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Since Natsume is an episodic series, this post can also be thought of as “five favourite individual stories from Natsume Yuujinchou”.  Naturally, they are from those stories adapted in seasons 1 and 2 (I say this hoping that there will be future seasons).  Of them, I think there is one that is almost universally agreed upon, but I’ll leave that up to you to figure out.
Season 1, Episode 2

While the first episode had its own charm, this was the one that really brought me onto the Natsume bandwagon.  Like many further episodes, this one tells a poignant and charming story within the confines of twenty or so minutes, and the feeling you are left with as the end credits roll is a strange mix of bittersweet and heartwarming.

Like most of the stories, we view the theme of loneliness from the perspective of a spirit, this time one who was once worshipped as a God by the villagers.  But eventually, less and less people visited his shrine.  In one flashback we see Reiko telling him that humans are selfish and care only for themselves.  The Dew God accepts her words, but admits that once one has been loved and has loved in return, he cannot forget it.  In the present day, there is but one person, an elderly woman named Hana, who still visits his shrine.

The final scene between Natsume and the Dew God is one of my favourites in the entire anime.  I’ve watched it many times now and it never fails to move me.  The woman who still prays to him has passed away, and with no one to worship him, he will as well.  Natsume desperately says that he will worship him, but the Dew God refuses, because Natsume is his friend, not his devotee.   Such a very touching line.  Perhaps now, he says, he may be able to do more than observe Hana-san from afar as he has done all these years as they pass together to whatever is beyond.  The music used in this scene is quite beautiful and effective, very heartbreaking as the Dew God speaks of his longing to speak with Hana-san, but ending on an uplifting note as we see the one memory between them.

Season 1, Episode 6

The spirit of an abandoned swallow who watched as her siblings slowly died until only she remained was saved by a caring man who, realizing stray animal was in her nest, left food for her everyday.  In the present day, the spirit (who Natsume simply calls Tsubame, meaning swallow) finds Natsume and asks for help finding this man.  Once they succeed, she runs towards him to express her gratitude to him, but of course, like all humans except for Natsume, he cannot see her.  However, Natsume learns of a spirit festival where spirits compete for a Yukata that allows one to become human for one day.  He puts all he has into winning it, and gives it to Tsubame.  The next day, she has disappeared, but Natsume finds the man she had been looking for and sees that in the end, she was able to get her wish.

There are entire series that haven’t been as effective to me as single episodes like this one in terms of eliciting attachment to the characters.  The great thing about this show is that it’s the sort of thing that has an easy enough message for younger viewers to grasp and understand (and what a truly great message it is) but it also has enough emotional depth to move older ones.  If it was available in DVD form, I would say its the perfect anime to introduce to non-fans.  It’s also an excellent family show.  And I don’t mean “family” show as in a saturday morning cartoon, I mean a show that has something for everyone in the family of all ages.

There is a wide variety of wonderful scenes in this episode but I think the easiest one to name is the final scene where the man shows Natsume a photo taken the previous day, when Tsubame had recieved the Yukata.  Natsume looks down and sees Tsubame without her mask, her face, for the first time, uncovered and truly filled with happiness, and he can’t stop tears from forming.  To me this is a really significant moment for Natsume, to show that kind of emotion due entirely to the satisfaction of another character.  Echoing Tsubame earlier, he repeats “I love them too.  Kind people.  Warm people.”  Don’t we all.  If only there were more of them out there.

I should also mention the scene where Tsubame is running to get that Yukata first.  I very much enjoyed how Nyanko-sensei started by berating Natsume for his foolish sentimentality, but as the race begins and Natsume runs hopelessly to his goal despite being slower and weaker than his competitors, jumps into the fray in his larger form and lifts Natsume to the Yukata.  Nyanko-sensei, despite his uncaring exterior, is really a softie at heart.  I guess I sort of have a soft spot for those kind of characters.

Back when this was airing, there was debate on AnimeSuki about Natsume’s attachment to Tsubame taking on “romantic” overtones.  Personally I don’t understand why everything in an anime has to adhere to some solid line detailing different kinds of attachments or relationships.  Maybe in a school life anime that’s acceptable, but personally I’d like to evaluate these kind of fables from a different perspective.  Natsume was experiencing becoming attached to another soul for the first time, and seeing her contentment at the end was powerful for that reason.  That’s enough for me.  I don’t really care to start discussing whether it crosses into some arbritrary line of “romantic vs. platonic” bond.

