Natsume meets the one behind the youkai attacks and must deal with the revival of a dangerous youkai.

Opinions:

This was definitely a solid follow-up to the last episode. Sadly things didn’t turn out very well at all though it could have been much worse. The woman behind this incident probably will never recover from her loss and it’s hard to say what kind of life she’s going to live from here on out. While Matoba is an evil bastard it’s probably better that particular youkai was taken out since I could see the woman just trying to revive it once again. Her hatred is so strong that I’m not sure what will stop her. Of course if Matoba wasn’t like that in the first place then none of this would have happened.

It was interesting to see that the winged youkai that was killed in the second season by the Matoba clan had such a relationship with a human. Natsume regretted being unable to save him and knowing the Matoba clan was behind it soured him against them in the first place. I’m sure finding out that they used a youkai that meant so much to someone in such a way only has made him angrier. He is getting to see here how some people are really completely different from him. They may be the same in being able to see youkai, but their beliefs and emotions towards them are so different. People are different across the board and having one similarity with someone doesn’t mean you’ll match up in other ways. Natori might have been closer to the Matoba beliefs, but after spending so much time with Natsume he’s changed. Sure he might not be open about how he feels about his youkai, but he does care.

Really I think Hiiragi wasn’t involved in this episode because Natori cares so much. They didn’t need her to care for that other youkai the entire time really. But Natori knows how the Matoba clan acts and he probably didn’t want to risk Hiiragi getting hurt or killed because she was involved in this situation. We’re talking about someone with the nerve to attack Madara, who knows how he might have hurt Hiiragi. While I’m sure she was upset that he didn’t call her (despite her saying differently XD), I think it was for the best. Natori’s interactions with the Matoba clan are only going to get worse since he really is different from them and will have to worry about protecting Natsume from them. His views and talents make him a serious target for that family and he’ll need all the support he can get to remain safe.

That Matoba guy lucked out when Natsume stopped him. I mean he does have power and Madara was injured so it was probably best for all sides that he didn’t attack. Still pissing off someone as powerful as Madara isn’t smart if you want to live a long life. Hurting Natsume and making him bleed….wow I’m amazed we aren’t talking about how Matoba will pass through Madara’s digestive system :). He was seriously engraged which really is the first time in the series I can remember him getting that mad.

I suppose the positive is that no one died other than that berserk youkai. The emotional wounds of that woman won’t heal of course and the Matoba clan is still a serious danger, but they are alive. There wasn’t a time to talk to Natori about the Book of Friends, but this episode at least proved that the worst possible people to get their hands on that book would be the Matoba clan. If there is a reason for Natsume to get stronger it’s less about the youkai in the world, but to protect himself from that clan.

This was a pretty serious episode. Next week is looking more positive since another familiar face will be making an appearance.
Score: A