Hopewell Valley Student Podcasting Network Show Name: Over-Analyzing Anime: Episode Title: NoragamiEpisode #2
Hello everybody! And welcome to fifteen minutes of time killing. You are listening Over-Analyzing Anime the podcast with your host and anime enjoyer, who can't call themselves a connoisseur for having never watched Berserk, Hannah Pietras
In this episode of Over-Analyzing Anime the Podcast we will discuss: the themes and symbolisms within the anime Noragami.
Segment 1: What's it about?
In times of dire, sometimes you'll see a strange phone number scrawled in red. And should the desperate choose to call, the Yato-god will answer, ready for your wish to be heard- for the cheap price of five yen, of course.
Yato dreams of being a "God of Fortune '' and having one million worshipers, but without a shrine, he's practically unknown- a god without a name. He spends his days as a "self proclaimed delivery god", doing odd jobs here and there and executing "ayakashi '', malevolent spirits that feed off of darkness and corrupt the good in human's hearts. But after his shinki- human souls that when gifted a name by a god, can transform into weapons- gets fed up with Yato's compulsive behavior and sleeping on the steps of another, more famous gods shrine in the cold at night, quits, Yato finds himself unarmed, and must find a new shinki before ayakashi come prowling.
But just as things seem grim for the delivery god, fortune comes his way in the form of middle schooler, Hiyori Iki, a young girl with the ability to see phantoms and spirits, who "supposedly"saves Yato from being hit by a truck, taking the blow for him. Hiyori miraculously survives, but finds that her soul has been shaken loose, allowing her to leave her body as a half ayakashi. Yato charges her five yen to change back, but is unable to fix her condition unless he finds a new shinki. Hiyori agrees to help him, and things finally seem to be looking up for the minor god.
Segment 2: Inspiration
Bishamon, also called Bishamonten: is a japanese war god who is a member of the Shichi-fuku-jin(The Seven Gods of Luck, a collective group of deities from India, Japan, and China respectively who bless their worshippers with good luck and fortune all year. This includes the warrior Hindu-Buddhist deity Daikokuten(who in Japan is transformed into a god of Wealth and prosperity. His virtue is fortune),Benzaiten(Hindu goddess of water, who in Japan is the Goddess of Arts and Knowledge. Her virtue is Joy,) Fukurokuju(brought from China's Taoist-Buddhist religion and the God of Wealth, Happiness,and Longevity whose virtue is longevity. Hotei, god of Happiness and Abundance, and who was apparently based on the Chinese merchant Budaishi who virtue is Happiness, and Jirojin, god of Wisdom and virtue of Wisdom). He is identified with the Four Heavenly Kings, and is the Buddhist guardian of the north and the leader of Yaksha(a broad class of nature spirits connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and the wilderness with a broad range of characteristics), known Vaisravana or Píshāméntiān in China. Vaiszravana is also associated with...
