OP: “Alca” by Hinata Kashiwagi (柏木ひなた)

There aren’t that many anime about which the word “timeless” applies, in my opinion. But Natsume Yuujinchou is one- like its emotional photo-negative, Mushishi (that one even more so, given the nebulousness of the time period it’s set in). Natsume Yuujinchou never really changes much. And neither does the me who watches it. Any time this franchise offers up a new incarnation I’m instantly transported to the person I was the last time I watched it. No matter how much time has passed it’s as if no time at all has passed. And if that’s not the definition of timeless, I don’t know what is.

But a lot of time has passed, there’s no denying that. It’s been seven years since Season 6, certainly the longest break so far. Why? Who’s to say. Midorikawa Yuki’s manga continues to sell a ton, as it has for 21 years and counting. Sales have dipped a bit but for a series of its age, Natsume’s numbers are remarkably resilient. Maybe it’s just tougher to assemble the key staff these days. The anime’s godfather Oomori Takahiro has been in the nebulous “chief director” role for a while, and it doesn’t seem as if Shuka produces all that much generally.

Whatever the reason for the long wait, it’s always great to have this show back. And as you’d expect, not much has changed. The animation is still crisp and clean, the art still pleases with that soft E.H. Shephard color palette. Kamiya Hiroshi has gotten older but his voice never really fit anyway, so I’m used to it now. And Inoue Kazuhiko continues to be a true wonder as Nyanko-sensei. It’s one of the great character-seiyuu pairings in the history of anime, and I could never imagine anyone else playing the role.

“Shichi” starts off with what was surely an arch-typical Natsume Yuujinchou episode if ever one existed. A couple of kids break a window – and a piece of pottery – with a baseball. Natsume is giving a youkai his name back. All very normal – but this time, the grateful youkai insists on giving his benefactor a gift. Natsume is not too keen to accept but the youkai floats away (he seems to be a cloud of some sort) before he can return the gift. It’s some kind of ash that can impart all kings of miraculous properties – like sakura-scented sake cups if ash is used in their creation.

Tanuma-kun gifts Natsume some potter’s clay left over from his father’s kiln. While Nyanko-sensei urges him to make a sake cup, Natsume is keen to make a vase – as one of the properties of the ash is that it can make a cut flower live for 30 days if the ash is part of the vase. But eventually Natsume despairs of his ability to create one and decides to shape something he has a model for. And thus Mini-Sensei is born – though not truly born until the resident buffoons pop in and cause the mishap which sprinkles ash onto the still-wet Mini-Sensei statue.

Mini-Sensei is an adorable little thing, though it’s not immediately clear whether he’s helpful or mischievous. Eventually the full-size model realizes he can communicate with Mini via telepathy. Turns out he was originally part of a Buddha statue, Jouzansohou, wound up in a ceramic bird in the possession of a priest, and that bird was what the baseball shattered way back at the beginning, So begins the odyssey of Mini-Sensei to return to his statue – the magical powers of the ash having allowed Natsume’s clay kitty to act as a vessel for his soul. It’s very much a classic NY tale, albeit on the more laid-back side of the ledger in terms of danger or pathos.

One of my core principles with Natsume Yuujinchou is that the eps that focus on youkai and better than the ones that focus on the human cast. Another is that it’s better in wistful, bittersweet mode than when it relieves on conventional conflict-driven plot. I’d bee happy with an entire season of episodes like this one, though I know full well that won’t happen. It’s all about the balance – every Natsume season is a good one, but the best have been the ones that went hard with what the series does best.

ED: “Komari Warai (こまりわらい)” by Toshiki Kondo (近藤利樹)