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fuanteinasekai · 6 months ago

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Yes! I also thought maybe Tanuma-san's yokai fought with hers. (I like that I'm talking about her yokai as if it's not 100% speculation, lol.) I also get the impression his is probably neutral to everyone but the priest. I didn't think of the possibility of her yokai wanting Tanuma.

I don't usually speculate about plot because she's so hard to predict, but I'm impatient, haha. It definitely feels like something that could take a while to work out, maybe even be a motivation for Natsume to learn more about exorcist stuff. I've always wanted more of Tanuma's dad, so I hope we get more about this in the next, I dunno, year. haha

Part of me does feel like this is fanfic and wishful thinking, because one reason I'm speculating is that I hope they don't get a bittersweet ending. But also, like you said, she rarely gives us what we expect, so it's reasonable to think there's something misleading here.

Spoilers of Natsuyuu Sp.23

Only 8 pages special chapter for this month, so it's almost a summary...

I am not a native English speaker, and I used Google Translation mostly (from Chinese to English), I hope the translation is not difficult to read.

Spoilers under cut.

At first, Sensei was drinking juice and waiting for Tanuma with Natsume, complaining about waiting for so long (Natsume: It's only three minutes late, Sensei) Sensei said that three minutes was also fatal. What if the new dumplings are gone? When Natsume was wondering why Tanuma was late, Tanuma finally arrived (it felt like the scene in Ch.117)

Tanuma was late because of a cold snap, so his father forced him to wear more clothes.

When they were finally ready to leave, Tanuma said that he wanted to take a detour to find a mailbox because he wanted to mail a postcard. Suddenly a strong wind blew the postcard away. Natsume immediately chased after it and saw some pattern on the postcard.

When the post card flew up, what Natsume saw was: beautiful seasonal flowers carefully painted with watercolors, and densely written words that did not contrast with them. Why he thought this way, he himself didn't know. "Is it a hand-painted postcard? Sorry, I saw it by accident..." But it looked like a love letter.. "Oh, this is a letter my father wrote to my mother."

Natsume could only look at Tanuma, think that his friends didn't usually ask about his family, and he didn't often talk about them. The same was true for Tanuma.

"Mom is far away. Oh, far away really means far away, they live separately. But they don't have a bad relationship. ──How should I put it? My mother never seem to be in good health. After she was with my father and gave birth to me, her health deteriorated rapidly... Her health improved slightly after she was admitted to the hospital. But when my father happily visited her, her health deteriorated again. Because the cause was unknown, the doctors said that maybe meeting dad caused her some stress. And there was a period of time when we had a bad relationship with my mother's relatives... Dad decided to live separately because of mom. However, mom was quite against it and made a fuss about it. Although my mother is recuperating now, she sometimes comes to visit me as long as she feels better. "

Natsume remembered that Sensei once mentioned that Tanuma's father was possessed by a youkai with divine power, and that the youkai was very powerful. But it may be jealous of the people around him. (Vol.16 Ch.66, this part was deleted from the anime) (The Youkai I see can sometimes be very unreasonable...) "So my father writes letters occasionally." (It's just like a love letter.) Because she is important, they cannot meet. Because they cannot meet, he put his heart into it──

Natsume could only say Tanuma's name helplessly, and then Sensei asked: "Hum, did you write a letter then?" Tanuma put his hat on Sensei's head. "Eh? Me?... I did write to her, but it's hard to make a reply lately..." When Natsume asked why, Tanuma said his mother had wanted him to send photos because he unintentionally mentioned something in the letter. "Photos...? What did you mention by accident?" Tanuma thought awkwardly for a long time, and finally said:

"...I made a best friend here."

We finally know about the situation of Tanuma's mother. I am glad that he did not grow up in a single-parent family... But maybe Tanuma's mother is also sensitive to youkai? That's why she met her husband? I believe how these two people met and interacted can be a good story LOL

Also, for Natsume's first "like a love letter"... did he actually think that it was written by Tanuma (Huh? Natsume's second "like a love letter" might be referring to the feelings of those unreasonable youkai who want to monopolize the people they value...

