English Dub Review: Natsume’s Book of Friends “Someday’s Garden”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Natsume is forced to help rebuild a tiny house that’s a residence for a goddess.

Our Take:
I’m not into gardening as much as the next guy, but I can understand the frustration of seeing their hard work destroyed by someone who doesn’t know any better.  Of course, by “someone”, I mean a yokai.  This resembles Natsume’s latest situation, as he discovers the culprits behind the constant destruction of Touko and Shigeru’s flowerbed.  The “culprits” are a group of spirits called the Box Guardians, striving to repair their box garden for the arrival of their goddess, Lady Shidahime.  Unsurprisingly, given Natsume’s genuine soul and annoyance, he and Madara assist the guardians in rebuilding the box garden in preparation for her return.  The problems that stand in Natsume’s way are the fragility of their impressively detailed mansion and the guardians ruining his concentration.
This is another episode in which Natsume’s real-life problem is interrupted by the yokai’s own, much to his irritation.  However, the repetition of its narrative pattern is usually saved by its humor and tranquility, with much of the former coming from the guardians and Madara bothering the heck out of Natsume.  I would have quickly called them aggravating because, seriously, do they want Natsume to help them fix their garden or not?  But since I wound up chuckling at Natsume’s calm yet irritated reaction, I’ll give them a pass for now.  “Someday’s Garden” did somehow wound up being a slight improvement over the previous episode regarding its heartfelt portrayal of the joys of making people happy.  Besides that, though, what you saw in the earlier episodes is what you get here, for better or worse.