#noragami liveblog

[eerna]

literally nothing else matters I am losing it I am this close to Losing It

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Ayesha Liveblogs Heaven Official’s Blessing

“I’m pleased to report that you’ve won the coveted award of Official Most Likely to Be Cast Out of Heaven.” LMAO DELIGHTFUL. Loving the world-building of Heavenly superlatives

“Merit credits. 8.8 million.” The Noragami and Ouran High School Host Club of it all. I am enthralled

Also: Why can’t we escape capitalism when in Heaven. Seems unfair 

Prince Xie Lian seems mild-mannered so far for having been yeeted from Heaven so many times!!! 

I tried watching this episode in both English and Mandarin bc Funimation doesn’t have subs but Bilibili does. It’s got to be SO HARD to do this dub translation bc the syllable pattern has much more of a disparity with English speaking patterns than some Japanese-language anime I’ve watched. I wonder if that’s bc it’s old-timey, bc it’s Mandarin or both. Anyway I gave up and now I’m watching in Mandarin

I am trying to figure out whether “Yes baby, sa sa le le,” is present in this room but so far I only see Xuan Zhen (Mu Qing)? and Nan Yang, neither of whom seem to be that guy 

“Remember to pay for the broken post.” OH what a delightful Fairy Tail-esque gang that Xie Lian, Nan Feng, and Fu Yao have formed 

So what I’m gathering is that:

 Nan Feng = Answers to Nan Yang (General Dick Joke) = Answered to Xie Lian (as his bodyguard) 

Fu Yao = Answers to Xuan Zhen (General Bell Head) = Answered to Xie Lian (as his heaven ascendee choice) 

Then what of, “I don’t think he recognized me.”/“He didn’t know anything about your ascension because he spent most of the time in the mortal realm.” How are you the guy’s bodyguard, but don’t know recognize him? How does Heaven in this universe work lol? Is this a previous incarnation scenario?

“So, if we can’t get a girl... you wanna get a guy instead?” Ayyyyy I knew it would be Xie Lian bc he is beautiful and nice but I’m still thrilled to see his bridal roleplay

“If I were a ghost groom, and I got a bride like her...” “You would wipe out her village?” “I would kill this woman.” 1) Rude! 2) I think Xie Lian is very pretty, leave him alone!:

Xie Lian sending the guards and the boys away so they don’t get hurt <3 He

[GASP] SA SA LE LE? 

“His dazzling wit rid the folk of a demon of Yinian Bridge.” I feel like that was less his dazzling wit and more his proficiency with a sword

HAHAHAHA. Is the implication of the flashback here that that Sa Sa Le Le (Hua Cheng) met Xie Lian when he was like. 7. And then spent the rest of his life aspiring to grow up and marry him. Astounding. I don’t know what to make of this. This would be like if I married Thorn from the Hex Girls

“His footsteps sound light. He must be a young man.” I don’t think that this is a good way to estimate age, Xie Lian

Xiao Ying showing up right as the Ghost Groom leaves is admittedly a little suspicious 

“It’s too bad she’s dead. She’s really pretty.” Men really do be this way sometimes 

“He’s aesthetically and verbally challenged.” What a polite way for Xiao Ying to call him quiet and ugly LOL 

It’s such a fun bit of characterization that Nan Feng’s “Why?” to lending Xie Lian his spiritual powers comes halfway through him already doing it: 

LMAO @ Nan Feng without hesitation ignoring the advice not to beat up mortals and knocking them all out cold when they crowd him

“Do you mean the Ghost Bridegroom is not a bridegroom, but a bitter and vindictive bride?” Why is only the BRIDE bitter and vindictive. This is mythsogyny 

“Why are they chasing us?” said the mobsters, as if they had not been explicitly warned about removing the bride’s veils just one episode ago

Something about the way the motion of the brides is animated differently than everything else is really creepy. It’s stiffer and faster. Props to the animators for giving me the heebie jeebies:

“Betrayed her country? Did General Ming Guang take advantage of her affection to get intelligence? Then he abandoned her and caused her disability?” A couple things: 

On what grounds did Xie Lian initially conclude that she was disabled? Just that she was jealous? What did I miss? 