#spoilers

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fuanteinasekai · 6 months ago

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You're right, that first part really looks like Chap. 117. Both Natsume's "repressed fear" face and Tanuma's rushing pose. In 117 I think the point was to emphasize Natsume's paranoia so we know he's making an emotional sacrifice when he agrees to stay for the seance.

In this case it's immediately followed by the bit about his dad fussing over his clothes, so together it emphasizes the fact that Tanuma is perceived as fragile by people close to him. Maybe to strengthen the parallel with his mom?

Back in Intermission Detectives the "twist" was that the killer had already died naturally and the leading lady was perfectly safe. I've always wondered if that was meant to hint at something in the future.

Tanuma's mom didn't get really sick when she met his dad, only when Tanuma was born. It doesn't make sense Tanuma would be born preloaded with a dangerous yokai and he can visit her fine anyway. And why would Tanuma-san's yokai only become jealous when Tanuma was born, yet not be jealous of Tanuma himself? A hospital seems like the perfect place to pick up a malicious/jealous yokai. (I'm assuming she gave birth in a hospital like most people.)

I've always thought it was funny how Tanuma would get possessed by yokai that only wanted to use him, only for those yokai to get attached and empathize with him in the end. What if his mom is the same, and a yokai got attached to her? That would fit with the jealous yokai concept and your idea about connections between yokai and "love letters."

Maybe Tanuma-san didn't even have his powerful yokai yet.

Spoilers of Natsuyuu Sp.23

Only 8 pages special chapter for this month, so it's almost a summary...

I am not a native English speaker, and I used Google Translation mostly (from Chinese to English), I hope the translation is not difficult to read.

Spoilers under cut.

Tanuma was late because of a cold snap, so his father forced him to wear more clothes.

Natsume could only look at Tanuma, think that his friends didn't usually ask about his family, and he didn't often talk about them. The same was true for Tanuma.

"...I made a best friend here."

#spoilers

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fuanteinasekai · 6 months ago

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I made a script for special #23. It's not a scanlation, just a script you can match up if you have the Japanese raws but you're struggling with the translation.

I fudged the translation a bit so it would flow more naturally, but I promise it's nothing important. Just things like using natural English or removing the 3 million "apparently"s that Japanese requires because otherwise they think you sound psychic.

A couple of translation notes: I kept "Japanese confectionary" as "wagashi shop" because I thought it sounded too unnatural translated (and wagashi is sometimes used in English). Wagashi are traditional Japanese sweets including anything from those fancy flower things (nerikiri) to simpler dango. Wagashi are often served with green tea, which I think fits Tanuma's kind of traditional vibe. Manjuu is also wagashi.

I translated shinyuu (親友) as "close friend" because it flowed best and is pretty close to the literal translation. But if you ask a Japanese person to tell you what they would call their best friend, it's shinyuu. Shinyuu literally means "intimate friend" and refers to a friend you are particularly close to, who understands you deeply, and who you can count on in hard times (and vice versa). Japanese does not have a word that literally means "best friend," so you can technically have more than one shinyuu. But Japanese people don't tend to throw these words around lightly, so for a lot of people shinyuu refers to one's singular closest friend. It varies. You can specifically say "close friend above all others" or muni no shinyuu but you'd generally have some kind of reason for that.

There is also a term "daishinyuu" which is more clearly "very (most) close friend," but I don't think it fits the tone or characterization as it's more modern and informal. Also, part of the reason I was specifically waiting for shinyuu is because Natsume is so stubborn about using yuujin for literally everyone that almost anything would be a milestone, but shinyuu is the classic.

Obligatory comment that I am non-native and not advanced, so minor grain of salt, etc.

Page 1

Sensei: Honestly! How long is he going to make us wait? He was supposed to be here ages ago.

Natsume: It's hardly been three minutes, Sensei.

Sensei: Those few minutes could be a fatal error! If the fresh dango are sold out how are you gonna make it up to me?

Natsume: But really, maybe something

Tanuma: Natsume

Tanuma: Sorry! I didn't mean to make you wait.

Page 2

Natsume: Woah, you're so fluffy, Tanuma.

Tanuma: Ugh… "They said there's a cold front coming through today."

Natsume: Ahh, Shigeru-san said that, too.

