Natsume Yuujinchou Shi – 13 (Final)

Episode 13 Final –

You know, it’s a bit ironic how the final episode to the Natsume Yuujinchou anime is the only one that got me to shed some tears. Natsume Yuujinchou has always been a strikingly touching anime, always touching upon some sensitive topics in a quiet, subtle manner. Quite frankly, it’s been a fantastic series that at times has been powerfully emotional in tone. But this week’s episode focused in on Natsume’s sense of sadness and nostalgia with regards to his parents was absolutely heartbreaking. Brains base and the original storywriter really outdid themselves in this final arc; Midorikawa Yuki for the emotional story, and Brains Base for bringing the emotions in the story to life.

It’s amazing how consistent Natsume Yuujinchou as a series has been, with a splendid range of emotions that are explored via various stories. Some stories are subtle, others blatantly emphasize themes such as friendship, and others are quiet episodes that are simply relaxing to watch. Amidst all that, the themes to this series have constantly evolved, and has matured greatly as seen in this final Natsume Yuujinchou arc.

This episode continued exploring Natsume’s past, something that hasn’t been explored in depth up until this point. It’s touching to see him struggle with his nostalgia about his parents, his tough childhood, and the current insecurities he has of his past. He faces them straight in the face this episode, and grows to accept everything as a part of himself, even the pain and discrimination he suffered in his childhood. If you actually think about it, Natsume Yuujinchou has been all about showing Natsume’s gradual maturation as an individual, so it’s only fitting that this final episode is all about showing just how much he has come to accept his role as a guy involved with humans and youkai.

Based on what I’ve heard, this is actually the final anime adaptation of Natsume Yuujinchou. Now I don’t know if this is completely true (and the manga still has much more to it), but this episode wrapped up in a fantastic manner that would be fitting for the finale to a series. It showcased just how much our titular character, Natsume, has grown, as well as explored upon his past, and showed his new friendships (especially with Nyanko-sensei). I’d say that Natsume Yuujinchou has been fantastic, and I do hope that there will be more adaptations in the future.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.4/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Natsume Yuujinchou Shi – 12

Episode 12 –

Once again, Natsume Yuujinchou shows us something that we’ve rarely seen in the series; a glimpse into Natsume’s childhood and, more specifically, a brief look at some of the people who raised him (and the resentments that built up as a result). We’ve rarely met the people whom raised Natsume as a child, and seeing how their presence affect Natsume’s growth is rather interesting. On a slightly different note, I do believe that this is the first 3-episode arc we’ve seen out of this series, and it looks like it will be quite the nostalgia-driven one.

Considering that this is supposedly the final season of Natsume Yuujinchou (saddenning, I know), I can see why the creators have decided to tackle Natsume’s past. His past has always lingered over him like a shadowy figure, and was the root to his insecurities with regards to youkai. Thus, it’s only fitting that the series wraps up by detailing what he lived through, and how he matured through his experiences. It’s quite noticeable from all of the flashbacks in this episode, where we see Natsume as an innocent child whom slowly comes to a realization that he is a bit different, and that he was disliked for his “strange” tendencies. The trend of being ostracized by peers is something he would experience for years, but revisiting the time period when it first began was a great way to develop Natsume’s character.

In comparison to before, when Natsume would adamantly deny his past and try to forget it, Natsume has matured to the point where he has come to accept his past, and understands why everything around him unfolded the way it did. As a child he may have found things unfair, but he’s come to accept everything now that he’s much older; his decision to visit his long forgotten old home is indicative of such. Having to once again face the people and experiences that traumatized your past is a brave but difficult thing to do, and it’s this final confrontation with his own past that this arc is covering.

In that sense, this arc is fitting way to wrap up this series. While I would’ve preferred to see much more of Reiko and her past (and how she ended up having children), in the end Natsume is the central character. This arc gives off the feeling that everything has run in full circle; Natsume went through tough times as a child, grew up to accept youkai and humans, made some fun friends, and now is revisiting his past for one last time. It’s a fitting way to show the fruition of Natsume’s growth as a character, all the way from the frightened youkai-fearing Natsume from season 1, to the current Natsume who has grown to accept everything about himself.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.8/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Natsume Yuujinchou Shi – 11

Episode 11 –

This episode of Natsume Yuujinchou, by far, was the best out of this entire fourth season. The episode does a fantastic job with portraying the subtle worries of Natsume’s friends and family, all while maintaining a balanced pacing and atmosphere that Natsume Yuujinchou is so well-known for. This time around the story explores a highly sensitive, and deeply emotional and personal topic that we’ve yet to really see in Natsume Yuujinchou, and it did a great job at showing just how much our main cast has changed over the course of this series.

