Natsume's Book of Friends

19 languages
 Article
 Talk
 Read
 Edit
 View history
Tools














From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Natsume's Book of Friends

First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Takashi Natsume and Madara

 夏目友人帳
(Natsume Yūjin-chō)

 Iyashikei[1]
Genre
 Mystery[2]

 Supernatural[2]

Manga

Written by Yuki Midorikawa

Published by Hakusensha

English publisher NA

Viz Media

Magazine  LaLa DX (2003–2008)

 LaLa (2007–present)

Demographic Shōjo

Original run June 10, 2003 – present

Volumes 29 (List of volumes)

Anime television series

Directed by  Takahiro Omori[a]

 Kotomi Deai (#53–74)

 Hideki Ito (#75–present)

Produced by  Ayako Yokoyama

 Akiko Odawara (#1–13)

 Masanori Miyake (#1–26)

 Ikuhide Ichikawa (#1–26)

 Sayako Muramatsu (#14–26, 53–74)

 Tomomi Kyōtani (#27–52)

 Reiko Sasaki (#27–52)

 Hirofumi Sugawara (#27–52)

 Fumi Yazaki (#53–74)

 Kazuya Satō (#53–74)

Written by  Kenichi Kanemaki (#1–26)

 Sadayuki Murai (#27–present)

Music by Makoto Yoshimori

Studio  Brain's Base (#1–52)

 Shuka (#53–present)

Licensed by Crunchyroll

Original network TV Tokyo

Original run July 8, 2008 – present

Episodes 74 (List of episodes)

Original video animation

Directed by  Takahiro Omori (chief)

 Kotomi Deai

Produced by  Ayako Yokoyama

 Tomomi Kyōtani

 Tomoko Taneoka

 Reiko Sasaki

Written by  Takahiro Omori (#1)

 Aya Yoshinaga (#2)

Music by Makoto Yoshimori

Studio Brain's Base

Licensed by Crunchyroll (#1)

Released December 15, 2013 – February 1, 2014

Runtime 22–23 minutes

Episodes 2 (List of episodes)

Original video animation

Directed by  Takahiro Omori (chief)

 Kotomi Deai

Music by Makoto Yoshimori

Studio Shuka

Licensed by Crunchyroll

Released March 22, 2017 – October 25, 2017

 Runtime 22–23 minutes

Episodes 4 (List of episodes)

Original net animation

Studio Shuka

Released April 21, 2021

Runtime 2 minutes

Anime films

 Natsume's Book of Friends the Movie: Ephemeral Bond

 Natsume's Book of Friends: The Waking Rock and the

Strange Visitor (2 OVAs)

Natsume's Book of Friends (Japanese: 夏目友人帳, Hepburn: Natsume Yūjin-chō) is a

Japanese manga series by Yuki Midorikawa. It started
in Hakusensha's shōjo manga magazine LaLa DX in June 2003, where it ran until April
2008; it has been serialized in LaLa since July 2007. The chapters and special chapters
have been collected in 29 tankōbon volumes as of January 2023. The manga is
licensed for English-language release in North America by Viz Media, which released
the first volume in January 2010.
The series follow Takashi Natsume, an orphan boy in his late teens who can
perceive yōkai. One day, Takashi finds a very old notebook that his late maternal
grandmother, Reiko, an exorcist who possessed strong spiritual powers, used to bind
dozens of powerful demonic spirits, both good and evil (known as
either ayakashi or yōkai), that she defeated to follow her very whim and desire if called
upon. Takashi resolves to give back all the names in the age-old notebook, Book of
Friends, and in the process joins forces with another feline/wolf-like spirit called Madara
(nicknamed "Nyanko-sensei" in his borrowed lucky cat-like form), who knew Reiko when
she was alive. Madara takes the form of an overweight cat and intends to take back the
notebook after Takashi dies. Until then, he agreed to protect Takashi from the nefarious
spirits who want to harm him for being the grandson of Reiko, who died in her young
adult years decades prior to the story.
The series has been adapted into a series drama CDs. An anime television series
adaptation, produced by Brain's Base (seasons 1–4) and Shuka (seasons 5 onwards),
have been broadcast on TV Tokyo in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2017. A
seventh season was announced in 2023. Two anime films, Natsume's Book of Friends
the Movie and Natsume's Book of Friends: The Waking Rock and the Strange Visitor,
were released in 2018 and 2021, respectively. The first four seasons of the anime were
licensed by NIS America for a North American release in 2012 and released on home
video in Japanese with English subtitles. The series has also been streamed
by Crunchyroll, who produced an English dub in 2022.
By September 2023, the manga had over 16 million copies in circulation.
Story[edit]
For as long as he can remember, Takashi Natsume has had the rare ability to see and
commune with yōkai, inheriting the power from his late maternal grandmother Reiko.
This ability resulted in his having a lonely childhood, because children his age
considered him strange. He had also been passed from one paternal relative to another.
Upon her death at a young adult age, Reiko bequeathed to her grandson her Book of
Friends, a book containing the names of hundreds of spirits she had bullied into
servitude.
The Book of Friends is considered a highly prized item in the supernatural world, and
spirits—both good and malicious—hunt Takashi constantly because of it. Takashi
spends his time dissolving the contracts that Reiko created and releasing the various
spirits that come to him. Malicious spirits, on the other hand, try to kill him to obtain
possession of the powerful Book of Friends, which is where Madara (called "Nyanko-
sensei" by Takashi) comes in. Madara serves as Takashi's bodyguard and spiritual
advisor of sorts, even though he is ostensibly motivated by his own desire to possess
the Book of Friends once Takashi dies. He later begins to become more attached to
Takashi, with the latter forming a similar bond with Madara.
Takashi also finds a good friend in an exorcist named Natori Suuichi, who also one of
the very few humans who is capable of perceiving and taking down spirits via certain
banishing or sealing spells, but also finds a dangerous adversary in Matoba Seiji who
has plans for wanting Takashi to join him and his nefarious clan of exorcists. Takashi is
determined to release all of the names before the conniving Matoba clan or other
malicious spirits attempt to use it for their own gain as he tries to learn whatever he can
about his maternal grandmother and the strong spiritual connection they share.

Credits to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natsume%27s_Book_of_Friends