James Nicoll Reviews

Adachitoka’s Noragami Volume 7 collects issues 24 to 27 of the adventures of the stray god Yato. The manga was first published in 2013; the English translation dates from 2015. Included are: 

• 24. ​“Always” (ずっと一 ​“Zuttou”)

• 25. ​“When Sleeping Gods Are Provoked” (触った神の祟り ​“Sawatta Kami no Tatari”) 

• 26. ​“How to Worship a God” (神様の祀リ方 ​“Kamisama no Matsuri Kata”) 

• 27. ​“Do and Due” (業と業 ​“Gyō to Gō”) 

Yato is a god, but even a god suffers when snubbed by a friend. 

In volume six, Yato made a deal. In return for aid, he would cut ties with the human schoolgirl Hiyori. He does. Hiyori returns the favour, refusing to acknowledge his texts and blocking him on Twitter¹. Wait a minute! This is not fair! Ignoring the deal he made, he stalks her; she does not relent. At first. Finally she permits him to attend a blossom-viewing party at a special tree. The tree was once tended by the ghost of a boy named Suzuha; the ghost was destroyed in the conflict just ended. It would be wrong to keep Yato from a memorial event.

Yato repays the favour as only Yato would, by possessing the closest thing the god has to a worshipper. Comfortably clothed in Hiyori’s form, he sets to ensure that her introduction to high school is one she will remember for the rest of her life, as will all of her classmates. Unburdened by modesty or common sense, Yato nevertheless manages to be in the right place at the right time to save a life. Hiyori’s classmates will remember the rescue rather than the gratuitous panty shots. 

Hiyori is not entirely pleased with her new status; her classmates are convinced she can solve their problems, and some of their problems are unsavoury. Nevertheless, when an offer to purchase Yato’s shinki Yukine arrives from the god Ebisu, Hiyori gains a deeper insight into Yato’s obsessions and uses that to give him the one gift he had long wanted: a shrine. 

This is official recognition of the status that Yato had always claimed: Yato is now a certified god.

~oOo~

Entangling mortals in supernatural affairs rarely ends well for the mortals. The risk is not limited to the specific mortals whom the gods befriend, since the disruptions can spread from a specific mortal to the god realm as a whole and then back down to the mortal realm entire. In this case, Yato might be moved by threats to Hiyori to become a god of destruction; such gods are rarely good for the world. But this is an ongoing series so whatever happens, it won’t involve Hiyori and Yato parting ways any time soon. 

The heavens have a functioning bureaucracy and a government of sorts, but nothing resembling therapists (aside from the occasional advice the older gods give the younger ones). Their conflict resolution tools seem to be stalled at the shouting-angrily-at-each-other level. It’s good, therefore, that Yato has Hiyori as a friend because she’s willing to do what she can to get Bishamonten and Yato to sit down and talk. It’s a simple act that could have been arranged at any time in the last few centuries. Apparently none of the gods and shinki involved in the affair could be bothered. Go team human! 

This volume is one part dealing with the repercussions of volume six, one part Yato being his zany self (with hints that as dark as his history is known to be, the truth is darker), and one part setting up the next major plot arc. Not a great starting place if you’re new to the series (probably volume one is the best option, if you can find it), but an intriguing morsel for readers who have followed the story until now. 

Noragami, Volume 7 is available here (Amazon) and here (Chapters-Indigo).

1. Do gods get a blue checkmark? If so, what does the vetting procedure involve?