This season has been good for diving into Natsume’s past and this was another great example of it. Instead of a positive youkai from his past though we got to see one that he really had to fight back against. Also if there was one thing I wanted to know from the series it was how Natsume ended up with the Fujiwara couple. It really was like Touko and Shigeru to go about things like that though. For once in Natsume’s life he had someone asking him what he wanted to do and who he wanted to go with. Seeing those two bickering a bit because they woke up Natsume in the hospital was just comical. They really are a kind couple and the kind of people you’d love to have in your own family.

This episode did highlight the sadness in Natsume’s past. I mean he really had to wonder if Touko was human or a youkai. He’s been tricked and really a human just being that kind too him was just too foreign back then. Of course she did show up in a kind of strange way, but still having to wonder about things like that shows his stress as a kid. It’s not like the family he was staying with were bad people (unlike some others). The son they had seemed like a pretty good guy. The parents weren’t bad, but obviously they weren’t sure how to interact with Natsume and balance that with raising their own kid. The Fujiwara’s were a godsend since they had no children to help make things complicated and could offer Natsume the love and care that he needed.

The youkai in this episode really helped to show how different Natsume is now. Really it’s not like they interacted that long ago, but he’s changed so much. Over the course of the series Natsume has grown and developed as a person in so many ways. He doesn’t have that loneliness that drew that youkai to him before. Now he has friends and a family that will stand by him and remind him how important he is to them. A nice finishing attack by Madara at the end just showing how he won’t take that kind of thing when it comes to actually hurting Natsume.

Will say nice job Natsume in sealing away that youkai. It shows the innate potential he had buried away within himself that just needed to be developed. While he still doesn’t have crazy techniques or anything, he does recognize more of his ability to take part in rituals to combat the youkai that do want to hurt him. It’s not that kind of series, but if we see more of Natsume getting stronger in that respect it wouldn’t be bad.

We’re nearly at the end of the third season, but will say it’s been a fun ride. We’ve seen a lot of Natsume’s past this season and will say it’s been a good thing. Look forward to seeing what adventures we’ve still got before this is done.
Score: A