It’s getting a bit repetitive here, but this yet again was a really heartwarming episode. And as if the third season hadn’t already spent enough time developing Natsume, this episode took a look at yet another different part of his childhood, to the time when he was still passed around from household to household, but when the harsh times from when he was really young were already past.
It’s the point where he doesn’t get bullied anymore, but instead ignored. Because of that he also wasn’t really trying to not involve the people around him as much as he is now,so he caught the attention of one particular girl who started noticing that he wasn’t just randomly actin weird. It’s all told in one wonderful flashback and I really loved how the two didn’t really meet in the end, but rather were reminded of each other due to a random incident. The whole set-up of showing two different perspectives in the two halves of this episode was a very nice touch. The point of this episode I think was to let the people that Natsume met know that he ended up in a kind place.
It’s also interesting how this shows a time in which Natsume was really trying to restrain himself. That one like of his, when the girl asked him if he cut his hair himself. That’s something that the current Natsume would have never said, so it struck me when I heard it.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
God I love this show
I’m always a bit sad watching Natsume, but at the end, it would always bring me a smile to my face 🙂
I liked this ep, but it’s a bit late in the series for this story, isn’t it? It feels a bit redundant.. almost fillery.
nevertheless, i love his hair style. quite cool for young healthy teenager..
Agree with @Hogart there, it is a tad late/redundant to be going over material that has already been explored for three seasons already. But that aside, really felt they have upped the ante with the animation quality compared to seasons past.
Great stuff this season, definitely piqued my interest for Hotarubi no Mori e.
My heart aches a little every time I see the sad scenes, but I loved how we got another bit of his past.
I liked the youkai designs, and it made me a bit happier to know that in his past there had been people who were kind and treated him as a friend.
Just realized that this is the 5th episode already. Doesn’t feel like it has already been five weeks since the fourth season started. It was a nice episode and I like that we get to see episodes that are from Natsume’s past from time to time.
I liked how the youkai that chased had a tennis ball stuck in his mouth. xD
and though pretty much through the episode if Natsume would take it off for him at some point but seems like it didn’t bother him much.
It’s normal for stone lions to have a ball in their mouth. In this case though, some kid probably took the original stone ball and replace it with a tenis ball : )
Oh really? xD Heh. Why do they have orbs by the way? I could search that information somewhere else as well too I suppose.