Ebisu and Yato finally meet the woman who has what they’re looking for, Izanami. She agrees to give them the Word of Yomi if one of them will stay with her forever. Meanwhile, the Heavenly Guard have learned Ebisu’s whereabouts, and they’re on their way to mete out divine retribution.
Review: Izanami is one scary lady. I loved her duality of appearance, and the food of the underworld trapping people being reminiscent of mythology I’ve more experience with. Most of this book was spent just trying to understand Ebisu and why he’s gone through all of this for the ability to change things with the Word of Yomi.
Yato’s free time has ended and now he’s grounded in Takama-ga-hara, forced to do his father’s bidding. Usually, he would play along until he’s set free again, but this time, he must get back as soon as possible, or Hiyori, his one and only follower, could forget all about him.
Review: Where is Yato?! So many people were left on the hook, and I was so worried that Yukine would return to being a delinquent. I was so pleased to see how he chose to spend his time instead! Hiyori started to have such a different life, and it almost made you wish that perhaps she could have a normal life…
The fight with Bishamon is over and it’s time for Yato to tie up some loose ends—or cut ties with Hiyori, as he promised Tenjin. But a nameless god like Yato can’t survive unless he remains in someone’s memory. How will he manage once he is removed from Hiyori’s life?
Review: Yato is stuck with an impossible quest; in saving Hiyori, he’d be dooming himself. There was so much angst in this book, but the ending had me! Couldn’t wait to pick up the next book!
As Bishamon overpowers Yato, Kugaha’s plan to destroy her seems doomed to failure…until her medicine wears off, and Bishamon—as well as any shinki she touches—is covered in blight. Meanwhile, Kazuma tries desperately to free himself and Hiyori before she loses her chance to return to the land of the living.
Review: There was so much tension and worry and fear in this book! Was Yato going to be able to face Bishamon? Why didn’t he tell her the truth about the last time he fought her shinki? And Kazuma was both excommunicated and locked away, so how could he possibly save Bishamon, or Hiyori? I couldn’t put this book down!
Synopsis: Though a powerful warrior goddess, Bishamonten suffers from taking on so many shinki. Among Bishamon’s many shinki, a terrible plan is formed by one of her most trusted aides. This shinki has dangerous ideas and gets involved with the mysterious Stray. Kazuma has a sense that something is wrong, but can he figure out what exactly is going on? Meanwhile, Hiyori desperately wants Yato to fix her, but he is presented with a solution that is hard to accept. Will Yato fix Hiyori, even if it means he’d have to cut all ties with her?
Review: This book throws a lot of feelings at the reader, and obviously even more at the characters within. Kazuma tries so hard to be a good guide to Bishamonten but she refuses to listen to him. Because she’s surrounded herself with too many people, how can she really know any of them, or that she’s trusting the right ones? Yato may not want to face his feelings towards Hiyori, but in the end, how can he hold on to her when he has the ability to fix her ailment? I definitely grabbed the next book once this one was over.
Synopsis: FIGHTING THE BLIGHT After the near disaster with Bishamon, Yato takes Yukine and retreats. Hiyori finds Yato in bad shape as his blight reaches a critical level. Yukine continues to torture his master with his bad behavior, causing the blight to worsen and even threaten the god’s life. Hiyori tries to desperately find someone to help Yato. Can any of Yato’s few friends save him? Does the stray god even have friends?
Review: This is where we begin to see how even though Yato claims not to care about people, he desperately is trying to save those he can. He understands how Yukine likely is feeling, even though he hasn’t communicated it, and instead takes endless blight until he no longer can function. It was very interesting seeing Hiyori do her best to try to convince people to save Yato. In many ways, Hiyori feeling bad for Yukine is part of why Yukine was allowed to behave in such a way for so long; she both humanized him but didn’t take into account the bad parts of humanity that teens often slip into.
Synopsis: FORTUNE BE WITH YOU 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!
Review: Hiyori is an awesome character and you cannot help but love her! While she’s stuck in a precarious state, Yato does agree to help her. We begin to see (what was clearly already apparently) many ways in which Yato has made himself unmarketable. The ayakashi become more apparent as a problem for both Yato and Hiyori in this book, because she must protect herself/her tail! Bishamon is intimidating, in part because of what she wears–though I do not think that gives license for Yato to call her names.
Synopsis: DIVINE INTERVENTION FOR SALE Yato is a homeless god. He doesn’t even have a shrine, not to mention worshippers! So to achieve his ambitious goals, he’s set up a service to help those in need (for a small fee), hoping he’ll eventually raise enough money to build himself the lavish temple of his dreams. Of course, he can’t afford to be picky, so Yato accepts all kinds of jobs, from finding lost kittens to helping a student overcome bullies at school.
Review: It’s a great start to a great series, getting to know Yato and see the type of person he is. He wants a temple, but he is willing to do anything to help people. While he tries to maintain a tough exterior, it’s clear he actually wants to help people and have people appreciate and remember him. While he may appear in inconvenient places, he is endearing.
Most Mangas are quick, easy reads. I honestly forgot how much fun reading comic/picture stories like this could be before I read the Clash book from the review before this. I had been considering reading this series for awhile, and once I started, I couldn’t stop. Once I finished all the books we had already purchased (after my husband and I watched the first season on Netflix around the time of our wedding, we had bought several of these) my husband had been kind enough to order almost all the rest for me! I have finished up to the 9th book, and the rest are in omnibus form.
Amy S. Brown 