Natsume and Nyanko are back for some more adventures in season 3. The show definitely has had a pretty good run and barely halfway through. At this point you know if you like the series or not. Natsume is a very consistent title with the adventures. The slice of life format works well as Natsume learns more life lessons and gets to meet a lot of Yokai both good and bad. The show may not always be super exciting but you should have a good time checking it out. Ultimately it’s a quality wholesome show that you can watch at any time.
The first episode deals with Reiko which is always nice. Basically she helped out a Yokai involving a case with a mirror. There was a bit of a misunderstanding but ultimately Reiko helped her out anyway showing that Natsume’s mysterious grandmother definitely had a kind heart. We still don’t know a whole lot about her which is part of that character’s mystique but whenever she appears she seems like a very nice person. So it feels like something isn’t adding up about her reputation but for now there’s not much of a way for Natsume to dig deeper into this. Reiko’s definitely still the best character in the series though with how pro active she is. While Natsume gets steamrolled by the Yokai most of the time, Reiko was always in control.
In the second episode Natsume had to try and get a Yokai to stop haunting his friend’s house. The haunted house plot point is always a solid one for anything supernatural but in this case it’s less of a murder mystery slasher and more about talking things out. Ultimately Natsume is usually able to talk things out which is why it’s intense when the Yokai really turns out to be sinister. Natsume was also given the option to finally go to the Yokai world this time instead of remaining with the mere mortals. Ultimately he stayed and I really wouldn’t say that he was all that tempted. While he may have had a really hard time for most of his life, it’s fair to say that he’s having a really good time now that Nyanko has his back. Natsume has a ton of friends and connections now so why would he ever want to leave right? I feel like being around Yokai 24/7 with no other humans would have a ton of downsides.
The third episode is probably the most annoying one in the season. An old “friend” named Shibata appears acting all friendly but he and Natsume had never gotten along before so it’s suspicious. Sure enough, the guy is here to ask for favors and to generally be an annoying guy. He believes that a girl he met might be a Yokai and he wants to know for sure before proceeding with their relationship. It’s a valid concern to be sure so you get why he’s doing this but it’s the way that he went about it which was annoying. He was quick to blackmail Natsume and the threats came before Natsume could really try to help.
Lets be honest here, Natsume’s a very nice guy. He absolutely would have helped this punk regardless of the fact that they weren’t exactly close friends. Then once Natsume does tell him, the guy refuses to listen. So much for wanting the truth right? Yeah this guy was just awful the whole time. The actual story is still pretty wholesome and emotional but while the show expects you to sympathize with Shibata by the end, I never did. He just doesn’t seem like a good guy so in a way it’s probably good that no romance could ever really come out of this encounter. Also in general I don’t think it’ll ever work out between a human and yokai due to the fact that Yokai are effectively immortal (With a lot of asterisks on that) while humans fade away real fast.
After that we get one of the more plot important episodes to the series when we see Natsume as a kid and how he met this one Yokai who would always scare him. It’s a pretty sad story all around because the Yokai was really just glad that someone could finally see her. Scaring humans was really all that she knew how to do and by the time she realized the damage she was doing it was too late. Natsume had left. So from the Yokai’s perspective she had to basically remember that for years and couldn’t do anything about it because she had no idea where it was.
It’s an episode where Natsume looks really good because we see that he never held a grudge against her at all and later on really understood things from the Yokai’s point of view. It’s also a reminder of how tough it can be to live as a Yokai. There are countless dangers around the world from the villains who can see you and yet there aren’t many good people who will ever notice you. It’s like the worst of both worlds which is a really sticky spot to be in. It’s rare to get a glimpse into Natsume’s past so that was really nice. This is definitely a top tier episode in the whole franchise so far.
In the next episode we have a more low key adventure but the fun part is Natsume gets to hang out with Tanuma and Taki this time. They have to find the pieces of a Yokai before it becomes whole and starts murdering everyone. Ultimately it’s also going to take friendship with the rest of the Yokai in order to stop such a threat. It’s a nice enough episode and Natsume’s friends are always fun so it’s nice to have them around. Natsume is still at the point where he doesn’t let them get super close to help out but at least they both know about Yokai which is more than what most know. While this may not be a super eventful episode, I think it’s a fairly good standalone one to even show a new viewer to understand what the series is all about. Ultimately helping both Yokai and humans is what Natsume does and generally his actions in each episode reflect that. Often times by helping one side he ends up helping the other. It’s very rare where he has to actually take someone down.
