Natsume's Book of Friends
Natsume's Book of Friends is a Japanese manga series by Yuki Midorikawa. It began serialization by Hakusensha in the shōjo manga magazine LaLa DX in 2005, before switching to LaLa in 2008. The chapters have been collected in twenty-three bound volumes. The series is about Natsume, an orphaned teenage boy who can see spirits, who inherits from his grandmother the notebook she used to bind spirits under her control. Natsume's Book of Friends was a finalist for the first Manga Taishō award in 2008.
Natsume's Book of Friends has been adapted as a series of drama CDs, as well as an anime television series produced by Brain's Base and Shuka, which was broadcast on TV Tokyo for 6 seasons in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2017.
The manga is licensed for English-language release in North America by Viz Media, which released the first volume in January 2010.
The first four seasons of the anime have been licensed by NIS America for a North American release in 2012.
A fifth season began airing on October 4, 2016.
A sixth season began airing on April 11, 2017.
was released in theaters on September 29, 2018.
Story
For as long as he can remember, Takashi Natsume has had the ability to see spirits, inheriting the power from his grandmother Reiko Natsume. This ability resulted in his having a lonely childhood because children his age considered him strange. He had also been passed from one relative to another.Upon her death, Reiko bequeathed to her grandson her Book of Friends, a book containing the names of spirits she had bullied into servitude.
The Book of Friends is considered a highly prized item in the spirit world, and spirits -
both good and malicious - haunt Takashi constantly because of it. Whereas Reiko formed the contracts, however, Takashi spends his time dissolving the contracts and releasing the various spirits that come to him for help. Malicious spirits on the other hand try to kill him to obtain possession of the book. Which is where Madara comes in; Madara serves as Natsume's bodyguard and spiritual advisor of sorts, even though ostensibly he is motivated by his own desire to possess the Book of Friends. He later begins to become more attached to Takashi, with the latter forming a similar bond with Madara.
Characters
Main characters
; Takashi Natsume; Madara "Nyanko-sensei"
; Reiko Natsume
Supporting
; Kaname Tanuma; Touru Taki
; Jun Sasada
; Shuuichi Natori
; Hiiragi
; Seiji Matoba
; Atsushi Kitamoto Satoru Nishimura
; Touko Fujiwara Shigeru Fujiwara
; Hinoe
; Misuzu
; Kogitsune
; Chukyuu
; Chobihige
; Kappa
; Nanase
; Katsumi Shibata
Development
Midorikawa created Natsume's Book of Friends as an episodic serial for a manga magazine published every two months, so that each chapter was a story that could be read on its own. As the result of earlier writing a ghost story that an editor made her revise to include more romance than she initially wanted, Midorikawa specifically created Natsume's Book of Friends as a supernatural story with less romance, containing supernatural elements that stir readers' imaginations the way stories about yōkai and local gods stirred hers growing up in a rural area. For the basic story, she wanted to write about a boy and his non-human teacher, and include the incongruous element of the boy's grandmother in a school uniform.This was the first series Midorikawa wrote in which the protagonist was also the central character. Midorikawa claimed that as a character Natsume is almost as bad as herself at expressing his thoughts, which caused her to use more interior monologue than she was comfortable with for a male character.
Media
Manga
Natsume's Book of Friends is written and illustrated by Yuki Midorikawa and published in Japan by Hakusensha. It began serialization in 2005 in the bimonthly shōjo manga magazine LaLa DX; in 2008, serialization switched to the monthly sister magazine LaLa. The untitled chapters have been collected in twenty-four tankōbon volumes.The series is licensed in English in North America by Viz Media, with the first volume published in January 2010. It is also licensed in French by Delcourt, in South Korea by Haksan, in Taiwan by Tong Li,, in Thailand by Bongkoch Publishing and in Germany by Egmont Manga & Anime.
In addition, a fan book was published on January 5, 2009 and a notebook reproduction of Natsume's Book of Friends was published July 3, 2009.
Drama CDs
Natsume's Book of Friends has been adapted as a series of three drama CDs, which were distributed as extras with issues of LaLa.- LaLa Treasure Drama CD
- LaLa Excellent Drama CD
- LaLa Double Premiere Drama CD
Anime
The series is streamed online by Crunchyroll; episodes of the second season were available online on the day of broadcast.
NIS America has licensed the series for retail release in North America. NIS America later released the series from Volume 1 through Volume 3 alongside Natsume's Book of Friends seasons 1 and 2 on February 4, 2014.
It is also licensed in Chinese by Muse Communication.
| Season | Name | Total Episodes | Air Date | Opening Theme | Ending Theme |
| Season 1 | Natsume Yūjin-chō Natsume's Book of Friends | 13 | 7 July 2008 | Issei no Sei By Shūhei Kita | Natsu Yuuzora Sky By Kousuke Atari. |
| Season 2 | Zoku Natsume Yūjin-chō Natsume's Book of Friends Continued 続 夏目友人帳 | 13 | 5 January 2009 | Ano Hi Time Machine By Long Shot Party | Aishiteru By Kourin. |
| Season 3 | Natsume Yūjin-chō San Natsume's Book of Friends Three 夏目友人帳 参 | 13 | 5 July 2011 | Boku ni Dekiru Koto By HOW MERRY MARRY | Kimi no Kakera By Kousuke Atari featuring Emiri Miyamoto. |
| Season 4 | Natsume Yūjin-chō Shi Natsume;s Book of Friends Four 夏目友人帳 肆 | 13 | 2 January 2012 | Ima, Kono Toki By Hiiragi | Takaramono By Marina Kawano |
| Season 5 | Natsume Yūjin-Chō Go Natsume's Book of Friends Five 夏目友人帳 伍 | 11 | 4 October 2016 | Takarabako By Sasanomaly | Akane Sasu By Aimer. |
| Season 6 | Natsume Yūjin-chō Roku Natsume's Book of Friends Six 夏目友人帳 陸 | 11 | 11 April 2017 | Furōria By Tomohisa Sako | Kimi no Uta By Rei Yasuda. |
Film
Others
An OVA titled Itsuka Yuki no Hi ni was released on February 5, 2014, with the staff and cast of the previous anime seasons returning. The BD/DVD consisted of two discs, the second containing a clip of the "Sound Theatre x Natsume Yuujinchou ~ Tsudoi Ongeki no Shou~" musical event which was held the previous year on September 28, 2013.Separate soundtrack albums for the two seasons were released in Japan by Sony Music on September 24, 2008 and March 18, 2009, respectively. The series opening and closing theme songs were also released by Sony Music. As singles, "Issei no Sei" reached a peak rank of 48th on the Oricon singles chart, "Natsu Yūzora" reached 27th, and "Ano Hi Time Machine" reached 38th. "Aishiteru" was not released as a single, but instead included on an album called Uta no Hibi by Kourin.
Reception
Natsume's Book of Friends was one of twelve finalists for the first Manga Taishō award in 2008.Since the fifth volume of the series, the individual volumes have made the best-seller list for manga in Japan. Volume 5 was ranked at number 8 on the charts for the week of March 4–10, 2008; Volume 6 was number 5 for the week of July 8–14, 2008; Volume 13 has done the best so far of the volumes, staying on the chart for three consecutive weeks.
The anime has been popular not just in Japan, but also in the United States, Canada, South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Both the show and the manga have been noted for their optimistic themes and presentation.