Of love and rivalries.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yuki Midorikawa
Translation/Adaptation: Lillian Olsen
What They Say
Can yokai and humans ever really be friends? Natsume meets a yokai who is trying to let go of his feelings for a human for both their sakes. But Natsume isn’t sure that kind of sacrifice is necessary. Can he help, or will his meddling only make their parting harder to bear?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The leading story for this volume of Natsume gave me a strong feeling of deja vu. Didn’t we have a story which started off with Natsume being confronted by a pushy boy on a bench once before? Was I imagining things? But no, this isn’t that same story over again, and this time the boy isn’t a manipulative former schoolmate but a young man looking for his ex-girlfriend.
There’s been a running theme in Natsume that any and all Yokai and human relationships are doomed to end in sadness. Humans live much shorter lives than yokai, and they also have much longer and less forgiving memories of those emotions. Two young outcast lovers might care of each other deeply, but the human world’s perception of yokai is fickle and you end up with a deep sense of dread when the young man knows he should turn away but keeps pursuing his love.
Contrary to almost every other time this situation has arisen, the two young lovers decide to stick it out. It’s a sentiment of hope of happiness that leaves Natsume smiling in the end wishing that it will all work out for the two star-crossed lovers. The author then proceeds to shatter any warm feelings the reader may have had in her afterword at the end of the volume about the two ‘sickeningly soppy lovebirds’ and how she views their story.
The second story is another romp without Sensei for Natsume. He ends up involved in a yokai game that he didn’t mean to get involved with. With Nyanko-sensei off drinking elsewhere it’s up to Natsume’s yokai fan club to provide him with the help he needs to get out of the game. It’s cute, and I enjoy the silliness with the lesser yokai that call Natsume their own.
The last half of the volume is taken up by a story about how Natori and Matoba came to meet and inevitably clash. They’re forced to team up and get rid of a yokai attacking people, and in the end Natori let’s Matoba take the credit. It shows that Natori wasn’t always the playboy he comes across in the present as an actor. Matoba and Natori are both more traditionalists, but Natori always had a more understanding side when it came to yokai. Matoba is shown as being as cocky as ever, but also a young man with great responsibility on his shoulders to keep his clan on top. He’s still an unlikable ass though!
In Summary
This is one of the most optimistic and laid back volumes of Natsume’s Book of Friends that I can remember. The general feeling of acceptance of others and their ways along with the overall mixing of human and yokai cultures makes for a uplifting volume. The added flashback for Natori and Matoba provides the necessary tie-in to the overarching narrative that’d often forgotten in this series. A solid volume all around, even if it is treading some familiar ground at this point.
Content Grade: B +
Art Grade: B –
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A –
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: October 7th, 2014
MSRP: $9.99
I gotta ask. What did Midorikawa say about the soppy lovebirds? Did she see nothing but heartbreak in their future?