What is particularly poignant about this episode is it’s focus on friendship. Natsume, back in the beginnings of season one, was a loner who had no friends and would constantly be on the run from youkai. It was a lonely existence for sure, and only with Nyanko-sensei’s introduction did that situation slowly start to change. This episode highlights the tremendous journey Natsume has gone through to reach this point, where he’s helped human friends with supernatural problems, helped countless amounts of youkai in need, and gradually opened up to his foster parents. Natsume has really come a long way, which is further emphasized by how Tanuma, Touko, and even Nyanko-sensei, show genuine concern for Natsume and his strange behavior.

A big factor in the success of this episode, though, was without a doubt the rather delicate situation that the story was trying to address; that is, how does one try to reconcile with their tragic past? Natsume still bears emotional scars from the loss of his parents, and this episode is all about exploring Natsume’s eventual courageous steps in overcoming these emotional barriers. The episode was powerfully poignant and bittersweet in nature, something I didn’t quite expect with the series approaching it’s final few episodes.

The subtlety to some of the character interactions and emotions in this episode were fantastic, and the acting was also terrific. The appearance of all of Natsume’s friends, as well as those pictures in the closet, all added to the focus on friendship this time around. All of these factors came together in the search for the missing picture of Natsume’s parents, and the satisfaction from finding the photo was tremendous. Natsume Yuujinchou definitely hit it out of the ballpark with this highly emotional, subtle yet bold episode.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.4/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Natsume Yuujinchou Shi – 10

Episode 10 –

Natsume Yuujinchou has always been a series that rarely features two-part arcs. And the trend seems to be that the latter half to each arc is the better of the two. That does still hold true this week, but Natsume Yuujinchou’s more recent episodes have actually been fairly mild. They’ve hit all the tones and themes that we’re used to seeing out of this series, yet I guess the issue I’m beginning to see is how Natsume Yuujinchou doesn’t diverge away from it’s story format terribly much. This could become problematic in the future. Nevertheless, the series has managed to do a surprisingly good job at maintaining character development, in this case for Natori.

That being said, the story of the two gods featured in this episode were intriguing in the sense that we’ve never quite seen actual “gods” in this series. Usually shrine youkai and such, but this was probably the first time we’ve had to genuinely worry about a “god”, as well as how they are powerful enough to make even Nyanko-sensei be cautious.

The more subtle focus here was the contrast between the attitudes of Natori and Natsume. Natori is very straightforward with regards to his job of exterminating youkai, and it is clearly evident by the manner in which he suspects the youkai of plotting to hurt Natsume. And yet, he also seems to be slowly softening up to Natsume’s youkai-friendly attitude, with Hiiragi’s presence further emphasizing the growing connection between these two characters.

In the end, this episode focused on a relationship that we haven’t really seen in much depth; that is, the peculiarities to the Natsume and Natori relationship. They obviously hold trust in each other, but what’s less obvious is how they affect each other’s attitudes towards youkai in understated yet important ways. Natori’s softening stance on youkai can be attributed to him seeing Natsume at work, and how he tries so hard to prevent any serious problems.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.6/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Natsume Yuujinchou Shi – 09

Episode 09 –

This week’s episode of Natsume Yuujinchou was surprising in some ways, mainly because it dealt with a set of youkai that have not really been seen up until now; youkai gods. The episode was about Natsume deceiving a god to help out some local youkai who couldn’t find their own god, and while the episode was typical in some ways, it also highlighted how there are some intense tensions between youkai and humans. It was noticeable in Natori’s concerns about the god he would have to seal away, and was also noticeable in some unexpected other ways.

What struck me as surprising about these gods is how, not only were they revered, they were also hunting down a huge beast that seemed to be as powerful as Nyanko-sensei. Up until now, we’ve rarely seen youkai as powerful as Nyanko-sensei around, and seeing these gods “hunting” it was a stark way of showing just how powerful these deities supposedly were. I feel as if this episode is messing around with forces far beyond what we’ve seen so far in this series, and it’s this precarious situation that made the atmosphere to this particular episode somewhat intense. Natori actually getting nervous is another little detail that makes the situation worrisome.

That being said, this episode did also feel very much along the lines of your typical Natsume Yuujinchou episode. There was the usual situation of where Natsume gets into a mess, and has Nyanko sensei bail him out most of the time. It’s a neverchanging dynamic that’s been prevalant in this series from it’s inception, and probably won’t change in the near future.

