Saya Monou: a mermaid of sin

Illustration by CLAMP for the Tarot Collection - 0. The Fool

After I got into CLAMP fandom, I started exploring the various manga out there and of course X, being the masterpiece it is, wasn't left out. It must have been while I was still in high school and I wasn't that aware of the Internet communities out there or the streaming online - if I remember correctly. I was a newbie 'otaku'. So when I read about Saya Monou turning into a mermaid in the afterlife as punishment, question marks started floating over my head. And I guess that I'm not the only one feeling puzzled about this fact, if we take for granted the strong influence of Disney's The Little Mermaid adaption of the homonym fairy tale in the West. This article is my attempt to explain the imagery associated with Saya Monou.

First Impressions Summer Season 2011

That's what we are watching this season: Mawaru Penguin Drum, Natsume Yuujinchou San, Usagi Drop and Ikoku Meiro no Croisee.

F: Mainly of the slice of life genre, except perhaps the first mindfuck multigenre one...As I've already written, I will try blogging the latter two. Though I am late again... I am so lame =.=

N: This season we have decided to watch many different kinds of anime. We have literally no time for anything more, because there are so many good stuff to actually watch this season.
Let's go see some general things about the series.

The gentleness of 'Natsume Yuujinchou'

One word to describe this series: yasashii...

The title of the series is referring to the Book of Friends that Takashi Natsume inherited from his powerful grandmother, Reiko Natsume. It contains the names of spirits she defeated in different games and pranks in order to kill time since she was not liked by other schoolmates and generally people because she was a 'weirdo', appearing to speak on her own with no one , seemingly, nearby. We watch Natsume giving back to those creatures their names, while he develops as a character, coming closer to both people and the supernatural.

Thus, could it be that the series' title is also referring to the series itself, each episode being a page of the 'book' and a story about Natsume and his new friends, whom he meets along his way?