Yomi Arc

The Yomi Arc is the 3rd canon arc of the ノラガミ Noragami series by Adachitoka. It spans chapters 25 to 39 of the manga and episodes 7 to 13 of Noragami Aragoto. It also includes OVA 1.

Summary
Yato ventures into Yomi with the Stray to retrieve Ebisu. However, things grow more complicated when Heaven catches wind of Ebisu's manipulation of ayakashi.

Extended Summary
Chapter 25: When Sleeping Gods Are Provoked Bishamon is interrogated at a Colloquy about the events of the previous arc. Yato possesses Hiyori during her high school debut.

Chapter 26: How to Worship A God Ebisu offers to purchase Yukine from Yato, and Yukine learns more about the role of a guidepost. Yato and Yukine take care of odd jobs, including an ayakashi that likes money. Hiyori presents Yato with a shrine she made for him.

Chapter 27: Do and Due Yato is officially recognized as a god by Heaven. Ebisu is shown naming a ayakashi. Yukine asks Kazuma to teach him shinki techniques. Yato and The Stray complete a job for Father.

Chapter 28: God of Calamity Hiyori asks around for Yato, who hasn't returned from the Stray and Father yet. She later meets Kouto Fujisaki. Bishamon and Ōkuninushi visit Ebisu after his collapse. Yato tries and fails to escape from Father, but is given one more job.

Chapter 29: The Affairs of Three Realms Yato and the Stray enter Yomi in order to retrieve Ebisu. Hiyori agrees to a triple date. Another Colloquy is called, where Takemikazuchi reveals the believed identity of the Crafter.

Chapter 30: The Sound of Thread Snapping They find Ebisu, and he explains to Yato why he is here in search of the Word. Hiyori goes on her triple date with Fujisaki at Capyper Land. The remaining Seven Gods of Fortune are confined by Heaven's shinki.

Chapter 31: Like Parent, Like Child Yukine reunites with Hiyori, causing her to remember him and Yato. In Yomi, Ebisu questions how and why Yato is still alive as such a minor god. Meanwhile, High Sentinel Ōshi begins the Kagome game to interrogate the Mi-clan shinki. Ebisu and Yato are suddenly transported directly to Izanami by her Yomotsu-shikome.

Chapter 32: She Who Invites Izanami has Yato and Ebisu fight to determine who will stay with her in exchange for the Word. Kazuma, Yukine, and Daikoku ask Tsuyu for help in locating their masters. Ebisu manages to steal the Word from Izanami.

Chapter 33: Wielder of an Iron Will Ebisu and Yato attempt to flee from Yomi. Takami confesses Ebisu's whereabouts to Heaven, and the Seven Gods of Fortune escape Heaven's imprisonment. Hiyori and Yukine secretly travel to Yomi's entrance, and encounter Kugaha.

Chapter 34: Much Were Their Desires Yato and Ebisu find that Yomi's exit is sealed. Yukine faces off against Kugaha, and they're rescued by Tenjin, who names Kugaha. Yato has Ebisu open a vent using his masked ayakashi, but only Ebisu is able to escape.

Chapter 35: Death Ebisu and Bishamon face off against Heaven's subjugation forces, particularly Takemikazuchi and Kiun. Ebisu is ultimately killed by an explosion, and his final request is for Bishamon to rescue Yato from Yomi.

Chapter 36: Binding Curse Kofuku opens a vent for Bishamon and her shinki to enter Yomi. Yato and the Stray reminisce about Father, then are re-captured by Izanami just before Bishamon arrives to help. On the surface, Amaterasu appears.

Chapter 37: The Sound of You Calling My Name Bishamon fights a losing battle against Izanami. Amaterasu tells Kofuku about Soul Summoning, and Hiyori uses it to retrieve Bishamon. The Stray tells Yato about Soul Summoning, and he learns it was used to help Father escaped the Stray after he stole the Word. Hiyori realizes Yato's true name, and he's able to escape. Father later retrieves the Stray the same way.

Chapter 38: Because I Promised Yato wakes up at Bishamon's estate, and is distraught to meet the newly reincarnated Ebisu. He takes Ebisu to the Olive Tavern as his predecessor had wished for. Yato revokes the Stray's name.

