Short Synopsis: Natsume finds out that there’s a strange girl who doesn’t speak in his school.
Episode Rating: 7,5/10 (Good)
Oh, how rare: this arc is going to take two episodes. It sure is a haunting one: we have this girl who experimented with the occult, and in return once encountered an evil youkai. It wanted to play a little game with her: within the next 360 days, if she could catch it, it’d be her win, though if she’d fail to catch it, the youkai would not just eat her, but also everyone whose name she called. This forced her to spend the next year without talking to anyone, out of the fear that she’d accidentally call their names. That must be hell!
And it again shows how important names are for these youkai, and how screwed Natsume must have been if he didn’t meet Nyanko-sensei: what would he have done if he met that evil youkai instead? It would probably have eaten him immediately (speaking of which: nasty cliffhanger at the end. We know that Natsume isn’t exactly “eaten”, but I have really no idea what that youkai is planning to do with him).
An annoyance in this episode came from Natsume’s friends… I really expected better of these guys, but in one episode they were simply degraded into the stereotypical paper bags of the best friends of the lead character that you see in every anime. It’s all there: trying to hit on a random cute girl, and successively getting sad and angry when the lead character walks away with her. That’s really one trope that needs to stop.
He doesn’t meet her like that in the manga so that part is “original” lol, can’t expect to much from that and it’s not like it’s important to the plot in any way but being a side character these days is hard and ungrateful. As for the cliffhanger, he gets butchered badly and the girl takes his part as main lead…joking or am I?~
I wonder if it will be the girl who will save him in the next episode. If that is the case, it will the damsel who saves the hero in distress 😀
About his friends, I really didn’t mind it, as long as it doesn’t turn out to be reason for a feud between them.
The cliffhanger in the end was torture >:(
The friends are nothing more than background, that’s why I was irked by them keeping Sasada since she just adds to the clutter. Sure they add to the atmosphere by making it apparent that Natsume is fitting in, yet they’re just atmosphere characters. Then we have Tanuma and the Fujiwara’s, who as far as I can tell is just one step ahead from the other background characters. I think the only real characters that do put a point across not just to set atmosphere would be Nyanko-sensei, Natori, and Taki (well I’m guessing since she actually recurred and helped Natsume out in volume 6, I’ve yet to read 7 so I can’t tell but looks like she’ll follow Natori’s trend.)I guess its only those involved with youkai that do stand out I guess.
Course the other annoyance of the series manifests itself here, why doesn’t Natsume actually summon Hinoe to help again (wasn’t her specialty curses). Still I’m glad that Taki is in the fray, Taxi X Natsume~
Similar thoughts on the others. Didn’t realize that about Natsume’s friends until you mentioned it. I hope their roles aren’t simply like that, I think they have the potential to be more interesting, not just extra comic reliefs ^^;
think about it this way though. All the time spent in character building Natsumes friends is time that couldve been spent developing the characters in the story that actually matter. Natsumes friends are there for two purposes, plot devices and some stupid laughs. I think that they do that perfectly.
Course to clarify why I say Tanuma and the Fujiwara’s are one step ahead of the others is that they do have a chance to be part of the plot rather than just be wallpaper, Tanuma well episode 3 and 13 of the first season would be a good reference. As for Nyanko, Natori, and Taki well they end up reappearing and produce a plot of their own. But I agree with Jako the friends are just there to add a little life, them as stereo types is probably as good as it gets, and they do their job just fine.
They are there because they are Natsume’s friends. You usually do just hang out with your friends without neccarily never knowing much or everything about them.
It’s nice to see that Natsume, who doesn’t or more like didn’t like/trust people.
It of course would be nice to see them have some spotlight, but I think friendship is what they will be in the end as well, did they get more developement or not.
It was a nice episode. Didn’t expect Natsume to disappear like that. O_O We will see Nyanko-sensei so worried in the next episode. 😛 He really doesn’t want to Natsume disappear even though he always threathens to eat him.
They are there because they are Natsume’s friends. You usually do just hang out with your friends without neccarily never knowing much or everything about them.
It’s nice to see that Natsume, who doesn’t or more like didn’t like/trust people.
It of course would be nice to see them have some spotlight, but I think friendship is what they will be in the end as well, did they get more developement or not.
It was a nice episode. Didn’t expect Natsume to disappear like that. O_O We will see Nyanko-sensei so worried in the next episode. 😛 He really doesn’t want to Natsume disappear even though he always threathens to eat him.