Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Natsume Yūjin-Chō Roku
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11416 |
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I think it's really reaching to boil these two stories down to being the same plot. Especially since they weren't looking for a "secret" in Takuma's not-a-mansion, just trying to find out why the youkai were attacking it. And Natsume and Natori didn't go there together. You might as well say it's the same plot as Natsume in Matoba's mansion, or any other time he's trying to understand what's going on with Natori incidentally involved, since he's been hiding the Book from him since the beginning. Anyway, of course I loved this episode.  I swear, people should start wearing rain gear around Natsume, he does a spit take in nearly every episode. And Hiiragi and Natsume together are always fun. It's interesting that both she and Sensei find the mansion to be relaxing, but it's so Nyanko that his idea of relaxing is apparently based on schadenfreude. But he did a good job of preventing Natori from sealing a youkai who knows about the Book of Friends.
Very much looking forward to the conclusion of this. Is next week the last episode of the season or do we get another one (or two?) after that? We got shortchanged last season, so I think we deserve 13 this time. |
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Songster01
Posts: 73 |
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Anyone know if the finale aired in Japan? It's not showing up on CR, although a friend told me a non-working link to the ep was created. If you go to the series page, however, there's not even a "coming soon". And no indication it's been delayed, like when they skipped a week because of the French Open.
ETA: It just appeared, so you can disregard the above. |
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crosswithyou
 Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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So sad that Natsume is over. ;___;
All the flashbacks and stuff made it seem like a series finale rather than a season finale. While a 7th season has not yet been announced, I'm hopeful that we'll get to meet Natsume, Nyanko Sensei and the rest of the gang again. I believe the home releases have had consistent sales. |
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Cetais
Posts: 507 |
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I guess they wanted to make it seems a bit more conclusive than a "To be continued ... ?" due to the fact that the anime is quite near to the manga right now. If there's a next season it will probably not be soon. |
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Songster01
Posts: 73 |
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I agree it's sad to see the finale. They've covered their bases, providing a hook for a future season(s), but also concluded with a montage that will feel like an ending if no future series are created.
I'd certainly love to see more of the series once there is enough manga to proceed, but I also felt that some episodes in the last two seasons felt like we were going over the same ground, storytelling-wise (opening few episodes of s5 felt rather uninspired to me). The development is so slow and meandering that I've seen reviewers forget that Natsume-san has had a major development arc (less developed arcs for a couple side characters as well), as well as a backstory discovery arc for Reiko-san. I find myself wondering if fewer episodes should be made in the future, whether choosing manga chapters that stick more to the major two arcs will maintain interest in the anime adaptation. Note I'm not saying the anime series is awful, but the spark and momentum it had in the first four seasons seemed to be diluted somewhat in s5-6. YMMV. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11416 |
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Oh, Natsumeg, we hardly knew ye...
I think my favorite part of the episode was Natori's reaction when Natsume laid his hand on the dragon's nose. That alone should certainly give Natori a lot of food for thought. Sensei may usually be right, and he's not wrong about Natori's tricksy smile, but part of that is due to his lines of work (i.e., he has to lie a lot both professionally and to keep one from damaging the other). I'd be stunned if Natori ever turned out to be any real danger to Natsume. They may disagree about how to do things, but Natori really does value him, even if he's willing to use him. One thing I forgot to mention last week was the jam. When that was first brought up as his reason for going to see Natori, I just thought, Oh, please, that's the best excuse they could come up with? But the flashback to that wonderful conversation at breakfast made it totally work for me, especially Touko, and I was once again left marveling at how this series always manages to exceed my expectations in one way or another.
I also wonder if there is another anime character that has more names than Nyanko-sensei. I think he has at least a dozen, probably more.
Ah well, I never thought we'd get more than 4 seasons anyway, so I can't complain too much that there won't be more for awhile. |
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crosswithyou
Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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At the most recent event, they had a quiz corner and one of the questions was how many different names Nyanko Sensei was called in the 5th season.  I forget what the answer was, but it was a lot, LoL.
Ah~ I'm going to have "Natsume loss" from now on. ;___; Probably won't be at least another couple or so years until we get a 7th season. |
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crosswithyou
Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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It was actually announced quite some time ago. This episode was included on vol.4 of the home release. Another unbroadcast episode is also included in vol.5 to be released later this month, and it was shown at the event this past weekend where the movie announcement was made. (Another great episode-- Hayami Shou's voice is so sexy it made me go watch a little bit of Mirage of Blaze after I got home.  ) Basically the season includes 10 TV broadcast episode and 2 unbroadcast episodes included on the BD/DVD, a trend they've started since Go.
Anyway, this episode is so Natsume and I love it! Love this series! Can't wait for the movie! |
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Songster01
Posts: 73 |
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Seems like humans are or appear sometimes to be more fickle or fleeting compared to many youkai, especially those with long life spans. In this story the old youkai bound to the tree seems anything but fickle! He can't normally leave without the tree (he only is able to return to the stump with Natsume's help) and he is down to the last vestiges of his strength. Moreover, the memory of the promise was only driven out by the shock of the lightning strike and possibly the weakness of the memory of the very aged, not because he felt like forgetting. And even as he forgot he desperately wanted to remember before moving on. Hardly a fickle character! Anyway, even though we have hear similar stories, I was deeply moved by this episode. I don't think I've cried since the episode in which the mushroom-like spirit grieved when he(?) missed seeing his higher status mentor. Something about the sheer rawness of that emotion spoke to me more powerfully than other similar episodes and I can say the same for this episode as well. For me this episode had a mysterious alchemy of story and atmosphere that inspired grief for the bittersweet beauty of transience and mortality. |
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Alexis.Anagram
 Posts: 278 Location: Mishopshno |
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Same here. I'm guaranteed to get emotional at least once or twice during each season of Natsume, but this episode felt especially touching and effective. I think it had something to do with the generational theme Lauren touched on; the show often presents time as moving languidly, a slow crawl of seasonal markers, and I liked how this episode deliberately married that with a story that spends as much time emphasizing the process of "letting go" of the past as idealizing it through the usual nostalgic lens. I think Natsume is at its best when it's understated and unhurried, and I'm a sucker for that bittersweet iyashikei, so this was definitely my cup of (iced) tea. Can't wait for the next OVA and the movie! Truly, thinking about how much could be done with Natsume in long-form is exciting and I feel unworthy. |
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Northlander
 Posts: 901 |
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The old tree spirit is definitely one of the kinder ones. His story didn't remind me of the one with the Dew God for nothing. On the other hand, you have spirits who flip-flop from asking people nicely for help and then saying they'll eat them if they don't want to. It seems more like the manga is portraying (rather well, too) how a yokai's attention span works in a wholly different way compared to a human due to their sheer longievety. 60 or 70 years are so much time for a human, but a yokai can be all "eh, I've got time to waste" about that. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11416 |
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Huh, I did not feel any urge for self-insertion while watching the second OVA (13). I just enjoyed it like any other episode.
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Songster01
Posts: 73 |
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Ditto. I can see why T can serve as a self-insert character, but that wouldn't work as well for me as I am not a schoolgirl. I can't see myself as T, so I just read her as another kind girl in NY's 'verse. However, I am up for self-inserts if I can enjoy Touko and Shigure's hospitality as well. And no violent youkai please during my visit! |
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