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| This is half of the characters for season 1. Just saying. (Taken from awyeahnatsumeyuujinchou.tumblr.com ) |
So this is just my opinion on Natsume Yuujinchou. I'll do a season-by-season review or a full anime review or anything of the sort if anyone is interested or anything but as it stands... yeah. Maybe if I ran out of stuff to write about eh?
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| A shot of both natsumes. |
So if you're wondering what kind of post this is, take it like a simple summary of the Natsume Yuujinchou series and how I see them. So first of all, what is it about?
Who's This Guy?
Natsume Yuujinchou tells you the daily life of Natsume Takashi (I REALLY REALLY LOVE THIS NAME IT SOUNDS SOOOO CLASSIC) a boy who can see youkais and talk to them and stuff. This weird power is inherited by him from his grandmother, Natsume Reiko. Now, in his early childhood this sorry bastard didn't know what was what. One day he just up and saw all of em creepy shit all around him and as a child everything really goes rock bottom for him.
How It Began
His parents died early so he was taken care of by his relatives and due to his "There's someone else here" and "I saw something hanging at the window" outbursts (because truth be told, even I would literally scream my head off and ask for help from everyone near me if some long-necked woman was staring the hell outta me) he was often passed around among his relatives. Yes, they said he was an omen of bad luck and the such. You know the drill with these things, right?
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| He smiles like Gin from Bleach. Its a bit fake don't you think? |
Eventually someone who was acquainted with his grandmother from the past took him in and now he's trying to live a youkai-filled life without his guardians knowing it coz he ain't gonna move no more. Yeah sorry if you wanna see the guy's guardians you go watch season 1 or something I ain't got the pictures here.
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| This fluffy lump of cuteness... Is a youkai called Madara (and a lot of other names too) |
You might ask, "He's had so much trouble with the youkai in the past, so why the heck did he still bother with them?". The thing is, the place that he's staying at right now happens to be a place where his grandmother did a lot of spelunking and running around beating the crap out of other youkais. Have you heard the saying "Kicking butts and taking names"? That saying perfectly fits this situation.
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| So cute. Am I right? |
It turns out, Natsume's grandmother was a lean mean fighting machine and strong spiritual powers to boot. She kicked all the youkais' assess and took their names (literally) and put them in a book she called yuujinchou (the book of friends). So when the youkais in the area smelled Natsume (according to them he and his grandma smelled the same), they rushed to him and begged/strong-armed/swindled/blackmailed/threatened him just so they could have their names returned.
The Significance of a Name
According to Madara, a youkai's name symbolizes its very being. If someone were to take a youkai's name, the person would have complete control over it. What's more, if anything were to happen to the paper of which the name is written on, it affects the youkai directly (if the paper burns, the youkai burns etcetera etcetera).
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| Madara's True Form |
Of Natsume And Madara
Natsume made a pact with Madara (more like a mutual agreement) that Madara shall protect him for as long as he lives and the moment he dies, Madara gets the book. Now if you still didn't get the value of the book yet, the book is FILLED TO THE BRIM with a lot of youkai names. From the weakest will-o-wisps to deities that can break man-made seals with a flick of a finger.
So yeah. Of course Madara wants it too. At first he decided to take it by force but things happened, and he decided to go with Natsume's decision of returning the names of every youkai in the book.
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| Yes the cat is the focus of the show. Not Natsume. Mmm. No I'm kidding. Both of them are main characters. |
My Words (Read This)
I watched this show with no expectations at all in the beginning. I thought it was a dark depressing, betrayal-filled anime because it involved cunning conniving youkais. I was wrong. The show was very lighthearted and though it does have its fair share of malevolent youkais and all that, for the most part of the show its about Natsume going through life encountering these creatures. Sometimes he helps them... Wait. That's wrong. Its always him that helps the youkai. Both willingly and unwillingly. Sometimes you just can't tell the difference anymore.
Judging by what I said, I'm sure you realize that this is one slow-paced anime. Yes. It is really slow-paced and it doesn't really have much of a clear plot. So you just watch each episode independently and by the end of one episode, you'll wonder what will he find next. What will he see? Where will he go? If I had to give an example, Natsume Yuujinchou has a slower pace than even Barakamon
Oh. Because the anime has like four seasons, you can see how Natsume changes over time. He was a bit cold and secretive in the beginning but you'll see him open up bit by bit as he goes around and meet new people (and youkais. Lots and lots of youkais) and share a bond with them. So yeah. Its... mighty peaceful I tell you.
Last Thing (IMPORTANT)
One thing I can't let go before wrapping up is the soundtrack. Okay first of all the sountrack in the anime itself is mostly comical and weird. Like a youkai. The one I'm wanting you to direct your attention to is the opening and ending songs. You know when you like the songs so much you can't even skip them every time you watch the anime? This is one of them. The first season's opening song is so damn meaningful and beautiful I can't get it out of my head. It was like its telling you what the anime is about.
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| The ending song is just like that. A nostalgic wind blowing as you lie on the lush green field. |
Don't even get me started on the ending song. I'm somewhat of a classical junkie. So it got me hard. This is just my personal preference though. If you don't like it, don't kill me.
So yeah. If you want a more in-depth review or something just tell me. Hell, ask me about this. I BEG YOU. ASK ME.
Okay bye.
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