowing the difference starts looking for phantoms to be Yato's Regalia. She finds a large one which attacks them and while running away Yato finds a pure spirit to be his new Regalia.
A young boy name Yukine (left) turns into a katana. In this form he is called Yuki and Yato seems very pleased with his new weapon; but when they speak Yukine seems to be diplease with his god's life style of poverty. When the two formed their alliance Yato had quick flashes of Yukine's life, it is unclear exactly what happened but we can guess these are the events that lead to his death. We found out that Phantoms can taint someone if they get a hold of them and if you come in contact with a person who has been infected it can spread to you. Yato manages to purify his left arm from this with water, he does not say if its some sort of holy water or just plain water but the curse mark quick goes away when doused with it. Hiyori learned that day to avoid a Phantom's taint... Or something like that.
Yukine is further put off by his master when they have to rummage through trash to find clothing and only have sardines for dinner. Yato's image isn't helped at all when they go to a restaurant and Hiyori has to pay for everything. (right) During this scene we learn that Yato and Yukine are not invisible but just hard to notice. If they do get the attention of someone that person will quickly forget them. This still begs the question of by Hiyori could see Yato so easy when they first met. It is also explained that Yukine is linked to Yato and he can feel his thoughts, which is why he quickly scolds him for having dirty thoughts(below) about Hiyori. (He's a teenage boy Yato, it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.)
from Noragami! After Yato awakens from a funny reoccurring dream about him being a famous top god the group heads to a ramen/soda shop where we meet another god named Kofuku(left) who is introduced as Yato's girlfriend. This seems to be the only reference to their relationship at all so this was either a joke of some sort or the bf/gf relationship is more casual for gods. An older man shows up and kicks Yato telling him to get lost, this man is Kuro, Kofuku's Regalia (Kuku when transformed). We don't know the form he takes when in Regalia Mode but its clear she is extremely protective of his god.
Now here is the best part of the episode. Pay close attention. Hiyori speaks to Kofuku about a comment she made earlier when she said "Yato is a scary god." Now in episode two (I think) Yato casually mentions he is a war god and the conversation quickly moves away from the topic. Kofuku confirms Yato's war god status and tells her how Yato once killed a Regalia a long time ago(does not say it was Yato's Regalia) along with many other people. Hiyori leaves Kofuku's place and meets back up with Yato who tells her to go back to Kofuku is anything should happen to him. She agrees to follow Yato's orders and can't help but mention to herself how good Yato smells. Hiyori and Yato walk on and see Yukine with the girl who was spying on them at the shrine last night. Yato addresses her as Nora (Above) and seems displeased to see her there. He tells Nora to leave and Nora replies by asking Yato to use the name he gave her. Nora is a Regalia. Now we don't know the specifics like is she still his Regalia and Yato is just shunning her, or is there contract broken or is she the Regalia that he killed and she haunts him now or is Nora the weapon he used to kill the other Regalia that died; we don't know!!! Nora vanishes from sight saying she will always be waiting for Yato to call her name and the episode ends. A huge amount of story progression at the end. A great episode, can't wait for the next one!
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| Borderline |
Episode five. Yato takes some time to teach Yuki about borderlines(right). The technique to make a barrier on the ground by drawing an imaginary line with his finger. This is an ability that can repel phantoms for a short time. I don't think they go into how strong a phantom the borderline can repel, so its possible that the barrier can be broken by a higher level spirit or may fade faster against a strong opponent.
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| Hiyori takes Yuki |
Afterwards Hiyori demands that Yuki comes to stay with her. Yato is very against this because he doesn't trust Yuki to not have perverted thoughts about Hiyori. The thoughts put Yato in pain giving him headaches. Hiyori ends up taking Yuki (left)so he can stay in a house instead of outside with a homeless god, but Yato ends up tagging along. Hiyori lives in a large house and with Yato and Yuki not being noticeable her parents take no head of them while they are there.
