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

It’s been two years since I watched and reviewed the first two seasons of Natsume’s Book of Friends. It was a tranquil experience that’s far more than another yokai-related series regarding its heartfelt plots and animation. At first, I thought I would not revisit this series. That is until recently. While I didn’t watch much of its third season, I was willing to return to this peaceful world with Natsume and his cat bodyguard thanks to its fourth season drop. Don’t worry, though. I read the synopsis for the third season to catch up in case season four reintroduces specific elements from the previous one. Then again, there wasn’t much I’ve been missing out on from not watching the third season.

If you’ve watched the previous three seasons, you’ll know what to expect from season four. If not, let me give you a brief rundown of its concept. Natsume’s Book of Friends centered on Takashi Natsume, a teen who can see yokai. He discovers a gift from his grandmother Reiko: the Book of Friends, a book housing the names of different yokai. He uses it to give back the spirits’ names and restore peace between the human and spirit worlds. During the journey, Natsume befriends multiple allies from both realms and encounters several adversaries with specific purposes. More importantly, he gradually learns to put his faith in others as he faces more dangerous yokai seeking to gain the Book of Friends.

Like the other seasons, the episodes in season four consist of Natsume encountering and helping several yokai, either through releasing their names or something personal. While not much has changed since I’ve seen the series regarding its repetitive plots, season four does contain several differences to retain the concept’s longevity. One of them is that there are more interconnected episodes in the fourth season compared to season two, including the first two episodes: “Natsume Captured” and “The Eastern Forest”. Those episodes involved Natsume encountering the monkey-masked yokai and the return of Matoba Seiji, who previously appeared in season three. Matoba is the one-eyed leader of the Matoba clan seeking to rid the yokai and get Natsume to join him in his quest. Matoba is the only new character I hadn’t seen due to me not watching season three, and based on what I’ve seen, he seemed to be a fitting antagonist designed to raise the stakes in Natsume’s journey. Unfortunately, Matoba only appeared in the first two episodes, so it’s hard to tell when he’ll be making another appearance.

Another difference I noticed was that several episodes strayed away from the formula to explore the characters further with suitable results. One example of this is “To You, From Bygone Days”, which depicts Natsume’s first year as a transfer student in another town from the perspective of Yuriko. That episode further explored Natsume’s early days when he was inexperienced with his newfound gift. Another example is “When I Was Deceived,” which focuses on Matuba’s assistant, Nanase, who, at a young age, befriended another exorcist who’s secretly a Yokai servant. Finally, we have the final three episodes involving Natsume returning to his childhood home, emotionally emphasizing the protagonist’s coming-of-age journey.

Those changes helped make the fourth season of Natsume’s Book of Friends enjoyable enough to bypass its repetitiveness and a couple of glaring issues. One of those issues was the muffled sound mixing for the turtle-like yokai’s voice in “The Eastern Forest.” While the first two seasons have better episodes than what season four offered, it reminded me why I appreciate the show in the first place. Its tranquil aesthetic balanced well with its comedy, drama, and yokai action, and the chemistry between Natsume and Madara was still delightful. Even the animation retained a sense of beauty in its painting-like settings. Despite some signs of the concept growing a tad stale, the elements carrying Natsume’s Book of Friends are still the reasons this series is worth checking out for Yokai anime fans.