If there is a downside to this volume, it's the fact that some of the significance of what happens in Yomi might be a bit lost if the reader is not already familiar with the concept. The translation notes at the end help somewhat, but most readers will not read them until after the fact (and I would normally suggest reading the translation notes only after the fact, then possibly re-reading the manga if the reader desires). It's difficult to recommend reading before or after in this case, because I think there's potential for the native English speaker to get some extra enjoyment of discovery of plot points without already knowing some of the details of the story's cultural context in advance, but in this particular volume the Yomi material might be particularly opaque without that cultural familiarity. Unfortunately, I think even the translation notes -- excellent, informative, and very interesting, as they always are for this series -- do not convey the full depth of meaning in the events surrounding Yomi. I've been watching anime and reading manga for close to three decades (longer if you count the few things that made it to US television in the early '80s) and have studied Japanese language and culture somewhat, and have a little better feel for the Yomi context in this volume than conveyed by the , but I still feel like I missed something.

This volume of the Noragami series upholds the high standard of quality writing and art I've come to expect. There is a lot of depth to the world, relationships, and backstories in this series, especially relative to the standard of other manga and even bestseller novels in the US. Sometimes, I wish some of the foreshadowing might have found its way into the story a little earlier than it shows up, so that it might feel more natural and less like the author just came up with an idea a couple short chapters before bringing its subplot to climax, but the manga medium tends toward very fast-paced story development, so I suppose there is only so much to be done about that.

As always, Noragami is a fun read, engaging and absorbing, and its development of character, plot, and story is nuanced and interesting. ( )