Natsume Takashi is a young boy who can see ayakashi-- a trait that other humans do not have. He inherited from his grandmother, Natsume Reiko, this ability to see ayakashi as well as the all-powerful Book of Friends. With the Book of Friends, Natsume Takashi is constantly being attacked and seeked out by various demons and spirits who either wish to have their names returned, or who just want to own the book for their own evil purposes.
This is a continuation-- the second season-- of Natsume Yuujinchou which ended on thirteen episodes during the 2008 fall season.
To be exact, this particular post is more for my own opinionated thoughts rather than for a first impression. As a first impression, it is more a way for me to compare the first season with the second season's beginning. In a way, Natsume Yuujinchou fans of the world will be given a chance to compare Natsume Yuujinchou's second season with the glory of its first season.
When I first picked out Natsume Yuujinchou from various other broadcasting anime in the fall, it was because I had been drawn to the advertised poster. This is all explained in first impression: Natsume Yuujinchou.
As the first season drew to a close and the anime loving community was informed of a second season, I was extremely ecstatic. After all, the first season was rather short and left much to be desired. While I had intended to draw up some hype on the soon-to-be-aired Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, my busy schedule and loss of motivation sort of threw all of that into the dumpster.
But lo and behold, having finally gotten my hands on the first episode of the second season of Natsume Yuujinchou, I am thoroughly revived and ready to tackle my almost abandoned anime blogging once again.
And now back to the anime.
I remember why I liked this series so much. It's relaxing and it makes you really think about every situation and every scene and every dilemma. As I had described it in the end of series thoughts, instead of being an action packed, supernatural and fantasy adventure, Natsume Yuujinchou borders more on a serene, slice of life, drama-esque type of genre. Supernatural elements just happen to be its basis, used to better distinguish Natsume Takashi's growth and development and how he learns to deal with the world around him.
The second season starts off in very much a bit of a bang compared to how the first season had started. Of course, once again, our beloved hero is being chased by some greedy ayakashi out to get him for the Book of Friends, and again, Takashi-kun meets up with a danger to himself involving more dangerous ayakashi. The second season has Takashi tripping over yet another barrier and releasing yet another high level ayakashi from its seal. And then the story goes from there.
It feels less of a sequel and more like a continuation from the first season, exactly where it had left off. Little seems to have changed save for Takashi-kun's level up in emotional and mental quotients.
The anime is still aiming for the same feel and wonder as the first season.
The only difference I can filter out of it is that Natsume Takashi seems a bit livelier than he did from the first season. It could be because of a plethora of things, such as all the friends he had made from season one, and how much more secure he is feeling in his own home now. His sense of duty from accepting the presence of youkai has been amped up a few levels-- its as if he feels that, since he has the power to do so, he needs to play mediator between youkai and humans.
Otherwise, his personality still remains quite the same: he is a good kid with nice qualities and a penchant to think for other people's sakes. He's just a little less monotonous, more active, and less depressing-- not that he had been depressing in the first season at all.
The second season seems to be trying to bring up the comedy just a little more, but hopefully it will incorporate that element as the first season had done-- the first season had the perfect dosage of every genre it portrayed and hopefully the second season will remain as such.
I have to admit though that the first hit of comedy which involved Takashi-kun being smashed in the face with a soccer ball unawares as he is reminiscing was very classic. I jumped and then I gasped and then I laughed. The bit with Natsume Takashi's overpowering strength towards ayakashi is quite admirable-- and amusing-- when he is pissed off enough to take action instead of just relying on his unreliable feline/high-level ayakashi bodyguard.
On top of everything else, I think that I have become mesmerized everytime Takashi-kun does his little clap and blow bit when returning a name to the present ayakashi. Something about how he does it and the fact that he has proven to be quite the bishie and kind-hearted boy... it just makes me unhesitatingly add him onto my list of favorite bishounen males.
Natsume Takashi has become one of my favorite main anime characters. Hands down, he's great!
The theme song is more upbeat than the first season's, but I like it. It kind of synchronizes with Takashi-kun's personality as he continues through this serial anime journey. It took me two watches, but I had noticed that the first half of the theme song shows scenes without ayakashi and the second half shows those exact same scenes with the ayakashi. I feel like it's really significant in showing just how natural the presence of youkai are in the Natsume Yuujinchou world.
Overall, I will continue to look forward to watching the rest of Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, although I know I'll be hard pressed not to compare it to its first season.
On an end note, the ending theme is not only animated beautifully with Takashi walking through snow and his friends joining him one by one, but it is also catchy and pretty. I will wait patiently for the full version of this song.
No comments:
Post a Comment