English Dub Review: Natsume’s Book of Friends “Emotions Undying”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Natsume, Kitamoto, and Nishimura take a trip to an old inn to spend some time doing their homework. Surrounding the inn is a lake, in which is believed to live a mermaid. Does mermaid blood really give eternal life?

Our Take:

Natsume has dealt with many spirits this season, including the stitch head one that almost ate him recently. However, this week’s episode sees him encountering a different kind of spirit in the form of a mythical creature. Instead of a yokai shaped like a human, Natsume is dealing with one that takes the form of a mermaid. Considering that the live-action Little Mermaid remake is coming out soon, I would be quick to call this a coincidence.

Before watching this episode, I thought it was an interesting change of pace to see Natsume helping a different creature instead of a yokai. Sure, helping a yokai is part of what makes the show a delight, but having him discover another unusual monster seemed like a bold choice to give its formula a refreshing makeover. But, of course, I later realized that the mermaid (later identified as Sasafune) was indeed a yokai when Natsume’s friends couldn’t see it but him.

Admittedly, I was slightly disappointed that the series didn’t take a different direction in its episodic formula. But then again, why change something that makes it enjoyable in the first place? To its credit, though, “Emotions Undying” showcases the show’s knack for providing a variety of yokai in each episode, especially the one based on folklore.

Additionally, it offers a brief history surrounding the mermaids’ hatred for humans due to the latter being obsessed with the creature’s blood, which grants them eternal life. This plays a role in the innkeeper, Chizu, who’s haunted by her guilt of giving Sasafune’s blood to her husband without the mermaid’s permission. However, it’s later revealed that Sasafune tricked Chizu by giving her grape juice. 

“Emotions Undying” takes a different approach in having a yokai be a mermaid than those shaped like regular humans, big-headed humans, animals, and even animal-human hybrids. The result is another decent yokai-of-the-day episode that features enough humor and heart to make the narrative enjoyable. While an actual mermaid would make for an enticing twist in the formula, what we got instead is good enough for me to stick with the basics for a while. Besides, I would rather be a part of Ariel’s world than Sasafune’s.