Natsume helps bridge the gap between the human and youkai worlds, and gains a new appreciation for both.
What They Say
Natsume Takashi has the ability to see spirits, which he has long kept secret. However, once he inherits a strange book that belonged to his deceased grandmother, Reiko, he discovers the reason why spirits surround him. Containing the names of these spirits, a binding contract was formed between the spirits and the owner of the book. Now, Natsume is determined to free the spirits and dissolve the contracts. With the help of a spirit cat, his days are filled trying to return the names to these spirits.
The Review!
The last episode was a bit of a disappointment to me, at least in comparison to the others, but in this episode Natsume Yujincho hits its old stride again. It begins with Natsume spotting a figure among some run-down houses in a previously flooded district. When Natsume realizes his friends can't see it, he concludes it's a youkai; but if he hadn't figured it out then, he probably would have when the youkai possesses him. That's one way to get a fellow's attention, I guess.
After getting a smack-in-the-head exocism from the Lucky Cat Natsume has a chat with the youkai and learns her reasons for haunting the flooded village and hitching a ride in his body. It turns out that this youkai has had a mixed experience in her relations with humans: a human act of kindness saved her life, but ended up accidentally destroying her family afterwards. All alone in the world and resentful, she became bitter and turned into a demon. But even in that form, a different human took pity on her and showed her another kindness. Ever since she crossed over into the youkai world and the village was flooded, she's been searching for him, trying to see him one more time.
Natsume agrees to help her track her human friend down and starts asking around at school, but a problem remains: since she can't be seen by humans, how can the two actually meet, even if Natsume can locate him? He has a few youkai who owe him a favor, and learns from them about a magic yukata that gives a youkai the power to take human form for one night. The trick, as always, is getting his hands on it.
Summary:
The show's air of benevolence is one of the best things it has going for it, and it comes through especially clearly in this episode. Like in the second episode, we get a youkai that has a special attatchment to humans. That makes for a situation where the human and youkai worlds are not only at peace for a short while, but mutually beneficial to each other. And there's always a kind of magic in that which appeals to me. If I thought the last episode meant the show was starting to drop off a little, this one has laid those fears to rest.
Features
Japanese 2.0 Language, English Subtitles
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