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| temptation |
Its clear at this point that Hiyori does not see Yuki as any sort of sexual being. Yuki is some gender-less, genital lacking, strictly platonic friend in her eyes.... This is sad for Yuki because when she cuddles with Yuki in bed he wants Hiyori so bad that he actually makes a move to grab a hand full o'titty while Hiyori sleeps. He is stopped by Yato who appears behind him, angry at what he was about to do.
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| Blonde |
We quickly cut to a scene where an attractive blonde (left) is riding on the back of a leaping lion and other than the fact that she fights phantoms we don't know anything about her.
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| Yuki sees the little girl |
The next day Yuki gets upset because Hiyori won't let him "borrow" a skate board from a store, and leaves on his own. While out he runs into the spirit of a little girl who is waiting for her mom to pick her up. Yuki feels sorry for the girl and waits with her eventually telling the girl that her mom isn't coming. She gets upset about this and a large group of phantoms comes into the area. Yuki draws a boarder line to keep them at bay but the girl has already been tainted by the phantoms. Yato arrives and battles the giant phantom that emerges and Yuki begs him to save the girl, Yato tells him there is no hope of saving the girl and slays the phantom. During this battle Yuki seems to see the girl for a brief moment. We don't know if he was able to pull the girl out of the phantom in the end or not. Yuki as a Regalia is very strong so it may be possible for him to do something that no other Regalia has done before such as separating the little girl from the phantom. The episode ends with another glimpse of the blonde taking a bath. (couldn't find a picture :( )
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| Yato |
Episode Six. So it appears that the little girl from the previous episode was not saved after all and Yuki has some resentment against Yato for using him to kill her. Yuki leaves Hiyori's house and steals a skateboard from a store, Yato can sense when Yuki is doing something wrong and quickly finds him. When Yato(left) is questioning Yuki on where he got his skateboard I gotta say he looks scary, like he's thinking "I've killed before and I'm just waiting for a reason to kill again." Hiyori covers for Yuki telling Yato that she bought it for him, but Yato seems to know they were lying. As the sun sets Yuki gets scared because the twilight hour is when phantoms cross over into our world and Yuki has developed a fear of phantoms since his encounter with the little girl.
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| Bishamon |
Enter the blonde(left). Her name is Bishamon and she is another God of War!!! But she seems to be doing much better then Yato, in fact Yato told Hiyori that Bishamon is the most powerful God of War he knows. Best as I can count she has seven Regalia's at her command (lion, whip, gun, gun, earrings, clothes, giant sword) and they are all strong. One called Kazuma (below)seems to have the ability to track Bishamon's targets where ever they may be, giving her a deadly advantage.
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| Kazuma |
Revenge is on her mind because the Regalia that Yato killed was one of hers. Yuki's bad thoughts and unwillingness to fight weakens Yato a great deal by giving him blight on the back of his neck. Eventually Bishamon corners Yato in the woods and I can only assume the Regalia she is using is Cloud from Final Fantasy VII because shes got his damn sword.
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| Bishamon using Kazuma for targeting |
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| Kuraha biting Yato |
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| NoraXYato |
This thing is beastly and causing strong winds that cut and toss anything in front of her. Just as Bishamon and Yato are about to clash Kufuku, brought by Hiyori, shows up. She uses her fan to rip open a vent into the phantom world. The blast separates Yato and Bishamon but Kuraha (The lion below) attacks Yato biting him on the shoulder.
Nora shows up out of no where and binds Kuraha, not sure if this is her Regalia ability or some secondary technique she can do, and saves Yato. Kazuma convinces Bishamon to retreat for the time being but before he follows his master Kazuma bows respectfully to Yato. This displayed looked to be deeper than just having good manners. Its was almost as if Kazuma has a deep respect for Yato. Need to find out what their past confection before we can make any realistic assumptions about it. Everyone goes home except for Yato. He goes to a shrine to cleanse the blight from him but it won't come off. As he contemplates his and Yuki's future together as a team Nora (left)appears before him and tells Yato that he can use her again if he wants. Man, a lot happened this episode, the story of Yato's past is coming more into the light now, can't wait to learn more.