Season 1, Episode 8

This one shares many similarities with episode 6, but is different in a very fundamental way.  As I said in my review of the series, it’s like looking at a beautiful statue from different perspectives.  In this episode, a man who can see spirits is chastised by those around him and escapes to a pond inhabited by fireflies as a refuge.  One of them takes a human form in order to comfort him.  Though the man is wary of spirits who have caused his isolation from the rest of society, they form a bond.  But one day, he is unable to see spirits any longer.  He calls out for his friend but it is of no use.  In the present time, the man has managed to overcome his loss and now has a normal life and marriage on the horizon.  Natsume feelsl sad for the spirit, but she is only happy that he has managed to find joy in his life.  She returns to the form of a firefly so she can have a final farewell, however meager it may be.

This episode takes the general idea of episode 6 but examines it from a more bittersweet perspective.  Someone might watch the series and think that it may be touching but irrelevant to real life, but that’s incorrect.  The stories involving spirits are in fact very good representations of experiences and emotions that we may face in our own lives.  I think that losing the ability to see the spirit the man had come to care for is a clear representation of another kind of loss that occurs to loved ones in reality.

The climactic scene where the spirit lands on his hand in firefly form, and the man has a sudden jolt of realization is very poignant.  Immediately after he realizes this, she flies away and the wind blows dozens of other fireflies into the air.  It’s a short, subtle but almost excruciatingly effective conclusion.

Natsume himself also undergoes a significant development as he learns this spirit’s story.  He wonders, what if he also loses the ability to see the spirits?  In the first episode, he would have loved to be able to have been “normal”, but now his perspective has changed considerably.  That’s what I love about this series – it takes this fantasy premise that could have started a dozen dull shows about conquering spirits, and instead gives us a show about realistic experiences and emotions that anyone can have.

Season 2, Episode 6-7

I’m kind of cheating here, but these two episodes are both part of the same arc, so I’ll consider them part of the same story.  This arc introduces a new character, Taki, who has some ability to see spirits if they are within a ritual circle.  However, she came across an evil spirit who vowed he would kill her and anyone whose name she spoke unless she could find him again.  Since then, she has been quiet for fear of speaking anyone’s name, but accidentally says Natsume’s, involving him in this matter.

Of course, Natsume helps Taki and the matter is resolved.  What I really liked about this episode is the way that Natsume’s vision begins to deteriorate (vision of spirits, that is).  It reminds us a bit of the episode I mentioned above.  Here, we see him actually start to lose spirits and see what it does to him.  There is a rather touching moment where Nyanko-sensei turns into his spirit form.  But for Natsume, the room has become empty.  Looking from his perspective, we can almost feel that sense of loneliness creeping back, and its obvious how important Madara’s presence had become.

Of course, I have to admit that the random hilarity of some of the scenes puts this one on top for me as well.  Particularly Taki’s obsession with Nyanko-sensei’s fat-cat form (hey, the thing is lovable, I admit), and an amusing followup scene where she tries to restrain herself, but looks more like she’s glaring at him.  And of course, I’m a sucker for Madara saving the day so the climax scene was satisfying, though I think the tension was stretched a few seconds too long.

Season 2, Episode 10

Since Natsume Reiko is one of the most intriguing characters in this series, I couldn’t leave an episode like this off the list.  Here we really get a closer look into Reiko’s history through the eyes of Natsume’s guardian Shigure (I’m not sure if they’re relatives or not), and his experiences as a child when he met her.  Her carefree attitude juxtaposed with the cruel way that the other teenagers treat her (for being “strange”) is a rather sad image.  It seems for a brief moment as if a friendship may develop between them, but then she learns that a spirit is haunting Shigure’s home.  She rids the house of the demon, but causes a bit of damage in doing so.  There is a sense of helplessness to the scene where she is discovered by the younger Shigure.  What explanation could she possibly give that would convince those who could not see what she can?  Instead, she resigns herself to end the only true friendship she likely had with a fellow human, as if accepting her fate.

The situation repeats itself with Natsume in the present day.  The spirit has returned, and Natsume must rid the house of its presence, but causes the same damage that Reiko did.  And so when Shigure returns, he seems to have stepped into the past and finds himself in the same situation twice, with a person who is in a situation that can only be explained by the strangest circumstances.  I don’t know whether Shigure immediately connected Natsume with his experience with Reiko or not, but it seems to me that after getting past his initial shock, he remembers his brief friend from all those years ago and the way that she resigned herself to being lonely once more.  This time, instead of standing by, he actively goes forward and forgives Natsume, perhaps even as his way of apologizing for what had happened all those years earlier.  Maybe he saw this as his chance to do things right.