Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou Episode 13 Discussion

robbydesu said:
I'm chinese and a lot of japanese culture is similar to chinese culture, so when I saw a certain scene, I got chills because I sort of knew the deeper meaning behind that scene.

I've been having a hunch for the last half of this season that Touko-san and Shigeru-san knew about Natsume's secret, or knew that there is something going on

....so when I saw the windchime, I got a rush of chills and this warm feeling.

In chinese culture, it's actually considered to be bad luck to put up windchimes because it attracts ghosts and spirits and all sorts of things that isn't pleasant. So when I saw how Touko-san and Shigeru-san put up that windchime back up and that they know Natsume had origianlly took it down....

...I just KNOW that they know about Natsume's secret. I was at tears when Touko-san said "It's okay" as if she's reassuring Natsume, telling him that they are okay with him and accept him the way he is along with his secret.

So with that conclusion between Natsume and Touko/Shigeru, and the feelings that Nyanko-sensei has for the relationship between him and Natsume...I am extremely happy with the final episode :D

Lieila said:
A very good ending in my opinion. It left me with satisfied feeling...even though I still want more of Natsume. Yeah, same here. I want another season of this show.



Really? Is it - about the windchime? I thought windchimes are goodluck charms when placed in right place like doors. Heh, fengshui. It's good to read your post and I came to understand the meaning about that scene...although I guessed along that line in Natsume, and his foster parents scene.

hirahira said:
hmm...maybe they really do know about it because now that I think about it, it really does seem like they know about it and are just waiting for Natsume to tell them himself (:

robbydesu said:
I'm chinese and a lot of japanese culture is similar to chinese culture, so when I saw a certain scene, I got chills because I sort of knew the deeper meaning behind that scene.

I've been having a hunch for the last half of this season that Touko-san and Shigeru-san knew about Natsume's secret, or knew that there is something going on

....so when I saw the windchime, I got a rush of chills and this warm feeling.

In chinese culture, it's actually considered to be bad luck to put up windchimes because it attracts ghosts and spirits and all sorts of things that isn't pleasant. So when I saw how Touko-san and Shigeru-san put up that windchime back up and that they know Natsume had origianlly took it down....

...I just KNOW that they know about Natsume's secret. I was at tears when Touko-san said "It's okay" as if she's reassuring Natsume, telling him that they are okay with him and accept him the way he is along with his secret.

So with that conclusion between Natsume and Touko/Shigeru, and the feelings that Nyanko-sensei has for the relationship between him and Natsume...I am extremely happy with the final episode :D

I only wish that we could see a sort of reunion between Natsume and Kai :P

I'm really going to miss this series a lot...I really hope that there is a new season..I mean, anything is possible right?

Later, wind bells were introduced to China and were also hung in temples, palaces and homes. Japanese glass wind bells known as Fūrin (風鈴) have been produced since the Edo period [2]. Wind chimes are thought to be good luck in parts of Asia and are used in Feng Shui.

DeathfireD said:


ya I was thinking the same thing about Touko and Shigeru knowing about Natsume, in fact I posted about it waaay back when Natsume was hanging with wife. I think it was 6 or 7 episodes ago. I don't think they knew 100% until the recent incident though. By then it was pretty obvious he was like his grandma.

PS. in japan win chimes are used to scare away birds and evil spirits. Just to be sure I double checked Wiki and sure enough it confirmed it, as well as mentioning
Your part must be overly superstitious or something lol.

robbydesu said:


Yea I also brought it up during that episode in that thread way back, very in depth too >_>.

About the wind chimes, I dunno...wiki isn't always right. I think I'll trust what I've learned about my own culture than random things posted on the internet. Even if it's true, I believe those windchimes have specific characteristics that make it special.

I'm guessing that what I know is something really old and isn't practiced anymore and developed into good luck. *shrugs* I mean, if it was just my mother who believed that then I'll have second thoughts, but I know more than one person who are all chinese who thinks that way :P

Plus, if windchimes are considered good luck and keeps bad spirits away, then it would definitely not make sense in the anime. Since we know that Natsume purposely took it down. We all know that Natsume does NOT want bad spirits to come and harm Touko and Shigeru...so then why would he take the windchime down instead of keeping it up? And it doesn't fit with what Touko-san said when she said "It's okay" right after Shigeru mentions Natsume taking it down and them putting it back up.

Also, of all times, why did Reiko appear when the windchime is put up (of course you can argue she could've visited when we weren't looking). Wind chimes are considered to be bad luck because it's sort of like a key that helps open the gateway for spirits in general, good and bad, so then it's easier for them to appear in a certain home, etc.

