Natsume Yuujin-chou 08 ~Fleeting Light~

Another reason why Nyanko is teh awesome: his ability to cling onto Natsume while he dashes away with only the use of his… um, what’s his using to cling onto Natsume???

EDIT: Damn… I keep screwing episode numbers. This is episode 8, not 7.

Natsume went to the pond where he encountered a man who asked him if he was there to look at the fireflies. He said yes, saying that he heard that it was the season for it. The man told him that he came in a ltitle to early and that there wasn’t as much of them left. He was about to turn to leave when he noticed a ayakashi clinging onto the man. When he turned around, he asked Nyanko if she was going to possess him, but the ayakashi came up to him and asked him if she could see him. He broke into a run and almost fell off a cliff when the ayakashi caught him.

Back at his home, the and that the ayakashi asked she was going to possess him, but she told him that he was an old friend of hers and heard that he was about to get married. Natsume asked her if he could see them. She told him that the man was able to before but he lost the ability since as people become older, they lose such powers. She also remarked that their friendship was like Natsume and Nyanko-chan, where both reacted that it was nothing more than a relationship of master and pet (though you can’t really tell when the two said it who regarded as the master and who was the pet). When he asked what her name was, she said that she was a low-level ayakashi so she didn’t have one. Nyanko tried to interject that he’s name her Curly Noodles.

 

 

That night, Natsume noted that her brightness was quite dull before drifting off to sleep, where he dreamed about someone calling out to someone named Kiyo. The next morning, he asked her if he could name her Kiyo.

Later that afternoon, Nyanko told Natsume about a mountain god who fell in love with a human girl. They had a rendevous where the fireflies guided them. As a reward, the god turned the fireflies to ayakashi. A lot of them left the area and the fireflies that were left there were descendants of the ones who stayed. When Natsume ended up by the lake again where he saw the same man. A youkai was coming up the man and he tried to save him, but the man didn’t notice. Nyanko remarked that the youkai doesn’t attack people as they were leaving when they bumped into Kiyo again.

 

 

While fishing, she told him about Akifumi (the man). They met when he was younger when he went up to the pond. He wasn’t interested in youkai but she told him that she wanted to talk because she was interested in humans. He came the next day and they started to become friends. Then one day, he couldn’t see him anymore even though she was standing in front of him. She asked him if one day, he wouldn’t be able to see them anymore. And later when he was doing his homework, he thought that it would be sad if he didn’t, but checked himself thinking that it has always been his wish to be free of them.

He went back to the pond where he saw Kiyo cuddling close to the man. When the man was leaving, he asked him if he was able to see ayakashi too. He said that he fell in love with her, but he lost his ability. After that, he went on with his life but it took a long time for him to find someone to marry. Then his fiancee called out to him and he left. Kiyo appeared when he walked away and was happy that he was able to find someone important to him. Natsume asked him if she was alright with it. That night, Natsume dreamt about Akifumi and Hotaru – which is what the man called him.

 

 

He woke up with Hotaru on top of him. He told her that he wasn’t Akifumi. But she told him that she was happy enough and now she will be returning to being a firefly and end her life. Natsume stopped him but she already turned into a firefly and flew out the window. Nyanko remarked that the youkai they saw on the pond earlier doesn’t eat humans, but fireflies. Natsume stopped it. Then he saw Hotaru fly away and Nyanko remarked that there was someone else in the area.

Akifumi and his fiancee was talking a walk in the place and a firefly landed on his hand and he remarked that it was pretty. But the firefly flew away and when Akifumi tried to stop it, a swarm of fireflies flew passed them. Natsume asked Nyanko if things went well for the god and the human girl. Nyanko didn’t know the answer because for the ayakashi, a human’s lifespan was short. Then he started wondering if the day would come for him when he wouldn’t be able to see the ayakashi again. He wondered if it was going to be liberating for him then a firefly came to him and whispered something to him. He didn’t understand what it said though. And a few days later, Akifumi got married and he still thinks about the day when his own abilities will disappear and the only thing he can hold onto by then are his memories.

 

 

What an awesome epsiode! I cried buckets the first time I watched the episode. I’m such a sap for sad, star-crossed love stories. Actually, I got over that the first time I watched it but it’s still gut-wrentching for me that Natsume found himself contemplating on the day when he may not be able to see ayakashis anymore and how sad it made him eventhough he would still have memories of it. Until that time he knew Hotaru and Akifumi, he thought that his powers was just something that he will have to live with until the day he died and the realization that he may eventually lose that ability made him think if it would bring him any joy – especially since he has grown to love the aykashi.

The story about Akifumi and Hotaru was really really bittersweet. Love sucks. But as anything that you lose, it’s not the end of the world and all you can do is pick yourself up and move on. Of course, some people move on much longer compared to others. I think that Akifumi is a lot like Natsume, wallowing in being a loner and that when he lost his ability, he is unsure about how to move on – which may be the reason why it took him so long fall in love again.

While I enjoy the sheer silliness of most of the stuff that I am watching this season, this is my favorite show right now. I don’t care if I end up with the scary stuff when I watch it at two in the morning in the darkness of my own room, it always manages to make me sniffle at it in the end, which means… it always strikes a chord.