Tanuma: I said I was fine but he wouldn't let me go without wearing it.

Natsume: Haha, the priest?

Tanuma: ….

[Tanuma's dad is a Buddhist priest. Ever since he was little, Tanuma has drawn a lot of concern, one way or another falling ill often, so his dad is always worrying and looking after him.]

Sensei: Alright, to the wagashi shop, then!

Tanuma: Can we take a little detour first?

Sensei: WHAT!?

Natsume: Of course, I don't mind. [What for? ]

Tanuma: Just some mail.

Natsume: Mail?

Tanuma: I want to send this—

Tanuma?: Ah

Page 3

[It's blowing away]

[That's—]

Tanuma: Natsume

Natsume: I… I got it.

Tanuma: Are, are you okay, Natsume?

Tanuma: That was so risky…..

Tanuma: —But… it was about to be blown toward the river…

Page 4

Tanuma: Thank you, Natsume.

[When it was blowing away I saw beautiful seasonal flowers carefully painted in watercolor and writing so dense it didn't suit them.]

Natsume: Is that a hand-painted postcard? Sorry, I didn't mean to look.

[Even I don't know why I thought this but]

[it looked]

[just like a love letter…]

Tanuma: Oh, this.

Tanuma: My dad wrote it.

Page 5

Tanuma: To my mom.

[Our friends don't really ask me much because of my family situation.]

[And they rarely talk about their own families in front of me.]

[It's the same for Tanuma.]

Tanuma: My mom is far way.

Natsume: …. Ah.

Page 6

Tanuma: Oh! By "far away" I mean actually far away.

Tanuma: She lives separately.

Tanuma: But that doesn't mean there's a bad relationship.

Tanuma: —How do I put this.

Tanuma: My mom has always been in poor health.

Tanuma: But when she got together with Dad

Tanuma: and had me, her health suddenly deteriorated….

Tanuma: When she was hospitalized, she started to get better little by little but when dad happily went to visit her—

Tanuma: her health failed again—

Tanuma: The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong, so they though maybe my father's visits were causing her some kind of stress.

Tanuma: So there was trouble with my mother's side of the family for a while, but…

Page 7

Tanuma: Dad decided to move out for mom's sake but

Tanuma: Mom hated it and begged and made a huge fuss.

Tanuma: Mom is still in convalescence but she's a lot better now so sometimes I go visit her.

Natsume: —…

[Nyanko-sensei once told me]

[Tanuma's dad was accompanied by an ayakashi with divine power, so terrifyingly strong and capricious]

[if it were jealous of someone like a close relative…]

[The ayakashi I see are sometimes terribly unfair.]

Tanuma: So my dad

Tanuma: Sometimes writes letters like this.

[Just like a love letter]

Page 8

[Because she is dear, they cannot meet. Because they cannot meet, he pours his heart into it—]

Natsume: … Tanuma…

Sensei: Hmph. Don't you write?

Tanuma: Er. Me? … I had been writing but recently it's been hard to write back…

Natsume:—Huh, why?

Tanuma: … She keeps pestering me "send a photo, send a photo." … because I wrote something carelessly…

Natsume: …Photo…? What did you write carelessly?

Tanuma: —…

Tanuma: …—I made a close friend here.

A final note: Japanese frequently drops pronouns so you have to use context to determine who is doing what. The "because she is dear" bit has zero pronouns. That is, a more literal translation is something like "because dear, unable to meet, because unable to meet, pour heart into." You see the issue. At first I thought, given it follows "just [like] a love letter," that it was a more general description of love letters, but "unable to meet because one is dear" seemed too specific so I chose to translate as being about Tanuma's parents in particular.

#natsume's book of friends #natsume yuujinchou #spoilers #tanuma kaname

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fuanteinasekai · 6 months ago

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On a related note, I'm curious about the long-term here. Are we getting a bittersweet ending for the Tanumas or is Natsume going to completely change Tanuma's family life?

If Natsume is right, then fixing things seems hopeless because Tanuma-san's yokai is extremely powerful and (seemingly) unreasonable. So no exorcism and no negotiating. Then again, Midorikawa-sensei is the writer and she has a habit of coming up with things nobody expects.

