Short Synopsis: Natsume gets visited by yet another sickeningly cute youkai who requests his name back.
Episode Rating: 8/10 (Excellent)
So, this was supposed to be another anime original episode, eh? I love how the fillers in this series actually make the story even better. This wasn’t simply yet another story inserted to fill time, this episode was introduced with a very specific purpose.
The thing with the Natsume Yuujinchou Manga is that it may have excellent stories, but they’ve got one major weakness: there’s not much overlap between them. The overall characters apart from Nyanko and Natsume appear very rarely. While this worked with Mushishi, Natsume Yuujinchou’s characters are of the type that make you hungry for more, and that’s exactly what this episode did. Finally we see Natsume hanging out with his friends from school. Finally we see Kaname again, finally we see how Natsume’s bond with him and his other friends has grown, and FINALLY we get some more background on Reiko. It really was about time for her character to get more fleshed out, and this episode did a wonderful job at it.
As it turns out, Reiko was incredibly different, and yet incredibly similar to Natsume. She too loved helping random Youkai, though her methods were more aimed at the psychology of the youkai: she’d do strange things of taking away their names, in order for them to achieve happiness in the long term. That’s probably also why she left her Yuujinchou to Natsume, though I’m not sure whether she planned it that way, or simply she wanted him to finish what she started.
Hm so its a step above the Santo episode well thats good, but I saw the preview of episode 6 that’s what I’m looking more forward to~
As for characters overlapping… There is a strange thing about the series with characters overlapping, evident in volume 6 or you can check episode 13 of season 1. The recurring characters like Tanuma, Natori, and Taki never actually seem to meet or interact with one another. Its quite a tease how often they ALMOST meet, whenever one leaves the chapter the other appears in the next. I’m always curious as to what would happen if any of the three good friends of Natsume met.
As for Reiko… She’s not as unhappy as the episodes so far have painted it out, I do hope the Fujiwara/Reiko chapter gets animated. Or actually Reiko is definitely not as demure as Natsume, the way she won Hinoe over was also funny. Overall Reiko’s got quite a smile.
I am very impressed with anime based on manga that have anime originals/fillers that are still so good xD Oh I can’t wait to watch this episode *_* It seems awesome, as usual xD
I wasn’t expecting much, but it sounds like it’s very enjoyable! I’m happy for the direction in which this anime is taking.
I really enjoyed this second season. Youkai and humans have mentioned how Reiko was…out there or unfriendly, but seeing her character fleshed out in this episode, I find her as the type who goes by the rule of ‘tough love’.
It’s also refreshing to see the other characters because they provide a significant impact to not just Natsume, but to the youkai. The demons begin to acknowledge that there are some nice and considerate people.
Have you noticed the ending wasn’t bittersweet? Season one had many tearful and nostalgic moments, but to me, season two might top it. ^^
Ah wow it was a mix of original and side chapter, I like how they managed to include Hinoe’s short reminiscing about Reiko. They did a good job with this one. But as I said, OMG its Taki the other recurring character~
Whoa, I kinda left the series behind cause I was busy and I just got to this episode. I would have to say this is an excellent example of story set up with an ending that makes you appreciate everything from the start.
That brief few seconds of revelation at the end just makes everything connect and makes you go “Woah!”
One of the best episodes I’ve watched from any series and I didn’t expect to see it here. ^___^