Natsume Yūjin-Chō Go

Episode 6

When Natsume Yūjin-Chō began as a serial manga, it was published every other month. That meant that creator Yuki Midorikawa was tasked with creating standalone capsules of Natsume's world that, even with closure, would inspire readers to check out the next installment in 60 days. This week's “Soundless Valley” is a return to that, with a story that features a “yokai of the wek” and requires zero knowledge of Natsume's previous adventures. It's a standalone snow globe of an episode—full of fierce love and emotional permanence.

Natsume would live a very quiet life if it weren't for yokai. In his rural town, there's not much to do except go to school and run errands for his foster mom, Touko. But the guileless machinations of yokai keep sending him off the beaten path. This time, a mob of hairy yokai who are all pointed elbows and grabbing hands accost Natsume on the road and take his voice. An enormous, pink, birdlike yokai, referred to as both “he” and “she” in the subtitles, comes to Natsume's rescue. But there's something odd about this bird with their deadpan expression and monotone vocal stylings. There's always an uncertainty as to whether yokai are good or bad, and this one is certainly intimidating in size, but they seem to only want to play, show Natsume around, and make him laugh.

This isn't the first time that Natsume has lost one of his five senses. He's previous lost his sight, or at least his ability to see yokai. He's experienced sensory deprivation when he was trapped in a jar (and Nyanko-sensei had to hilariously impersonate him, as was flash-backed this week). Now he can't speak at all for several days. I think the reason the story keeps returning to this particular type of bad luck for Natsume is because it parallels his ability so well. There is so much that Natsume needs to hide from the world and from the foster family he loves. Every time something like this happens though, Natsume realizes a little more that he makes them worry no matter what. I think that eventually, Natsume will have a heart-to-heart with Touko and Shigeru about his abilities—and they'll believe him. Sure they'll still worry, but that's never going to stop so long as Natsume is losing his voice and staying out in a dry valley until dark.

Then there's Natsume's mild consideration of giving up the Book of Friends this episode, which seems like another form of giving up his speech. The Book of Friends gives him a purpose in the yokai world, and it's ostensibly the reason Nyanko-sensei, Hinoe, and the Middle Ranks lend him their friendship. Giving up the book would make him less of a target, but it could also give him less of a reason to talk to yokai at all. It's another possible meaning to the episode's title.

Losing your voice is one form of isolation. Putting your life on hold to wait for your friend to come back is another. The pink bird yokai waited in the valley long after all other life had abandoned it, because they hoped that Natsume's grandmother Reiko might return to play again. Natsume gains the ability to see the past when he returns a name, and the bird yokai's story was just as much about Reiko. That magic circle Natsume saw? It was a game they played together. But the bittersweet realization that Reiko has passed on doesn't particularly faze the yokai, who is simply pleased that her grandson came in her place. Now that the yokai is no longer waiting endlessly, it's time for them to quite literally spread their wings. It's amazing how Natsume Yūjin-Chō Go can portray so much love, loss, and longing in one big bird yokai we've never seen before and are unlikely to ever see again. It's a triumph unique to a show that portrays yokai as such openly emotional people, to make even its standalone episodes stick around in your thoughts.

Rating: A

Natsume Yūjin-Chō Go is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about geek careers at Otaku Journalist