![]() To say goodbye perhaps or maybe thank you. Wanting to share this happiness with someone he still cares for so much, he came back. They simply sat side by side quietly grieving.Īfter years Sugino has found someone else to be a part of his world. Eventually, Sugino started coming less, the conversations kept in his head. I watched Hotaru dance, scream, plead to be noticed, simply acknowledged by the one she cared for most, in vain. I watched Sugino come back, day after day, month after month, talking to himself, waiting for a response that would never come. ![]() Little by little accept how unkind life can be. I numbly watched Hotaru and Sugino resign themselves to faith. I didn’t know what, but I knew I had just been told something very important. ![]() The entire universe disappeared for a second. I also remember slowly sinking to the floor as tears welled up in my eyes, my mind wretchedly trying to grasp what my heart had understood. Stoically understanding that her world had just changed forever. Letting raw grief tear him apart…All the while, Hotaru staring silent just in front of him. Panicking at the idea of losing someone that has become more than just a presence in his life. Sugino runing through the forest and along the bank desperately screaming Hotaru’s name. I even saw the rest of Natsume since and let me tell you there were some tremendous episodes to come. It even allowed him to go on with his life…. Certainly, losing his sight never put him in any danger as it did others. I don’t know if Sugino was lucky in this regard or not. It’s also a constant worry nagging at the back of Natsume’s mind that bubbles up to the surface in times of doubt. This often has very unpleasant implications for the exorcists. It’s a reality we see over and over across different stories. Part of the Yunjinchou mythology holds that the ability to see Yokai and any powers associated with it, diminishes with age. For a long time, Hotaru and Sugino are half of each other’s entire reality. One comfy sitting spot next to a beautiful lake. A cozy little private place, just for the two of them. Yet Sugino and Hotaru’s world is also tiny. ![]() Full of dangers and ghosts and mysteries. So much larger and brimming with magic and menace, than we could ever imagine in our limited perception. It’s Hotaru and Sugino against the entire world! A world only very few people can even see. not even close to the cutest thing in the episode When they’re the only one who believes you unconditionally. The feeling of belonging to someone takes on a new meaning when they are the only one who even knows you exist. Two little souls feeling otherwise alone and abandoned, finding each other through magic and rediscovering the wonder of the world. In time that trust deepens to true caring. Through quiet moments by the lake and simple interactions we take for granted, but that are miraculous for Hotaru, we see a connection form and a trust establish. Throughout the episode, we get to know how this little Yokai once met a boy very much like Natsume and made a connection with the only human that could see her. When Natsume meets her, she is in the form of a young woman wearing a telltale mask. She’s made her peace with the unfair nature of life and simply wants to say goodbye to the one she loves. Her triumphs and hardships are behind her. When we meet Hotaru, she is already getting ready to move on. it must be a pain when you’re trying to get to sleep One of the first character to really personify the bitter-sweet nature of the series for me, was the firefly Yokai: Hotaru. At every turn happiness is coated with melancholy and grief dampened through hope. Natsume is a series that seamlessly blends joy and sadness in a way that makes one inextricable from the other. I could probably dedicate the rest of these posts to Natsume characters and not run out. The series is densely populated by absolutely wonderful people who wonder in and out of Natsume’s life, leaving behind precious little drops of wisdom and meaning. In fact Karandi and I have discussed many of Natsume’s supporting characters. I’ve already spoken about a character from Natsume’s Book of Friends for this series of character sudies.
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