Natsume Yūjin-Chō Go

Episodes 1-3

Welcome to the long-awaited fifth season of Natsume Yūjin-Chō, also known as Natsume's Book of Friends. Studio Shuka has taken over adaptive duties from Brains Base to bring us more animated content from this award-winning shoujo manga, and it hasn't lost any of its iyashikei healing appeal. With a beautiful rural backdrop, melodic soundtrack, and evocative character drama, this is an emotional story that similar anime like The Morose Mononokean simply can't replace.

It's already been four years since season four came out in 2012, and the fifth season is starting off strong by reintroducing us to the show's cast of characters. But rather than coasting off of prior seasons' establishments—and there's more than enough content here to simply meet expectations—Natsume Yūjin-Chō is already provoking new questions and plot points. In the first three episodes, yokai are less of the focus and more of a plot device for helping us to understand the human world of Natsume's family and friends.

In Natsume Yūjin-Chō, yokai are mercurial, childlike beings. You can think of Natsume as a glorified babysitter to the undead, aiming to meet these creatures' unapologetic, often selfish demands. In that way, yokai make up the id of Natsume Yūjin-Chō, expressing the naked emotions that the story's human characters often conceal. Perhaps that's why we're still learning so much about these characters after all this time. We know what Natsume's grandmother, Reiko, was like as a high schooler, but what about how she was as a mother? In episode three, Natsume's trusted exorcist acquaintance, Natori, casually lets it drop that binding yokai names is a forbidden practice. So how did Reiko learn how to do something so frowned upon? Along the way, these first few episodes remind us that there's still a lot we don't know about these characters. It's funny and a little surprising to see Natsume tease a childish yokai, loudly wondering if he'll get lost in the crowd if they don't hold hands. It's also news to me that matoba and Natori have more in common than just being exorcists—they are both the last scion of an exorcist clan. This third episode ends with the story half over, leading me to believe that the fifth season will follow the fourth's habit of diving deep into long winding two-or-three-parters.

Environmentally, the show makes it very clear that Natsume exists between two worlds: the peaceful mundanity of his school and home life in rural Japan vs. the insidious creeping tension of yokai drama in a wild and woodsy setting. This is a very atmospheric show, profoundly dependent on visuals and music to frame the story. In these first three episodes, it's undeniably late spring, complete with rainstorms and lily pads and lush greenery. The haunting reedy soundtrack, with woodwind instruments and a traditional lilt, has been carried over from so many previous seasons to just be nostalgic at this point. There's a lot of familiarity in this setting, but combined with the new plot twists that keep things fresh, it's clear that Natsume Yūjin-Chō isn't going to run out of surprises.

Rating: A

Natsume Yūjin-Chō Go is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about geek careers at Otaku Journalist