Noragami
Episode 7 – Uncertainty & Destiny
Things just keep plunging deeper and deeper into that abyss in Noragami.
With this episode it is pretty much a lock at this point that we are heading towards a head-on collision of an ending. All the pieces are moving and it is only a matter of time before someone gets checkmate. Judging by the way this episode ends, this game of chess may have just gotten a third participant, coming in to twist the rules of the game as we know it and potentially be the catalyst that causes all the elements to collide.
The story just keeps taking sharp turns, never knowing what it is around the corner but some how what’s around the corner isn’t too shocking, but never disappointing on the same page. Hiyori has been caught out by Bishamon’s right hand man Kazuma and he seems to be a bit more switched on to things than first thought. While he is completely loyal to Bishamon, he knows that Yato isn’t such a bad guy, even going so far to say that he “owes Yato a great deal”. These conflicted feelings undoubtedly will bring Kazuma and Bishamon into conflict eventually. It is just a matter of which way the coin will drop.
Perhaps most interesting is the insight Kazuma gives regarding the blight Yato has accrued thanks to Yukine’s mounting misdeeds. We learn that if Yukine is not kept in check, eventually the blight will overcome Yato and ultimately kill him. This is bad news for Yato, but it only makes things more interesting in regards to his relationship with Yukine. He comes off as a stern father figure rather than a merciless god that we have seen in previous weeks.
It goes without saying that Yukine doesn’t like being used the way he has been and it does make me wonder if that has to do with that suppressed past life as a human being. I’m betting it does. Regardless of all that Yato and Yukine need to get on the same page again. So what will be the spark to ignite that? Well I have a feeling it will be Hiyori. She seems to be the only one who can really crack Yato and that much was true in this episode. This girl has some kind of power over this god, what exactly that is however is up to debate at this point.
One of the quieter moments of the episode, but one that holds great importance to filling in the blanks with this story, is Hiyori’s meeting with the God of Learning. She is there on a simple inquiry regarding Yukine’s whereabouts, but what she uncovers is deeply insightful to the world between the near and far shore. He tells her that Yukine was there looking for a job, but he rejected the young boy on the grounds that if he accepted him he would become a ‘Nora’, a dirty kind of regalia that has many users, or put more plainly, a deadset whore of a regalia. We have already met one ‘Nora’ and it has been hinted at that Yato once used her. These types of regalia are generally detested in this world and considered to be tainted.
So where does this leave us as we head into the final straight of episodes? Well it is hard to say, with the introduction of the mystery man at the end of the episode, one has got to figure that the anime is going for an original ending. Hopefully it would at least leave things open for a second season. If I was a betting man, I’d have to say that we are building towards a battle between the Gods and Noras of the world. For now that is all just thoughts based on the 5 second appearance of a mysterious character at the very end of the episode. But it seems like a substantial enough collision point for this final stretch. The question now is, who will survive to coming crash?
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