Oh yeah, what a slutty little…weapon…you are?
What They Say:
Bishamon and other gods must exterminate the Phantoms that have poured out of the newly-opened Vent. However, Yukine and Yato are still on unfriendly terms – a fact that the mysterious Nora uses to her advantage.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Bishamon sees it as her personal responsibility to clean up the demons that escaped from the Vent after Kuraha opened it in the last episode. Kazuma seems worried at first that she’s not going to follow through on this task. He seems to be more like Bishamon’s personal caretaker than her strategist. He’s the Simon to her Kamina, reigning in her emotional outbursts and raw power with his logical intelligence and concern for her wellbeing. Also, apparently she’s cool with him seeing her naked.
Kazuma tracks down Hiyori while he’s out in the field, realizing that she’s a half-Phantom after seeing her tail. Surprisingly, he magically restrains her to save her from Bishamon and her other Regalia, who for some reason can’t see Hiyori. Kazuma explains to Hiyori that he “owes a great deal” to Yato for apparently helping him in the past, which is probably the first positive thing we’ve heard about Yato in seven episodes. He seems torn between the two of them. Putting such an intriguing character in the middle of a fight between two gods sounds like good plot just waiting to happen.
Meanwhile, Yukine has run away from Hiyori’s home again and tries to replace Yato with Tenjin as his new employer. Tenjin refuses because employing Yukine now would make him a “Nora.” It turns out that this is actually a term for disgraceful Regalia who have many owners and names. Noras are seen as more likely to betray any of their masters since they have so many. Most Gods are offended by them, but some see Noras as mercenaries to be used for only the darkest and seediest jobs. With the way our Nora talks, I think we’re supposed to see her as kind of a promiscuous Regalia. “Use me, Yato! Please!”
Yato catches up with Yukine, chuckles at him for being rejected by Tenjin, then informs him that they have another job: running the night shift at some convenience store. Kofuku and Daikoku visit them there to pass on a job that they don’t want to do. Suddenly, Yato almost faints—Yukine must have done something really bad this time. Specifically, he stole the store’s Disaster Relief Charity box. At this point I can only assume he’s acting out to get attention. Yato suddenly flies off to retrieve Yukine while leaving the Goddess of Poverty and scary-as-hell Daikoku to run the shop (into the ground…).
Daikoku’s job turns out to be the simple elimination of one Phantom. Hiyori chases after Yato and scolds him for treating Yukine like a tool, rather than a person. Nora appears before the absconding Yukine and says many creepy things to him. It’s actually very important for Yukine that Yato picks him over Nora here for the Phantom-slaying job. Yato and Hiyori know that a God who clings to a disobedient Regalia will eventually be killed himself; his choice to stick with Yukine is equal parts responsible and risky. It makes him a better father figure than he previously appeared to be, which is exactly what Yukine needs right now.
As for the Phantom—it initially looks like the creature is about to go down like so many Rattatas and Caterpies, but Sekki has actually been dulled by all the recent trauma. Yato’s failed attack alerts the moth-like Phantom which charges Yato and bites him—spits on him?—hurts him, anyway. He drips purified water on Sekki instead of his own blighted body and the blade finally becomes usable. After killing the Phantom and completing the job, Yukine follows Yato home for the night instead of returning to Hiyori’s house.
In Summary:
Bishamon leaves Yato alone for now to clean up the Phantoms from the Vent. We learn that Kazuma is deeply respectful of Yato for helping him in the past, and “Nora” refers to shady mercenary Regalia with many owners. Yato takes a job from Daikoku to eliminate a Phantom, and seems to win Yukine over by picking him for the task over Nora. This is important because Yukine desperately needs that kind of fatherly support, but risky because Yato will die if he keeps getting blighted by Yukine’s dark feelings and misdeeds. I would call this a “setup episode” in that it prepares themes and plotlines for use in the future. Such episodes usually aren’t as interesting as the “stuff actually happens” episodes, but this one definitely does a good job with it.
Grade: C+
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
17” Lenovo G700 Laptop, 2.10 GHz Core i7, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M, Windows 8; Insignia 1080p TV, PS3 with Crunchyroll App