Ranked #20

Natsume Yuujinchou Shi

Sometimes you don’t need to watch many episodes to know you found a true hidden gem. It’s rare to find a second season in a anime that will surpass an epic first one. But its even more rare to find the next following seasons that surpasses both. This is Natsume Yuujinchou Shi, the deserved fourth season of the series that keeps following the adventures and daily life of a young teenager, Natsume Takashi, a boy who can see spirits (youkai) and is protected by a lazy funny fat cat that is a fox spirit. If in the end of the first season, the series got a legion of fans, in the second season, those same fans got wonderfully surprised, and if we thought that making better than that was impossible, then, the third season arrived just to prove us the contrary: Natsume yuujinchou san is the proof that a third season can surpass the previous ones, and now it’s the fourth season and continuation of one of the most popular slice of life series. This continuation seems promising, and everyone who followed the previous ones already missed it.
With an amazing Voice cast, wonderful soundtrack, and an awesome direction, the fourth installment of the series is even better animated, and with more interesting plot, since, although it keeps its episodic pace, it also focus more on Natsume´s life and friends than the previous ones, it continues what was left on the previous season.

Story: Following the line of the previous seasons, Natsume keeps helping the youkai and ayakashi, while he starts to open up his heart to his friends and family, always accompanied by Nyanko-sensei. Some other characters from other seasons return, too.

Art: It might not be the best art in anime, but its definitely unique, and you cannot imagine Natsume with other type of art, because this one is simple, colorful, soft one, its not detailed but its cute enough to become captivating.

Sound: Although in my opinion the previous soundtrack from the third season was better, this one is also wonderful. Not just the inserted melodies, but also the OP and ED, that leave you with a warm, relaxing happy feeling inside (or sad, depending on the perspective). The Voice actors do a splendid job in matching the characters personalities.

Character: The only thing that it remains unveiled until now and could be better explored is the story of Natsume´s grandmother, Reiko, but its not a plot hole and it doesn’t affect the main story yet. I expect more yet to come.

Enjoyment & Overall: a big 10, because this is outstanding. Even if this series gets labeled as overrated someday, I would say it’s actually still underrated. Because there is no score enough to express the enjoyment you have while watching it, it surpasses all expectations.
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It’s easy to feel lost or unloved in such a large world. There are times where one can’t help but feel that everyone could care less if you were alive or not. In cases like these it becomes easy to fall into a state of despair where social withdrawal seems like the only solution. And while it might sound incredibly clichéd for me to say this, it is only through the help and support of our friends and family that we can sometimes find the strength to move on. But what if you never had a loving and caring family to guide you through these tough times? What if nobody believes anything you have to say? Oh, and add a bunch of quirky, unruly demons to the mix and you’ve got more than enough reasons to be angry with the world. In short, that’s just life for Takashi Natsume, your everyday teenage boy with a special quirk: he’s able to see youkai and demons that nobody else can.

Natsume Yuujinchou Shi (lit. Natsume’s book of friends) is the fourth instalment adapting Yuki Midorikawa’s highly acclaimed manga series of the same name. The series was picked up in 2008 by the animation studio Brain’s Base and has run for three seasons, all of which received very high praise from fans and critics alike. Most of the story revolves around the protagonist, Natsume, and his interactions with the supernatural. However unlike the bulk of titles which use the supernatural as elements of horror or mystery, Natsume focuses on the personal stories of the youkai. Many of the youkai’s personal problems revolve around their interactions with other youkai and humans. Some of them have fallen in love with humans but are unable to convey their feelings while others have become withdrawn from life due to multiple hardships. While there’s plenty of variety in the different youkai’s stories, the most incredible feat is how they effortlessly relate back to Natsume’s own interpersonal issues of loneliness and alienation.

Part of the effectiveness of the series comes from the fact that all of the stories are told in a very simple, down-to-earth manner. By the end of each story, you’ll have this overarching feeling of a strong emotional connection with each of the characters. Even if a character has only appeared once, their personalities and backstories are fleshed out enough to make them equally as memorable and endearing as the main cast. Each of these stories presents a simple, yet very warm and comforting message which we can easily apply to our own everyday lives. And of course none of these messages are forced down our throats just for the sake of provoking an emotional response. Rather, it becomes very easy to see how they tie in with the personal stories of the characters. Of course this feat can be attributed back to the series’ excellent writing and pacing.

Now all of what I’ve said above can be applied to the series as a whole, but how does the most recent instalment of Natsume compare to everything else already on the table? By large, the first two seasons served as an introduction to the characters, setting and overall mood of the series. While many of the stories had a very powerful emotional impact on the viewer, it begged the question of whether the rest of the series would progress in such a fashion. Would we just be seeing short story after story until the series eventual finale? Thankfully the third season suspended our disbelief and focused a lot more on Natsume himself rather than just the youkai. We learned of many elements about Natsume’s past and got to see him express his personal fears and frustrations. Now with all that, how could a fourth season ever improve upon what was previously set?

