Borderline (境界線, Kyōkaisen) is the fifth episode of the Noragami anime adaptation. It first aired on February 2, 2014.
Summary
Yukine using a Boundary Line.
Yato teaches Yukine how to draw a borderline, a power that only shinkis can use. A borderline is a barrier that serves as a shinki's shield and the only weapon, and phantoms cannot cross it. Yato notes that Yukine created a remarkably strong one on his first try, a first out of all the shinki he knows. Hiyori then tells Yato that she has decided to look after Yukine, due to the fact that she believes he is too negligent and irresponsible to care for him properly. After a brief tug of war, Yukine goes with Hiyori to her house, where Hiyori manages to sneak Yukine into her house and into her brother's room, since her brother is much older than her and has left home already. As she is gloating over her success, her parents come home, with Yato right behind them. Yato successfully infiltrates Hiyori's house, much to her irritation, and steals some food and drinks before taking his leave.
Hiyori confronts him outside, and when Yato asks her how Yukine is taking his change in housing, she angrily replies that he's delighted not to be sleeping in an old shrine anymore. Yato then explains that sleeping in shrines keeps them safe from phantom attacks since night is a time of devilry for the creatures from the far shore. He then informs Hiyori that Yukine is, in fact, afraid of the dark. This statement is proven to be true when Yukine knocks on Hiyori's door later that night, after her father comes into his room and turns off his lights. Hiyori invites him into her bed to calm him down, but this results in Yukine having dirty thoughts and nearly groping her, although he is stopped and confronted by Yato. Yukine gets angry and claims that Yato doesn't need him anyway, since he already has Nora.
Bishamonten and her Shinki hunting Phantoms
Bishamonten and her shinki are then shown patrolling the city. With the help of her navigator shinki, in the form of an earring, she easily takes out three large phantoms before disappearing into the night. The next morning, Hiyori and Yukine go shopping. Hiyori offers to buy him a pair of gloves, but Yukine declines and says that he can just borrow anything he needs, and demonstrates this by taking a skateboard off the wall and riding it around the store. Hiyori quickly stops him and reprimands him for stealing, telling him to just ask her if he wants anything, but Yukine runs off. Yato appears in the store and asks Hiyori if she's really been looking after his shinki, repeating his earlier statement that gods and their shinki share mind and body, and that he gets stung every time Yukine misbehaves. Hiyori asks if it works the other way around, but Yato informs her that the pain only goes in one direction. He goes on to say that the connection between gods and their shinki help gods distinguish between right and wrong; but gods can still do whatever they please, including hurting or killing people, and that someday Yukine will receive his punishment. This reminds Hiyori of Kofuku's statement about Yato having once killed a shinki, and she runs off to find Yukine, dropping her body in her haste.
Yukine talking to the young girl spirit.
Meanwhile, Yukine realizes that the sun has begun to set, and runs to find someplace to escape the coming darkness. However, he sees a little girl crouched on the corner of the street and stops. No one pays any attention to her, and Yukine realizes that the girl is a spirit who was recently killed in a hit-and-run accident. The girl sees Yukine and runs to him, begging him to stay with her until her mother arrives, and he reluctantly agrees. Night arrives, and Yukine and the girl are still sitting and waiting for her mother. He finally tells her that her mother isn't coming, and she runs off crying. From the darkness, a group of phantoms reach out to her and tell her that she'll find her mother if she goes to them. Casting aside his fear of the dark, Yukine runs to the girl and creates a borderline between them and the phantoms, only to find that the girl has already been infected. The darkness swallows both Yukine and Hiyori, who tries to save him, but both are rescued by Yato. Yukine begs Yato to help him save the little girl, and the latter agrees; however, Yukine is horrified when Yato cuts off one of the phantom's legs instead. Yato tells Yukine that the girl has been completely consumed, and the only way to save her is to kill her. Yukine cries as Yato slashes through the phantom, killing it and releasing the spirit of the little girl.
Characters
Character Debuts
- Mrs. Sasaki
- Bishamonten
- Kuraha (Shinki Form)
- Kazuha (Shinki Form)
- Kazuma (Shinki Form)
- Deceased Girl Spirit
Characters in Order or Appearance
- Yato
- Phantom
- Yukine
- Hiyori
- Mayu (Speech Bubble)
- Kofuku (Speech Bubble)
- Nora (Speech Bubble)
- Mrs. Sasaki
- Hiyori's Mother
- Hiyori's Father
- Bishamonten
- Kuraha (Shinki Form)
- Kazuha (Shinki Form)
- Kazuma (Shinki Form)
- Deceased Girl Spirit
Adaptation Notes
- In the manga, Yukine steals money from a customer and goes out to buy new clothes, which eventually leads to his meeting with the little girl.
- The scene involving Yukine and the young girl is much longer in the anime than it is in the manga; in the manga, Hiyori gets Yukine away safely, and the girl-turned-phantom is not killed.