Interestingly enough, this episode also featured Natsume getting involved in a supernatural situation with humans once again getting entangled into the mess. This has been happening more and more frequently in this fourth season of Natsume Yuujinchou. I wonder if the added involvement is a hint at things to come…

Overall Enjoyment: 3.2/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Natsume Yuujinchou Shi – 08

Episode 08 –

Bleh, this episode really didn’t hold back in constantly teasing about the possible appearance of Natsume’s grandmother, Reiko. We’ve never actually seen Reiko outside a blurry flashback of sorts, let alone interacting with a key character, so seeing her in person would’ve been a wonderful little treat. Alas, the teasing didn’t amount to anything of the sort, and instead we were treated to a brief overview of the past to the old lady exorcist that we’ve seen hanging around with Matoba. Her past adventures about youkai were actually tragically similar to Natsume’s past in many regards, only she chose the path that Natori also chose; that is, taking on the role of a ruthless exorcist and sealing away youkai as a job.

In terms of actual story, this one was rather similar to stories we’ve seen of Natsume’s past, where he would be scared of youkai, as well as be teased by regular humans around him. She seemed to have suffered from a similar fate, only she had somebody who managed to give that big push towards one side. Natsume’s conflicts have always been characterized by a tension between his love of both youkai and humans, whereas this arc put emphasis on someone becoming completely against youkai.

The episode was cute in some ways, but was also fairly typical fare for this series. The episode did add a new dimension to the old lady’s character, but aside from that the episode didn’t do terribly much in terms of plot. As usual, we had focus on the youkai-human tensions ever-present in this series, only with Natsume not being the central character to focus on (which is a surprise). This does make me a bit curious about the past of other characters, such as Natori, Matoba, and especially Reiko. We actually barely know anything about Reiko as a character, yet she plays an immensely important role in this series. I can’t help but want to learn more about her, though it seems that might not happen for a while.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.3/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Natsume Yuujinchou Shi – 07

Episode 07 –

This episode was, without a doubt, the best episode out of this new season of Natsume Yuujinchou so far. The episode was amazingly good at not only pushing forward Natsume’s development as a character, but using the presence of Tanuma in a daunting, powerful manner that really pushed some important questions to the forefront of the story. And once again, of course, Natsume Yuujinchou has stuck to it’s main theme about the existing tensions between the youkai and human worlds. If this is really the final season of Natsume Yuujinchou, I have to say that I’m starting to get a good idea of what the finale may entail.

What was really well done this episode was the usage of Tanuma’s presence to emphasize just how dangerous things are starting to get for Natsume. Natsume’s friendly relations with youkai does seem to be rather famous at this point, and as you’d expect, fame also brings about attention. Natsume is starting to see strong, real repercussions to his close relations to both youkai and humans, and it’s this proximity to both that is manifesting strong questions to Natsume’s mind.

What had completely passed over my head though, and which this episode pointed out, were the parallels between Natsume, Reiko, and Natori. I never thought about it, but Reiko and Natori are actually polar opposites with regards to their treatment of youkai. Reiko shunned humans and befriended youkai, while Natori did the opposite and shunned youkai. Natsume, in comparison, occupies the fine line between these two sides, and is the main source to the conflicts that have unfolded in this series.

In the end, this episode had one aspect that I don’t think I’ve ever seen in Natsume Yuujinchou yet: it was chilling to the bone, mainly because this was the first time I’ve seen the series get violent to this extent. The conflict between Natsume, Natori, and the youkai quickly escalated to a level that was bloody, and to a degree, filled with despair. And that feeling was powerfully evident this week, which made the conflict both engrossing yet kind of scary.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.4/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Natsume Yuujinchou Shi – 06

Episode 06 –

Natsume Yuujinchou is known for it’s more atmospheric tone to the story, so this comedy oriented one took me by surprise. Nevertheless, Natsume Yuujinchou did a great job with meshing together comedy with some drama (courtesy of Nyanko-sensei). This was the 1st part to a 2-episode arc, which is a bit more rare in the Yuujinchou series, but the arc sure does seem to be capitalizing on the extra screentime. The show is both pushing forward it’s theme about youkai vs humans, all while exploring Natsume and his relationship with his human friends. This season has been all about exploring Natsume’s relationships with youkai and humans, and this arc proves to be no different as of now.

The comedic aspects to this episode were actually all due to Nyanko-sensei. After all, seeing Nyanko sensei masquerading around as Natsume was a great way to poke fun at Natsume’s normal, good-boy demeanor. From the usage of slang, sloppy eating, frowning, and getting angry at others, Nyanko-sensei’s flagrantly out-of-character acting was hilarious several times throughout the episode.