Important questions: Tanuma's mom has always had a "weak constitution" like Tanuma. Does that mean she has the same weaknesses and powers or is it misleading and she has an ordinary genetic condition? If she does have the same "thing" as Tanuma, does that mean her health would be affected by Natsume in the same way, or is Natsume "aligned" with Tanuma like crow boy and his girlfriend? If the latter it would add to the soulmate vibe, but the former would have... interesting implications.

#spoilers

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fuanteinasekai · 6 months ago

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#spoilers

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fuanteinasekai · 6 months ago

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Oh, look! An old post that's not relevant to recent events at all!

I didn't say it at the time, but I always assumed the mom thing would be important because of the way it was connected to Natsume talking about his grandmother in Unchanging Form. You could argue that the Distant Festival Lights back story counts as "various struggles" but that never felt right to me. It was bittersweet and certainly counted as part of his struggle, but there was no acknowledgement of his mom and I honestly felt it wasn't strong enough to "match."

Anyway. I'm satisfied now!

Clarifications About Tanuma

I keep forgetting to make this post, so I’d better go ahead and write it now. Some clarifications about Tanuma, for people who can’t read Japanese or don’t know some important cultural context.

1. There’s nothing strange about his dad being a priest.

Buddhist priests in Japan haven’t been celibate by default for hundreds of years. This is a Japan-specific thing that’s related to the EXTREMELY complex socio-political history of Buddhism in Japan. They used to fight wars over it.

There are many, many sects of Buddhism, so there’s considerable variation. There are celibate sects, as well as individual priests who voluntarily take vows of celibacy, but priests with wives and children are common. No Japanese person would think that Tanuma having a priest dad suggests he’s adopted or anything of the sort. In fact, there’s a pretty good chance Tanuma expects to become a priest and take over his dad’s temple when he’s older—and still have the right to get married.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Tanuma-san took a vow of celibacy at some point after his son’s birth, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a priest when Kaname-kun was born.

2. We don’t know what the deal is with his mom.

Tanuma’s mom has never been addressed directly (though it’s possible there’s something in a fanbook I don’t have). Both times Natsume has referred to the issue of the Missing Mom, it’s been worded the same way:

“The Other Side of the Glass:” お父さんと二人暮らし

“Unchanging Form:” お父さんと二人暮らし

The literal meaning of 二人暮らし is something like “pair living.” So, “Tanuma lives alone with his dad.”

Contextually, this is similar to saying “Tanuma-san is a single dad.” Why is he a single dad? Did the mom die? Did she abandon her family? Is she a wanted criminal on the run from international police? We don’t know!

Natsume says Tanuma living alone with his dad is the reason he assumes Tanuma also has 色々苦労 or “various struggles” but he doesn’t seem to know what those struggles are. If Natsume knew that Tanuma’s mom was dead, I think he’d say so. Other characters are fairly upfront about Natsume’s parents dying—they just use more polite words, similar to “pass away” or “be lost.” We don’t have that for Tanuma.

If this issue is never addressed in the manga by the time it ends, we can probably assume Tanuma-mom is dead, since that’s the “default,” less dramatic assumption. But for the time being, it’s ambiguous, and that means there’s room for it to potentially come back in a dramatic way. I’ve seen native-speaker fan works using both “mom is dead” and “parents divorced,” so the ambiguity doesn’t seem to be a non-native misconception.

3. Tanuma hasn’t said “Ponta” since Omibashira.

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fuanteinasekai · 6 months ago

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I'm going to expand on the mom thing a bit because it's not that long anyway.

(a) Tanuma's priorities are basically 1. Natsume 2. his dad. He has shown zero interest in girls or a girl. (He's very friendly with Taki, but it's not remotely romantic.) Even if he did show an interest that wouldn't really be relevant to Natsume's story, but... zero.

(b) Despite this, Tanuma is a romantic. Nishimura is a "romantic" but mostly in the sense that he's girl crazy and wants to be a really good boyfriend. Tanuma thinks it's romantic to pine for your lost lover or to serve a goddess from afar, her never knowing your loyalty. Tanuma wants the couple in Natori's movie to live happily ever after even though it's a detective story and that's not the point. Tanuma cares about romance. Why? What is the relevance to his character?

