Sorry for the delay everyone, Dan is has his hands full with life responsibilities so I will be taking over Noragami from this point on.
Episode 7 was a huge episode for me as I have quickly become obsessed with this series (so naturally I already read ahead into the manga). After having doing so, I was wondering about whether they were going to skim over certain arcs or maintain their lighter tone to the series. With this episode they were able to solidify my faith with how they handle the adaption as we are finally taking the darker turn into the series.
I am really happy that they aren’t skimming over this particular arc because it serves as vital character development for Yukine. Not just that, but it allows the audience to get a better understanding of someone who had just died, and how dangerous the consequences of their sinful actions.
It surprised me how there were actually a large sum of people hating on Yato during this episode. We had characters such as Kazuma and Tenjin telling Hiyori that a undisciplined Shinki should be disposed of immediately, in this case, they were referring to Yukine. However throughout the entire episode, Yato refuses to give up on Yukine, and to me that says a lot about his character. Although Yato has that dark scarlet past and is a total dork, he actually cares for his shinki more than one thinks. Yato himself even had plenty of opportunities to cast Yukine aside and use Nora who was extending her hand out to help him, but he refused again and again despite the fact he in was in terrible condition. He couldn’t cut the phantom because he and Yukine were not in sync and Yukine is still upset and facing a serious emotional turmoil right now. In fact, it speaks volumes about Yukine’s character and state when he says that Yato has Nora to use anyways. On top of that, Nora is a terrifying character. She may look cute and all, but she is the queen of manipulation. She was getting under Yukine’s skin, targeting him to break him down to make him believe he is useless and unneeded.
Despite the fact Hiyori had told Yukine in the previous episode that even though he’s dead, it is not okay to steal, Yukine continues to do so anyways. As result Yato is being stung and punished for his Shinki’s sinful actions, causing the blight to spread at a rapid pace. No thanks to this, Yato is quickly becoming weaker and struggling with a job that should be a piece of cake. It certainly doesn’t help that Yukine’s sinful actions and his unwillingness to work with Yato also dulling the blade, making it a struggle to cut through the phantom.
We were able to see a little bit more about Veena (Bishamon) who is totally badass. (I love this lady!) We were able to see her softer side (you know when she isn’t on her fury spree of MUST KILL YATO!!!!!1111). We also were able to learn about why Kazuma was bowing to Yato last week. It turns out that he is actually indebted to him. He cares about Yato’s well being and had asked Hiyori to take care of him as well as telling her the grave price that comes with disposing the shinki who is infecting their master, is death. In any case, it’s the worse case scenario where nobody wins. It certainly begs the question of why Yato seemly hasn’t addressed the issue, straight up telling Yukine of what kind of damage he is inflicting on to him, nor is willing to punish him.
…Well, you guys will certainly find out soon enough!
And it will make you cry.
Last but not least to finally wrap things up, I am not going to lie, I squealed at the original inserted scene where Hiyori, (concerned for both of boys) confronted Yato today and told him to make sure that he treats Yukine as a comrade and not solely for a weapon. Fortunately he does care for Yukine very much, so it simply served as a reminder.
We were also able to get a glimpse of the Original Character. I have a few ideas of how he will be integrated into the series, while leaving things open enough to pursue a second season if desired. The bigger question to me is whether they will choose to skip Bishamon’s arc, or whether the original character will be plugged in. It would be such a pity to skip out on Bishamon’s arc. It is full of action, internal drama and best of all- quite dark.
I’ll have Episode 8 up shortly.
