English Dub Review: Natsume’s Book of Friends “The Young Boy in the Empty House”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Natsume encounters a young boy named Kai sealed in a coffin in an abandoned house. Natsume sets Kai free and finds out that Kai is stalked by a yokai. After a time, Natsume becomes the target of this yokai and stops the yokai’s stalking with Nyanko-sensei’s help. In the end, Natori, who turns out to be the stalker and who sealed Kai in the coffin, tells Natsume that Kai is a yokai.

Our Take:
Last weekend, Natsume reunited with the exorcist Natori and his ally Hiiragi to dispose of the monstrous yokai infiltrating the Academy of Conjurers. It was a suitable start to the second season’s conclusion that highlights Natori as the teen’s mentor and Natsume’s struggle with his actions. This episode sees the two reuniting once more near the end to tackle the final yokai of the season.
“The Young Boy in the Empty House” introduces us to Kai, a young boy trapped in the coffin in a house by a yokai. Kai is described as a stubborn young child who seems to be another person who can see the yokai. With the help of Tanuma and Taki, Natsume attempts to protect Kai from a knife-wielding yokai targeting him. Unfortunately, it’s later revealed that Kai is actually a yokai posing as the boy, with Natori being responsible for sealing him in the coffin. In other words, it’s a colossal misunderstanding that would likely test Natsume’s trust in Natori.
The episode does a couple of things that make it another solid second-to-last chapter of the show’s season. The first is that it’s a satisfying (and humorous) team-up episode that unites Natsume with Taki to protect Kai. Tanuma also appears in the episode, but only for a few scenes. So if you’re hoping to see more of Tanuma, prepare to be disappointed. Second, the episode expands on Natsume’s concerns about himself. He still thinks he’s being reckless every time he tries to help a yokai, only for him to get himself almost killed. In this case, Natsume got his hand cut by the knife-wielding yokai while traversing the area full of dangerous yokai. It not only provided some more actual stakes for the main character but also put his duty to help the yokai to question.
But, of course, Natsume’s mission isn’t the only thing he should worry about. With Natori revealing the truth about Kai’s real identity, Natsume finds himself in another troubling situation that’ll make him lose the trust of one or the other. Season two looks to conclude it with some interesting dilemmas that could change the course of Natsume’s beliefs. Based on what I saw in the episode, I’m curious how it’ll go down between Natsume and his exorcist ally in the season finale.