There was a serious side to this episode, and it was integrated into the story quite well. It tries to address Natsume’s fear of letting his friends get involved with youkai, as well as Tanuma’s concerns that Natsume is too reluctant to ask for help. This inherent tension in the relationship amongst these two friends has been present ever since they became good friends, and highlighting this concern they have for each other adds a new dimension to their characterizations.

From the looks of things, this arc may very well be the first one where one of Natsume’s human friends becomes heavily involved with youkai. It’ll be interesting to see if that really happens, and if so, if Tanuma will become more heavily involved with Natsume’s future affairs with youkai. It would be a very different way of changing up this series, because up until now it’s only been Natsume that’s been heavily involved with youkai.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.6/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Natsume Yuujinchou Shi – 05

Episode 05 –

After everything this series has put out so far, this by far was the weakest of the bunch. Nevertheless, it was still a decent episode that focused in on Natsume’s experiences in during his childhood, and once again, touches upon the sensitive subject of youkai vs humans. It’s a conflict that seems to be quite timeless with regards to this anime, and continues to be a huge part of the overarching story.

This time around, Natsume once again is ostracized by his human peers while he himself is on the run from youkai that nobody else can see. It’s a conundrum that is very well known at this point, though the oddity here was how a single human girl actually suspected that Natsume might not just be seeing things. This episode was an enlightening one, for sure. It was quite an entertaining episode too, with Natsume’s seemingly awkward interactions with his classmates, along with the girl’s reactions, managing to evoke reactions varying from sympathy, to surprise, and even amusement.

On the plus side, the episode still manages to maintain it’s focus on the human/youkai divide that has been an increasingly important point in this particular season of Natsume Yuujinchou. There hasn’t been much related to the main story yet, outside of the incident with Matoba, but I’m assuming that will change up in the future. How that changes up, I’m not quite sure, but it will probably encompass both the fate of the Book of Friends, as well as the Matoba clan, and probably Natsume himself. It’s an outcome that is slowly being built upon, and will probably fully manifest itself in the final episodes to this show.

In the end, this fairly standard episode of Natsume Yuujinchou stuck to it’s tried and true formula involving Natsume’s involvement with youkai. It was an episode that elicited various emotions by showing the story from two perspectives, and was executed quite well. I do wonder though, will this season be the last for Natsume Yuujinchou? Or will there be more? Based on this series so far, I have a sneaking suspicion it might end with this season. Of course, my guess could be dead wrong, but I guess we’ll have to see.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.5/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Natsume Yuujinchou Shi – 04

Episode 04 –

Natsume Yuujinchou does it once again; while it once again has a very heartwarming, yet melancholic story, the series also stays on track with it’s main theme. That is, the theme of how there exists difficulties between the youkai and humans of the world, and how the two struggle to have any sort of relationship because of this ingrained notion of conflict between the two. Youkai and Humans are deemed incompatible in this show, and we are constantly reminded of such through the story. In this case, the story was about a simple youkai who felt compelled to try and protect a young human girl from heartbreak, but thought that as a youkai he could never truly comfort her. The story was both enlightening and tragic, and while it was enjoyable, it continues to build upon the ideas of previous episodes.

As I’ve already said, this season of Natsume Yuujinchou has a rather explicit focus on the relationships between youkai and humans, which is a rather complicated beast in it’s own way. We are seeing the show constantly pushing questions about whether youkai and humans can truly co-exist. In a way, the story is trying to figure out if Natsume is merely an exception to the supposed rule, or if almost all youkai actually can’t get along with people.

I do appreciate how this show has done a wonderful job with staying on target, but I find it almost surprising how the show manages to continues the trend of exploring some very likable characters. Each newly introduced character usually proves to be more complex than you’d initially expect, and the storytelling does a great job in painting the overall conflicts in an intriguing light. Natsume Yuujinchou’s formula for success is actually very simple; episodic arcs focusing on the troubles of youkai, and have Natsume solve their problems in the best way possible. For something that you’d figure would get old over a dozen episodes, the story format has held up surprisingly well.

In the end, Natsume Yuujinchou doesn’t really break out from the mold that it normally wears. Nevertheless, it’s almost astounding how reusable the story setup really is. The main theme to this series does make me wonder about one thing though; will Matoba ever become important again in future arcs? After all, if it ever happens, I imagine that Matoba would be the force that makes Natsume choose humans or youkai.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.5/5

Screenshots are later in the post.