#jaded adult exorcists with more or less ruthless views on ayakashi

[coquelicoq]

[Image description: Still from the episode. Natori is sitting across a table from an offscreen Natsume, with his shiki Urihime and Sasago on either side of him. /end ID]

Rewatch: S1Ep9 Ayakashi Exorcism

The 1st Horrible Exorcists Rewatch Post  What is the horrible exorcists rewatch?

🌹 Summary Natsume meets Natori, an actor by day and exorcist by night.

🌹 Canon Notes +the episode corresponds to the manga volume 2 chapter 7 +natori wears…something that is called a hat, for the lack of a better term. good going with the bucket hat, natori, four for you natori +not everyone can see the lizard youkai on his body (even those with the sight might not necessarily see it), since natori makes a comment to natsume “you can see this too?” after he is already aware of natsume’s powers +natori speculates that the lizard youkai might “eat his lifespan…” or something +shiki can be made transportable by transforming into a version of a paper doll (the giant paper doll that initially chases natsume turns into sasago)– although it is not clear if only natori has this ability, or if this is something that other exorcists can also do +hiiragi recognizes that natsume has met natori, because she recognizes natori by scent +natori’s mother had passed when he was young. the rest of his family believes that he brings bad luck to them because of he has the sight +hiiragi becomes one of natori’s shiki

🌹 Comments  Natori is, undeniably, a pretty big jerk in his first appearance, what with testing natsume’s power instead of asking him about it, following him around town when natsume is annoyed by it, and reacting only with mild amusement when urihime attacks natsume for insulting natori when they were both in a cafe.  He smiles and laughs often, even if it does come off as insincere.  His viewpoint on youkai is made clear as well: “They’re always irrational, and such an annoyance” and “Youkai hurt people,” he says, like those are the only things that youkai do.

Nyanko-sensei does not…seem to blame natori for this view and almost, just almost, sounds a little sympathetic for him: “I could feel his hatred for youkai when he touched me. Despite what he says, he must’ve gone through a lot with them.”

Natori, without hearing much about natsume’s life, also inevitably sees (or can infer) the parallels between them: “When I look at you, it reminds me of my old self.” Whether this comment is more about their powers or about the kindness (you’re just a nice kid) that natori thinks of when he thinks of his old self is not spelled out. Likewise, the “these glasses are fake” comment also hints? teases? at certain layers in natori’s personality; the glasses are fake, but it helps him do his other job–his exorcist job–better. How much of natori’s current personality and mannerisms are due to his own internal emotions, and how much  of it is shaped by the demands of his jobs (a movie star is charming–so he gets used to smiling, can summon sparkles on command; an exorcist needs to act quickly against youkai that could possibly hurt humans, regardless of the youkai’s intention–so he strikes first, seals away any weaknesses in himself, any outward signs of kindness).

Natori’s past, even if it only shows up for less than 3 minutes of the episode, adds another painful note to his character: “The old man says I call forth bad luck because I can see weird things. But if so, someone should’ve just gotten rid of me before it happened.” The early death of his mother, his hatred of youkai tied to his own self-loathing and his family’s belief that shuuichi’s very existence hurts others…and still, he worries about hiiragi, a youkai he doesn’t know, because he sees that she is bleeding. We don’t get a whole picture of natori’s character yet, just from his first appearance, but we get enough pieces to wonder about; charm and cynicism and a buried core of compassion somewhere in between all those elements (a 50/50 chance he could free hiiragi, a 50/50 chance whether he would be natsume’s ally or antagonist).

Feel free to reblog with your own comments or to link and type a separate response post :DDD More exorcists meta can be read here. Other rewatch posts will be tagged with ‘horrible exorcists rewatch’