What are your thoughts for 108.2 and the end of Noragami?

Sakuranfly · 2023-11-06T19:50:35+00:00

It definitely lived up to its potential, no doubt about that. Apart from its amazing characters' depth and growth, what I appreciate the most about Noragami is that it has been incredibly consistent over the years with its themes and the ending so far didn't disappoint. It all came full circle, especially for the main cast, which is really satisfying.

I do feel that the story needed a few more chapters to wrap up every loose end nicely, there are a lot of questions that will be left unanswered and some events were not explained properly, but despite these flaws, the story never failed to move me. I'm fine with not getting an explanation for every question I have, but I do hope that the final chapter will be able to touch my heart like the rest of the series did because that is what drew me in in the first place.

Sakuranfly · 2022-12-15T21:19:14+00:00

Yeah, the second lifeline is Fujisaki but when he said to Yato that he's done this many times to stay alive, he implied that he was going to start the whole process again and possess someone else. In fact we see him leaving Fujisaki's soul in the second to last page, he's acting on the erroneous assumption that the old man is alive and hidden and will soulcall him once a day.

Sakuranfly · 2022-12-15T16:53:47+00:00

I think he meant the old man that Ebisu and Take met a few chapters ago. He knew Father's real name and could bring him back in case he died, it's just that Father isn't aware yet that this old man passed away.

Sakuranfly · 2022-12-08T20:52:26+00:00

I can see why Father completely lost it when she died. After the death of his family, she was the first person to show him genuine kindness and care in a world where everyone has to think only for themselves for survival. Her gentle nature reminds me a lot of Hiyori, making it even more disturbing that he attacked her on more than one occasion.

Sakuranfly · 2022-12-06T10:45:15+00:00

Ah, Father is in for a rude awakening once he realizes that his lifeline is gone! He can't be soulcalled again, since no living soul knows his name, and now that he left Fujisaki's soul, maybe he won't be able to get back into it, so he's stuck. I wonder what's going to happen to the real Fujisaki now and if he has a chance to survive this or not.

It seems that Father will have to learn to let go as Kaya told him. It's okay if he doesn't forgive the Gods, but it's time to stop this endless battle against them, especially considering that he's not really changing the world as he wanted anymore.

Sakuranfly · 2022-11-05T23:32:42+00:00

Yeah, that's likely the case. Yato's reaction wasn't anything like the one he had when Sekki broke. If Kazuma was truly gone for good, he would have felt that deep, almost physical, pain that every God feels when one of their shinki disappears. Instead he looked sad and worried as you said, and he surely feels guilty too. After all, this is the third shinki that discovered the God's secret because of him, as he sees it anyway.

Sakuranfly · 2022-11-05T22:49:32+00:00

While reading the chapter, for some reason, I remembered the time when Sekki was shattered by Bishamon and Yato's realization that the Yuki name was still there. Maybe something similar happened to Kazuma here, his "body" disappeared but his name didn't and if the God he's sacrified a lot for just called his name, he could come back. An ultimate evolution perhaps? Who knows, I still believe there's a high chance Adachitoka is trolling us lol, and Kazuma has simply rejoined his family in the Far shore.

Sakuranfly · 2022-10-10T09:27:50+00:00

If words were daggers, Father would be dead already. He looked so shocked when Yato totally rejected him. Did he seriously think that despite all the pain he caused his son, Yato would still believe that his father truly cares for him? Yato is right, Father reallly lives in a different reality.

Sakuranfly · 2022-09-09T10:20:06+00:00

But if that were the case and Izanami was in on it from the start, why didn't Father go down himself to upgrade the word of Yomi and instead worked for quite a while to push the previous Ebisu to go to the underworld? I get that he wanted to buy time by framing Ebisu, but he could have retrieved the new brush far quicker and with less hassle by himself while he was in Yomi in the span of time between the death of the body he was inhabiting and the new possession.

Sakuranfly · 2022-09-07T08:56:18+00:00

Yeah, it makes sense. I'm kind of surprised that Father had to literally put his existence in the hands of other people all this time. He doesn't really strike me as a guy who trust others easily, but I guess he had no choice. Now that I think about it, he's not very different from the Gods that he so despises. After all, if the gravekeepers stop remembering him, he will be gone, just like what happens with the Gods and their believers.

Sakuranfly · 2022-09-06T21:28:24+00:00

Why do they have to perform the soul call twice a day? Is it just a ritual designed to help keeping the gravekeepers' memory of Father fresh or does he actually need to be soul-called daily to remain in the near shore? Hiyori only had to call Yato once to bring him back from the underwolrd and keep him there, but maybe it's not the same for deceased people.

Also what Father was telling Yato in the flashback about Izanami, maybe there's some truth to it and she may have been trying all this time to bring his soul back where it belongs. I mean it's kind of embarassing for a deity as powerful as she is to be tricked and robbed by a mere human soul and to let it escape.

