English Dub Review: Natsume’s Book of Friends “Tree of Promise”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Natsume encounters a spirit who had been enslaved by his grandmother Reiko fifty years ago by writing his name on a torn page from the Book of Friends and tying it to a tree in a forest. Can Natsume help locate the torn page? What was Reiko’s intention for tying it to a tree?

Our Take:
Stealing a yokai’s name and placing it in the Book of Friends is one thing. But leaving it tied up to a tree for five decades? Now that’s just one step too far, even for Natsume’s grandmother. Unfortunately, that’s what happened to the young yokai boy named Keninoa, who’s told by Reiko to wait 50 years to get his name back.
This is another episode that explores more of Reiko’s past. Her actions against the yokai have placed her on their hit list, and now Natsume has been their target since her death. Although, that’s because they thought Natsume was Reiko. Reiko may seem friendly on the outside, but she’s really a cunning trickster who manipulates the yokai into slavery. For example, Hinoe, who makes another appearance in the episode, explains via a flashback that she planned to leave Reiko alone in the forest until the crows stole her hairpin. Reiko went to retrieve it, but she would give it back if Hinoe led her out of the woods safely.
However, there were also times when Reiko wasn’t as mischievous as we thought, and this episode is one of them. It turns out that Reiko told Keninoa to wait 50 years to get his name back so that he could see a beautiful view of the ocean. What seemed to be another despicable prank from Reiko was actually a promise she made to Keninoa.
“Tree of Promise” continues to shine a light on Reiko’s history in the most heartwarming and humorous way possible. Hinoe’s flashback involving her and Reiko was one of the highlights of this episode, with Alexis Tipton continuing to provide solid voice work for Natsume’s devious grandmother. The scenes with Madara yelling into Keninoa’s ear to get him to speak are also hilarious. I’m pretty sure the yokai don’t have any eardrums, but if they do, I’ll bet that Keninoa’s would’ve been broken.