English Dub Review: Natsume’s Book of Friends “Mischievous Rain”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

On a rainy day, Natsume meets a young girl yokai.  Her name isn’t in the book of friends, but she wants his help anyway: she wants him to find a man she met once.  The man couldn’t see yokai normally, but a mischievous trick of the weather let him see her for just one day.  For the next fifty years, she visited him, hoping he’d see her one more time, but he never did.  Now he’s vanished.  Can Natsume find him for her?

Our Take: 

Following a brief reintroduction to the series’s concept, we are now getting to some potentially emotional stuff it’s known for.  This week’s episode has Natsume discovering a towel in the rain, which belonged to a yokai taking the shape of a young girl.  The yokai’s name isn’t known as it is not found in the Book of Friends.  Regardless, she wants Natsume’s help finding the man from whom she received the towel at a bus stop.  It’s revealed that the man could see the yokai due to the sun shower, resulting in him giving her the towel due to his concern about her getting sick.

The girl yokai wanted to visit the man to return his towel, but since she’s one of the weaker spirits, she couldn’t get his attention unless they’re near a sun shower.  Eventually, Natsume and the yokai found the man’s granddaughter, Naniko, who shares the same human scent as him.  She explains that the man, her grandfather, known as Sogo, is in the hospital due to an illness.  After a couple of brief visits, the man gives Natsume a pink towel for the girl yokai to have of her own, further showcasing the goodness in his heart. 

Overall, the episode continues the season with another heartfelt misadventure with Natsume helping a yokai.  However, it struggles to deliver its true potential in its thematic storytelling, mainly when Natsume mentions accepting loss while assisting the girl yokai.  This should’ve empowered the strong relationship between the yokai and Sogo, which would have suffered due to the latter’s health.  Unfortunately, it decided to take a much safer route for its ending, with the girl yokai receiving a towel of her own from Sogo, who’s alive and well.  The ending we got is still sweet in its own right, but it doesn’t quite hit the emotional notes I was expecting from its direction.