English Dub Review: Natsume’s Book of Friends “Following a Narrow Path”

Overview (spoilers below):
While fleeing from a fearsome yokai, Natsume accidentally sits on a tiny mushroom yokai. The mushroom yokai is furious, as he has an encounter with a “noble person” later that day. He insists that Natsume help him prepare for the meeting with this “noble person”, and Natsume is drawn into the strange story of his past…

Our statement:
After our brief foray into Natori’s past, the season turns its focus back to the real star of the show, who gets into yet another yokai-related situation. Can you guess how this episode started? If you answered “Being chased by a hairy yokai,” congratulations! That’s exactly what happened to Natsume in a similar way to what happened in “Soundless Valley.” I’m starting to think that hairy yokais might end up being a thing after all.
After this brief outing, Natsume helps a little mushroom yokai named Mitzusora meet with a noble yokai named Lord Shuon. Mitzusora wishes to join Shuon’s group of noble yokai to repay his debt for saving the little mushroom from a wolf. Unfortunately, when they finally meet Shuon, Mitzusora is warned by the noble yokai that he is walking a narrow path. This means that Mitzusora still has a lot to learn to become a noble yokai like Shuon. When we first meet Mitzusora, the yokai seems stubborn and spoiled, yet he is inspired to achieve the impossible. From what I’ve seen, it seems that Mitzusora will have to be selfless and wise to be by Shuon’s side.
If that’s the case, then “Following a Narrow Path” effectively presents that without shoving its message down the throats of viewers. Unsurprisingly, it follows a similar pattern to the other episodes, and Mitzusora’s voice might be a little annoying. However, this is one of the more tolerable episodes that handles the narrative structure well. Next week’s episode looks like the season will break that pattern again to focus on its supporting characters, so we’ll see how that plays out compared to Natori’s mishap.