Natsume's Book of Friends

Natsume Yūjin Chō
夏目友人帐
Genre	Drama, Supernatural
Manga
Written by	Yuki Midorikawa
Published by	Hakusensha
Magazine	LaLa DX
Volumes	5 (ongoing)
Anime
Directed by	Takahiro Omori
Studio	Brain's Base
Released	July 7 2008 – present

Natsume Yūjin-Chō (夏目友人帳) is a japanese manga by Yuki Midorikawa serialized in LaLa DX (Hakusensha) from 2005 with 5 volumes (ongoing).

An anime adaptation started airing in Japan on July 7, 2008 and is produced by Brain's Base on TV Tokyo. A second season will air in January 2009.

Story

Natsume's just an ordinary kid, except he can see spirits, just like his grandma Reiko could. Reiko, though, used to bully the spirits, and bound them to her will in the "Book of Friends". Now that Natsume has inherited this book, a never-ending stream of spirits is coming after him. With the help of a spirit "cat" (who really just wants Natsume to die so he can have the book), Natsume spends his days dissolving the contracts that bind the spirits and trying not to get killed.

Characters

Natsume Takashi Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya

The main character of the story. Like his grandmother, Natsume Reiko, Takashi has the ability to see spirits. He has inherited the Book of Friends, a book of names that no one but Reiko, Takashi, and other spirits can read. Because of Takashi's strong resemblance to Reiko, he is often mistaken for her, causing spirits who hate Reiko to chase him constantly. He decided to dissolve the Book by giving all the names back to their owners. He is accompanied by the spirit Madara, nicknamed "Cat" because of the spirit's appearance, and has promised that to pass the book on to Cat when he dies.

Takashi is an orphan. When he was younger, his parents died, and he was constantly sent to live with relatives. Because of his ability to see spirits, Takashi would scare his relatives because they didn't understand what he was doing. Eventually, Takashi lived with an old couple from his father's side. He loves them, and does not want to cause them trouble, so he keeps quiet about his problem. Takashi has developed a good punch, since he constantly has to escape from spirits, he punches them (mainly Cat) with enough strength to knock them out or stun them. He also has a bit of a short temper, since he argues with Cat most of the time. In the anime, he is more cheery and good-natured, while in the manga, he is slightly more dismal and short-tempered.

Takashi is able to return the names inscribed in the Book of Friends by first picturing the spirit in his mind in order to learn the spirit's name. The book flips to the page on which the name is written and Takashi takes the page and places it in his mouth while breathing out. The spell which originally enslaved the spirits used Reiko's saliva and breath, though as Reiko's grandson and one who bears a strong resemblance to Reiko, Takashi is able to use the spell as well. The cost of releasing the name, however, is that Takashi's energy is completely drained in the process.

Madara/Cat: Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue

A mysterious feline spirit. Madara was sealed in to a shrine, before accidentally getting released by Natsume. Because he was trapped for so long, Madara has shaped in to a "fortune cat," leading Natsume to nickname him Cat. In this form, other people could see him, leading for Natsume having to ask his guardians if he could keep him. He is a powerful spirit, who protects Natsume from others, and teaches him spells on occasion. They often fight each other, which leads to Natsume punching Madara on the face and knocking him out. Despite his protests of not being a cat, he likes to play with cat toys. Natsume is more respectful to Madara in the anime, calling him "nyanko-sensei" (master cat). Natsume has promised the Book of Friends to him when he dies.

Natsume Reiko: Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi

Natsume's grandmother, from whom he inherited the ability to see spirits. When Reiko was young, she was considered a freak by everyone else because of her ability. Since she believed no human could ever understand her, she turned to the spirits for companionship. Reiko's power was extraordinarily powerful, and so she bullied spirits in to obeying her by playing games with them. If they lost, she would make them give her their names. Reiko gathered the names in to the Book of Friends, and commanded most spirits, except for Madara, who beat her in a game. Reiko died when she was young, so no one remembered her.

Tanuma: Voiced by: Kazuma Horie

Another student that had recently moved into the area. He is sickly and quite susceptible to illnesses. Like Natsume Takashi, he is able to detect spirits, but to a lesser degree limited to seeing merely shadows and sensing slight presence of spirits.

Sasada: Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro

The class president of Takashi's class. Sasada believes that Takashi can see spirits, and constantly asks him questions about it, to which he replies that he doesn't have such an ability. Much to Takashi's chagrin, she wants to come along with him when he's visiting spirits. She possibly may have a crush on him in the anime, as she blushed in episode 5 when Takashi asked why she wanted to come with him to an abandoned train station (he was going there to see why Reiko had a ticket for that place). Luckily, he was rescued by Tanuma, who distracted Sasada long enough for Takashi to escape on the bus.

The story in the manga differs slightly, as Sasada moves away after the encounter with Shigure, so she has far more spotlight in the anime.

Natori Shuuichi:

A man who is also able to see spirits. He is a famous actor and a exorcist.

Episodes

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#	Title	Original airdate

Opening Theme	Ending Theme
"Issei no Sei (一斉の声) Simultaneous Voice" by Shuhei Kita	(夏夕空) Summer Evening Sky" by Kousuke Atari

External links

• Official website Template:Ja
• Official website at TV Tokyo Template:Ja
• Official website at Hakusensha Template:Ja
• Natsume's Book of Friends ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Natsume's Book of Friends ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia