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Natsume Yūjin-Chō Roku
Episode 5

by Lauren Orsini,

How would you rate episode 5 of
Natsume Yūjin-Chō Roku (TV 6) ?
Community score: 4.2

After waiting a week for the conclusion to last week's exquisite “Lying Eyes,” I have to say I'm pretty disappointed in “The Bound Ones.” Gone is the air of a Clue-style mystery, where everything seemed interconnected. Instead, this mystery's solution is kindergarten-simple, with all of the red herrings I saw last week proving to be as insubstantial as the yokai themselves. On the positive side, it was a return to the basic message of Natsume Yūjin-Chō Roku, the modest but lovely connection between humans and yokai that it portrays so well. I'm just feeling the whiplash of spending a week thinking of possible answers to this non-mystery.

Remember “Nitai-sama” a few weeks ago? That was an episode that preserved its creepy air right up until we actually saw the titular Nitai-sama. The same thing happens this time. Early on, the two unseen yokai are revealed, and suddenly their motives are transparent. Takuma, who previously played the silent “Mr. Body” role, has now walked through the door, and he's ready to share everything he knows. The repetitive circle imagery continues, but it no longer feels momentous. There's no hidden meaning in the chiming of the clock, which previously seemed to punctuate significant events. Takuma's daughter isn't hiding anything either, though she needs to work on her talisman technique. In the end, it's the same story as nearly every episode of Natsume Yūjin-Chō—humans and yokai are trying to understand each other, and they need Natsume's help to do it.

That's not to say there isn't any merit in this storyline, which is admittedly the entire reason I like the show so much. Once I got over the mystery evaporating into thin air, the sincerity of the three yokai familiars and Takuma himself won me over. It's not scary, but it is sad and sweet when the bound yokai approaches Takuma, pleading to be useful to him. There's a lovely and melancholic art choice in the way the yokai are reflected in Natsume's eyes, and the humans are reflected in the yokai's eyes, but Takuma's eyes are flat and unseeing. Natsume alone has the power to give these three closure, freeing the bound yokai and allowing Takuma to move on as he puts his glasses, which help him see yokai, away for good. Only Ginrei, the maid yokai, remains with her master, staying to tell the tale.

After everything is done and dusted, natori has a very interesting line when he directs his familiar to figure out what Natsume is hiding: “Perhaps it's something that gentle, reckless Natsume can't be allowed to possess.” There's something sinister in this comment. There's always been something slippery and unknowable about natori, even after all of these seasons, and it looks like this subplot is going to show us what he's really made of. Even though there wasn't as much mystery as I would have liked in this week's wrap-up, the conclusion reminded me that the real enigma of Natsume Yūjin-Chō is still unanswered. There are still so many questions that have been with us since Day One—how does Natsume have this power? How is he able to see yokai memories? Would Touko and Shigeru be cool with learning Natsume's secret? If he knew about the Book of Friends, would natori be a friend or foe? There's still so much to learn, and by extension, so many reasons to keep watching.

Rating: B

Natsume Yūjin-Chō Roku is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about geek careers at Otaku Journalist.


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