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| Bishamon and Regalia Partners |
So update! in
Episode Seven we find out that Bishamon (right)actually has eight Regalia. So either her outfit is composed of two Regalia who work in unison (one for each cup?) or there is Regalia whose powers we do not know yet.
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| Tenjin |
Yuki ran away again, can't deal with life, big shocker he's a teenager (Little fucker even takes the disaster relief charity jar from the 7/11). But the important part is that when he goes to Lord Tenjin (Left) for employment as a Regalia. Lord Tenjin denies him this, mentioning that if Yuki became his Regalia now Yuki would be a Nora. It isn't until Hiyori comes by Tenjin's shrine while looking for Yuki that Tenjin explains what this means. Nora is not actually a name, but rather a sort of title. A Regalia with more than one master is called a Nora. So any master can summon them at any time and they have no set loyalties. The only real reason a God would use a Nora is to perform a task he wouldn't want is normal Regalia to perform. Most likely something along the lines of murder or other shady business. Because of this Nora are detested.
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| Kazuma |
There is still a lot we don't know about Noras. If one master is using them can another master summon them away from the first master? Can they be used to kill one of their other masters? If a Nora starts doing misdeeds will pain and blight form on all masters? Hopefully we get some of these answers in the next episode. An important note for Yato's Nora is that she is not alone in being able to bind opponents as we saw her do in the last episode. Bishamon's Regalia Kazuma (Right) can also do this along with hiding the presence of other people. This likely means that there are a handful of standard abilities that come with being a Regalia along with their own unique abilities. Kazuma does this to Hiyori when they run into each other on a rooftop to hide her from Bushamon. While they talk Kazuma confirms that he owes a debt to Yato but doesn't explain exactly what; the conversation moves to the blight that Yato has on his neck. When blight is caused from within - IE a Ragalia doing stupid shit - its more serious on a God than compared to when a phantom inflicts it. Kazuma says that a God will die if blight spreads to much but I'm curious if a God can become a phantom from blight. I wonder how powerful a phantom they would be.
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| Nora Duo |
Yuki is confronted by Nora (Left) who talks some smack to him and urges Yato to use her again. Yato summons Yuki and tells him not to to listen to Nora. Yuki's blade is extra dull and wont cut the phantom moth they are fighting, Nora holds out her hand hoping that Yato will call her but all she gets is a warning to leave him alone. A little holy water from Yato's water bottle drenches his blade and Yuki is reforged (Apparently you can do that.) and cuts through the phantom. A person appears behind Nora, a tall man with white hair who is most likely another Nora. The episode ends with the blight visibly spreading all over Yato's body and Hiyori hoping to herself that Yato and Yuki will be ok.
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| Yato the War God |
Two questions I have are: One, will the blight go away from Yato if he just breaks his bond with Yuki or does he have to kill him? Two, is Yato still bound to Nora or did he sever their bond? Seems like he is still linked to her to me.
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| Hiyori punishing Yato |
In
Episode Eight things are not getting any better for poor Yato. After a misunderstanding with Hiyori in the girls bathroom (left)where he is brutally beaten, Yato speaks to a high-school boy, Manabu Ogiwara, who hires him to help out with a bully problem. Yuki instantly detest the boy for being weak; Yato can feel the resentment wafting off of Yuki about the boys' situation. After a few words from Yato, Yuki runs away (again).
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| Yato and Manabu |
Yato lets Yuki go on way and whispers in Manabu's ear(right). He slips him two exacto knives and tells him "If you're going to fight, give your opponent one too." But warns him that if he crosses that line he will be giving up his humanity. At this point it looks like Yato just leaves the rest of the job up to fate, but Yato knows what he's doing.