(c) We now know that his parents are literally star-crossed lovers separated by forces beyond their ken (lol), and that his father still sends his mother beautiful love letters. This somewhat explains why he's a romantic, but it also strengthens the association. Tanuma has strong role models for romantic love, but the only character that comes remotely close to being a target for his affection is Natsume. Again, what is the purpose?

(d) Given the likelihood that yokai are behind the situation with Tanuma's parents, it seems that at some point Natsume is going to have to get involved, even if that just means telling them what's happening. (I wouldn't be surprised if it's actually the mom who is possessed by a jealous yokai—after all, Tanuma probably got his vulnerability from her.) That's pretty intense.

(e) Natsume's initial reaction to the postcard is kinda... ambiguous, but he's definitely really focused on the concept of a love letter, for some reason. "Even I don't know why I thought [it was a love letter]." lol

(f) The bridge.

(g) Tanuma finally calls Natsume his shinyuu (lit. intimate friend, often used to mean best friend). I've been waiting for that a long time, because it's a pretty big milestone for them. But for it to be in a story heavily centered on romantic love, rather than something more focused on the two of them... Again. Why?

Anyway, Tanatsu canon.

#spoilers #for the most recent Natsume #but I honestly think these things matter #because Midorikawa-sensei does not do things randomly #even if it takes a while for people to figure out the why

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fuanteinasekai · 6 months ago

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Bring attention to this campaign!

Hey, you there. Reblog this!!!!

Now that I have your attention:

Some of you may know that I was recently in Palestine.

While there, my resolve to do everything in my power to help only strengthened, and I came back wanting to check in on a few of the campaigns I had adopted. To my disappointment, a couple of them were frozen or reported, even though they had been tirelessly vetted and verified.

The worst part is that there are talks of a temporary ceasefire happening again, with the Rafah border crossing opening once more, and my friend Fidaa fears that after all of the hard work, she might not be able to get her two young children (a toddler and a baby) out. She is their sole provider right now.

So we have set up a temporary fundraiser for her on Chuffed, while we work to get her funds unsuspended (if we can). We have to act fast. Please know that two things are true: giving even a very small amount helps, and if you are unable to right now, spreading this campaign and getting more eyes on it helps.

The goal is $15,000 USD. We're starting this off at $285. Please help me get eyes on this.

You can also donate through Paypal directly. This would provide immediate access as well.

This campaign has been vetted here and here. I appreciate anyone who gives or helps this campaign get seen.

Thank you again for any help. Tagging for visibility:

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fuanteinasekai · 6 months ago

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Also I'm not really back exactly because I don't have that many things to talk about, so I don't expect to post much.

On an unrelated note, congratulations to the 0 people who got Tanuma's mom right. I can't imagine a more pro-Tanatsu background story, though.

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fuanteinasekai · 6 months ago

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Oh, hey. Maybe this is a good time to post the thing I've been trying to write for… more than a year. It keeps getting too long because I'm basically covering the entire manga, so instead I'm just going to hit the biggest points and let you fill in the gaps yourself.

In Volume 1, Natsume meets Tanuma for the first time. Much of the story revolves around Natsume's inability to tell what is ordinary and what is yokai, a problem he refers to twice as his "unstable world." This weakness is a major running theme, and he shares it with all other powerful characters. It is likely one of the main reasons they choose to live in isolation or in the exorcist/magical world. Focusing on this in the story about meeting Tanuma may have originally been meant to highlight his fear that Tanuma wasn't real, but it's the perfect foundation for his long-term arc.

In the author's note for Taki's storehouse arc (Volume 11), Midorikawa-sensei says this:

自分はおかしいのかもしれないと思っていた田沼にとって、不安定だった世界を肯定してくれる夏目の存在は大きな救いになったのに、自分はたいして夏目の力になれないというのはもう田沼が友人として抱えていかなければならないジレンマかなという気がします。 "For Tanuma who thought there might be something wrong with him, the presence of Natsume who affirmed his world that was unstable is a great relief, but Tanuma can’t really support Natsume himself. This is a dilemma I have a feeling he must be facing by now as a friend."

