They’re secondary only to huge explosions. On and unrelated note, explosions fix everything.
I’m not at all disappointed with the ending of Natsume. IN fact, I thought it was the perfect way to end the best series of the last season. Rather than end with some sort of cliffhanger or present another one of those (admittedly amazing, but not suitable for this point inĀ the series) emotionally moving episodes, the show takes a step back from itself and re-introduces characters from past episodes. There’s a surprising feeling of nostalgia from seeing these episode characters again, and it makes me realise just how much I like all of them.
Far from being devoid of relevance to the rest of the series or characters, there were still little hints concerning the future of the characters in the show. Tanuma has been too under-utilised so far, so it was nice to see him get some developement. We know he feels somewhat isolated from people, but here was introduced the prospect he felt isolated from Natsume as well; ignoring all the yaoi connotations of their relationship, him being unable to help pretty much his only friend (I’ve seen him with no-one else but his dad in the entire series) or fully share in the common ability they have must sadden him to some extent.
And this is one of the major questions the series has posed throughout its run. Natsume used to believe that the Youkai were nuisance and a curse when he was a child, but through his experiences in this town and with the Youkai within it, he has seen a side of the demons he did not know existed, a side of heartbreaking relationships, unfulfilled wishes and endless regret. But he has boith grown as a personm, learning to be more accepting of his peers and has helped many Youkai in the process, thuogh his life and spirit were in danger numerous times. So at the end of the day, the question is: was it all worth it?
Random secret society ftw? Though I said the series didn’t end on a cliffhanger, that doesn’t mean it left everything semi-concluded. This came out of nowhere and has a large amount of implications for the next season. A group of excorists? A meeting between Youkai and similarly gifted people to Natsume? And what exactly is Noriko’s part in all this? I can’t wait for January.
Natsume’s foster parents have, to me, been more of a backdrop to show how he’s been helped to open up and adjust to people through a warm and kind living environment. This is the only time I’ve heard the two really discuss Natsume’s experiences here and I hope that once Natsume trusts them enough he can be a bit more open about his secret with them, as I think they deserve the truth and Touko-san needs less of a reason to worry (although, telling her he’ll be fighting Youkai constantly may not be such a good idea ^^;)
Don’t worry Nyanko, you’ll be back in January.
So, what was good great awesome about Natsume Yuujinchou?
- The emotionally moving episodes that could almost drive me to tears. Every episode based aorund the characters of that particular case was amazing. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt such feelings from a show.
- The characters, be they one-shots or re-occuring. All unique, all appealing (other than the vil ones. Damn those evil ones -_-) and all giving the show a sense of authenticity and originality. Watching Natsume mature and develop as a person is definitely one of the highlights of the series. The depth of the writing was surprising; I haven’t thought so much about the nature of people within an anime since Kaiba and Kurenai (which are recent, but I’m a n00b, and I haven’t seen many thought-provoking shows.) Except for Sasada. She’s just moe ^_^.
- The BGM is superb. Every song suits every scene extremely well and fits the calm and soothing nature of the show. I can’t wasit to get my hands on this, especially the main tune (i.e the one that plays during previews).
- The animation, setting and overall visuals. Placing it somewhere in the rural highlands (or somewhere with lots of nature, I don’t really know :P) perfectly suits the theme of the show, and the animators know how to use their budget effectively rather than just throwing money at the show and seeing where it lands. Some shots (like the one above) are beautiful whereas others…are even more beautiful.
- Voice acting and dialogue are almost always top notch, though earlier in the series some lines felt a bit forced. BUt as the show progressed, this dwindled away to never happening, showing how the seiyuu’s grew to understand their roles in the show and matured (though that might be a strong word) along with them.
- The comedy was surprisingly good. The show knew when to make fun of itself (gender-bending anyone?) and when to lighten the mood when things got really SRS. I wouldn’t have expected to be lauging and weeping att the same time, but that just shows how great a balance the show manages to strike between the two.
- Things were always kept interesting by varying the formula. Had the series just focused on returning names to Youkai, it would’ve got old quick, but I never got tired of seeing Natsume helping Youkai ( be it aiding the kind or getting rid of the freaking scary) .
And what wasn’t so good?
- The episode between Natsume and Nyanko-sensei (11) just didn;t sit right with me after all that had happened in the series (I’d already gotten a good grasp of their relationship by his point) and wasn’t too funny either.
- Not enough Reiko, Tanuma or Sasada. I really want to see more backstory, but then, that’swhat we have a second season for.
Natsume Yuujinchou was without a doubt the best series of the summer season. Moving and beautiful on so many levels, with a stellar soundtrack and characters the viewer can truly relate with, it is without a doubt one of my favourite series.
Those lolis can be deadly to fat-cats.
“Those lolis can be deadly to fat-cats.”
…and pedobears…
i love this show ;A; i can’t wait for the second season.
@EvilDevil
What does the pedobear have to fear?
@biankita
Same here. Must cry more ^^.