(L) Natsume Yuujinchou / Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou

[Deathkillz]

Originally Posted by SuperKnuckles

Personally, every single episode of this show so far has been AMAZING. Whether it's frightful, wistful, sorrowful or joyful, this show had so many emotions in only a few episodes. I haven't had that kind of feeling since the earlier episodes of Shigofumi.

For me it's Kurenai but the amazing thing is that this series seem to expand on the already extensive range of emotions from the former...Simply amazing...

But I don't think it is far off with a XXXholic comparison...is see them as being similar in an episodic was but Natsume is a lot deeper and so far less creepy. Positives for both series though because I love both titles.

And lets talk about ep 3...

Spoiler:

A new friend for Natsume?

Yet again another episode which mixes in a range of emotions...sorrow, happiness and sometimes just plain thought provoking. The feeling of being alone all the time...I suppose no one here can ever understand that fully.

Throw in some betrayal and angst into the pot and cook for overtime too...the flashback from Natsume with the lady was just such a case...it was tragic when he found out the truth and my hand was over my mouth the entire time. Imagine the pain that he must have been through in his childhood it isn't surprising to see him like this now.

This episode on another level follow some plot in the introduction of a potential new friend who is similar.

Lots of funny moments too like how Nyanko came back with a gift...very funny in an unusual way, who needs to exaggerate with forced scenes? This is comedy in it's purest form, the simple things.

And from the end of this one thing has finally begun to break through for Natsume...maybe Humans and Youkai aren't all that different from each other afterall...

I just love this series ^^

[FireChick]

I saw episode 3 and...that was so funny! Those little demons were all over him and Nyanko was going all stupid and Takashi kept calling him sexually harassive cat! That was gold!! The giant horse was cool too.



If they have Nyanko-sensei at Otakon, I'm so buying him!

[mandarb916]

Originally Posted by SuperKnuckles

I haven't had that kind of feeling since the earlier episodes of Shigofumi.

I didn't really think Shigofumi was emotionally moving at all...

Spoiler for shigofumi epi 1:

I originally thought the series would be about that rocket boy kid, and when he was stabbed to death in ep1, there was some shock factor involved, but beyond that, it felt like a normal series.

What Yuujincho did really well in ep3 imho was to present a really emotional and beautiful story with minimal words from the girl. I didn't pick up on it at first, but rewatching it, there's so much that can be missed in the first pass...I have no clue how butchered subs end up being for something like this, however, it's probably not that easy to translate and maintain emotional integrity of the original for most people.

Originally Posted by FireChick

If they have Nyanko-sensei at Otakon, I'm so buying him!

[blewin]

Originally Posted by Deathkillz

And lets talk about ep 3...

Spoiler:

A new friend for Natsume?

Yet again another episode which mixes in a range of emotions...sorrow, happiness and sometimes just plain thought provoking. The feeling of being alone all the time...I suppose no one here can ever understand that fully.

Throw in some betrayal and angst into the pot and cook for overtime too...the flashback from Natsume with the lady was just such a case...it was tragic when he found out the truth and my hand was over my mouth the entire time. Imagine the pain that he must have been through in his childhood it isn't surprising to see him like this now.

This episode on another level follow some plot in the introduction of a potential new friend who is similar.

Lots of funny moments too like how Nyanko came back with a gift...very funny in an unusual way, who needs to exaggerate with forced scenes? This is comedy in it's purest form, the simple things.

And from the end of this one thing has finally begun to break through for Natsume...maybe Humans and Youkai aren't all that different from each other afterall...

I just love this series ^^

another wonderfully simple and beautiful episode. I'm liking this series more and more, besides the fact that it's so similar to Mushishi.

Spoiler for ep 3:

yeah, parallels drawn between youkai and human, and how both require relationship and comfort from same/different species. That the feeling of loneliness is the same.

[vspirit]

Freakin' Nyanko headbutts! What great reactions~!

I really enjoy reading what's being said here. This anime is so strangely emotion-evoking. First, there was the manga (think I actually shed a few tears here and there in later volumes), then there's the anime which puts a twinge in my heart and an unconscious smile to my lips in the period after each episode ends and I /know/ the ED's gonna come on in a nanonsecond and now reading your reactions brings out a whole new of level of emotion in me. I'm not an overly emotional person (I'm about as emotional as the average person, I suppose) but sometimes, things just really move me. Things I consider as beautiful, usually. This is one of them.