This "world that was unstable" is a clear reference to Natsume's "unstable world," but cannot actually be the same so it must be a parallel. The simplest possible interpretation is that the ideal solution to Tanuma's "dilemma" would be "affirming" Natsume's "world that was unstable." That is, the ideal conclusion to Tanuma's "dilemma" arc would be to somehow help Natsume navigate the boundaries between the yokai and ordinary world. In this same story, Tanuma is able to sense the location of the demon's leg before Natsume can see it.

In Volume 12's Omibashira arc, Tanuma spends most of the story sensing yokai-related things: Sensei not being Natsume, the bottle, the presence of the monkey oni, the separation of the yokai world itself, and Omibashira. Each of these is accompanied by the same "zawa" sound effect that accompanies Natsume encountering strong yokai energy. Tanuma gets hurt because he doesn't trust his senses, and tries to confirm Omibashira visually.

In Volume 16, Tanuma reveals he always knew Ito-san was not what she claimed to be, and that he had come to believe she was "an ayakashi or something like that" once he learned they were real. The same story reveals that Natsume's presence has stabilized Tanuma and allowed him to grow stronger physically and have fewer headaches and illness. In other words, Natsume's power offsets the negative effects of Tanuma's power.

In Volume 22, Tanuma has a vision while Natsume sleeps peacefully, adding another dimension to his sensitivity. Later he tells Natsume the staircase yokai is not the one he dreamed of because its face was different and it didn't feel "malevolent." As is often the case, Tanuma was dismissive of his vision (ability) until Natsume validated him.

Later in the same volume, we finally get the origin story for the Book of Friends. This implies a major turning point in the manga as a whole.

Tenjou-san, in Volume 23, is the story of the four boys and Homura-sempai's investigation of the eponymous possibly-cursed painting. At one point, Tanuma says this:

夏目の世界はあいまいなものがいっぱいなんだな　おれは…やっぱり時々夏目と同じ世界を見てみたいなと思うけど　見えるものが違うからこそ確認しあえることもあるのかもしれないなって "Your world is full of uncertain things, huh? I… still feel like I want to see the same world as you, sometimes. But I also think sometimes it's because we see differently that we can confirm things with each other."

The context for this is not the painting, but rather Natsume's fear that Homura-sempai could be a yokai—Natsume's "unstable world." Natsume brings this up again at the end, but Tanuma's role remains unresolved. That's because this dialog was never meant to set up the end of Tenjou-san—it's meant to set up the end of his entire arc. Tanuma couldn't help yet because he doesn't accept that he can "judge the authenticity" of magical objects until By Invitation of the Queen in Volume 29. Realizing he can also sense who is human and who is yokai is yet to come. If he can tell the difference, that means his power offsets the negative effects of Natsume's power.

In Intermission Detectives, Volume 24, only Tanuma is able to ignore the unimportant and notice the significant yet tiny details. Nishimura and Kitamoto are preoccupied with the leading lady and what her beauty implies, while Natsume is too distracted by the possibility of a yokai in disguise to think about anything else, arguably too distracted to enjoy the movie. That means every Tanuma story between Tell Me Your Name and Village of the Sleeping Vessels has had a yokai in disguise—or the possibility of one—as a major plot point.

Village of the Sleeping Vessels introduces Tanuma's "light," an ability he has had few opportunities to use. The same story introduces Ban, a character who can somehow judge the authenticity of magical objects. Ban's name literally means "companion."

This is the beginning of the "female collector" storyline, which also has undertones of "growing up." Hence the combination of Reiko (Natsume's foil must grow up before him), Natsume's interest in magic (to be independent of his mentors/protectors), and Sensei's vulnerability as well as his frequent long excursions (to motivate Natsume's independence or reliability). Tanuma is central because he is meant to be Natsume's life-long partner, without whom Natsume cannot have the life he wants.

In an author's note, Midorikawa-sensei describes Tanuma as "surely able to support Natsume, but unable to come." This is a marked shift from the critical tone of most previous Tanuma notes, a shift which is maintained throughout the "female collector" stories. This is also the same "support" from Tanuma's "dilemma."

