Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou

Continuing the themes of the first season, Zoku Natsume Yuukinchou builds more and more upon the growing bonds of it's titular character and his feline companion. We see him grow closer than ever before to his school mates, a first for a boy who had gotten so used to being shunned because he claimed he could see spirits. We also get to see him connect more with his past and the mysterious character of Natsume Reiko, uncovering just a bit more of what kind of person she might have been.

I love watching this show, because it manages to tug on your heart strings in all ... the right ways and always leaves you feeling warm fuzzy feelings, like everything in your life is going to be okay because it all worked out in the end. It's apparently a whole genre in Japan and usually takes place somewhere in the Japanese countryside like this. In a world that is increasingly loud with constant interruptions of more bad news, it's nice sometimes to just kick back with a nice story with a happy ending, or poignant messages that help us appreciate the bonds we have in our life. For anyone without those bonds at the moment, Natsume helps inspire hope that all of us will one day find our home.

I loved the episode that flashed back to Reiko and her interactions with the much younger Fujiwara, and how that family home was a place she wanted to protect even if she wouldn't be allowed there anymore. It's poetic that Takashi would end up living with that same family and that it would become the first place he could truly be happy. Honestly the Fujiwara's are better than Uncle Ben and Aunt May, anybody would be lucky to have them as guardians.

We get introduced to Taki in this season as well. She becomes one of Natsume's most important friends later on as one of the few people he can confide in about his ability to see youkai. The way she treats Nyanko-sensei is adorable and I'm rooting for Satoru because he obviously made the right choice of best girl.

Can't wait to see what more this series has to offer, I give this entry an 8/10

In this season, we see the seasons change from Winter to Spring as it continues to bring us this feel-good, warm fuzzy feeling that leaves you smiling. The change of seasons as if to reflect the shift in character in Natsume as well. It continues to tell us the story of the characters and Natsume fighting their everyday battles, loneliness and trying to gain acceptance from the people around them.

The art is simple, but still well executed, and definitely enough to enjoy this series. Also appreciated that there were longer arcs in this season instead of the one story per episode kind of pacing. ... My favourite scene everytime is still Natsume returning the name of the youkai- I'll never get sick of it no matter how many times I watched it.

I have always enjoyed the opening and closing songs of Natsume Yuujinchou. The music of this season is also particularly memorable- some parts left me thinking- "ah, this is suits this scene well doesn't it?"

Personally, what makes this series so special is definitely because it is relatable to everyone at some point- it makes you feel things but never leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Some episodes left me with tears, slight heartaches but never unsatisfied with how things end.

Overall: 9/10

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou

After the disastrous experience I had in the first season, I was already floored to learn that this show has 6 full seasons. I just thought to myself "what have I gotten myself into here!!!"
But to my surprise, this season was more than twice as good as the first, even if it didn't change much in the content.

Natsume's Book of Friends - is a show that follows the everyday experiences of Natsume, who unlike other people can see Yokai. This complicates his life enough, plus he has to deal with their problems. The problem with this show is that it is ... very episodic and has little cohesion, so it certainly won't appeal to everyone.

Even though I have to say that the pacing and quality of this show have increased massively since the first season, it's just about average here, which is what I would have expected from the beginning.

Another massive problem with this anime is the pacing, which can be cruelly slow, although most of the cases or stories are so short that you can complete them in 8-12 minutes, they are dragged out to 18 minutes by very questionable scenes or bad dialogue.
And while I'm on that point, yes this anime undoubtedly has some of the worst character conversations I've ever seen. If anyone wants to know what an anime with all Skyrim town guards in the lead would be like, here you go.

The only 2 positives why I can still mentally stomach the anime, other than a hope for improvement. Are -.
- The cat is a well-done and amusing character, reflecting the personalities of cats very well especially.
- The little Yokai stories are interesting from time to time, even if the execution is mostly poor or too much potential is wasted.


[Story 3]

Natsume lives his daily life and encounters new Yokai every day who either want to hug him, want his fist in their face, or simply remove him from their Instagram friend list. This is roughly the entire flow of the show.
Later in the course of the third season, something like an actual antagonist is introduced to form the antithesis of Natsume. But in the second season, there is no such thing.

[Characters 4]

Aside from that, the fact that only 3 characters in the entire show have even a rudimentary personality but are unable to have normal dialogue shocks me.
Nonetheless, Natsume is a hypocrite, but at least a barely satisfying character. He has a few positive points as negative ones.
Nyanko Sensei is what people call a "best waifu" in every sense. Even if his dialogue is mostly just running gags, he is entertaining.

The rest of the supporting characters aren't even worth mentioning, if I hadn't started season 3 the day before writing my review, I wouldn't have kept their existence in mind.

[Animation 5 / Music 6]

The osts are still inappropriate, uncreative, and annoying. I would like the anime more without music if this is the result of what my ears get. In a serious scene, they use music like the Pink Panther is just skulking around somewhere.

However, I have to note one thing here, I love the intro. It is one of the best slice-of-life intros I have seen, music included. The outro was also very appealing.

The animations in this season have improved greatly since the first. The backgrounds are more detailed and the characters' faces are less deformed.
By the way, it surprised me what happened in episode 10, the budget increased 5 times and it already had movie quality. Then it went back to normal, unfortunately, I didn't find any information about it.


[Conclusion 5]

Natsume's Book of Friends is a show for in-between, it's very hard to watch an episodic anime, especially one where more than half of the Yokai stories are very weak and boring. Combine this with mediocre characters, weak osts, slow pacing, and poor dialogue, and the whole thing becomes all the less enjoyable.

However, it's not that the second season was bad either, as I said, this is a definite step up from its predecessor.

[Enjoyment 4]