Natsume Yūjin-Chō Roku

Episode 3

I've always watched Natsume Yūjin-Chō Roku to relax, since its sleepy, heartwarming storylines have usually fit the bill. But not this week, which featured the creepiest plotline I've ever seen the show experiment with. Despite many humorous and heartfelt moments, at its core “Nitai-sama” was about the relentless pursuit of an otherworldly terror. While I wouldn't want to see Natsume Yūjin-Chō devolve wholly into horror, this episode did a great job breaking the routine to show that the series can still be full of surprises.

Remember Shibata, Natsume's old classmate from Season 3? Natsume sure didn't. Back in episode 29, “False Friend,” Shibata fell in love with a yokai who could take human form and all but coerced Natsume into helping him out—even threatening to reveal Natsume's secret in front of his friends if he didn't come with Shibata. So it makes sense that, upon receiving an abrupt phone call three seasons later, Natsume's reaction is to tell Shibata he's too busy to help. (One of the neat side effects of Natsume becoming slowly more confident and social has been the slow reveal of his sassy side.) But when Shibata hangs up before Natsume can refuse, he ends up spending the day—and somehow, the night—with Shibata, Tanuma, and Nyanko-sensei.

Just like with Shibata's invitation to visit, it only takes a second for Natsume to become wrapped up with a troublesome new yokai. One glance at an abandoned house is all it takes for Natsume and Nitai-sama to lock eyes. From there, Natsume's fate is sealed: the yokai has his scent and will follow him relentlessly until either it eats Natsume, or Natsume finds a way to defeat it. It's definitely on its way—Nyanko-sensei is certain of it. But it's the waiting that makes this episode eerie.

Natsume and friends decide to wait it out at Tanuma's house because it's a temple—but it's also an enormous, creaking building full of dark corners. The comic relief of Natsume and Shibata's fear doesn't help when viewers realize that the thing they're afraid of isn't the same as some childish fear of the dark, but a real monster who makes itself known through fleeting noises and glimpses. The monster's chosen form makes things even worse. (What's creepier than one doll? Two dolls!) Still, finally seeing Nitai-sama in front of Natsume is a relief. Knowing that no matter how he passes the time, a monster is eventually going to come out of the dark and attack Natsume, was the most unsettling part. Once the monster made itself visible, I knew the worst was over. That's also what made one of the final scenes so terrifying—we saw it not through Natsume's eyes, but Shibata's and Tanuma's. Seeing Natsume struggling on the floor by himself was way worse than actually seeing the monster.

Natsume Yūjin-Chō Roku has more conservative production values than anything else I'm watching right now, but it managed to pull off a horror episode through atmosphere alone. It was an interesting experiment, but now I'm ready to go back to the series' more standard warm, gooey stories about feelings.

Rating: B+

Natsume Yūjin-Chō Roku is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about geek careers at Otaku Journalist.