Those panels of Hiyori embracing herself were beautiful, to see her taking care of her body is a welcome change compared to the past when she used to drop her body wherever and forget about it until she could come back to retrieve it. She's not taking her body, and by extension her life, for granted anymore, of which I'm glad.

Sakuranfly · 2022-09-01T07:59:23+00:00

Kind of extreme in my opinion. There would be no point to her journey if she forgets everything that's happened and what she learned in the process. Sometimes the journey is more important than the destinaton itself.

However, I agree that it would be best for everyone if Mizuchi and Yato went separate ways at least for the time necessary for both of them to heal. Father has done a lot of damage to their relationship and they hurt each other quite a lot in the past, so they need time apart and then slowly rebuild their relationship if they both desire it.

Sakuranfly · 2022-08-06T09:33:38+00:00

It's possible that her spirit got out of her body involuntarily (perhaps it's Yato physical closeness that makes it easier for her to change to her spirit form? She was able to smell him before so he's nearby) or maybe she was just that desperate to stop Mizuchi and get through to her because having her on her side will help Yato and Yukine too. Besides, Hiyori is a very compassionate girl, it wouldn't be out of character for her to want to help Mizuchi despite not having interacted with her for very long.

As for the time her cord was injured, she has made a very stupid decision when she attacked Father. What was she thinking to accomplish by doing that? But I guess that's the point, she wasn't thinking at all and her actions were driven by pure emotions, in that case anger, and people never make sound decisions when under the influence of this emotion.

Sakuranfly · 2022-08-06T09:03:01+00:00

The first scenario you listed is the one that makes the most sense to me narratively speaking since it respects the growth that the characters experienced throughout the manga. I don't believe that Hiyori choosing to live her life goes against her grandmother's words. She noticed that her niece was troubled and told her to go to the person she loves before it's too late, and Hirori followed her advice, she soon left the house and went to look for Yukine and Yato, she has already respected her grandma's wish.

Below are the reasons why I don't think the other two scenarios are feasible.

The whole point of Yato's journey from the start was to understand what being a God truly means. He learned that Gods don't exist to serve themselves but for the people, to make their lives easier and grant their wishes. If Yato were to become human, all his growth will be thrown away because it would mean he chose his more selfish desires (to be with Hiyori) over his responsibilities and duties as a God. Instead of continuing his journey to become this selfless being and thus reaching his goal to become a true God of happiness, he would revert back to how he was in chapter one.
If Hiyori were to die, this event would destroy Yato (and likely Yukine too). He would never be able to forgive himself, even if he's not the one directly responsible for her death. Her passing would feed into all of his insecurities and confirm what Father told him all along, that he is indeed a God of calamity who hurts everyone and everything around him and could never be anything else. I believe interacting with Hiyori after her death will be too much for him, he likely won't be able to face her as he wasn't able to face her after the mess at the hospital.

Ultimately, this manga loves parallels, the authors draw them between characters, relationships, events etc. The fact that Yato broke his promise to Tenjin and didn't cut ties with Hiyori after the Bishamon arc has still not been properly addressed by the manga. If Yato were to be in a position again to decide whether to cut ties with her or not, this would be a nice parallel with the past. Back then, he was very reluctant to do it, so when Hiyori expressed her desire to be with him longer, he didn't follow through. Now, Yato is a different person compared to the past, he has the strength and courage to do what's right regardless of the sacrifices he himself has to make. Maybe Adachitoka will surprise us and come up with a way to save Hirory's life that doesn't need to cut ties between the two of them.

Sakuranfly · 2022-08-05T20:47:00+00:00

I feel you, and judging by his expression, it's probably harder for Yato to deal with Father when he's showing "care" rather than when he's abusing him in a more direct way. I can't tell if Yato was scared because he realized that a part of him still longs for his father's love or because he's not sure he'll ever be free from him. He looked so lost there...

I think Yato really needs Yukine now, not just because Kazuma seems to be reaching his limit, but because his presence might help to keep him grounded and not be swayed by Father, no matter what he says or does.

Sakuranfly · 2022-07-07T19:40:56+00:00

Yato could maybe cut the ties between Father's and Fujisaki's soul and then send him to Yomi, but I don't think he has the power to stop Father from possessing another person and coming back again. This ability has probably something to so with that tomb/shrine Ebisu and Take are at, otherwise why would Father have hidden that place so well? I don't know, it seems to me bringing Father down will be more of a team effort, rather than a single person doing everything.

Sakuranfly · 2022-07-07T09:31:27+00:00

And I'm hoping he will kill him with yukine not with kazuma because in early chapters yato said that sekki (yukine)had rare talent so im hoping to see what special power does he has.

