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Noragami Aragoto
Episode 10

by Gabriella Ekens,

How would you rate episode 10 of
Noragami Aragoto ?
Community score: 4.4

Hiyori is depressed and doesn't know why. It started around the time she went to WcDisneyland with her friends. While they all seemed to be having fun, the entire experience was punctuated by the sense that something was missing. Then, at the peak of her sadness, that new kid Fujisaki took her first kiss! Way to misread the mood, dude. It's been a while now, but seeing Fujisaki still reminds Hiyori of those inexplicable feelings. During school, she runs away to cry by herself. Yato and Yukine's worst fears are coming true – Hiyori's beginning to forget them, and her memories of their friendship may be irretrievable soon enough.

Luckily, Yukine runs into her on the way home from school. At first she's confused – someone's talking to her (in quite familiar terms at that), but she doesn't see anyone there. Suddenly, her memory snaps back – it's Yukine! It looks like a few weeks is the maximum amount of time she can spend away from the Far Shore before its avoidance powers start working. Hiyori is overjoyed to recognize Yukine and eagerly wants to see Yato again. The problem is that he's still missing. Yukine waits patiently, while Kofuku says that Yato runs off on his own every once in a while, so he should be fine. Hiyori, however, hightails it to start looking for him, trusting her instincts that there's something wrong. She's realized that she can't take her special god-perception powers for granted. Like any other human, Hiyori will lose track of her supernatural loved ones unless she actively tries to maintain those connections. Yato isn't the type to speak up when he's in pain, so she has to watch his behavior. Running away is something that she knows a healthy Yato wouldn't do. While Yato's older friends have grown accustomed to signs of toxicity in his actions, Hiyori is fresh-faced enough to know when the situation is bad.

Other members of the cast are also on a hunt. Kazuma and Daikoku's masters haven't come down from their summoning to Takamagahara, so they're growing worried. Alongside Yukine, they decide to seek help from Tenjin's lieutenant, a woman named Tsuyu. Tsuyu technically isn't a regalia, but the spirit of a plum tree that fell in love with Tenjin. (This is based on a specific Japanese legend.) As a result, she can talk to trees, who have their own complex and omnipresent gossip network. They report that Ebisu and Yato were seen by the entrance to the underworld. Hiyori and Yukine rush over there, while the remaining shinki make plans to break their masters out of Takamagahara.

You see, the bosses up there have caught wind that Ebisu was performing weird experiments on Phantoms. They've tolerated Ebisu's frequent reincarnations for a long time, but now they've decided to do something about it. The Seven Lucky Gods are being quarantined due to suspicion that they may be working with him. That ticks them all off, since it's a slight to their authority AND they want to help their friend. However, it doesn't look like they can do anything without their regalia, until Daikokuten turns into a giant spider! I guess he can do that! This is definitely a reference to some legend that I don't know about, but it's cool! Their shinki show up, they beat some guards, and Bishamon heads out to help Ebisu.

Unfortunately, he's not doing so hot. Izanami is way too much even for Yato and him combined. It's all they can do to stay ahead of her, while she chases them with an army of phantoms. Nora even forces them to leave behind some of Ebisu's shinki, who die as they watch. After that, Yato finally asks: what is Ebisu even doing this for? What justifies all the death and reincarnations? Surprisingly, it turns out that Ebisu's motivations are totally benevolent; he wants to control phantoms in order to prevent them from harming humans. The god has dedicated his existence to this cause and reincarnated countless times from the corruption, all at his own personal expense. A god's subsequent incarnations are new individuals with somewhat different personalities, so Ebisu's shinki have had to raise a version of him and watch him die over and over. This Ebisu has also grown up surrounded by comparisons to his previous self. There's no way of telling whether Ebisu's ambitions are sincere or just something that's been inculcated in him. Either way, Yato greatly respects Ebisu's noble intentions and decides to sacrifice himself for the other god.

Yato perceives himself as a selfish person. Like many people from abusive family backgrounds, he's probably been taught that any expression of need on his part burdens others. On some level, Yato thinks that he's a bad person for pursuing things like safety, love, and material sustenance – even though they're things that every person deserves a chance to have. As a result, he respects Ebisu, who disregards all of these things for the sake of others. Both characters are unhealthy, and their admiration for each other is bittersweet. Ebisu admires Yato because the delivery god is trying to disregard his past and establish himself as an individual. Yato admires Ebisu because he lives up to Yato's impossible standards for selflessness. In each other, the two may have encountered partners for healing and self-discovery, if they both make it out alive.

In the end, Ebisu tries to perform a counter-sacrifice, giving himself to Izanami in exchange for Yato. She lets go of Yato, but he's come up with a plan to get them both out – conjure up a butt-ton of Phantoms with the Locution Brush and let them loose on the exit's seal. He does so, stunning Izanami, but Yato is also sucked into the heart of the storm. In the next episode (the season's penultimate entry), we'll see how he gets out of it.

Grade: A

Noragami Aragoto is currently streaming on Funimation.

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


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