Like Intermission Detectives, By Invitation of the Queen (Volume 29) juxtaposes Tanuma's high perceptiveness with Natsume's confusion and fear of yokai in disguise. The same story is Natsume's first physical meeting with the "female collector" Shinobu. It is not a coincidence that she meets him at Tanuma's side, or that Tanuma is the "hero" of the story. His strengths will be relevant to the rest of Shinobu's storyline. Natsume is the one who realizes Tanuma has the power to sense what is real or not, and Tanuma himself is initially skeptical. However, his description of the "occult" fakes as "clean or pure" and Ban's dolls "oozing something sinister" suggests that he is sensing spiritual energy. It is also similar to how he described the yokai in the Volume 22.

Portrait of a Girl implies that Tanuma's power is significant through Matoba and Ban. Matoba's curiosity and the constant threat of meeting Tanuma builds tension, and Ban's shock at Tanuma's ability to see the light in the mirror suggests that they share the same rare ability. The ceiling yokai is able to hide from Ban by hiding from the mirror, implying Ban also shares Tanuma's weak sight. At another point, Natsume overhears an exorcist talking about his ability to use "good tools" even with fading (weak) sight. This isn't about Natsume or the regular exorcists, so it must be about Ban and his dolls, Tanuma, or both.

いつも友人の側に行きたい気持ちを抑えて蚊帳の外で待たなければならない田沼がすでに内側にいる状況 [や、一族の中で生きてきた的場さんの身内の事情や術具についてなど、] 描くことができて嬉しかったです。田沼は実際は出来ることは多いのに本人出来ることなんか大して無いと思ってしまうタイプかもしれないと感じました。 "I was happy drawing things like Tanuma, who has always had to wait outside the mosquito net, repressing the desire to go to his friend's side, but is suddenly on the inside […] I have a feeling Tanuma might be the type who thinks there's not much he can do when in reality he can do many things." (Volume 31) [n.b. the "mosquito net" idiom was used in Nitai-sama when Tanuma described being allowed to help "instead of being outside the mosquito net"]

Matoba is almost suicidally obsessed with "tools," his sister (perhaps spitefully) collects them, and Ban is a scout for magical things, so it makes sense during this storyline to focus on Tanuma's own ability to scout. However, there's little to no set-up for this ability in the manga. Even Tenjou-san, which was the perfect opportunity to hint at his ability with the painting, hinted at identifying yokai instead. The coexistence of the "pure" painting with the "pure" humans is not coincidental, but a retroactive hint to future readers that the ability to recognize what is "real" is the same whether the the "real" applies to an object or person.

So while Tanuma's ability to scout "powerful" tools may be important in the short term, it's a mere step toward his true power. The ultimate goal is to reveal that Tanuma's sensitivity to spiritual energy extends to yokai as well, and that he can tell Natsume what is yokai and what is not and even, it seems, what is malevolent and what is not. Through this, he would become irreplaceable, the only person Natsume can trust to give him peace, to affirm his unstable world, and to allow him to be as indifferent to random yokai as Shinobu.

The only thing that works against this is the inconsistency with which Tanuma appears to notice yokai. But this has been addressed through his "ability to judge authenticity." When Natsume first points out that Tanuma knew the box wasn't real, Tanuma initially dismisses his feelings as a "hunch," before going on to talk about how he never had a chance to be exposed to fakes before. He then admits that the "occult" collection felt "clean or pure," but he only noticed because he had Ban's dolls as comparison just before.

Natsume himself describes Tanuma to Natori as "cautious" and "deep thinking." In other words, he is the opposite of impulsive, only acting when he has gathered enough evidence to make a case. Tanuma would have felt things many times without reacting until he had more to go on. Fun fact: when Natsume first brings up Tanuma's power, he actually starts by talking about how he was "spinning in circles" "confusing [human matters] for ayakashi matters" unlike Tanuma who "sees people clearly." Midorikawa-sensei is a troll.