From the preview, it looks like they're going to be skipping over chapter four and going straight into chapter five, so there isn't gonna be any sparrow episode. Which means...no youkai race ;_;. Oh well, chapter five's really good, too. We can anticipate more interaction with living people for Takashi as well. ^_^

And hm, in certain ways it /is/ similar to Mushishi, probably mostly in its simplistic but deep storytelling and its meandering pace, but in many others, it is vastly different.

[Fevvers]

Episode 3:

Oh, god, can Nyanko-sensei get anymore criminally cuter?! *melts*

It was a really powerful episode, despite its still laidback atmosphere. Just goes to show that you don't need the typical dramu moments (i.e. shounen/shoujo variety) to be able to deliver believably. It's funny how I didn't think much of the manga when I first read it a long time ago, I guess this is just the sort of series that is better experienced animated, just like with Mushishi.

[blewin]

Originally Posted by kafka

I guess this is just the sort of series that is better experienced animated, just like with Mushishi.

I get that feeling too. By first watching the anime, it allows me to better appreciate the manga. Like Mushishi, there seems to be more to the anime than simple slice of life. Even if I were to compare this with Natsu no Sora, Honey and Clover, and any other slice of life animes, they just don't evoke that natural beauty, tranquility and emotions as Natsume and Mushishi. Wonder whether it's because of the supernatural and countryside elements?

[SuperKnuckles]

Originally Posted by mandarb916

I didn't really think Shigofumi was emotionally moving at all...

Okay... so that's your opinion. Shigofumi, to me, just toyed with emotions since that was the whole point of it, especially with the way people feel various emotions regarding the death of a loved one or even someone they hate. I think that was the WHOLE POINT of Shigofumi. But if you disagree, then okay. I didn't get much of an explanation, but okay.

To me, Natsume Yuujinchou isn't so different. In regard to every different type of Youkai/Ayakashi, they represent different types of feeling they had for Natsume's grandmother and Natsume's own reckoning of what each types of Ayakashi's agendas and 'friendship' so to speak. In that sense, it's like a battery of emotional gauntlet that Natsume goes through in search of companionship from totally mysterious sources. To me, that is the similarity this show shares with Shigofumi. In that people (or Ayakashi) are connected in ways we may not even be able to fathom consciously.

[Sorrow-K]

Shigofumi did end up very inconsistent, though. Some of the episodes were very powerful, while some were very clumsy and ham-fisted. There was such a big difference between Shigofumi's best episodes and its worst. I'd be disappointed if Natsume Yuujinchou ended up being the same.

But, I do think the comparison is fair to a certain respect. Both series are about a range of feelings. I'm not sure I agree with Deathkillz's Kurenai comparison, though. Kurenai is more about people and society.

Ep 3

The flashback was the best part of this episode. A yokai that disguised itself as a human just to talk to Natsume. It clearly had an effect on him.

[SuperKnuckles]

Yeah, I never really commented on how Shigofumi ended up being a bit inconsistent near the end. But it still resounds as a show that played with a lot of different emotions for me, as far as supernatural shows go. Natsume Yuujinchou definitely is one of the most grounded and complete shows for its type I've seen in a long time. If this quality continues, I might actually put it above Mushishi.

[Kanon]

Episode 3 was great. So many funny and sad moments in just one episode... it's amazing how well they managed to mix the two together. And this episode made me wonder once again the reason Madara/Nyanko helps Natsume, he's always talking about killing him or just letting him get killed to take the book and yet in the end he always ends up saving him.

[sanriki]

Originally Posted by Kanon_

Episode 3 was great. So many funny and sad moments in just one episode... it's amazing how well they managed to mix the two together. And this episode made me wonder once again the reason Madara/Nyanko helps Natsume, he's always talking about killing him or just letting him get killed to take the book and yet in the end he always ends up saving him.

I agree, and I guess it's just because Nyanko sensei is...........Tｓundere!

There's another famous anime/manga story of tsundere youkai and boy,Usio and Tora.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ushio_and_Tora

[Deathkillz]

@Sorrow-K ~ Well I agree if you are mean for the genre part, but as far as emotions go they both share an distinct and unique range of happiness and sadness, which isn't uncommon but I'm generalising here, but it is the atmosphere which I want to stress here. Even being totally different in genre, the feeling it gives to me is similar.