The last season ended off on an excellent note where Natsume finally came to terms with living alongside both humans and youkai. With this season, a lot more of the focus is on Natsume and the possible decisions he could take in his life. The episode structure of this season is definitely a clear departure from the previous episodic format. Much of this season is told in short story arcs where Natsume and another character resolve an issue together. These arcs generally last two to three episodes and focus more on Natusme’s relationship with that specific character. But that isn’t to say this is necessarily a negative change for the franchise.

While undoubtedly, some of the emotional impact may be lost in favour of plot events, the series still maintains the same feel as previous instalments. Though at the same time, this season presents many interesting developments for many of the reoccurring characters such as Natori, Tanuma and the Matoba exorcists. And speaking of interesting, there’s never a dull moment so long as everyone’s favourite pig-cat, Nyanko-Sensei, is around. While most of the events revolving around Natsume’s past can be rather heavy to digest at times, there are always plenty of lighthearted moments to brighten the mood. The series has been very effective in seamlessly integrating comedic elements along with a strong emotional impact. And unlike the multitude of titles out there, the humour never feels forced or detracts from the overall mood that the series has worked so hard to set.

One of the best things about this season is that we can see how much Natsume’s presence has changed some of the people around him. Take the youkai exorcist Natori for example. When Natsume first met him, he was a person who wouldn’t think twice about using youkai as bait to accomplish his goals. Now that he’s spent some time around Natsume, his views on youkai have shifted ever so slightly to the point where he treats them almost as equals. A lot of the other reoccurring characters have also changed their perspectives regarding the humans and youkai respectively. The majority of shows in the current anime market seem to feel as though characters need to come to some sort of resolution almost instantaneously following a plot event. The problem with this approach is that realism is almost always sacrificed just to force development. With the characters in Natsume, each of them develops in such a natural fashion that they become more human as a result (and oddly enough, so do the non-human characters).

At the beginning of the series, Natsume wanted to avoid both humans and youkai because he felt he was unwanted by both. Through interacting with other humans and youkai, Natsume has opened himself up and is slowly realizing that there are kind individuals in the world, just as there are unfriendly ones. This season really excels at getting into a lot of Natsume’s own thoughts and feelings, and this is largely due to his very touching, heartfelt narration. With all the added development as well as small hints regarding his past, Natsume seems a lot more human than ever. And as a result, he becomes a very personable character that many people can easily hold close to their heart. Is it wrong for a guy to want to give him a hug?

On the other side of things, Nyanko-Sensei still retains his role as Natusme’s personal bodyguard. Despite his ultimate goal of wanting nothing more than the Book of Friends, Nyanko seems to have really warmed up to life with Natsume. This round, self-indulgent cat may act cold at times, but he’s really quite the tsundere (and he makes a much more likeable one than characters like Shana and Louise ever could). When he’s not stuffing his face full with manju buns or sake, he’s living life to the fullest alongside Natsume and providing snarky remarks along the way. I’ve really got to hand it to Nyanko, he’s a large part of what has made the series so enjoyable to watch all the way through.

Brain’s Base has always been a creative studio that loves to experiment with many different visual styles and music genres. The technical aspects of this season are already a step-up from the previous few with a greater emphasis on lighting and shading effects. Along with the lush, detailed-environments, the gentle mood of the series is conveyed nicely. The youkai designs are as always very refreshing to see as each one is different from the last. It really makes each one memorable in a sense, even if they’ve only appeared once or twice. The soundtrack in this season re-uses many of the same tracks from previous instalments and it shouldn't come as a surprise that they fit just as nicely as they did in the past. Thankfully, a number of new tracks were composed specifically for this season. Through a number of gentle classical and oriental tracks, the overall atmosphere of Natsume’s world slowly comes to life. Voice acting is once again excellent with Kamiya Hiroshi (Natsume) and Inoue Kazuhiko (Nyanko-Sensei) being the stars of the show. Both voice actors have transitioned very nicely into their respective roles and it shows here more than ever how they are able to breathe life into their characters.

Through our daily interactions in life, we may come to the realization that we need to change ourselves in order to move on. And while these changes may not exactly be instantaneous, it is only through others that we are able to find the strength to do so. Natsume Yuujinchou is one of the most successful series in the genre to drive-home this message while imprinting an ever-lasting emotional impact on the viewer. With a large cast of realistic and likeable characters, a well-written story of loneliness and alienation and a lovely setting, Natsume Yuujinchou is a series I would highly recommend to any fans of the slice of life or supernatural genre. People with an open mind that haven’t had the chance to check out this series should do so with the first season. Those that have been following Natsume’s adventures up until now will find themselves very pleased with the most recent instalment in the series. And with one of the most powerful and personable endings in recent years, here’s hoping that this won’t be the end of Natsume’s anime adventures. It’s not every day that you find a series which effectively blends so many genres together into a riveting, emotional roller-coaster. read more