And really, trust me....fengshui is not so simple as to put a windchime up and bam you get good luck. It gets really extreme and has to do with the position of property and the location of where it's facing (NEWS). I had heard about it ALL the time when my family was picking a place to open their restaurant. I didn't believe in fengshui, so I got quite annoyed about hearing about how every place they checked had bad fengshui =_=;;

DeathfireD said:
Why would monks walk around with staffs that make chime noises then? Obviously to scared and destroy "spirits". I may not be from china but everything I've ever heard about wind chimes, regardless of the location, have always resulted in meaning good luck. I can only assume that maybe your town and the towns around you have a specific reason for linking the wing chime to bad luck. It may be similar to how some villages believe a specific color or animal brings back luck but others believe it's good luck.

In any case I did a search on google and yahoo for "Chinese wind chimes back luck" and actually found nothing at all. Every site I saw mentions that it brings great luck or fortune.

PS. the anime takes place in Japan so our arguments are moot anyway. For all we know the wind chime could have reminded the family of Natsume's weird grandma.

I actually don't even remember natsume taking it down so I cant really comment on it.

robbydesu said:
ERR...I was never born in China, I've never even been on the other side of the world before. So I dunno the details about villages and whatnot...it'll be a big village I guess since I know people who has the same knowledge as I do

And dude, internet is not the god of information, just because it's not posted up on the web doesn't mean it doesn't exist. That's such a black and white way of thinking.

Japan actually originated from China a VEEEEEERRY long time ago, I have no idea how long. But there are bits and pieces of Japanese culture that I think are quite similar to chinese culture, but maybe that's just subjective, depending on your definition of what's considered to be similar or not.

I also don't remember seeing Natsume taking down the wind chime or anything, I'm totally referring everything to the subs:


Shigeru: "Takashi."


Shigeru: "Tanzaku hazushi darou?"

Now the problem is more like mistranslation or misunderstanding (I just recently realized how bad GSS subs are from the first two epis of fma ): ). Because when you read the subbed line you would assume he's talking about the windchime itself. But in fact, "tanzaku" is referring to that lil piece of paper. I looked up the meaning behind it using the almighty google-san, and it's basically something that's considered as good luck.

Let's just say for argument sake, that everything, this meaning both the wind chime and tanzaku is considered good luck. Then someone please explain to me why Natsume took it down..for what logical reason would he take down something that's considered to be GOOD LUCK (and ward off bad spirits), when we all know he doesn't want anything to harm Touko and Shigeru..

Also, please explain to me the meaning behind the seemingly touching exchange between Touko-san and Natsume:


Touko: "Daijoubu yo."


Natsume: "Touko-san..."

darkryle said:

As for the wind chime, I re-watched a bit of some previous episodes of season 1 to see if there was actually a scene where Natsume took down the wind chime, but i didn't found one or there's no such scene in the anime. In episode 1 however, you can see the wind chime placed in exactly the same spot, but without the paper.

So, Shigeru might have actually referred to the paper in the wind chime that is placed there (not the wind chime that Natsume? took down).

robbydesu said:

It's awesome that you found actual proof that he took the tanzaku down. But that still doesn't explain as to why he would do that. If it is considered to be good luck...why would he take it down? Especially since he doesn't want anything to harm Shigeru and Touko...

darkryle said:


I only have a little knowledge about Chinese culture and foreign superstitions, so I can't really say anything that will help...

I just re-watched the final episode. My thoughts on the final scene..Shigeru was trying to confirm if Natsume really took down the tanzaku because he was quite certain that the chime had no tanzaku in it. Natsume who normally lies to them when it comes to things that involve youkai, wasn't able to reply at that moment. He was somewhat surprised since he's certain that he did not place the tanzaku back in the chime, so who did?. Proof to that was Natsume's reaction upon hearing the chime making sound; that as if someone's has just placed that tanzaku in the chime at that instant. Touko-san saying that "it's okay" is more of giving us more hint that they already knew all along about the Mystery surrounding Natsume.

darkryle said:
Who would've thought that a simple decor such as the wind chime would make quite a symbol in this anime. I mean it's just a simple decor that you may not notice especially with the youkai's appearing here and there and Nyanko-senei standing out among any others inside Natsume's room. But for the sake of completely understanding that part with the chime, I will watch other subs of the final episode and hopefully that would help.

merle_noir said:
I'm glad Natsume made the choice he did... :) Both youkai (or ayakashi) and humans are of equal value and importance to him.

hirahira said:

me too.

I don't want it to be over T_T

I loved this episode and pretty much every other episode. 9/10 from me