Man, I really shouldn't have put this off for so long. I mentioned in my previous Natsume review that during 2016-2020, I was neck deep in anime burnout, to the point where I couldn't bring myself to watch more than an episode of anything at least once in a blue moon. During that time, seasons 5 and 6 of Natsume Yuujinchou aired in 2016 and 2017, and since it had been four years since season 4 ended, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to jump back in since the series is fairly strict with its continuity. I was able to get out of my burnout, and to my surprise, Natsume began receiving English dubs starting in 2022, which proved to be the perfect way for me to jump back into the series. I decided then and there that as soon as season 4 got a dub, I'd finally get off my ass and watch seasons 5 and 6. As you can tell by the review, I finally made good on my promise and finished both, OVAs included. It still surprises me just how amazing this series manages to be, not just in its overall quality, but the fact that since that time, the series switched production companies while maintaining its core staff. Like with my first review of Natsume, I'm going to have this review talk about seasons 5 and 6 together, as talking about them separately would be kind of redundant.

The series still focuses on Takashi Natsume's adventures helping various youkai and people with their problems, while continuing to build on everything previous seasons established. That aspect of the series hasn't changed one bit, and its all the better for it, keeping the subtle touch that made the previous seasons so good. It helps that even with the animation production company changing from Brains Base to Shuka (Why is that, I wonder?), all of the staff from previous seasons were kept on; the director, scriptwriters, music composer, and of course the voice cast. Consistency is really important when maintaining a long running series, and often times, shows that go on for a long time, especially the more prominent series, tend to either meander or become very different from how they started. Natsume Yuujinchou is one of those few series that manages to stay consistently good in both its animation, characterization, and writing quality in the years since its first airing and, other than a few minor foibles, never lost sight of what it's mean to be. That's a feat not many series can boast, and I'm so glad the change in animation companies didn't hurt the series any, as some shows that change animation companies tend to look quite different than their previous seasons, and the resulting changes can really hurt a series if done poorly. Take note, Laid-Back Camp season 3 and your weird photographic backgrounds with bad filters.

Remember how I mentioned in my review for seasons 1-4 that every season focused on different themes and goals? Seasons 5 and 6 are similar in that while they continue to flesh out Natsume and the cast around him, more focus is given to the adult characters this time around, with season 6 finally taking the time to expand on one character in particular: Natori. While Natori has always been a presence in the show, seasons 1-4 never really went deep into his background. These two seasons do just that, really going into detail as to how seeing youkai affected his life, how he came to know Matoba, why he became an exorcist and how, and the affect his job has on his relationships with others. We also get some more backstory on Reiko, Touko, and Shigeru throughout both seasons. Season 6 even has one episode that fleshes out, of all people, Natsume's two male classmates Nishimura and Kitamoto. They were fun characters in seasons 1-5, sure, but I really liked the revelations it presented with them in season 6, as it really recontextualizes their friendship with Natsume. Season 6 even brings back a character introduced in season 3, Shibata, Natsume's former bully and gives him another episode that shows how he's changed since his initially awkward reunion with Natsume prior. Another theme seasons 5 and 6 have in common is showing Natsume expanding his social circle, with more people learning that he can see youkai outside of just Tanuma and Taki.

Like I mentioned before, this isn't a series where you can just jump into a season and understand what's going on right off. Seasons 5 and 6, while still having a laid-back atmosphere, do expect you to have watched the previous four seasons and keep track of what previously happened, especially when it comes to characters like Matoba and what they've been up to. The finale of season 6 even drops a pretty huge revelation about Natsume's heritage, and I'm betting season 7 will probably elaborate on this, though I could be wrong. One thing that did confuse me is that both seasons 5 and 6 have eleven episodes as opposed to the usual 12-13 previous seasons had, though they did get some extra episodes in the form of OVAs. A warning for anyone planning to watch any of the OVAs for these two seasons: Don't watch the one about Nyanko-sensei being made to babysit a couple of kids. That OVA is cliche, boring, annoying, the premise relies too much on the characters being idiots, and the kid characters are so whiny and insufferable that I wanted to smack them every time they opened their mouths. Natsume normally never has bad episodes, though I think this OVA might be the first. Its only saving grace is that it's a standalone OVA that is pretty disconnected from the series itself, so you can skip it and not miss anything.

I've already gone in detail my feelings about the series as a whole in my previous review, so I won't belabor the point here. It took me way too long to get around to watching seasons 5 and 6, but better late than never, right? Natsume's Book of Friends is still a great anime in my book, and the fact that we're getting another season has me hyped as hell. No way am I gonna miss out on more of one of my favorite anime of all time! Since I actually own the blu-ray for the movie Ephemeral Bond, now I have an excuse to finally get around to watching that. But yeah, seasons 5 and 6 are an excellent follow-up to the previous four and it's quite honestly a modern miracle how its continued to maintain its level of quality over several decades on every level. Fans of Natsume's Book of Friends owe it to themselves to watch these seasons. Though again, don't watch that OVA I mentioned above unless you have a tolerance for crying kids.