Being lonely ruins your legs? This is simply the pre-plot set up of Mindy Kaling’s Never Have I Ever

“General, please stop committing more sins and killing.” Yeah, Xie Lian, if you ask really nicely, maybe that’ll help

General Pei sending his descendant/deputy god in his place to deal with this emotional confrontation. Jgjkgjlgj u know. Maybe Xuan Ji is right to be angry

LMAO @ PEI SIMPLY KISSING TO HER TO END THE ARGUMENT. Enemies to lovers speedrun

“General Pei hates tenacious women and Xuan Ji has a strong personality. This is why they can’t be together.” General Pei sounds more unappealing by the minute

Alright Xuan Ji does not know how to accept a clear and polite rejection either. So they’re both terrible to date LOL

“Do you know what he did before his ascension?” “What?” “Massacre.” I need some elaboration on how getting into Heaven works

The Human Face Disease.  Maybe this sounds more foreboding in Mandarin but this is a very funny name for an illness. Feels like when I call my chronic illness Oof Ouch Ow My Bones Disorder 

Also. Seems very pot-kettle of them to be surprised at this young person for possibly being alive hundreds of years. What, you can’t have immortals outside of your Heaven clique 

Xie Lian said: I would like it noted before the Council that I think Sa Sa Le Le is very handsome 

Amazing that Xie Lian has decided to take an interest in one of the Four Great Calamities. They haven’t done a great deal of explaining how his heaven system works but even I know that this doesn’t bode well for him or Sa Sa Le Le

Hahahaha, the implication that Nan Yang/General Dick Joke and Xuan Zhen/General Bell Head were the only gods smart enough to avoid going head-to-head with Hua Cheng

Ling Wen is having a rough day as Heaven’s foremost administrator. Honestly, what a mood:

I’m surprised Xie Lian’s debt was paid off so quickly, I thought that was going to be the whole premise of the show

“Since I have nothing better to do, I might as well go to the mortal world and build a shrine dedicated to myself.” Xie Lian said: Worldly esteem begins at at home <3 

The way he peeks over his shoulder and runs away. He’s so funny I love him

HAHAHAHAH I CAN’T BELIEVE THE MORTALS ACTIVELY CALL HIM GENERAL DICK

“All gods are equal. So are all living beings.” Xie Lian is so delightfully good-natured  

With all due respect. Why do these two look the exact same. I mean none of the Young-Looking Male Immortals with Ongoing Roles look terribly different but this one is especially noticeable. Sa Sa Le Le (Hua Cheng, the only name I knew going into this show) just looks like Xie Lian if you added paprika to his recipe. It’s like Narcissus and the Lake: 

“However, [his eye] was gouged out by himself when he went mad.” I NEED SOME CLARIFICATION ON IF THIS MAN IS SA SA LE LE! IS THIS LIKE A YAMI YUGI SITUATION. WHO IS WHOM!

“The Ghost Realm has this custom where if a ghost trusts in someone, he will entrust his bone ashes to that person.” “This custom is so daring and sincere!” I love that we have a spooky engagement ritual

KJGJHGKJGHKJG not this man’s nickname San Lang just being “Third Son.” Move over Konohamaru, a new neglectful name has been conceived

“What day is it today?” “The Ghost Festival.” Hahahahha, there’s no subtlety at all to the human part of this plot

I love that rather than being forthright about being a Heavenly Official, Xie Lian’s reputation is simply “Taoist Battle Priest”

Weel weel weel, we are already at There Was Only One Bed:

“His Majesty was just doing his job.” Ooooh are we gonna find out what lurks beneath Xie Lian’s bandages

“Your hair is messy. Let me comb it.” Love that this is, for Xie Lian, both a ghost investigation and an intricate ritual for touching the skin of other men 

Ooooooh the remodelling of the shrine together is very sweet. Okay, San Lang Seemingly Sa Sa Le Le, you’ve charmed me 

Hahahahaha every time I expect this show to pick a lane, they never do. Now the humans are immediately aware there are gods walking among them and calling him God? I thought he was their Battle Priest LOL

NOW THEY ARE CALLING HIM PRIEST. FGHKJHFKFJH MAKE A DECISION 

What purpose do the talismans serve if it lets both Wrath Boyfriends-to-be and puppets into the shrine lol

“It’s better not to dig up some affairs of the Heaven Realm.” Whose tragic backstory takes place at Half-Moon Pass LOL

Hahahah. I love Fu Yao and Nan Feng coming back to help with this mission. They are the back-up dancers doing the Pencil Sharpener to Xie Lian’s Dua Lipa. Not fundamental, but improving the vibes:

“How can you let him in? What if he has an ulterior motive?” “Calm down.” [in unison] “How can I calm down?” San Lang you’re about to get a shovel talk from the back-up boys

“You slept with him?” “Is there anything wrong with that?” Xie Lian said: No homophobia in my shrine!!

