Natsume Yujin Cho - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

is a Japanese fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

series by Yuki Midorikawa

Yuki Midorikawa

is a Japanese manga artist.She is primarily known for her shōjo manga works on the magazines LaLa and LaLa DX, published by Hakusensha.She began to seriously pursue her manga career starting in middle school....

. It began serialization by Hakusensha

Hakusensha

is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo.The company mainly publishes manga magazines of various genres and is involved in certain series' productions in their games, original video animation, musical and their animated TV series....

in the shōjo manga magazine LaLa DX
LaLa DX
LaLa DX is a Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Hakusensha. It was first published on July 9, 1983 as a supplement magazine to LaLa in which it later became the sister magazine to LaLa, another of Hakusensha's shōjo manga magazines...

in 2005, before switching to LaLa
Lala
Lala VC was an Indian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth soldiers.-Details:...

in 2008. Chapters have been collected in nine bound volumes

Tankobon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

. The series is about Natsume, an orphaned teenage boy who can see spirits

Yōkai

are a class of supernatural monsters in Japanese folklore. The word yōkai is made up of the kanji for "otherworldly" and "weird". Yōkai range eclectically from the malevolent to the mischievous, or occasionally bring good fortune to those who encounter them...

, 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

Manga Taishō

The is an annual Japanese manga award.-First iteration:In the inaugural edition of the award in 2008, twelve manga were nominated and the winner was Gaku, by Shinichi Ishizuka.*Winner: Gaku, by Shinichi Ishizuka*Nominees:...

award in 2008.

Natsume's Book of Friends has been adapted as a series of drama CDs, as well as an anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

television series produced by Brain's Base

Brain's Base

is a Japanese animation studio.-TV series:2002*Daigunder2003*Pluster World2005*Kamichu!*Gunparade Orchestra2006*Innocent Venus2007*Kishin Taisen Gigantic Formula*Baccano!2008*Kure-nai*Natsume's Book of Friends...

, which was broadcast on TV Tokyo

TV Tokyo

is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...

in two seasons in 2008 and 2009. The manga is licensed for English-language release in North America by Viz Media

VIZ Media

VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

, which released the first volume in January 2010. The third season began airing in July 2011. A fourth season, to be titled Natsume Yūjin-Chō Shi, was announced in the November 2011 issue of LaLa.

Story

For as long as he can remember, Takashi Natsume has been cursed by the ability to see spirits

Yōkai

, a power inherited from his grandmother Reiko. Upon her death, Reiko bequeaths to her grandson her Book of Friends, a book containing the names of spirits Reiko had bullied into servitude. The Book of Friends is a highly prized item in the spirit world, and spirits haunt Takashi constantly. Whereas Reiko formed the contracts, however, Takashi spends his time dissolving the contracts and releasing the various spirits that come to him for help. But that doesn't mean there aren't malicious spirits trying to kill him. Which is where Madara (called Nyanko-sensei by Natsume) comes in; Madara serves as Natsume's bodyguard and spiritual advisor of sorts, even though he is motivated by his own desire to possess the Book of Friends. He later on begins to become more attached to Takashi.

Main characters

The main character who like his grandmother (from whom he has inherited the book of friends - a book of contracts binding ayakashi defeated by Reiko to her in servitude), Reiko Natsume, can see ayakashi.

Because of Natsume's strong resemblance to Reiko, he is often mistaken for her, and chased by yokai who hate Reiko but covet the book of friends. He decided to dissolve the Book by returning all the names to their owners. He is accompanied by the yokai Madara, who he calls "Nyanko-sensei" or sometimes simply "sensei," promising him possession of the Book of Friends once he is dead.

Natsume is an orphan. His parents died when he was a very young child, leaving him to be passed from relative to relative most likely because of his attempts to share that he could see ayakashi. Natsume is eventually passed on to the Fujiwaras, a middle-aged couple on his father's side of the family. He loves them, and does not want to cause them trouble, so he keeps this 'alternate landscape' problem to himself. He has incredibly strong spiritual power, allowing him to actually hit and hurt youkai.

