Natsume Yuujin-chou, Episode #09 – Takashi’s long-lost, FABULOUS, shotacon aniki

Takashi: I'll press charges.

Well I must say the good folks at Brains Base (ブレインズ･ベース) have really raised the bar on this series. This week's ep was every bit as entertaining as the last, but in a different, lulzy, furikuri sort of way. Takashi finally meets (or more like, "is molested by") another person who possesses the same gift of sight that he does... only to discover that Shuuichi Natori is a capricious shotacon who won't hesitate to stab a youkai in the eye if properly provoked. This encounter is just dripping with irony, and Takashi learns at length that even the most striking similarities in life experience cannot guarantee intimacy, empathy, relationship; solidarity. Whose side are you on now, Takashi?

Nyanko-sensei is starting to enjoy being a 'cat' a little too much. This time he scares the daylights out of some poor dog.

Looking more like Garfield today, Nyanko!

*RUMBLE**RUMBLE* Is that an earthquake!? (Diet time, Garfield.)

So Takashi has to take the fat-ass cat on a walk haha. Walking cats on a leash never seems to work, though!

Let's play a game. I call this: "Let's Count The Number Of Times Shuuichi *Grabs* Takashi." I HAVE to rant and rave about Shuuichi in this post. Not because he dumps yaoi vibes on you in the first minute or so of screentime, but because he is a pushy bastard and needs to leave Takashi alone. (I have no problem with yaoi, but I DO have a problem with STALKERS.) As if the poor kid isn't being harassed enough by Reiko's victims! I'm certain Nyanko-sensei agrees with me.

"1"

"2", because he didn't need to maneuver himself *behind* Takashi. The game shall continue.

A brief summary of events is in order: Takashi accidentally trips over someone napping in the middle of a grassy field while walking his fat cat. That someone turns out to be mega-famous actor Shuuichi Natori (why the HELL are you napping in the middle of a shoot?), who promptly executes a physically-impossible Matrix move and stops Takashi's fall in the most provocative way possible. Takashi notices a lizard-tattoo on his neck. They exchange pleasantries; Shuuichi returns to the set. The two will meet again shortly.

Ugh, it's that hat again!

On his way home, Takashi spots a new masked youkai walking with a rope around her neck and bandages on her hand. He tries talking to her, but she rudely refuses his company. Nyanko-sensei remarks that he needs to NOT talk to youkai without thinking it over beforehand, reminding Takashi that he is not in a position to readily engage them (and with good reason -- it will just be more trouble for Madara if he gets himself in a pickle again.) "Right," he thinks to himself, "Why do I reach out to youkai so easily?" The episode jumps to a brief dream/flashback of people condemning Takashi for "making up creepy lies" and other bitter memories. He wakes with a start in the middle of the night.

*Sigh* You know, the Yuujin-chou would REALLY come in handy at times like this.

Takashi's next encounter with Shuuichi has little to do with chance. Shuuichi has stalked Takashi home and sent one of his two youkai hench(wo)men after him in paper form to "test" his abilities. A vaguely anthropomorphic scrap of paper glides into his room, expands in size and chases Takashi out into the night, eventually wrapping itself tightly around his body and binding his movements.

Do I detect a similar taste in fashion? (I'm talking about the hat >_< !)

Takashi rips free, and notices Shuuchi standing a few feet ahead of him. (NOTE: Now, how exactly did he figure out where Takashi lived? More than that, what would he have done if Takashi *hadn't* broken free!?) Shuuichi confesses that he is interested in Takashi because (as he suspected) Takashi can also see youkai; the purpose of his "paper test" was to confirm this suspicion.

Here comes the interesting part: Shuuchi admits that he has another job in addition to being a star actor. He also works part-time as a youkai exorcist! And it just so happens that he is looking for an office bitch boyslave assistant to help him with his duties. Right. We believe you. (NOTE: If people with the ability to see youkai are so rare, to the point where Shuuichi might be the only one out there, how could he possibly be looking for another one? I smell a rat.) Takashi refuses the offer, but Shuuichi persists...

"3", on a 'date-by-force.'

End summary. So what has happened here? At last, Takashi has met the very person he has been longing to meet -- another human who can share in his experiences, empathize with him, and possibly fill the periodically vacant role of 'guardian' in his life.

I cannot account for the character design in the manga, but the animators go to great lengths to draw (no pun intended) parallels between Takashi and Shuuichi. For starters, they look very similar, if not almost exactly the same. They both have strangely-colored eyes. They are both capable of seeing youkai and they both endured difficult childhoods because of this unusual sensitivity. They even both like to wear funny hats. So, amorous notions aside, why is he not a perfect match for Takashi?

"4", because this youkai (one of Shuuichi's cohorts) pisses me off. She reminds me of that hairy bastard from Basilisk.

Sensei doesn't approve of shotacons.

Bring the pain!

Ready for war!

Takashi concedes to a meeting, after much stress and distress.

A match made in heaven? Hardly. Unfortunately, a glaring, irreconcilable difference stands between them -- their respective attitudes towards youkai. That's right, the very thing that attracts them repels them. Shuuichi calls himself a youkai exorcist, but 'exorcist' is really a euphemism for 'hunter' as far as Takashi is concerned. Shuuichi kills youkai. He is willing to hurt them without remorse. This is something that Takashi simply cannot accept, as he prefers to 'live and let live', even putting himself in harm's way to ensure that youkai do not become the victims of violence. He will again valiantly struggle for his ideals in this episode, this time to save the masked-youkai from Shuuichi, as she just so happens to his next target.

"5"

Youkai: NATSUME! NATSUMEEE! HAND OVER TEH BOOK OF FR~ *STAB* AUUUUUUGH!

ROFL! "Two can play this game." I think Shuuichi is enjoying it a bit too much, though -_-;

We can't leave out the boss youkai-of-the-week, can we! Our blue behemoth snares roughly ten seconds of screen time before he is stabbed in the eye and sent on his merry way. ...No, it wasn't cool. It is fun to watch the Natsumes throw blows with youkai, but Shuuichi's stick action was mildly disturbing because Reiko may have been violent, even brash, but never cruel.

Shuuichi's blow is the malicious, congealed expression of numerous difficult childhood experiences and negative impressions involving ayakashi. In that respect, Shuuichi kind of strikes me as a sci-fi duplicate of Takashi, sort of like an evil doppelgänger from a parallel dimension or perhaps the not-so-distant future. If Takashi had begun to hate youkai, he may well have developed similar streaks of spite. But Takashi is a gentle soul with a good heart. And now, a haiku:

Another masked one

Trapped in a maze of despair

Can he save her life?

The episode concludes without any indication that the two will ever be able to reconcile their differences. Yet they both learn an important lesson. According to Shuuichi: "Understanding others is a difficult thing. For everyone, you see." Still feeling lonely, Takashi? Start back at square one, and try first to understand the people around you. Who knows, maybe you will be pleasantly surprised.

Next Episode:

Makoto Shishio comes back from Hell to play the koto?