English Dub Season Review: Natsume’s Book of Friends Season Two

Natsume’s Book of Friends is a peculiar supernatural manga series that combines the tranquility and wholesomeness of its presentation with the genre’s yokai elements. The manga, centering on a young man who can see yokai, was successful enough to spawn a six-season anime that grew more popular worldwide. Although, it hasn’t received an English dub until July 2022, five years after the show concluded its run in Japan. Following the conclusion of the English dub version of season one, the show wasted no time in getting season two out as soon as possible. Considering that the English dub for Natsume’s Book of Friends was five years overdue compared to the other anime, it’s unsurprising that they want to keep the ball rolling while it’s still fresh.

For those needing a refresher, Natsume’s Book of Friends is a supernatural drama series centering on Takashi Natsume (Adam Gibbs), an orphaned young man with a gift of seeing spiritual beings like his grandmother Reiko (Alexis Tipton). With the help of a stubborn yokai named Madara (Christopher Wehkamp), Natsume uses his grandmother’s Book of Friends to free the yokai by releasing their names from it. During the process, Natsume attempts to live a normal life while hiding his secret from his friends and loved ones. Along the way, he learns more about Reiko’s past and gains some unexpected allies, including Kaname Tanuma (Tyson Rinehart), who can also detect spirits, but only the low-level ones, and Shuuichi Natori (Aaron Roberts), a famous actor who’s also an exorcist.

When I first got into Natsume’s Book of Friends last year, I had no idea what to expect from it regarding its tone. I had watched Mieruko-chan, another yokai series featuring the main protagonist seeing ghosts, so I thought Natsume would follow in the same steps as that show. By the way, I’m still waiting for a second season of Mieruko-chan because that show was also quite good. However, after watching the first few episodes, I was genuinely surprised that that wasn’t the case. It has a similar concept to Mieruko-chan, but the series uses it to portray a light-hearted (and often creepy) coming-of-age journey full of serenity and beauty. It still has the familiar horror elements from the other Yokai-related shows, but they’re balanced well with its themes and optimism to make it stand out above the supernatural crowd. Plus, its episodic plots are five times better than most of the mediocre horror movies we got recently. Because of this, I had no problem getting into the show’s second season despite being surprised at its sudden occurrence.

Like season one, season two, also known as Natsume’s Book of Friends Continued, sees Natsume and Madara continuing their quest to release the yokai’s names from the Book of Friends or help them with their issues. Unfortunately, their journey occasionally has them taming several monstrous spirits that either place a curse on Natsume or attempt to kill him, including the Stitch Mark Yokai (Alex Hom) from the season’s sixth and seventh episodes. The final two episodes see Natsume encountering Kai, a young boy who’s actually a water god looking to free a group of Oni from a well because of his loneliness. During the process, Natsume unknowingly finds his good nature tested when he’s forced to choose which is more important to him.

Without further delaying the inevitable, the second season of Natsume’s Book of Friends maintains the elements that worked in season one. One of them is the direction for the seasonal plot. Like season one, season two consists of thirteen episodes containing monster-of-the-week stories involving Natsume encountering a different yokai. However, this season stands out because it has two sets of interconnected episodes centering on one yokai. The primary example is the sixth and seventh episodes, “The Maiden’s Circle” and “That Which You Must Not Call”. Those episodes involve Natsume helping his new companion Touru Taki, a girl who sees the ghosts by drawing magic circles, break a dreadful curse placed by the Stitch Mark Yokai. Those episodes, along with the heartfelt scenarios and Natsume’s character arc, help the season be less repetitive regarding its episodic structures. Part of its repetition is due to a couple of episodes having similar scenarios with different yokai, mainly Natsume getting cursed. Despite that, it still contains the relaxing charm and humor I’ve come to expect from the show while balancing them with its frightful imagery.

On the technical side, Takahiro Omori and Kenichi Kanemaki returned to direct and write season two, respectively, both of which played roles in the first season’s success. Makoto Yoshimori also returned to provide the show’s music, which is still heavenly to listen to. The second season’s opening theme is “Ano Hi Time Machine” (That Day’s Time Machine) by Long Shot Party, while the ending song is “Aishiteru” (I Love You), performed by Kourin, which was another beautiful song, by the way. The studio Brain’s Base once again produces the animation, and it’s as gorgeous as it was in the first season with its serene backgrounds.

Adam Gibbs and Christopher Wehkamp are still enjoyable in their roles as Natsume and Madara, respectively. As usual, Gibbs reflects Natsume as a conflicted yet kind person yearning to help others. As for Wehkamp, he still portrays Madara as a headstrong inugami who only wants the Book of Friends but is also caring toward Natsume on specific occasions. If you enjoyed Madara for his obnoxious but charismatic personality in season one, there’s no doubt you’ll feel the same toward him in the second season.  

The season also expands the screen time for Natori, who’s respectively voiced by Aaron Roberts. After befriending Natsume in season one, Natori softened his hatred toward the spirits for his tragic childhood despite still relying on exorcism methods. As a result, he hired a spirit named Hiiragi as his partner to hunt the dangerous yokai. Season two sees Natori and Hiiragi being promoted as mentors for Natsume, with Natori training Natsume to harness his abilities and protect himself from his recklessness. It also represents Natori and Hiiragi as members of the Matoba clan, a group of exorcists, which could play a more significant role in later seasons.

Overall, season two of Natsume’s Book of Friends continues its successful English dub run with another series of endearing and heartfelt supernatural adventures. While some of its episodes were a tiny step below the others due to their repetition, the season retains its heart and amusement with its stories, characters, animation, and its crucial ingredient, yokai. With only two seasons already in the books, I am already curious about what its third season will bring to the table for Natsume and his friends. As long as it keeps the elements I liked from the previous two seasons, I’m more than willing to dive back into this tranquil world of Natsume’s Book of Friends. Don’t be surprised if the English dub for season three arrives sooner rather than later.