Tenjou-san (yes, again) addresses this gap from a different angle. When Natsume considers telling Nishimura and Kitamoto the truth, Tanuma suggests Natsume still needs the "space to be treated normally" "unlike me, who always worries and asks if there's something there." In other words, Tanuma feels bad about talking about yokai unnecessarily, which means he's not going to mention a feeling he doesn't think is important. This likely goes back to Volume 5, when Natsume admitted to lying about yokai and wanting to keep things "normal" between them. (The original Japanese is an incomplete sentence, but this is what he seemed to be getting at.) This is why, for example, Tanuma says he "didn't want to bother" Natsume when he wasn't sure he was possessed in Volume 8. He's not just unsure of himself—he's actively avoiding potential validation to give Natsume space. This is also probably why he gets more… excitable recently—the more Natsume talks about yokai, the less Tanuma feels the need to hide his interest.

All of this only addresses Tanuma's power and how it solves his dilemma. It is heavily implied that Tanuma's dilemma is at the heart of his sense of inadequacy and, in turn, his "characteristic sense of distance" from Natsume. This suggests that the reveal of the true extent of his power could lead to him being more open and finally closing that gap. But I'm not quite sure of this. Despite Tanuma's feeling of a "wall" between him and Natsume and being "unable to keep up," they're much closer than they used to be. This could mean that it's their closeness that will lead to revealing his power, thereby centering Natsume's emotional development rather than Tanuma's insecurity. And that matters because their emotional bond is at least as important as what their powers mean to each other.

While the hints at Tanuma's power have been comparatively subtle, his emotional support has not. Throughout the manga, Tanuma has helped guide Natsume through his anxiety and emotional trauma. He listens to him talk about his grandmother being an unwed mother with powers like him, confronts him over hiding his true needs, and sees through his lies or silence when others can't. In Volume 13, Tanuma's role in Kitamoto's story implies that he grounds Natsume and allows him to accept attachments to the town and the Fujiwaras. In the Volume 26 notes, Midorikawa even says that Natsume is able to deal with "sorting out his feelings" by spending time with Tanuma without even talking. This emotional connection is particularly evident with the Fujiwaras, whom Tanuma is invested in because of their importance to Natsume. In Volume 20, for example, his conversation with Natsume about the Fujiwaras is clearly framed as something between the two of them, that Taki can only observe.

This Fujiwara theme makes its appearance in Portrait of a Girl when Tanuma gets invested in Morio's relationship with his adoptive parents. These characters are an obvious mirror for Natsume and the Fujiiwaras. At the end of the story, it is also Tanuma who resolves Natsume's feelings of anxiety about why Morio sold off all of his parents' belongings. I had previously thought of Tanuma's emotional support as a kind of parallel to his power, but the mingling of the above with Tanuma's increasing involvement with the exorcist/magic world changed my mind.

Tanuma's emotional support relies on his empathy, understanding of people, and ability to see what others don't. It's not one single thing. When Natsume talks about Tanuma's ability to "see people" he also brings up his "night vision" which is a completely separate ability from all of the above. There is overlap in the abilities he uses to help Natsume with the ordinary world (e.g. Fujiwaras) and the abilities he uses to understand what is yokai and what is ordinary. This is why By Invitation of the Queen is simultaneously about Tanuma's ability to see through people and his ability to sense the "purity" of the box. Tanuma's extraordinary perceptiveness is an entire collection of talents, all of which he can use to see what Natsume can't, to give Natsume inner peace, to allow him to live in the moment instead of constantly looking over his shoulder. But only if he's there—just as Natsume can only offset Tanuma's sensitivity if he's present.

If Natsume is allowed to support Tanuma in the same (or similar) ways, and if Tanuma realizes how powerful he truly is and Natsume allows him to help, then their relationship will be truly balanced. They will be able to support each other in all ways, in all worlds, without worrying about being too much or too little.

This is what makes Tanuma the Sasame to Natsume's Misuzu—without whom Natsume cannot be "fulfilled" even when "surrounded by liveliness." It's what makes him the light in the dark forest, Natsume's guide through the fog that all with sight suffer. Tanuma may need Natsume to live, but Natsume needs Tanuma to live.

#natsume yuujinchou #natsume's book of friends #tanuma kaname #tanatsu #I left out a lot #pretend you believe me and reread the manga #it's fun

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