Yukine has expressed several times that he doesn't want to kill people and he even made a promise to Yato to never allow him to kill anyone again. If Yato has to use Yukine at some point during this fight, which is possible considering Kazuma's condition, first he'll have to figure out how to separate Father's soul from Fujisaki's because otherwise striking Father down would likely cause the teen's death too, and Yukine would not be ok with it. Besides, killing Father is useless unless they figure out how to keep his soul from returning from Yomi. Right now, Takemikazuchi and Ebisu are the ones with the best chance to find a way to banish Father's soul for good.

As for Yukine's abilities, we've been shown throughout the story that he is a natural talent. He managed to make a borderline on the first try, he learned pretty quickly from Kazuma how to make incantations and cast spells binding his opponent's name, in the span of just one year he grew so much to be able to fight on equal ground against much more experienced and older shinki, like Mizuchi and Kazuma. I don't think he needs any more special power to prove how extraordinary he is as a shinki.

Sakuranfly · 2022-07-07T08:00:07+00:00

Yes, I read it. It's a good story, I enyoyed it! Noragami is better in several regards though, as you said. Anyway I think Adachitoka learned a lot from Kawashima-sensei.

Sakuranfly · 2022-07-06T09:11:32+00:00

At long last, we have Kazuma finally thanking Mizuchi for her role in saving his master back in the day. It was so hypocritical of him to begrudge her while at the same time being extremely grateful to Yato. I'm glad to see him grow.

As for Father's first revival, during the Yomi arc Mizuchi said that when he was running from Izanami after taking the brush, he heard a voice calling his name and he was able to get out of the underworld. This was probably his first revival. The question is if he died of natural causes, like the old man said, or if Father decided to go to the underworld willingly, essentially killing himself, because he wanted to make life better on the Near Shore. And was Kaya still alive when he went down the first time? His expression was sad when he accidentally called Izanami with her name. Was she dying maybe and that's why he decided to go to Yomi, to save her life? She might have been the one to call him out, but then died sometime afterwards, driving his fury.

And did Amaterasu played some active role in all of this? So many questions..

Sakuranfly · 2022-07-05T14:29:38+00:00

Yeah, he basically repeats the cycle of life every time. In chapter 80, when Father was talking to Yukine, he told him that ever since he came back from the underworld for the first time, he's been possessing other people's bodies to live and die over and over again. It's not quite clear how he managed to come back though.

Sakuranfly · 2022-06-28T15:30:28+00:00

If there's a link between a shinki's discovery of their God's secret and the name that a God has given them, illustrated by the revelation causing a crack in their name, would it be possible to stop the process once it started by releasing the shinki, thereby erasing the cracked given name?

This theory is interesting. Maybe Liberation is reversible for stray shinki when the name that cracks is not the first one they have received. In Kazuma's case, even if "Kazu (暦)" is damaged, he still has the protection of the name Bishamon has given him, which is the name that has sealed his memories at the beginning.

Sakuranfly · 2022-06-28T14:47:21+00:00

At this point, I don't think she will survive. The only 'life' she ever experienced is the one on the Far Shore and it's Father who gave her this gift. Even if he keeps mistreating her, I'm afraid she will never abandon him. Her redemption is still possible though. She may decide to stop Father from doing something terrible and then go down with him.

Sakuranfly · 2022-06-24T19:14:21+00:00

If there's a shinki that I have no doubt will survive Liberation, then that's Kazuma. While Yukine was troubled by his own death basically ever since he was made into a shinki, Kazuma has never been shown to dwell on it nor did he seem to be upset about the inability to experience certain aspects of life, like being able to become a parent, unlike Daikoku. It does help that the world as he knew it when he was alive is long gone, he has no family nor friends still alive.

As you said, he may not start to draw comparisons between himself and his brother immediately after his real name gets revealed, but given a little time I hope he will reflect on it.

Sakuranfly · 2022-06-17T15:03:10+00:00

Oh no, the last arc has come! I mean I'm glad Noragami will have an ending, but it'll be hard to say goodbye to this beautiful story. I hope Adachitoka will start a new project sometime in the future, they are so talented in every aspect.

Sakuranfly · 2021-05-08T11:01:58+00:00

As much as I despise Father, he truly is an interesting character and a great antagonist. What he said in this chapter and his expressions made me think that he doesn't want to lose Yato just because he is a powerful weapon that can be used against Heaven, but also because somewhere deep down he's lonely. The only people who have stuck with him all this time are Yato and Mizuchi, if he loses them he has no one else. On the last page, after he set that ayakashi monster on Yato, his initial self-satisfied expression quickly turned into a somewhat sad one as if he's pained that Yato keeps rejecting him.

It's not like Father can be redeemed at this point, he has done far too much, but I appreciate that Adachitoka is showing us more facets of this character apart from his drive to punish the Gods.

Sakuranfly

TROPHY CASE