THAT Animeblog

Not all unpleasant, eh?

Well, friends, we have finally arrived at the end. It feels like just yesterday that I picked this series up, so it is hard to believe that some months have already passed me by. Time has flown; and true to the adage, dare I say — it has been a lot of fun. This will mark the completion of my first full series at THAT. Modest as it may be, I’d like to thank the NYC fans for their comments and continual support. I am definitely looking forward to the fall season’s pickings, and hope to blog two new series that will engage our readership’s interest even more. You can expect some very different shows; among my choices are Tytania, Shikabane, possibly Chaos;Head (if I can vanquish the rabid Impz and claim it for myself), or Ef. At any rate, on with it!

Episode 13, as the title of this post implies, is basically a curtain call for the significant (intelligible and anthropomorphic…?) characters in the series, many of which appear in the OP. It’s a great feeling to finally recognize all of the characters in the opening sequence, isn’t it! As far as plot is concerned, this episode is about as devoid of direction as it could possibly be. It is more like a reflective montage of character appearances that coincide at the local akimatsuri (Japanese fall festival). Thus, #13 falls somewhere between the dreaded recap and the usual short story format, but it is nonetheless festive because for a few precious hours, the gap between the human and youkai worlds is metaphorically bridged. Takashi, finding himself surrounded by familiar faces (both youkai and human), is finally able to savor the peace and satisfaction of belonging…

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Use the Fly Honey, Ness!

Pretty dank contrast to the usual festivity of THAT’s front page, wouldn’t you say? Episode 12 is finally here (don’t blame me, blame the subbers if you must), and for a penultimate episode, it most certainly doesn’t disappoint. Perhaps the writers were very insightful, and realized that they had mixed in enough lightheartedness and sensitivity to warrant a few drops of bitter business to keep things interesting. Apparently, they had an ace of their sleeves.

We, the viewer-collective, finally get to experience another run-in with the dark side of youkai purported by Mr. Maerimashita and his cousin’s appearances. A bloodthirsty demon casts “Doom” on (a.k.a. ‘curses’) Takashi-kun with a five-day countdown. So, of course, Takashi struggles to break free from the curse with the help of his youkai pals. There may or may not be a moral here, I’m not sure, but there are definitely some edge-of-your-seat moments that play to an entirely different set of tastes, strangely, without losing that gentle NYC touch. This episode is a very satisfying climactic point for the series and was definitely worth the wait. As usual, count on Nyanko for the lulz.

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Nyanko doesn't approve!

Since Nyanko-sensei is responsible for like ninety percent of the lulz in NYC, it should come as no surprise that an episode *about* Nyanko-sensei would turn out to be MEGA-LULFEST. Prepare to laugh your ass off. The fat cat commits one too many atrocities (namely, eating all the shrimp in the fridge) and Takashi finally loses his cool and kicks him to the curb. The prideful ayakashi skulks away in a huff and goes on an alcoholic, gluttonous rampage around town. Oh yea, I forgot to mention that there’s a little girl in there somewhere too, but she’s just a cleverly disguised plot device used to usher in a heartwarming ending. Stupid androids. Anyway, look forward to it!

(Note: Please forgive me for the late post. I have been tied up all day doing panel reports at Anime Weekend Atlanta 2008. I am surrounded by kyaaing fanboys and fangirls, and I am nearly at my wit’s end with exhaustion after having written for a nearly 12 solid hours. Give me a shout if you were here!)

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So surreal...

Following a few daring plunges into a sea of pathos we are back to the familiar, peculiar kaleidescope of musings and sentiments that make NYC (Natsume Yuujin-chou) a decidedly relaxing experience. That is to say, the latest episode is nothing out of the ordinary (as far as NYC goes), but it is not boring either. It has lulz and a fair share of cute moments too.

If you guessed that intimate relationships were to remain the common point of origin for the next sidestory, you guessed correctly. Number ten turns its gaze back on a more plausible, commonplace affair between two youkai - a lovely koto player with blue-hair and eyes, and her grizzled umbrella-holder yojimbo. Story has it that her body lost its shape due to a strange, irreversible ailment. The umbrella-dude has since gone searching for a suitable human host that she can possess, so she can feel ‘her’ fingers glide across the koto strings just one last time. Guess who they choose?

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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?

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I realize I bash this series sometimes, but it really does have a lot of substance. Looks like I’ll have to eat my words this week ^^

Takashi-kun’s latest adventure moved me nearly to tears. He meets another masked lady-youkai (a firefly, this time) hunched tightly against a man sitting at a lake. She is stunned that a human boy is able to see her and follows him (Madara as well) back to his home. The three crack open a bottle of sake and share drinks while she explains her past connections to the man at the lake. Apparently, the man was also once able to see youkai and the two of them had fallen deeply in love. However, as he matured, he lost his ability to sense her. Since then, all she has been able to do is remain silently by his side and hope against all odds that he finds happiness. She invites Takashi to guess her name…

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Yes, thank you!!!! Thank for not sucking (rofl)!!!!

After watching episodes four and five, I was almost certain that episode six would crystallize my tentative decision to sweep Nastume Yuujin-chou into THAT’s ‘Dropped’ section and close the lid. Anxiously certain. Freedom was so close, I could almost taste it. I probably would have done so much sooner if the choice to drop another anime series hadn’t been such a tough call. After all, I’m a relatively new addition to THAT and I would like not to peg myself as some rambling, fly-by-night otaku with a short attention span and a troubling fondness for commas. On the other hand, I was getting bored to tears watching Takashi shuffling around returning names like a temp worker.

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