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| Yuki flipping out |
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| Hiyori peeking at Yato |
Meanwhile, Yuki goes a little farther off the deep end this time(left). The loneliness of being dead, and most likely from when he was alive, gets to him. He grabs a bat and takes out his frustration on the school windows scaring the shit out of everyone in the area. While Yuki sinks into insanity Yato, visibly tired, takes a nap in the nurses office. A great interaction happens with Hiyori checking out his body for blight and the boy who hired Yato earlier confronts his bully.
I really liked this scene. A lot of intensity, tells the boys story quickly and neatly, and ends well with Yato standing by in waiting just in case. Its about this time that Yuki goes berserk on the other side of campus and Yato collapses covered in blight. Hiyori tosses Yato in her back and to take him to Kufuku's place and the blight quickly spreads to her. They pass Yuki along the way and for the first time her see's what he has really been doing to Yato. This is really the first time we've seen Yuki appear sorry for his actions on any level and after being yelled at by Hiyori they head to Kufuku's.
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| Blighted Yato |
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| Sinister Kofuku |
Earlier in the day Bushimon visits Kufuku to consult on points in the city that may open up vents for phantoms to appear. Bushimon asks Kufuku if she is opening up vents to keep her busy so she doesn't go after Yato. Kufuku's tells her no but then her face goes from silly to rather sinister and warns Bishamon that "if something happens to Yatty I'd to be ready for a serious storm if I were you." Bishamon leaves without further incident but despite the clear declaration of loyalty to Yato, Hiyori doesn't get the help she is looking for when they arrive. Kufuku's Regalia Kuro draws a barrier pushing them back. On the other side Hiyori pleads and begs for help for Yato, but Kufuku and Kuro stair on them in silence and what seems like fear.
A good guess is that they have to protect themselves from the blight. Hiyori is a perfect example of how quickly and easy it spreads; but the help they offer may be the brutal execution of Yuki. (Do it!)
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| Hiyori cleansing |
I have been saying it for weeks, and in
Episode nine it is no different, get rid of Yuki! Hiyori is aloud past the borderline barrier and Kofuku tells her to bath quickly in order to wash off the blight.(left) Yato is left outside suffering while a plan is hatched to save him. They don't really explain why the barrier is up but I think Kuro is protecting Kofuku from the blight and I think he also wanted to keep Yuki outside. It is agreed that Yuki needs to go through a processed called Ablution, which is basically a cleansing/repentance ritual for the crimes he's committed, but the process takes three Regalias to perform and if it fails Yuki will become a phantom AND it might kill the Regalias that perform it. Kuro threatens Yuki not move while he looks for the other two Regalias and Yuki, still with a god damn attitude, stays where he is. Surprisingly Kuro finds helps from Mayu, Yato's old Regalia from the first episode. Kuro looks everywhere for someone else, but can't find another Regalia who is willing to participate in such a risky procedure.
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| Yato in blight |
Hiyori, not one to be idle, goes on her own search and briefly thinks of looking for Nora; but she is worried Nora would just kill Yuki to save Yato, and instead goes to Bushamon's place to find Kazuma. She knows its risky because if Bishamon finds out she will finish Yato off in his weakened state(left); but thankfully Kazuma is the sly sort and slips off with Hiyori to save Yato. With three Regalias the Ablution takes place and Yuki fights it all the way, even after seeing his own blight on his back.(below)
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| Yuki's blight |
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| Ablution |
I liked this seen, not just cause Yuki gets whats coming to him, but its well done in general. Kazuma tells Yato to revoke Yuki but he refuses. The ceremony begins. Confess they demand as Yuki screams out in pain. Wings dripping of blood rip out and unfold themselves from Yuki's back. The more he fights the more phantom he becomes. Yato seems to feel Yuki's suffering, but still won't revoke him - "I found him, I named him". The blight on Yuki's body starts to cover up the mark Yato gave him.
Hiyori steps in and speaks with Yuki halting the blight for a moment, long enough for Yato to gather the strength to speak. "Live as a person Yuki. Live Yuki!"