[Sorrow-K]

Originally Posted by Deathkillz

@Sorrow-K ~ Well I agree if you are mean for the genre part, but as far as emotions go they both share an distinct and unique range of happiness and sadness, which isn't uncommon but I'm generalising here, but it is the atmosphere which I want to stress here. Even being totally different in genre, the feeling it gives to me is similar.

I don't really agree, since the shows don't exactly incite similar feelings in me, but I'm not sure it'll get us anywhere if we start debating something as subjective as how a show makes one feel, so I'm going to pass that opportunity up.

But I think we could probably both agree that, even if the two shows exude similar feelings, it's because of different reasons, since the two shows are about different things and have slightly different approaches to things like atmosphere and storytelling.

[blewin]

Originally Posted by Kanon_

Episode 3 was great. So many funny and sad moments in just one episode... it's amazing how well they managed to mix the two together. And this episode made me wonder once again the reason Madara/Nyanko helps Natsume, he's always talking about killing him or just letting him get killed to take the book and yet in the end he always ends up saving him.

I think we can safely say that sensei knows Reiko, but we don't know the type of relationship they have (only that sensei's name is not in the book of friends). Maybe he and Reiko have a promise.. well, who knows.

[FlareKnight]

Spoiler for Ep3:

Well have to say this is a pretty moving series. Just something about it calmly reaches you. Can really feel for how Natsume has been living his life. Being shuffled around family members while being isolated from everyone due to what he can see. Pretty tough to survive for so long feeling like your all alone. Though I think he's starting to see the possibilities around him. There are good youkai that he can be friends with and some people as well. Though I think real challenges will be reaching out to people who can't see the youkai.

Not sure, but did start to wonder if that woman was really human. Still when the truth came out could only feel for everyone involved. I'm sure Natsume felt betrayed by that fact. Also though I'm sure that youkai felt terrible for how it turned out. Just wanting to reach out to a lonely child in the only way she could. Going in her normal form would only have scared him and then he wouldn't have talked to her at all. Even though he's moved well away from there would be nice if they could meet again. Just seems sad if it was left like that.

At least Tanuma has the possibility to be a good friend. Though he can't see the youkai to the extent that Natsume can. Still even sensing their presence and seeing the shadows can at least confirm to him that something is out there.

I'm just really enjoying the series. Doesn't blow you away with fast pace action. But just shows emotions really well.

[White Manju Bun]

Epi 3 (atleast the flashback part) gave me a nice Lady in the Park feeling too it, of course until Natsume freaked out but can you blame him.

As always Nyanko-sensei is hilarious, his bellydance made me LOL. I did like seeing him transform behind the temple thing, that was cool. But the two spirits coming to ask for Natsume's help really stole the show in this one

I do find it interesting that Reiko seems to have all these yokai at her disposal but never called upon them after beating them. I find that kinda odd but maybe for her it was just about keeping her status as never loosing to an opponent.

Even though I kinda assume Tanuma wasnt the exorcist I was surprised it was his dad

[FuzzyWuzzy]

The stories are very mellow. They aren't the type that holds you at the edge of your seat but they are still able to hold you at your seat.

[phishn37]

I'm behind, I know (I've been gone for a few weeks...) but here are my first impressions of the first episode, the only one I've watched so far.
This, to me, seems like Mushishi, but with a side-kick, more of a plot, and less boring. I like the idea that we get to find out a little about his grandma as he releases each spirit, which gives it a good direction to go in other than just, "okay, onto the next spirit!" The animation is very nice, consistently good. And the cat is cute and sarcastic, as you would expect an animal sidekick to be. (He reminds me of Kero-chan from CCS!)
All in all, this has a lot of potential, and with a few new twists to a kind of story and style that has been done before. I'm looking forward to watching it!

[zzeroparticle]

I really did like that twist with the spirit that disguised itself as a human and though I did sort of expect that from the way the creature looked (call it my 6th sense telling me something's up), the way they resolved that turned out well.

If there's any major theme that this show touches on, I think loneliness is a pretty big factor since Natsume's condition really keeps him isolated and in spite of all the spirits around him, he never really befriends any of them aside from the Dew God. This seems to be a recurring with those who could sense spirits and I supposed the big hurdle will be to break that cycle so that Natsume can enjoy living with a somewhat normal social life.