blkmage: This is a really character driven show.
IMO NYC is one of the least character-driven shows out there, using characters as plot devices (i.e. every single monster of the week). Natsume’s subsequent development seems residual and secondary, but should be more prominent this season, if you take to heart the metaphors in the OP lyrics.
Natsume shows how he has grown compared to the guy of the first episode last season. …[T]his is a series that is carried through its emotions.
Trillian: [NYC] just has that pervading peaceful, nostalgic quality. …[Natsume is a] refreshing main character…he’s a mature, decent person.
I dunno, I don’t think Natsume is that well constructed. They rarely touch upon his emo past which should play a part in every aspect of his identity, and his actions (the physical manifestations of his abstract identity) – but of course he’s just oh so happy to help without questions.
Minnie: [This ep.] is as satisfying as all [previous] thirteen. …Natsume hasn’t changed one bit. [I want to see a two-episode arc.]
Tales: The first episode was amazing. The OP and ED scenes dazzled me.
XComp: I like the background art [and music] in this show.
Panther: …[T]he previous [ED] was very fitting for the first season as it aired in summer, with the tones of a lazy summer day. I suppose they also wanted to do something like that for winter. …Unfortunately, the show continues to promote the approval, however subtle, of yaoi, and now adds to it the idea of traps, and even racism. …Again, I only watched the raw and did not understand everything.
It’s not like they take controversial matters seriously – only rhetorically to propel the basic, episodic plot structure.
totali: …[We] were clearly left with a lot of questions left about Reiko and her past.
psgels: Now all that’s left is to see whether the second season can surpass the hotaru-episode of the first season, and perhaps bring a bit of continuity to the entire story.
lelangir: [Natsume is a convenient bishie. The Youkai's appearance conveniently signifies there conscience: ugly = barbarian, and beautiful = refined. Typical. The show is hyperbolic but effective in what it strives to achieve - frugal melodrama.]
