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

It still blows my mind that a simplistic and harmless series involving yokai would last more than a couple of seasons.  Based on my experience with the previous seasons, It’s easy to understand why.  While it does get repetitive in its structure after the first two seasons, Natsume’s Book of Friends is still carried by a sense of tranquility and heart that’s hard to ignore.  Along with its likable characters and sublime animation, this supernatural anime adaptation remains a fitting and light-hearted choice for newcomers getting into the yokai genre.  With the seventh season on the way, the show was nice enough to release the English dub version of its fifth season, which is undoubtedly way overdue, similar to the previous seasons.  But, of course, there’s the matter of the concept’s longevity, which may or may not alter my experience with the show itself.

If you’ve watched the previous seasons of Natsume’s Book of Friends, you’ll know what to expect from season five.  For those living under a rock, the series centers on Takashi Natsume, a teen who can see yokai due to his ability being inhabited by his late grandmother Reiko.  After finding Reiko’s Book of Friends, Natsume and his inugami ally, Madara, find themselves in a series of misadventures involving him fixing Reiko’s mistakes by returning the names of the yokai she stole from.  Natsume also helps the particular yokai deal with their specific problems while staying one step ahead of the villainous exorcists, mainly Matoba Seiji (Reagan Murdock), the head of the Matoba clan.

Each episode consists of a formula involving Natsume assisting the yokai with their problems or confronting the exorcists.  Amid these scenarios, Natsume gradually comes to terms with being open to those around him and himself.  In other words, what you see from the previous seasons is what you get in season five.  On the one hand, it mostly satisfies by honoring the show’s tranquility and heartfelt nature, mainly due to its presentation, likable characters, and storytelling.  

On the other hand, it rarely offers anything else in the season’s structure to maintain or improve its relevancy.  It also doesn’t help that some of the episodes didn’t match the heights of its earlier seasons, with the weakest one being the second episode, “Mischievous Rain,” for its tame ending.  Fortunately, its tolerability was strengthened by the season’s short length, consisting of eleven episodes instead of thirteen.  I’m guessing by the fourth season, the people behind the show thought thirteen was two episodes too many for its concept.  The sixth season also consists of eleven episodes, but we’ll get there when we get there.

The only surprising element that caught me off guard regarding the structure was towards the end of season five.  Amid Natsume’s adventures, season five provided two flashback episodes centering on the show’s supporting characters.  “A World Unbent” centered on a teenage Natori Shuuichi forming an unlikely alliance with Matoba to exorcise a dangerous yokai.  Its penultimate episode, “Touko and Shigeru,” focused on Touko and Shigeru Fujiwara’s early days before welcoming Natsume into their lives.  These episodes highlight the supporting characters who play crucial roles in Natsume’s coming-of-age quest.  More importantly, they provide a satisfyingly welcoming change of pace in its tiring formula, especially “Touko and Shigeru” for its focus on character-driven drama over yokai shenanigans.  That might be the only episode that doesn’t feature a yokai appearance.

The fifth season of Natsume’s Book of Friends felt like the concept’s longevity is starting to wane in its repetition and storytelling.  However, it maintains its strengths long enough to retain the tranquil charm and heart it’s known for, making for another easygoing experience for anime beginners and fans of the manga series.  Additionally, the episodes involving Natori and the Fujiwaras were satisfying in taking the formula to satisfying directions and expanding the show’s side characters further.  That alone is enough to maintain my interest in Natsume’s Book of Friends despite its shortcomings, which is a good sign considering its seventh season is coming out later this year.  As for when we’ll get an English dub version of season six, it’s evident we’ll get that sooner or later as well, hopefully to coincide with the release of season seven.