Wednesday, December 21, 2011

12 Moments of Anime: #5--Not Alone Anymore

Natsume Yuujinchou Screenshot 1

Everything that I love about Natsume Yuujinchou was contained in this episode.

Natsume Yuujinchou Screenshot 2 Natsume Yuujinchou Screenshot 3 Natsume Yuujinchou Screenshot 4

One of my favorite aspects of this third season was that we delved into Natsume's past a lot more, giving us the chance to see how much he's changed as he continues to have a foot in both the human world and in the yokai world. And no other episode did it better than this one, using a creepy yokai to play on Natsume's loneliness. When they meet again in present day, you realize how far he's come since that point in his life. To me, it felt like the majority of season was meant to show why Natsume isn't taking sides in the humans vs. yokai struggle that runs throughout the entire series. Despite the sad themes that this episode tackled, there was an overall feeling of optimism to the episode, especially because of the ending. Despite what he's experienced in the past, Natsume has found a place to belong and people (as well as yokai) who genuinely care about him. And isn't that what all of us really want?

Images from Crunchyroll.com.

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