In the anime, he is more cheery and good-natured, while in the manga, he is slightly more dismal and short-tempered. Natsume is described by Yuki Midorikawa as "a boy who is trying to be a kind person."

Natsume returns the name inscribed in the Book of Friends by first picturing the ayakashi in his mind. The book flips to the page on which the name is written and Natsume takes the page and places it in his mouth and exhales. Natsume is only able to do this because he is Reiko's blood relative. The cost of releasing the name, however, is that Natsume's energy is completely drained in the process. If an ayakashi becomes emotionally unstable, in the same space as a sleeping Natsume its dreams may flow into Natsume's.

On the other hand, most of the ayakashi let Natsume see their memories, so that he can understand them better. Natsume can also see their memories when he releases a yokai's name. When Natsume is completely frustrated over a problem and falls asleep in class, he actually sleep-draws in his notebook about whatever is bothering him at the time. When he was being chased by a shadow he called "Merry," he started drawing it in his sleep, making his friends wonder if he was in love with a foreigner. His incredibly strong ability in spiritual magic and strength causes him to smell "yummy" to man-eating yokais, as Madara puts it.

A mysterious ayakashi. Madara was sealed in a shrine until he was accidentally released by Natsume. Because Madara was trapped in a material form for so long, Madara ordinary takes on the shape of a maneki neko
Maneki Neko
The is a common Japanese sculpture, often made of ceramic, which is believed to bring good luck to the owner. The sculpture depicts a cat beckoning with an upright paw, and is usually displayed—many times at the entrance—in shops, restaurants, pachinko parlors, and other businesses...

(lucky cat), leading Natsume to nickname him Nyanko-sensei. In this form, other people can see him, leading for Natsume having to ask his guardians if he could keep him as a pet. He is a powerful ayakashi, who protects Natsume from others and teaches him spells on occasion, in return for Natsume's promise to give him the Book of Friends when he dies. They often fight each other, which leads to Natsume punching Madara on the face and knocking him out. But as the story progresses, Madara takes a liking to Natsume. Despite his protests of not being a cat, he likes to play with cat toys. Nyanko's design is based on a lucky cat statue Midorikawa was given as a child. In the anime, Natsume is more respectful to Madara.

Natsume's grandmother, from whom he inherited the ability to see yokai. 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 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, including Madara. Madara mentions that she had sloppy table manners and was very forgetful. Reiko died when she was young, so no one remembered her.

Another student that had recently moved into the area. He is sickly and quite susceptible to illnesses. Like Natsume, he is able to detect spirits, but to a lesser degree limited to seeing merely shadows and sensing slight presence of spirits. He wants to help Natsume in any way he can, but is afraid that he will just be a burden because of his weak ability.

A new girl at school who rarely talks because of a curse a spirit has placed on her, which Natsume later helps her to break. She is an omniyojist, she cannot actually see spirits but she can with a magic circle she draws with a stick. One of Natsume's friends, Nishimura, has a crush on her, but thinks that she and Natsume are going out. Taki, like Tanuma, wants to help Natsume in any way possible.

The president

Class President

A class president is usually the leader of a student body class, and presides over its class cabinet or organization within a student council, in a grade school class presidents are generally elected by the class, a constituency composed of all students in a grade level.The practice of electing a...

of Natsume's homeroom. Sasada believes that Natsume can see spirits, although he repeatedly denies this to her. To Natsume's chagrin, she frequently tries to accompany him when he is on business involving sprirts. She is a recurring character in the anime; in the manga, she is rarely seen after the encounter with Shigure due to transferring to another school from her step-father's job.

A man who is also able to see spirits. He is a famous actor and exorcist and has a lizard birthmark that moves around on his body. He has the ability to manipulate paper dolls (Shikigami) and has three spirits under his command. Natsume tends to disapprove of his forceful exorcism methods. When Natori is first introduced, he hated spirits for his horrible childhood. But, after meeting Natsume, he gradually softens even though his ways aren't much different. Over the course, Natori develop concern for Natsume's well-being for he tends to be reckless when it involves with spirits.

