Straying from the path of good?
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Adachitoka
Translation: Althea Nibley & Athena Nibley
What They Say
A run-in with Yato the stray god has turned Hiyori Iki, an ordinary, pro-wrestling-loving middle school girl, into an existence that is neither human nor ayakashi! It’s up to Yato’s “divine intervention” to turn Hiyori back to normal, but can Hiyori rely on the spontaneous and wayward Yato to do his job properly? What’s more, the almighty warrior god Bishamonten has sworn revenge on Yato?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Thanks to Yato’s penniless nature, Yukine finds that his new lifestyle isn’t exactly luxurious. This leads to the pair bumming off Hiyori for a meal, where we learn that they aren’t exactly invisible, just difficult for the average person to notice. In the aftermath Yato of course ignores Hiyori’s problem immediately for a new job. Much to his distaste, though, it turns out that the client is the famous Tenjin-sama. To make matters more embarrassing, it turns out that Tomone, now going by Mayu, is one of the god’s many Shinki. When it turns out that the job involves suicides, Yato decides to cut out, which pisses off Hiyori and causes her to try to do something herself. Will she need saving once again? And just why is Yato so against the job
Next up, Yukine starts performing some less than honest deeds, which actually cause Yato physical pain as a result. He does get a chance to redeem himself, though, when he ends up trying to help out a young ghost girl. Unfortunately though, things go south and the incident comes to a morbid close that scars him emotionally. In the aftermath Hiyori realizes that Yato is a pretty terrible guardian, and ends up inviting the young boy to live with her. However, this only leads to more wrongdoing on Yukine’s part, thanks to some enabling from our well-meaning heroine.
Will Yukine be able to straighten up and fly right before his actions have disastrous consequences? And just what darkness lurks in Yato’s past? And just who is the underdressed woman armed to the teeth and seeking to take down the homeless god with a vengeance?!
In Summary
With this volume, the focus shifts from monsters and more towards gods and the relationships shared between the characters. We get a nice set of new introductions, both friendly and otherwise, that seem like nice additions to the cast. Furthermore, Yukine evolves a lot as a character here, and it’ll definitely be interesting to see what direction the series will take him in. We even get a glimpse of Yato’s past, which seems surprisingly involved! It’s still nothing amazing, but this is another nice volume that goes a long way towards building up the world of the story and the characters inhabiting it.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Kodansha
Release Date: Nov 18, 2014
MSRP: $10.99