Chapter 39: Until Now and From Now On Kunimi and Ebisu explain his predecessor's intentions to Bishamon and Ōkuninushi. Kazuma interrogates Kugaha. Yato tells Yukine and Hiyori about Father, and commits to Yukine as his guidepost.

Story Impact

 * Izanami and her Words are introduced. The brushes offer a more efficient way of controlling ayakashi.
 * Soul Summoning is introduced.
 * Bishamonten and Yato, called by Hiyori, are able to escape Yomi through this means.
 * The Stray tells Yato that Father was able to escape Yomi with the first Word when he heard a sound calling for his name.
 * Izanami states that Father saw her as a girl with a pockmarked face.

Adaptation Notes

 * OVA 1 is adapted from Chapter 25, although it only includes Yato's divine possession of Hiyori.
 * The manga shows two jobs that the Stray and Yato complete together: first, a young mother asks Yato to kill the man who murdered her daughter. Second, what appears to be the loose spirit of an elderly mother requests that Yato kill her son, who she had witnessed commit four murders. The anime only shows the first job in full, followed by a montage of other jobs.
 * Takemikazuchi's speech at the Colloquy where he incriminates Ebisu is shortened in the anime. The report is mentioned without visual or spoken details of what was witnessed, and mention of Ebisu's constant stinging and reincarnation is also omitted.
 * The Kagome game is omitted from the anime, although it is said that Ebisu's residence is still searched by Heaven.
 * In the manga, Oushi attempts to use Bind on Kazuma, but fails since he does not consider himself subordinate to her. In the anime, Kazuma successfully uses it on Oushi, then releases her moments later.
 * In the manga, the confrontation between Yukine and Kugaha ends with Tenjin giving Kugaha his new name, Saku. In the anime, Tenjin does not make an appearance or name Kugaha, and Yukine and Hiyori leave after his defeat.
 * The anime also edits a line in the manga where Kugaha says there are shinki who are as strong as blessed vessels without actually being one. The anime removes his direct mention of Kiun and Shiigun as examples.
 * In the manga, Izanami tells Yato and Ebisu that someone else had come to her in search of the Word, and that she appeared to them in the form of a pockmarked woman. In the anime, the pockmarked woman is not mentioned at all.
 * In the manga, Ebisu dies almost immediately after escaping Yomi. He is held by Bishamon, and he asks her to rescue Yato. In the anime, Ebisu simply loses consciousness at this point, and wakes up later in the episode. His execution is completed after Yato is retrieved from Yomi.
 * Following Ebisu's death in the anime, Takemikazuchi says many of the same things he expressed in the manga, but Bishamon's half of the conversation is omitted.
 * Amaterasu does not make an appearance in the anime. Instead, it is Ebisu who informs the others of the Soul Summoning technique.
 * The anime also does not reveal that Father had escaped Yomi through Soul Summoning.
 * In the manga, Ebisu is executed by some sort of explosion. In the anime, his execution is completed through use of the Pacification Ring, and he is held by Yato as he dies. He adds that he is glad to have met Yato, and Yato returns the sentiment.
 * Rather than showing his death linearly as occurred in the manga, much of this scene is shown through a flashback in the next episode.
 * In the manga, Yato is not present when Ebisu died. Therefore, when he awakens in Bishamon's estate, he is shocked and distressed when he meets the newly reincarnated Ebisu. In the anime this "reunion" and related scenes in Bishamon's estate are changed: Yato ties Ebisu's shoelace on the way to the Olive House. He also questions Ebisu about sharing his predecessor's memories at the Olive House.
 * In the manga, Yato meets the Stray alone to excommunicate her, while Yukine and Hiyori secretly watch from a tree. In the anime, Yato brings Yukine with him so he can admit to his dark past and ask for guidance in becoming a god of fortune. When the Stray appears unexpectedly, the anime adds a dialogue between her and Yukine. She tells him that he doesn't know true violence and would therefore never be able to bear Yato's burden. Hiyori watches the excommunication from across the lake.
 * The anime omits a scene where Father summons the Stray and congratulates for her for a job well done.

Trivia

 * The explosion that kills Ebisu also kills a little girl who is standing by him. However, it is unclear whether this girl is a shinki, a bomb planted by Heaven, or a human who is caught in the crossfire.