Not them all just leaving the dead puppet body on the floor jghkjghjghjg

I won’t lie to you, now that I know Half-Moon pass has lots of brown people around it, I am waiting for this show to do something racist. Very few anime have not done me wrong here LOL

“Odd does not mean dangerous. I look odd to others, but do you think I’m dangerous?” Xie Lian <3

Something something metaphors for identity something something building empathy through familiarity

Nan Feng and Fu Yao like 10 feet away while Xie Lian and San Lang are doing this:

LMAO I LOVE PHYSICAL COMEDY:

Xie Lian: It’ll be horrifying it it gets winder.

Fu Yao (scoffing): Can it blow us into the sky?

Xie Lian: [immediately takes flight via sandstorm]

“Ruoye, don’t make the same mistake again.” Ruoye was just being a nice Silk Friend and gathering all your homies for their safety

Also. Not to read too much into things but does it mean something that Fu Yao and Nan Feng were wrapped up together. Is Ruoye the Silk Bandage of Sexual and Romantic Preference

“It’s really the Heavenly Official’s Blessing.” TITLE REFERENCE

“Isn’t that right, Zhao?” That pale guy is definitely a magical person of some kind. Also. Now that there are visibly brown people on screen, why are 95% of Heavenly Officials fair-skinned. Is Heaven colorist? Discuss

I enjoy how they’re not even pretending they’re priests to San Lang anymore. Xie Lian is straight up calling the boys deputy gods and admitting he used to collect scraps hundreds of years ago

Nan Feng and Fu Yao every time San Lang and Xie Lian perform an intricate ritual for touching the skin of other men: Pack it up gay people

Begs the question if, as a God, Xie Lian is even susceptible to poison?

“Even the Spiritual Communication Array is blocked? What on Earth.” So the Evil Imperial Preceptor hacked Heaven’s wifi

Hahahaha why do they keep sending Fu Yao away during these missions? 

Nan Feng is sweet to be the person who jumps out of hiding to ensure the rest of them can move forward with their journey. I like him a lot

If the Central Plain people came, how did they get through the desert without a guide or Fu Yao? Seems suspect

“It’s just a face. It’s just like our own,” said Xie Lian, as if that face were not attached to a person buried in the ground alive

Well, that was disturbing

Don’t worry about your boyfriend Xie Lian, he’s a ghost, he’ll probably reconstitute soon enough:

“I have something to ask you, so you can’t go down.” “You shall go with me, then!” What d’you know, Xie Lian does have a spiteful bone in his body

Is the reason why San Lang’s face is in shadows because we are finally going to get a Sa Sa Le Le Split Identity clarification

Update from later: The answer was no

“You can’t just keep carrying me?” “Why not? Hold on tight.” We have abandoned both ghostly and non-romantic pretenses

“If I like you, I would like you even if you were a beggar. If I hate you, I would hate you even if you were a king.” Xie Lian said I’m an equal opportunity lover and hater

“Her mother is a woman from Half-Moon and her father is a damn Yong’an man. [...] This biracial child is the Evil Priest.” Is this going to be racist? Feels like it’s gonna be racist

Update from 1 minute later: “She’s a mongrel.” Well. That was a short journey to my answer

“She seems to be luring people into the city for Ke Mo to feed them to his soldiers. However, wouldn’t that be helping her enemy?” Hey pal, be a bro and find me a human sacrifice 

Fkfjkhkfjhkf losing it @ Xie Lian inviting Fu Yao into the pit. I’m sure this won’t backfire on anyone 

“General Hua?” WHAT. I THOUGHT SA SA LE LE SAN LANG WAS HUA CHENG. NOW YOU’RE REFERRING TO XIE LIAN AS GENERAL HUA? WHAT DO U MEAN. DID THEY BOTH GO BY THE SAME NAME

"Are you the General mentioned on the tombstone?” HAHA NOT XIE LIAN TRANSLATING HIS OWN TOMBSTONE FOR HIS PAST LIFE AS A PACIFIST LIEUTENANT A FEW EPISODES AGO 

“Two hundred years ago, I had to avoid being noticed for some reason.” 1) Pretty vague explanation 2) So your solution was to become a prominent member of the military????

