This really was a wonderful episode. The best of the third season so far. It’s focused on Natsume’s past, interestingly, and on the kids who used to bully him. They changed too over the years, and this episode focuses on one who came in contact with a youkai.
Again things are much different from what they seem at first. The guy seems the same jerk at first, but gets much more rounded as the episode goes on, the youkai goes from a cute girl to a monster to a weak cute girl again. It’s great character development, not to mention how confronting this was for Natsume: throughout the entire series he has been trying to leave his past behind him, and here it comes back to him. For the first time we actually got to see Natsume really uncomfortable. The creators handled it really nicely.
Three episodes in, and I have to say that the creators really nailed the consistency so far. Right now, the third season is somewhere in between the first and the second season in terms of how much I like it. What it needs now, is the kinds of episodes that make it stand out: the really well written and heart-warming ones, like the Hotaru-episode. There still is plenty of time to do that, so I really hope that the creators are going to make use of that. In any case this season has the big advantage of character-development.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
The episode that made me LOL at humorous scenes and getting something stuck on my throat when the ayakashi disappeared 🙁
Natsume has changed since the first season. I recall that he would constantly lie, and stayed away from any one. Its nice to see how positive his life is now compared to before and his childhood.
This is also my favorite episode if the 3rd season so far. I think Natsume is at it’s best when it does these bitter sweet type of episodes. I also love seeing something negative from Natsume’s past turn into something positive in the end.
I’m pretty sure it also happens to be the only episode of the third season so far that was not filler. =\
The manga seems to constantly be improving so I wish they’d stick with the source material.
^
Actually, every episodes so far came from manga. They’ve just rearrange the order, and change something a little, which they have done before for the last two seasons.
I think what you said abouj character development is what they’re aimming for this season. Judging from the materials they pick up so far. There has been a slow, but noticeable change in term of the characters and continuity in the manga lately.
Woah, I cried again. =Y_Y=
It definitely has the same atmosphere as the first season. This is shaping up to be the best season of NY so far.