English Dub Review: Natsume’s Book of Friends “Assembly Of Conjurers”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
While out with Tōko-san, Natsume spots a hurt yokai. Quickly, he chases after it, but as he goes to help it, it is eaten by a much bigger yokai. Natori and Hiiragi appear right after the yokai escapes, and they invite Natsume to the Assembly of Conjurers. Here, Natsume can not distinguish between humans and yokai and is hopeful of finding people who understand him. But he is too soft-heartened to realize everyone’s intent.

Our Take:
We’re already nearing the end of the show’s second season, meaning that things are about to get more interesting for Takashi Natsume. For starters, we just realized that there’s a secret organization full of humans and yokai, according to Natori and Hiiragi. But not after we see them hunting down a monstrous yokai that gobbled up the winged yokai like a blueberry. The hunt is brought to the Assembly when the big-head yokai infiltrates the building.
I’ve been saying it plenty of times since the show began, but it bears repeating that Natsume’s coming-of-age journey has been the series’ driving force that continues to maintain my interest. Amid its ghostly adventures, we see Natsume struggle with his ability affecting his life and keeping it hidden from his friends and family. It’s not just because of his fear of being shut out, but also to keep them safe from any dangerous yokai hunting him down. “Assembly of Conjurers” is no exception, with Natsume realizing that there are other people that can see yokai as well.
The episode has Natsume hoping to find someone in the organization who shares the same pain as him. More importantly, it has him learning to know about himself instead of being reckless, as told by Natori. Unfortunately, Natsume had to learn that the hard way when he and Natori successfully captured the big-head yokai, only for it to be taken by Miss Nanase, the leader of the Assembly. It’s also revealed that Nanase sent the winged yokai as bait to capture and enslave the big-head yokai, resulting in Natsume realizing how dangerous specific people like him can be.
“Assembly of Conjurers” delivers another solid character development for Natsume amid his ghostly hunt with Natori and Hiiragi. It also shows how well Natsume and Natori work together to capture the yokai through Natori’s exorcism methods. But, of course, even after surviving against the monstrous yokai, the problems have just begun for Natsume as we’re reaching the end of its second season.

Put it together.