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| A happy ending |
Yuki breaks down and confesses everything he did, including trying to feel up Hiyori (giggle). A great scene. At the end Yuki, Yato and Hiyori hug it out, and Yato realizes how much he owes to Hiyori. A damn good episode and I'm hoping that Yuki won't be such a little shit from now on.
Also looking forward to how strong a properly functioning Regalia will make Yato. He's going to need it if Bishamon and the Nora's are still after them.
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| Yato and Hiyori proud of Yuki |
Alright! Yuki isn't a dick anymore!
Noragami Episode 10 shows Yuki changing his ways, the little fucker even gets a part time job at Kofuku's place to help pay back for all the trouble he has caused. Yato, Yuki, and Hiyori visit Mayu and Tenjin at his temple to thank them as well. While they are there Yuki discovers from Mayu that Tenjin recently let one of his Regalias go for stinging him. They even had to form an ablution on her which seemed to go smoothly compared to Yuki's ablution. After the ceremony was completed Tenjin broken his bond with the regalia and set her free in hopes that she would find a new master to take her in and start a new life.
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| Tenjin and Yato |
Yato and Tenjin discuss Hiyori's situation, you know the one where her spirit leaves her body. The one that the mighty god Yato should have been working on this entire time. Yes that one. Tenjin says that severing the ties Hiyori has with Yato and Yuki, in other words wiping her memory may solve the problem. Yato doesn't seem to have any intention of doing this, but later on at the new years festival Hiyori is confronted by Nora, and the bitch got wolves! Hiyori is no push over and manages to last until the sun rises which makes the wolves vanish, but Nora confronts her and mentions that a God of Calamity named Rabo has come to kill Yato. Hiyori tries to tell herself that Yato will be fine so long as Yuki is fighting with him, but Nora declares that Yato has weakened ever since he met Hiyori and whispers into her ear "Stop existing."
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| Rabo |
While all that is taking place Yato and Yuki are on their way to meet Hiyori at the festival, but stop to battle a heard of scorpion phantoms(below) really quick. They execute them in awesome fashion, but Rabo(left) is watching them. The scorpions are his and he used them to test Yato's abilities. This is the same guy we saw earlier with Nora, so he isn't another Nora after all but a god. Most likely one who uses Nora.
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| God of War in action |
When Yato finally meets up with Hiyori at the festival she looks at them with the eyes of a stranger. All her memories of him have been wiped away, Nora severed Hiyori's ties with them. Now its clear that Nora did this to save Yato. If Yato is getting weaker by knowing Hiyori then Nora will get rid of Hiyori to save Yato from Rabo. Why does Rabo want to kill Yato? Maybe he wants Nora all to himself and needs to kill her other masters? Don't know. However the point remains that Nora did this for Yato. Will Yato be grateful? Hell no! The man's going to be pissed when he finds out Nora did this to Hiyori.
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The group go to the train station and begin battling phantoms until the find the one who is making the teens walk onto the tracks. It is dispatched, Yukine is scolded for impure thoughts, and Yato and Yukine leave to go to sleep under an old shrine. At the end of the episode a young girl is staring at the two from the shadows, her intentions are not yet known. She is dressed in a uniform of some sort so I will guess she works at the shrine they are sleeping at. (Only a guess though
After a talk Yato gets a call for a job and teleports to a man who jumping off a building to kill himself. After a surreal long fall (right) they realize that the god of poverty and misfortune, Kofuku, is the source of all his problems. Yukine is ordered to sever the ties between the suicidal man and Kofuku. Yukine is unsure of how to do this but the skill comes natural to him and he pulls it off with little difficulty. The suicidal man is saved and the trio head back to Kofuku's place to confront her. She seems to have taken little notice of the entire incident and feels she is not at fault for any of it. Kuro compliments Yukine on his abilities to severe a bond like that because its actually a very hard thing to do. With Yukine pulling it off so easily there is chance that he is actually a rather unique Regalia.