Natsume Yuujinchou Movie: Utsusemi ni Musubu

Takashi Natsume and his spirit companion Madara, nicknamed "Nyanko," continue returning the names of spirits from the Book of Friends given by his late grandmother Reiko Natsume.

On his way back from school one day, Takashi encounters a lurking spirit named Monmonbou, who recalls memories of Takashi's grandmother after hearing his name. Takashi's natural curiosity leads him to explore a mysterious town where his grandmother used to live. Befriending her old acquaintance Yorie Tsumura and Yorie's son Mukuo, Takashi unveils more of his grandmother's past.

In the meantime, Nyanko detours for food and stumbles upon a suspicious "Spirit Seed," which miraculously sprouts into a fruit tree overnight. Giving in to temptation, Nyanko consumes the fruit, splitting him into three. Seeking a solution to Nyanko's predicament, Takashi and his friends lend a hand, unexpectedly uncovering more secrets the town holds in the process.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Natsume, Takashi Main

Kamiya, Hiroshi Japanese

Madara Main

Inoue, Kazuhiko Japanese

Natsume, Reiko Supporting

Kobayashi, Sanae Japanese

Tanuma, Kaname Supporting

Horie, Kazuma Japanese

Natori, Shuuichi Supporting

Ishida, Akira Japanese

Taki, Tooru Supporting

Satou, Rina Japanese

Hinoe Supporting

Okamura, Akemi Japanese

Fujiwara, Touko Supporting

Itou, Miki Japanese

Hiiragi Supporting

Yukino, Satsuki Japanese

Misuzu Supporting

Kuroda, Takaya Japanese

Satou, Yumi Producer

Muramatsu, Sayako Producer

Yazaki, Fumi Producer

Yokoyama, Shuko Producer

Reviews

Jun 2, 2019

Torridd

Recommended

This movie is essentially a longer Natsume Yuujinchou episode, with all the same flair albeit improved art and animation. It has a little bit of everything from the series and every character makes an appearance. If you enjoy Natsume Yuujinchou, you'll enjoy the movie too. If by some chance you haven't seen the series yet, watch it before watching this movie.
I enjoyed it very much.
Now, where's my 7th season?

Because MAL is a butt and wants me to write a longer review, I just want to say that Nyanko-sensei is the most precious anime character to every exist. I want my very own Nyanko-sensei to hold ... and snuggle. Hopefully he doesn't drink all my beer though.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jun 22, 2019

RPWPA

Recommended

Natsume yuujinchou never fails to amaze me, no matter how old I am or how I personally changed, I can never find myself unable to enjoy it, it is a work of art that continues to this day and I hope I can see more of it.
Whenever there is a movie made for an anime it usually has some random action and mainly flawed plot but thankfully this is not the case, this feels more like a longer episode of natsume rather than a movie, it is soothing, relaxing and it personally made me very happy considering I didn't like part 6 as much ... as the rest.

The story is great and unique and the fact that this is a movie after 6 seasons with each season having 12/13 episodes with ovas for every season yet there is such a good idea like this still being presented for the first time makes me happy, I won't spoil anything but it sure was a very fun ride though I will say the fact that we got to know that not every human despised reiko was so heartwarming.

The art is phenomenal as well as the animation but it felt a bit lacky in that part but I know a 100% flawless animation is extremely difficult to obtain anyways so it wasn't a big problem or anything.

The OSTs/Ending song were great as ususal.

Overall a 10/10, it helped me forget about my other worries and was an incredibly fun ride.

Would recommend it even as a stand-alone movie and not part of a series.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Feb 7, 2021

ShrinePriest

Mixed Feelings

I'm going to go against the grain and rate this move poorly compared to other people as well as compared to how I would rate the Natsume series overall.

Spoilers below.

This movie would have been a lot more effective if it had been reduced to one or two ~23 minute episodes. It was only about an hour into the film when the film finally decides to tell you what the film is actually about: Mukuo and Yorie.

It's not super difficult to find ways to shorten this film. For instance, a putative episode could have opened up with Natsume's mom asking him to go to Gochou (sp?), ... Natsume and Nyanko-sensei going, Nyanko running off and visiting the tree and getting the seed, and Natsume meeting the woman who recognizes him, says he looks familiar, and him asking her if she knew Reiko. The film spent thirty minutes on the two trips to Gochou and some side material. This could have been reduced down to say ten minutes by combining the two trips into one, and cutting the other material that just waters down and distracts from what the plot is really about.

And that's the problem with the film. Beyond the film taking so long to reveal what it's even about (Mukuo and Yorie), the film never actually gives Mukuo and Yorie the screen time they deserve. Instead, the film wastes its time with so much else that their importance gets pushed into the background.

The film has a strong hook: a woman loses her son and a youkai mimics him and replaces him and the woman's memory of his death. And yet, never once did I cry during this film, because the film completely squanders its story.

And consider the film's subtitle: Ephemeral Bonds. This theme isn't actually present in the film. This theme doesn't apply to Natsume's friends or family. You can argue the theme applies to Nyanko because Natsume misses being able to talk to Nyanko when he's split up. But that's a weak and unexplored theme in the film. At best the theme applies to Mukuo and Yorie, but again, they get so little screen time that the theme doesn't really do any work with them.

It's not a shock to discover that this movie was an anime original story not written (albeit "supervised") by the original manga author.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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