Fascinating that Xie Lian had an alternate life as Hua Xie fighting wars and adopting orphans:

“Since my memory capacity is limited, I’d rather remember the delicious steamed buns I had yesterday than being dragged into that stampede several hundred years ago.” I support this philosophy

Me 🤝 Xie Lian: Prolonged stress-induced selective memory

“Who can tell if [the snake] obeyed you or disobeyed you?” Fu Yao raises a very fair point about Ban Yue 

[The Weather Girls voice] 🎶 IT’S RAINING SNAKES, HALLELUJAH IT’S RAINING SNAKES 🎶:

“I know my identity better than anyone.” “How can you still stand by [San Lang]’s side then?” “Because his side doesn’t have any snakes.” LMAO XIE LIAN

“Anyway, let’s save her first.” Really hanging Fu Yao out to dry considering you invited him to the Pit Party, Xie Lian

This image really lends credence to the whole Yami Yugi theory mentioned earlier:

“Don’t be afraid. Calm down.” Ruoye the Silk of Sexual and Romantic Preference said how can I be expected to work under these snake-pit-ghost-fight-conditions

“General Pei did all of this to cover up the truth?” I don’t understand anything about how getting into heaven works. Are you telling me that General Pei Jr. got into heaven by setting upon the Half-Moon kingdom with a bunch of snakes and convincing people it was their homie

I CALLED ZHAO BEING A MAGICAL PERSON. HEAVEN IS COLORIST HAHAHAHA 

For that matter. Why is Pei Jr. even going on spiteful little field trips. Do you not have like, prayers to answer or something?

“They massacred my people and destroyed my country!” “Is that true, General Pei Junior?” “A perfect example of the Heavenly Official’s Code of Conduct.” Seriously, what gets you into heaven?

“I didn’t want to massacre your people, but you left me with no choice.” Okay General Peitachi. Bold statement

“So all these years, are you saying that you’ve never regretted killing those innocent passersby either?” Finally, we are finding out the relevance of the other lady in the cloak. You know, when Xie Lian said Ban Yue is a tiny woman whose strength is not brute force I really just thought they were going to cut to another taller lady

GASP IT IS A TALLER LADY!!!!!!!! TWO TALLER LADIES!

“These restless spirits here are evidence of the bloody crime you committed. You didn’t want them to inhibit your promotion, so you tried to appease their anger by feeding them living souls. At any rate, this is a big deal.” I’m glad Wind Master explained because I would’ve never understood why the hell Pei was doing that

Unrelated side note: I hope the lady in black is her wife

“Reflect on your actions,” said Wind Master, like that would at all help to balance out the hundreds of years of fun little mortal murders Pei has been committing 

“With his father being an official, he will surely work his way up. On the contrary, you are doomed with your background, unless you get lucky and win an epic battle.” Maybe the real enemy Pei was fighting was nepotism LMAO

“Where is Fu Yao? I haven’t seen him for a while.” A fair point, this makes it seem like Nan Feng and Fu Yao are in some kind of unexplained breakup, because when one appears, the other disappears LOL

Awwww, Tian Sheng said: I would like to be part of your sect <3 

Lady in black is a Master of one of the Five Elements (Water, Rain, Earth or Thunder). I’m not ruling out her being Wind Master’s wife though

“What do you want to eat, Hua Cheng?” “I prefer that you call me San Lang.” The Sa Sa Le Le-San Lang-Hua Cheng name train continues 

“I didn’t pretend to the bridegroom.” San Lang said: Who’s pretending? I am in this for marriage, Xie Lian 

“When I was a kid, my dream was to save the world.” LMAO @ Xie Lian being the only person in the world to be embarrassed of having such a sincere and righteous dream

As much as I do not really appreciate where Anti-Nepotism Nepo Baby Pei Jr. was coming from as to why he did what he did, I do kind of get it from Ban Yue’s perspective because she was facing a choice between letting her people being the victims or the perpetrators and I suppose she was more comfortable with former

However. A little wild that the conclusion of that story was ‘If you trust a biracial child, they will end up betraying you xoxo’

“So this mask of mine looks nice to you?” San Lang said: Please tell me I’m pretty Xie Lian

I have trouble even watching this. I feel like I’m intruding on their moment:

As an aside, I do really love the world-building of the more flexible lives of the ghosts/Devastation vs. the more rigid structure of Heaven. 

