Natsume's Book of Friends Season 4
夏目友人帳 肆Takashi Natsume, the timid youkai expert and master of the Book of Friends, continues his journey towards self-understanding and acceptance with the help of friends both new and old. His most important ally is still his gluttonous and sake-loving bodyguard, the arrogant but fiercely protective wolf spirit Madara—or Nyanko-sensei, as Madara is called when in his usual disguise of an unassuming, pudgy cat. Natsume, while briefly separated from Nyanko-sensei, is ambushed and kidnapped by a strange group of masked, monkey-like youkai, who have spirited him away to their forest as they desperately search for the Book of Friends. Realizing that his "servant" has been taken out from right under his nose, Nyanko-sensei enlists the help of Natsume's youkai friends and mounts a rescue operation. However, the forest of the monkey spirits holds many dangerous enemies, including the Matoba Clan, Natsume's old nemesis. Stretching from the formidable hideout of the Matoba to Natsume's own childhood home, Natsume Yuujinchou Shi is a sweeping but familiar return to a world of danger and friendship, where Natsume will finally confront the demons of his own past. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Reviews
ipollich - 2016-08-03 03:27:46
I would suggest watching the other season's first.
Story 10/10: Natsume Yuujinchou’s arcs and episodes tend to be self-contained in both thematic and literal setting and this continues throughout this season. Now we are able to see Natsume's continued development as a character. He continues to attempt to better both his human life and his relations with the youkai. Natsume's struggle to reconcile with both parts of his life creates tension with some of his human counterparts. Throughout its fourth season we get to explore Natsume's unwillingness to share his emotions, and gradual attempt to overcome them. Each arc/episode hits important messages without feeling patronizing, with an overall focus on the bittersweetness of the past.
Animation 8/10: The animation is serviceable, there are no noticeable problems. It doesn't strike me as particularly beautiful or creative, but it's certainly good animation.
Sound 10/10: The voice actors all do a great job, from high school students to all the wacky youkai. Of particular note are the voice actors for Madara(Inoue, Kazuhiko), Natsume (Kamiya, Hiroshi), Fujiwara Touko (Itou, Miki) and Tanuma (Horie, Kazuma). The OST is also wonderfully relaxing, and while it reuses songs from earlier seasons this is used to strike an extra sense of familiarity with the audience. Additionally, both the new songs and the old are great pieces of musical score. Some standouts among them being: Furusato no Nioi, Kimi ni Fureta Hikari, and Manyen No Hoshi.
Character 9/10: The characters in this show tend to be the real star. Natsume and Madara both are relatable leads. Natsume's fellow humans feel genuine and seem to live a life without Natsume, while still being able to understand and relate to him. The Youkai value Natsume's grandmother, and through this we are able to compare and contrast Natsume and his grandmother, which offers interesting insight into both. My only complaint is Matoba might be a bit generic as of now, but with Season 5 approaching we might get more clarity on his character.
Enjoyment 10/10: This anime is perfect for both binge watchers and casual watchers alike. Due to its mostly episodic or short arc's nature it can be easy to just sit down and watch an episode or watch many at once. Either way Natsume Yuujinchou can always deliver through a sense of calmness.
Overall 10/10: A strict Average of 9.4, but since the Story and Enjoyment matter the most to me, I unorthodoxly round this to 10. Or a 5 star.
Please note: I have also posted this review to myanimelist.
toby.altenwerth - 2015-02-22 17:27:15
it's a very funny anime i love it madara is so funny he's my favorite character so far Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