Noragami Aragoto

Episode 7

I see how it is, Noragami. I can't go a single week without crying. That's it. I'm never trusting you to deliver a relaxing, no-strings attached entertainment experience again. My emotional devastation shields are up, and I expect every gag to be punctuated with intense sadness. Noragami knows that sometimes you have to make an audience laugh before they'll cry.

As soon as our heroes return from the battle at Chateau Bishamon, Tenjin confronts Yato about the price of transport. You see, Tenjin imposed a condition for his help – that Yato cut ties with Hiyori afterwards. As a living person, Hiyori's continued association with the gods is dangerous. The Kugaha incident in particular almost got her killed. Although Yato seems prepared to accept this separation for Hiyori's sake, she refuses to break off their relationship. Yato, accustomed to abandonment, is moved. A few months pass, and we see that Hiyori has advanced to high school. She's still friends with Yato, to Tenjin's consternation.

So five minutes into the “downtime” episode, and I'm already emotionally devastated. This happens twice more over the next twenty minutes under different circumstances. I repeat, this is supposed to be a funny episode. In previous recaps, I've gone over how Noragami contains surprisingly accurate depictions of difficult emotional situations. This only intensifies here, where the lighthearted moments mostly emphasize the hard-earned yet fragile status of Yato's modest happiness. If Yukine and Bishamon's stories were about dysfunction in processing loss, Yato's seems to be about the long-term psychological ramifications of abandonment and even abuse. Out of the shows I've seen, Noragami's ability to root brutal pathos in moments of silliness rivals only Yuri Kuma Arashi. I realize that's high praise, but Noragami has blown my expectations out of the water so far. Even if this subsequent arc is a disappointment, it's worthwhile for the Bishamon and Yukine material alone.

This episode's second haymaker to the heart comes courtesy of a new character, Ebisu. You may remember this name as Kofuku's pseudonym from back in season one. She was using it to hide her status as a god of poverty, because Ebisu is one of the Seven Gods of Fortune – a group of the most influential gods in Japan. They have the most worshipers and thus tons of money and power. Bishamon is the member in charge of war. Ebisu, meanwhile, got wealth, which makes him a very popular fellow. Post-ascension, Ebisu takes an interest in Yukine and tries to buy him off Yato for an absurd sum of money.

Yato doesn't want to do it, but he's still confounded by the cash. It's more than enough for him to build a shrine – something that he desperately wants. In fact, Hiyori and Yukine didn't realize how much he wanted it until now, when having the possibility so close (and yet so far) made him depressed. In order to eliminate the temptation, they use the cash to help out some of Yato's clients, in exchange for the regular five-yen offering and reputation boost. Yato's still down in the dumps afterwards, but Hiyori manages to cheer him up with a surprise gift – his own miniature shrine, which she constructed out of a birdhouse. Yato breaks down in tears while Kofuku explains the significance of the gesture. Shrines represent humanity's appreciation and gratitude to the gods. Yato, who ultimately perceives himself as an unlovable, troublemaking God of Calamity, is starving for that kind of affection. He's literally been seeking this type of validation for centuries. As an added sting, the episode ends on a shot of Hiyori's hands, which are covered in bandages from working on the shrine. This is reification that the shrine's value comes from its status as a willingly-given honor. However, trouble may also arise from Hiyori repressing the real dangers that her association with gods exposes her to. I'm sure that this will all come into play eventually. With each new storyline, Noragami ramps up its emotional intensity.

The Ebisu incident also matters to Yukine, albeit in a different way. As a blessed vessel, he's just been promoted to Yato's exemplar, which brings a number of responsibilities with it. Exemplar is a position occupied by shinki who've proven themselves self-sacrificially devoted to their gods: basically their lieutenants and caretakers. They set a positive example for other shinki and mind their God's health. As Bishamon's exemplar, Kazuma concerns himself with preventing reincarnation by keeping her current identity in line. By contrast, Daikoku explains that his primary role is to raise the next Kofuku should she ever reincarnate. Yukine is suddenly shouldered with a lot of responsibility for a young shinki – and it doesn't help that his liege is the flighty, avoidant Yato. Part of this episode consists of him coming to terms with his new role, so Ebisu's offer is an important challenge.

Yukine is also sharp enough to notice how Yato's relationship with Nora works. She's his fallback for whenever he reaches a low point in his life, usually by losing his regular shinki. Their relationship is clearly toxic and destructive, but Yato keeps coming back to her because he fears being alone more than he values being free. The times we've seen them together feature a different Yato, who's cold, aloof, and at her beck-and-call. It's a far cry from his current vivacious and outgoing self. While the current Yato often pretends to be happier than he is, past Yato is clearly unhappy with Nora. Yukine now views it as a top priority, for Yato's sake, to keep him away from her. This largely involves keeping himself close to Yato, so he takes it upon himself to eliminate the temptation of Ebisu's offer. In hindsight, it's heartbreaking to think that Yato would probably have returned to Nora had he not met Hiyori at the beginning of the series. She's the one who found Yukine for him. This does a lot to explain Yato's attachment to Hiyori, which came on fast and strong. I'm sure the situation will become difficult when more of Yato's former family starts popping up...

Meanwhile, Bishamon is facing a sort of heavenly tribunal for the Kugaha incident. She's alright (and looks like a BAMF in her new military garb), but she becomes charged with the task of keeping an eye on the masked phantoms. They're apparently the sinister result of somebody tampering with scourge rather than natural phenomena. The fact that Kugaha got his hands on them means that he was working with someone powerful. The fact that he wasn't bound by his Bishamon-given name also means he had another master, and was thus a stray. (To recap, strays are shinki who have more than one master, and thus more than one name. Strays are also called “Nora.” Yato's stalker ex is called Nora because she doesn't have one official name. For the sake of clarity, I'll refer to her as Nora and other strays as strays, although the series can use these terms interchangeably.) Kugaha's still alive, but he's in an unknown location, so they won't be getting answers out of him.

Afterwards, Bishamon briefly meets up with her fellow Gods of Fortune, particularly the boisterous Daikokuten. The episode's final shot shows Ebisu in his office, where he has several of Kugaha's Phantom masks. It looks like he may be a sinister figure going forward. Maybe he's the Father figure she mentioned? That bodes ill.

Grade: A

Noragami Aragoto is currently streaming on Funimation.

Gabriella Ekens studies film and literature at a US university. Follow her on twitter.