However: [B. Sanders voice] I am once again asking you. What gets you into Heaven

“It’s brave, but dumb to have such ambitions when you were young.” “Yes.” “It’s dumb, but also brave.” Ohhhhhhhhhh I love a mirrored line of dialogue 

“Stop talking. I’m already asleep.” HAHAHA Xie Lian immediately offended by San Lang’s giggles at him trying to offer sincere reassurance that he won’t find the original Sa Sa Le Le form hideous

We really are in the realm of Repressed Romance, now, boys: 

HAHAHAHAHA AT SAN LANG LEAVING XIE LIAN A RING AROUND HIS NECK WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING. WHAT A PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE WAY TO ASK SOMEONE TO MARRY YOU. I DO APPRECIATE IT

SA SA LE LE YAMI YUGI FORM REVEALED:

They kept captioning what San Lang was calling him as “Xie Lian” which didn’t match up with the words he was saying so I looked it up and he’s calling him “Gege” i.e. brother, kljdlkdjlkdj. I never understand when people use the sibling terms in these contexts. Pick any other word. Your Highness. His name. Beloved. Friend. Fool. This is like when Naruto said to Itachi he was more of a brother to Sasuke than Itachi would ever be. Have you ever had a brother!!

While this reveal is fun. It is sort of funny that he’s the exact same except with an eyepatch and his hair down. We return to Narcissus and the Lake:

Props to the anime team for managing to turn what is only really only two-and-a-half days worth of events (not counting the shrine restoration montage) into a whole anime season. I did feel engaged the whole time 

I will definitely need to wait for more of the anime because not a single one of these character designs would allow me to differentiate main cast without the colour schemes and VAs 

[thelreads]

What is on the the top of your list of possible liveblogs after you finish any of the current ones? (Besides the quintuplet one that I prefer not to think about)

Still up to change, and it depends a lot which one we'll catch up to first, if it is spy x family then it will either be quintessential quintuplets, or a romance story, if it is vigilantes then it can be Demon slayer, assassination classroom, or some action story, I heard some interesting stuff about Noragami, I'm starting to consider it as well.

More likely I'll pick a few options that seem interesting to me and put them in a pool

[evergardenwall]

currently rotating noragami ch.99 in my brain like a rotisserie chicken

[illustrator-dani]

I am watching Noragami because I really want to watch something new and..... agsgshhshdbdbdbbdbdbhsbs?

[skadventuretime]

It’s 👏 always 👏 Hiyori 👏 loving 👏 hours 👏

[brave-symphonia]

Fuck you, Father.

[junkosaotomes]

Yato asking the real questions lmao

[mandareeboo]

my vote still goes to noragami! excellent anime and manga

Ooh, it sounds really fun/cute! Gives me Natsume Yuujinchou vibes from the summary.

[notitlemp3]

i know it's all the sorcerer's fault but yukine/hagusa is still losing a ton of sympathy points with me. it's pre-character development yukine all over again except worse

hsdgsdfhj kiun why'd you have to tell him that now he can't do his job and it's your fault for all the earthquakes

also, bisha's alive! i wasn't sure if that was the case

[eerna]

at 16 I saw Yato's "don't stress about picking the perfect career because doing something you don't wanna do is part of having a job" and felt comforted, at 19 I was like "man, he has no idea what he's talking about, if you pick a hobby for your career you won't work a day in your life!!" and now at 24 I am back to the first one but in a "YEAAAAH DON'T DREAM OF LABOR SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACKKKKK" way

[cyndaquillt]

Yukio has big Kazuma energy and I'm not only saying this because they look similar and are voiced by Fukuyama Jun

[evergardenwall]

the last noragami chapter.....

[goanimeloverblog]

he is so hot ! *-*

[skadventuretime]

i’m not crying that’s just the hope i had of them getting a happy ending condensing as it leaves my body

[ruination-fangs]

i had nothing to say about the last-last chapter but i’m back for this one

- kofuku just realized that yukine is going to die :(

- broke: panty shots, bath scenes, hiyori and bishamon fanservice woke: kazuma fanservice - i actually didn’t notice kazuma’s scar at first ;_; i’m so glad

- “maybe you just suck?” hahfdkah

- kazuma after working for bishamon for hundreds of years and nearly dying several times: no problems here, i love my job :) kazuma after working for yato for two days and getting sweaty: I HATE THIS

- they don’t even know that father isn’t using the stray... and isn’t she the main reason they’re scared? without her kazuma should be in much less danger - of course i’m assuming father letting her go is still some kind of trick anyway

- i think a lot of people call her problematic

- the 4komas are always way funnier than they have any right to be - worst married couple ever - i was going to say they might do pretty well making comics if yato drew them and kazuma wrote them, but actually all of kazuma’s plots would be some sort of self-insert story with a hot blonde girl, and it gets old fast for everyone else