After that we have a two part adventure where we finally see Matoboa in full action. The guy is a fairly strong exorcist and unlike Natsume this guy really doesn’t like Yokai. We now have the big contrast and you have to figure they will have a real fight at some point. Matoba is very accomplished though and has a large family/army of followers by his side so things would be rough for Natsume. The episodes are really about showing how ruthless Matoba is as he takes down a lot of Yokai to get to his target, regardless of if they’re innocent or not. He also captures Natsume at one point.
Natori also gets to appear here and he sort of serves as the middle option. If Matoba is all about destroying all Yokai while Natsume wants to save them all, Natori tries to do a bit of both. He’ll save some Yokai but he’ll absolutely destroy some others. He ultimately is as reasonable and rational as possible. Both characters won’t agree with him all the time but they do tend to get along with him more than they would each other. It’s a pretty fun two part adventure especially because of how it’s setting up future events but I really hope Nyanko pulls through to land some damage on Matoba at some point. I think one weakness of the main characters being pacifists is they will often let Matoba and other characters land hits on them without ever really retaliating. Of course that’s honorable but it can also be annoying when pushed too far.
The last episode actually has lasting effects on the rest of the season which is impressive. For example in the next episode Nyanko is still wounded so Natsume tries to find something that can heal him. This even results in the little fox Yokai returning after being gone for so long. So that was pretty neat and in general it’s a pretty fun episode. That fox always looks up to Natsume and Nyanko. He nearly starts to get tricked a little easily which could have been dicey but things end up working out. It’s a very low key adventure since there’s barely a conflict in it but Natsume needed a little downtime after the last adventure.
After that Nyanko was still sick so Natsume had to go to school without him and help out with the events. The problem is that a Yokai is messing with him the whole time which is making him look suspect. How can he deal with this creature while Nyanko is still out of commission? That’s the main dilemma here and it works pretty well. I think the show actually could have learned into the dangers of Natsume being on his own without Nyanko a little harder to be honest but this works well enough.
Then we get to the next big adventure with Tanuma acting a little suspicious. He’s been avoiding Natsume as of late so the hero catches up to him to see what’s going on. Well, Tanuma is now being possessed by a mysterious Yokai. Tanuma doesn’t remember when he’s been possessed as it goes in and out but this is pretty dangerous. It’s also one of the few times we see Natsume being genuinely upset because he does think that’s crossing a line. Possessing his friend like that is definitely no joke. Ultimately being a nice guy wins out and he does help Tanuma’s spirit out but it’s a bit grudgingly.
I also think the fact that Nyanko couldn’t blast the spirit out without hurting Tanuma was a little convenient. It feels like when the chips are down Nyanko is just unable to deliver when it counts. Considering how legendarily powerful he is it’s just a bit suspect if you ask me. I suppose I should cut him some slack…but I dunnooooooo. So it was a good adventure but once again it points out the weakness to Natsume being so passive here. I need my main character to be able to fight when necessary and the problem is that I just don’t really think he will in most instances.
After that Natsume gets sick and a spirit from his past returns to mess with him. It caused a whole lot of problems back when Natsume was a kid and now it is back to cause more chaos. Fortunately this time Nyanko does take full credit for taking it down. This episode was also fairly tense because this creature was absolutely not going to be talked down and was really just trying to mess Natsume up. We don’t see a ton of creatures that are quite this bloodthirsty so that was definitely real intense. It made for a solid story and giving more focus to Nyanko was a good idea since he was sidelined for a decent chunk of the season.
Finally we have a light episode to end the series with. Natsume basically gets to hang out with the whole cast of Yokai and they all get to play a lot of games. I would say there’s not a whole lot of plot to the finale because it’s really all about just hanging out and having a good time. It fits in with the spirit of the series though as Natsume has always wanted to have some friends and now he has finally found a lot of good ones. He’s certainly not alone anymore and the final episode really shows just how true that is.
In terms of the technical aspects I’d say Natsume has never been a particularly high budget show. The visuals are nice enough but they’re not going to stand out or anything like that. The soundtrack is very subdued as well so you probably won’t have any songs that really stand out. The show survives and does well on the good writing and the solid stories. It doesn’t have any kind of backup on the technical side so it’d be nice to see that improve in future seasons.
Overall, Natsume season 3 is a fun show. Does it beat or lose to the first two? It’s hard to say because they’re all fairly even to a large degree. If push came to shove I’d probably say it beats season 1 and loses to 2 but they’re all super close. If you’re in the mood for a solid slice of life title with a lot of fun adventuring then this is the one to go for. You’re always learning good life lessons in the show and the pacing is definitely on point. It’s a very calm show that’s easy to watch at any point and the ideas for different Yokai scenarios are really endless. This can keep going on as long as the author can think of more scenarios to come up with.
Overall 6/10
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