Natsume’s Book of Friends is mostly episodic and anthological rather than serial like most anime series. That means you can jump in pretty much anywhere and still enjoy all the main points. So, if you think you might want to check out this calm and relaxing anime, you might as well start with season 7. It’s really good so far! Here are my reviews for episodes 3 and 4 of the new seventh season.

Article Contents:

1. Episode 3: Tokanya (Ten Complete Nights)
2. Episode 4: Depths of the Page
3. Other Posts in This Series

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Episode 3: Tokanya (Ten Complete Nights)

Episode Rating: 8/10

This episode’s Ayakashi (mythical spirit) was a group of scarecrows that had come to life and gained spiritual powers. Old farmers sometimes accidentally imbue their homemade scarecrow with a forbidden spell, granting them souls. The scarecrows in this episode were funny and adorable. It is weirdly pleasing to hear them hop along on their supporting stakes.

These ten scarecrows in particular are particpating in “Tokanya,” which is a competition between humans and Ayakashi. For ten days, the Ayakashi invade a human’s home and terrorize the human’s dreams. If the human gives up and leaves the house, he can never win it back. However, if the human toughs it out, he wins, and the Ayakashi must bring him tribute and wealth throughout his days.

The person engaging with the Ayakashi in this episode is an older man named Amasawa. He didn’t agree to the Tokanya in the first place, but the Ayakashi tricked him into saying “Yes.” Not wanting to lose his ancient family home, Amasawa enlists the aid of an exorcist. Of course, that exorcist is Natori, a recurring character in the Natsume series. He and Natsume happen to bump into each other while both are investigating the scarecrows.

A handsome man wish glasses, Natori is keenly interested in Natsume and his unique supernatural dilemmas. He wants to set the younger boy free from the burden. In addition to impressive exorcist powers, Natori has a minor curse, of sorts: a tattoo-like youkai resembling a lizard lives in his skin. Only people with spiritual perception – like Natsume – can see this youkai as it crawls all over Natori. Together, Natsume and Natori go to visit Mr. Yorishima, a grumpy man with much knowledge of local Ayakashi.

Natsume feels strange when he sees Yorishima, describing the feeling as both familiar and unknown. Natori later says that part of Yorishima’s body is actually an Ayakashi, which would explain Natsume’s reaction. Anyway, Yorishima told the boys about the Tokanya tradition. Thus armed with knowledge, Natori and Natsume work together to exorcise the scarecrows. Soon, all were taken care of. The Ayakashi lost the Tokanya!

Amasawa, the house owner, helped at the end by identifying the last Ayakashi in the form of a straw broom. The older gentlemen is clearly a kind soul. He expresses to Natori that he wants the scarecrows to be set free rather than working to bring him tribute. Natori promises to do what he can, but also explains that setting souls free from pacts and curses is extremely difficult. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be so hard to free Natsume from the Book of Friends. One day, Natori promises, he will succeed with that.

It was interesting to hear and see Natsume’s reflections and responses during this episode. He empathized when Natori explained his occasional feelings of fear. Also, Natsume reflected on the idea of an “accidental forbidden spell.” If farmers used forbidden spells by accident to bring scarecrows to life, then Reiko could have also activated taboo magic by writing the Book of Friends. Maybe that’s why the Natsume family is bound so closely to spirits.

We may never know all the answers, but thinking is still quite diverting. This was a great episode with cute and goofy Ayakashi, subtle but strong emotional moments, and a little bit of action. Though it can be repetitive, I still enjoy this anime so much.

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Episode 4: Depths of the Page

Episode Rating: 9/10

This episode was excellent to me, but it might be hit-or-miss depending on your likes and interests. I am the kind of person who loves bookstores. My current ideal job would be working somewhere that sells books, especially old books. Many bookstores and libraries have an eerie, mysterious vibe that I love. So, when I saw Natsume and Kitamoto discovering an old bookstore, I knew I would appreciate this episode.

This was a high-quality installment – at least in terms of story and character elements. It was the same as always in terms of audio and visual quality. One of the factors that made this episode good was the character development. Kitamoto, Natsume, and Kaeda all had introspective and interesting moments. We didn’t learn anything new about Natsume, but I enjoy the reminders of his gentle and selfless personality. For instance, in this episode, Natsume was more worried about Kitamoto than his own safety.

Kitamoto is a classmate of Natsume and an ordinary, friendly boy. I think he is adorable. He’s more social and slightly less thoughtful than Natsume, but the two are similar. In this episode, we learned a bit about Kitamoto. He used to go on long walks with his father during which they bonded. It was a nice change because Kitamoto’s younger sister usually demanded the attention of everyone. Also, I think there was a little romantic subplot, because Kitamoto seemed to really like coming to see Kaeda.

Speaking of Kaeda, she appears at first to be a young employee at the bookstore. She does work there, but strictly speaking, she isn’t human. Kaeda is an Ayakashi who serves the old lady that owns the bookstore. Her existence is tied to a certain book, where she must eventually retreat to regain the power she spends manifesting. Due to the otherworldly nature of the bookstore, Kaeda can be seen by normal humans who enter. She is a very cool Ayakashi and I liked every moment with her.

The main plot of this episode follows Natsume and Kaeda as they try to figure out how to stop the curse in the bookstore. The curse itself was a fascinating concept. An evil spirit named Dei wrote Ayakashi symbols on scraps of paper and hid them in books all over the store. Each symbol represents a body part. Whoever sees the symbol first will be cursed with that body part becoming less functional. Dei soaks up power by slowly “eating” human body parts, making them useless. That’s cool and creepy.

Natsume would have lost only his sense of taste, but Kitamoto looked at several cursed symbols during his time in the bookstore. He would have lost the use of several body parts, but fortunately, the curse was lifted. Natsume found the lurking spirit of Dei and held it down. Nyanko-sensei then turned into Madara and helped subdue Dei. (He always looks so cool in his true form.) Kaeda read the spell to seal the evil spirit inside a book, and viola! The mission was successful.

I haven’t said very much about Nyanko-sensei yet, but as usual, he was cute and amusing for each of the last four episodes. With that note made, I’ll wrap things up for today. I’m very grateful to anyone who stopped by my blog. Until next time, Sayonara!

~Thanks for reading~

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Other Posts in This Series

Previous Posts

Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 7: Episodes 1 and 2

Next Posts

Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 7: Episodes 5 and 6

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