Saturday 23 March 2013

I'm just gunna talk about Natsume

cause i can...
and i want to...
so...... i'm gunna..... yay~

Also i'll be posting some pictures, i sized them all but still it may be a little photo heavy so i apologize

So... Me and Natsume Yuujinchou/Natsume's Book of Friends (just calling it Natsume from here on out).

I watched this show on a whim.
One day i was going though Crunchyrolls catalogue cause i had watched all the shows i wanted to and i wasn't yet a subscriber... and the image they used on the title card looked really pretty and ethereal (it's the Season 1 dvd cover... i'll have a pic of it later) so i figured it looks nice why not give it a shot.

First episode.
Aww this is kind cute, love when supernatural stuff and slice of life are smashed together, i think i will enjoy this show... though it's a little too laid back for me... oh well it should still be fun.

Second Episode.
*gross sobs* so.... so sad... so lovely.... so sweet... Isn't the weather nice? *sobs*

To this day... i don't think a show has ever made me cry so hard in the second episode (Kotoura would have beat it out had i not been at work but in the end... i didn't cry so it doesn't count)
and yes i do cry easily but i only cry if i'm invested in the characters.... if i don't care about them i will not shed a single tear... yet this show managed to get me so invested so fast.

Still i continued to watch, the episodes were all pretty good... none got the same emotional impact as ep 2 (well... not on the first watching at least) but i did cry more then once....
then episode 13 the intro changed.
I mention this as much as i can cram in but Ano Hi Time Machine is the best use of an intro song ever.
Not only does the song kick ass but the animation does a wonderful job of showing you the normal world and how Natsume sees the world but it also introduces all the major characters and shows (subtly) what connections they have to natsume AND if they have any ability to see spirits themselves. 
all in one and a half minutes....

before this we've only met a few recurring characters and in this season we get a few more as well as starting to see Natsume's way of thinking change from closing everyone off to slowly accepting help when he can.

But then it just kinda ended.
I was having a good time but i was so sad that there wasn't anymore... i had no idea if it was gunna get another season but it was going on three years with no mention of a sequel... so i was a little disappointed but it was what it was.

a year or half a year passed and i was in college now and suddenly Crunchyroll announces they'll be simulcasting season three.
I was excited to see where the story went from here and i even got a good friend of mine into it (it's funny cause that friend and i have complete opposite taste with her liking shonen and me liking shoujo but we tend to latch onto the same things... so odd) and wow we get so much more development this season.
There is more focus on Natsume deciding between humans or yokai, we learn more about him as a child as well as some other supporting characters past.
Most importantly we get the series Antagonist... 3 seasons in and we kinda have a villian.... who really doesn't do anything wrong but is creepy.
at this point we have established all the major reoccuring characters and we finally get to work through everyone's motivation-- wait it's over again? DAMMIT!
oh well the last episode states that there is only going to be a 3 month wait till we get season 4

So... season 4 is a little different.
this show is for the most part episodic with the rare multiple part episodes.
seaso n4 throws that out the window.
there are four story lines that take up multiple episodes...
and they are so lovely, season three made the show easily one of my top.... this season made it number one.

so when NISA annouced they had the rights i made a noise only dogs could probably hear.
but then... waited...
and waited
and waited....
it had been almost half a year since they announced having it... did something happen? it wouldn't be an issue of dubbing cause NISA doesn't dub anime.
WHAT WAS TAKING SO LONG??
Oh..... oh thast why it took so long.... it was going to be first AND second season (dvd only)
wow that's a pretty box.... is it textured? (yes)
and whats all this?
is that an artbook? with concept art and random images?
i'm sorry i ever doubted you NISA.
best part i was expecting to pay 50 per season... this made it so i was getting two seasons for the price of one... again dvd only but i didn't care since my room is only equip with a dvd played and... i don't wanna bother the rest of my family with my gross sobbing just so i can watch the blue ray in the living room.

still if it took that long to get the first two seasons out and they got the license around the time season 3 came out... it'd be a while longer before i got more natume goodness....
so i got myself some merchandise

now it's hard to get any natsume merch in North america cause no one has heard of this series... still that means when you do find it you can get it pretty cheap.... most of the time... so this is the first nyanko-sensei plush i got, i wouldn't have been happier with one that looks forward but again... not easy to find so i took what i could get.
then i found...




this thing is pretty big and has the ability for me to stick my hands through it for some unknown reason... also works great as a pillow for when your in a hotel with 4 other people and not enough pillows.
as much as i love cats and Nyanko sensei i really want more Natsume merch...
and by more i mean any... there was a stunning figure that was released many years before i had ever heard of the show and it goes from 300-600 on ebay and i love the show but not that much...
but thats not all the merch i have..... i have a blank book of friends.
i plan to use it as a sketchbook cause i love long compositions but then i went to a Con.... and i got a fun idea.
omg i'm such a nerd... i got the AVGN to sign my book of friends.
i would have gotten the other members of TGWTG to sign it as well but i had a nasty cold/fever and i only spent half a day at a con that i prepayed the entire weekend... i just wasn't well enough to force me and my good friend to wait in another line.

i'm still gunna use it as a sketchbook... probably.... but yeah.... new autograph book.

and now, just yesterday season 3 dvd arrived on my doorstep... i was scared cause the box it came in was half crushed. but when i got it out the boxset was completely unharmed.
how is the box allowed to be this pretty?
now i mentioned earlier that season 1&2 boxset was textured, this one is too but it feels a bit softer.... imagination? probably just something i noticed.
this time it's only season 3 but it's dvd/blue ray




and this is the other side, we get our creepy but not really evil but also not good antagonist.




close up, you can kinda see the texture but yeah love the art on these boxes.




and yet another artbook, full of more character designs and lovely art and i just love this show.

i did get both pre-order bonus items but i forgot to take pictures and i'm too lazy to get my setup back cause it means moving lights and stuff

also random fact, the menus on the dvd cross fade into each other/into the show.
i don't know why this amuses me so much but it does.

ah... that felt good.... i just love this show so much and i really hope more people will check it out
it's all over at Crunchyroll for free
also the NISA boxsets are lovely.... yeah a little pricy but keep in mind everything you get... more then worth it in my opinion (better then some other companies that expect me to pay 50 bucks for 13 episodes in a flimsy cardboard box and no special features.... but the joy of a dub i guess.... still)

so this has been me gushing over my fav show
i may do one of these later for all my Falcom stuff... but considering i'll probably be doing a minimum of 7 reviews next week.... i'll hold off...
maybe
i have no will power so who knows.

hopefully when i do that i'll have my proper photography setup back.... or a new on that isn't my bed with lights on it.

alright better get back to making art and stuff...
or i could just go back to rewatching season 3...
hm...
yeah.... i think i'll go with that.

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