Noragami Volume 01: 02/18/16

Noragami by Adachitoka (a mangaka duo) is a manga series that appears to be on-going in Japan and is slowly being translated and imported to the States. The translations are as of February 23rd, up to volume 11. There is also an anime.

When you are at your lowest point and are desperate for a miracle you might just see a phone number offering just that. If you call it and have ¥5 to pay, you can have a wish granted by Yato, a god who looks like a teenage boy and like Om, is desperate for followers.

Sometimes though there are people who walk between the world of the living and spirit world. Even if they're not depressed, disturbed, or near death, they can still see glimpses of the spirits who are amongst the living. One of these is Hiyori, a teenage girl who under times of stress has out of body experiences, as represented by a tail that connects her soul to her corporeal body.

These OBEs begin when she mistakenly saves Yato from a bus and gets struck herself.

Hiyori wants Yato to figure out how to fix her on going problem. But he's got other things to worry about and frankly with today's economy ¥5 just isn't enough of a payment to cover that tricky of a request. But he's also a softie, fond of humans and like the Doctor often willing to help even when he has other things he'd rather be doing.

Now if you watch the anime, that's basically the gist of things. It's Hiyori, Yato, and a boy spirit named Yukine who serves as Yato's weapon, under the name Sekki. Mostly the anime deals with how Hiyori helps Yato be a more understanding being, and Yukine to work through his depression.

But it's the theme of depression that's basically missing from the anime series. Yato for all his arrogance and selfishness is willing to help the most desperate before they do something permanent like hurting or killing themselves or someone else.

Four stars

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