Natsume Yuujinchou Go – 05

A mighty demon, indeed

Season 5, episode 5. It’s nice to be falling back into these one-off episodes, which are strengthened by bringing back an old cast member. I’d take Taki over Matoba any day!

Some quick Taki history: she was once cursed by a youkai, and tried to use her grandfather’s youkai circle to confront it. Natsume helped her exorcise it, which brought the two closer together. Despite this traumatic event and the fact that Taki can’t see youkai, she still loves these weird demons with all her heart. This makes for a difficult combination, as she wants to make the effort to communicate with beings she can’t normally see or hear.

As such, the episode is about Taki using her grandfather’s youkai circle circle to have a single conversation with a youkai, and then never seeing them again. It felt similar to the episode with the towel girl…in fact, a little too similar. I didn’t find it quite as sad however, so this episode felt a bit repetitive. Essentially, the fuzzy youkai falls in love with Taki (although perhaps his emotions are so complicated that love is not the most accurate description) and can’t bring himself to leave her house. However, he knows nothing will come of this since the two can’t communicate. Taki showed him a moment of kindness that changed his life…but he could never hope to reciprocate since she can’t see him. The demon is just a passing figure in Taki’s life, and he will never be able to look into her eyes again and see that spark of recognition.

It’s sad, but it has a lot less meaning that the towel youkai story because the fuzzy youkai is partially mistaken…Taki can see technically him whenever the heck she wants using the circle. He doesn’t have to be in agony, he could easily have said bye to her in person using this circle, or hung out with her more for tea. It’s more like a pride thing that prevents him from using it, which makes the whole thing a rather childish affair.

It’s not a bad episode, but it doesn’t exactly tug on my heartstrings the same way at the towel youkai one. The fuzzy youkai is gruff and horrible at expressing himself, so his true feelings don’t come out very well. He comes, gets attached, repays her kindness in one final way, and then leaves in a huff without resolving anything. Throughout all this, Taki has no idea what’s going on. It’s like he was the ultimate tsundere youkai.

I wish there was a little more honesty there, because Taki is so darn willing to speak to these demons who used to curse her. It would be nice for them to show the same effort, even though they need Natsume as a communicator most of the time. So what ended up resonating with me the most was Taki’s heartfelt desire to talk to youkai. It was sweet seeing her work so hard for creatures she couldn’t see, and doing her best to not get in Natsume’s way.

About Overcooled

A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.