Natsume Yuujin-chou ep.08

September 2, 2008 | 11 Comments

I'm sorry for the slow update. I've been trying to upgrade my PS3 HDD and finally get to do it yesterday. It was kind of easy but difficult at the same time. I hope I don't have to do it anytime soon since my HDD is now a 250GB one. Anyway, this episode was a good and emotional one. I certainly didn't expect a love story out of this one since the series has always been about friendship. At any rate, the episode reminds me of A Chinese Ghost Story for those who have seen that film. Although I think it's less tragic and depressing in comparison to that film. At its core, however, it's a love story between a spirit and a human. Because of this, the first thing that I could think of was "this won't end well". Well, it does end in a sad note but at the same time, it's not a completely painful experience either. At least one half of the pairing gets a happy ending while the other is quite happy to see the other moving on with life. The episode also provides a possible reason as to why Reiko wasn't able to fulfill her promise to meet the youkai/ayakashi.

When he goes to a lake to see some fireflies, Natsume spots a man who's unaware that there's a female ayakashi nearby. Natsume tries to run away from the pursuing ayakashi but ended up falling off a cliff. Thankfully for him, the youkai manages to catch his hand before he plummets down below. In the aftermath, the youkai tells Natsume that she and the man used to be friends when they were kids but as the man grows older, he can no longer see her. The man in question is about to get married so she's only around to see him do this. In a way she likens her friendship with that man to Natsume and Nyanko. The two, however, denies that they are friends, claiming that they are more of master and pet. Oh...kay. Since the ayakashi doesn't have a name, Natsume decides to call her "Kiyo", because that's a name that he heard in his dream. The next day, Nyanko tells a legend about a God who fell in love with human woman and how the two secretly met at night. During those times, the fireflies will light the way for the two. To thank them, the God turned the short-lived fireflies into Ayakashi. It's said the fireflies in the area are descendant of the fireflies in the legend.

When Natsume reaches the lake, he sees a large floating head ayakashi looking like it's going to devour the man he saw the other day. Because of this, Natsume jumps and push the man aside. Later on, Natsume finds out that the man can't see ayakashi and besides, Nyanko believes that the one that was in the lake does not attack humans. Later on, "Kiyo" explain that the guy is called Akifumi and he suffered a lot due to his ability to see ayakashi. The guy often come to the lake to cry and Kiyo often watched him. One night, Kiyo got caught when she was watching him so she explained that she's interested in humans. Despite the guy claiming not to have any interest in ayakashi/youkai, he came over the next day and they became friends. One day, however, his eyes could no longer see her and even if she touches him, he can't see her. This causes Kiyo to wonder if one day Natsume won't be able to see youkai anymore as well. Later on at home, Natsume thinks how horrible it will be if that's the case and is surprised about this since he's always wanted to stop seeing them.

The next day, Natsume decides to tell Akifumi that he too can see Ayakashi. Akifumi wonders if Natsume is in pain because he was since he was alone. He, however, fell in love with one youkai although he wasn't able to tell her. Because he couldn't forget about her, he didn't get married. It's not until now that he finds a girl that he can love with all of his heart. The wedding will be in three days. After the wedding, he won't come to this place. After finding out about this, Kiyo seems relieved and tells Natsume that she's glad he finally finds someone that he loves so he won't be alone anymore. Natsume, however, wonders if it's okay with Hotaru. That night, Natsume sees a flashback on how Kiyo, who's actually called "Hotaru" by Akifumi befriended the guy. One day, however, he no longer able to see her and wonders if she leaves him because she hates him. The truth is, Hotaru actually loves him and has always been by his side. He simply can't see her anymore. In the present, Hotaru decides to turn back into firefly so she can see Akifumi for one last time.

Nyanko warns her that if she does that, she won't be able to return as Ayakashi and will die as a bug. Hotaru, however, doesn't mind and shed her ayakashi form and turns back into firefly before leaving Natsume's house. Nyanko quickly tells Natsume that the big floating head actually eats fireflies. Because of this, the two run to the lake to save Hotaru. The two arrive in time just as the large head youkai is about to devour a firefly. Nyanko, who has turned into Madara, stomps on the youkai, causing to fall unconscious, allowing the firefly to go freely. As it turns out, the firefly that they save is not Hotaru that they're looking for. Hotaru has actually gone to see Akifumi, who's now walking together with his new fiancee. Hotaru, who's now in her firefly form, perch into Akifumi's hand. Akifumi thinks how pretty it is, it's like....before he can say "Hotaru", the firefly has left his hand and joins the other fireflies that now can appear again since the fireflies-eating Ayakashi is unconscious. In the aftermath, Akifumi gets married and Natsume realizes that even if he can't see the youkai anymore, he'll still have memories of the time when he was able to see them.

Impression

Not being able to see ayakashi/youkai anymore might be the reason as to why Reiko wasn't able to fulfill her promise to the youkai. If she can't see them anymore or if they can't see her again, then obviously she can't fulfill her promise. Of course, this assumes that she lost her ability to see the youkai early in her life. At any rate, it's likely that as Natsume matures, he too will lose his ability to see the youkai. As for Hotaru and Akifumi, I thought it was a doomed romance right from the start. The unfortunate thing is neither Akifumi nor Hotaru got the chance to say what they feel for one another. At least Hotaru knows that Akifumi basically waits for her for years even after he couldn't see her. Therefore, it's understandable why she's happy just to see him move on. Her action reminds me of that little quote from Clover: "I only want your happiness, knowing I can never be yours to share it". On that note, I thought it was clever of the writer to use "Kiyo" as a name that Natsume first heard in his dream and ended up using to call the female ayakashi. The word actually was just a faint and mangled form of "Suki, yo!" ("I love you"), which is what Hotaru said to Akifumi when he wondered if she hates him.

© memento 2003