The head of the Matoba clan. A cold-hearted man, Seiji is an exorcist who doesn't mind sacrificing innocent youkai to reach his goals. Although he wants stronger youkai to protect humans, he will not hesitate in hurting anyone who gets in his way. He is mostly seen armed with a bow and arrow, which he uses to eliminate youkai. There is a scar on his right eye, covered by an eyepatch with a spell on it, due to a past member of the Matoba clan offering his eye to a youkai for assistance but ended up breaking his promise. This causes later heads of the clan to have their eye targeted by that youkai, and the distrust from other clans. After his first encounter with Natsume he takes great interest in him, and even later on asks him to join the Matoba clan.

Classmates of Natsume. Kitamoto is a sensible and rational person, while Nishimura is funny and easy-going, with a slightly perverted side. Although Natsume initially rejects their overtures of friendship because of his fears of his ability being found out, he eventually becomes friends with them, although they still hang around more with each other than Natsume. Nishimura has a crush on Taki, but thinks that she and Natsume are going out, and ran off comically crying. Kitamoto said that he would support Natsume all the way before running after his friend.

A childless middle-aged couple and Natsume's current foster parents. Shigeru is a second cousin of Natsume's dead father, and as a boy once met Reiko without recognizing it was her. Both Touko and Shigeru assure Natsume that they consider him a part of their family. They both worry often about him, wanting him to be as happy as possible. Despite this, Natsume goes to great lengths to hide his ability from them. Slowly, Natsume comes to understand that his keeping the Fujiwaras at a distance, including always addressing them formally (see Honorific speech in Japanese), is preventing him from forming close human attachments. Despite this, he still fears being rejected because of his abilities.

Hinoe

A powerful youkai whose form is a human woman. She is madly in love with Natsume Reiko. Being knowledgeable, she often acts as Natsume Takashi's mentor. Hinoe enjoys teasing Natsume and Madara.

Misuzu

A powerful horse youkai with many followers. He acknowledges that Natsume Takashi is a worthy holder of the Book of Friends and offers himself as Natsume's bodyguard in place of the "useless" Madara.

Development

Midorikawa created Natsume's Book of Friends as an episodic

Episode

An episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book. The term sometimes applies to works based on other forms of mass media as well, as in Star Wars...

serial

Serial (literature)

In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...

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

Ghost story

A ghost story may be any piece of fiction, or drama, or an account of an experience, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them. Colloquially, the term can refer to any kind of scary story. In a narrower sense, the ghost story has...

that an editor made her revise to include more romance

Romance (genre)

As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as...

than she initially wanted, Midorikawa specifically created Natsume's Book of Friends as supernatural

Supernatural

The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...

story with less romance, containing supernatural elements that stir readers' imaginations the way stories about yōkai

Yōkai

and local gods

Kami

is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...

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 a the boy's grandmother in a school uniform.

This was the first series Midorikawa wrote in which the protagonist

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

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

Monologue

In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...

than she was comfortable with for a male character.

Manga

Natsume's Book of Friends is written and illustrated by Yuki Midorikawa and published in Japan by Hakusensha

Hakusensha

. It began serialization in 2005 in the bimonthly shōjo
Shojo
The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...

(aimed at teenage girls) manga magazine LaLa DX
LaLa DX
LaLa DX is a Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Hakusensha. It was first published on July 9, 1983 as a supplement magazine to LaLa in which it later became the sister magazine to LaLa, another of Hakusensha's shōjo manga magazines...

; in 2008, serialization switched to the monthly sister magazine LaLa
Lala
Lala VC was an Indian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth soldiers.-Details:...

. The untitled chapters have been collected in twelve tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

volumes .

The series is licensed in English in North America by Viz Media

VIZ Media

, with the first volume published in January 2010. It is also licensed in French by Delcourt

Delcourt (publisher)

Delcourt is a French publishing house that specializes in comics and manga.It was founded in 1986 through the fusion of the magazines Charlie Mensuel and Pilote...

, in South Korea by Haksan

Haksan Culture Company

Haksan Culture Company , a subsidiary of Daewon Media, is a South Korean publisher, famous for its large selections of domestic and imported comics and light novels. It was established in Seoul, in 1995.-Publishing:Magazines...

, in Taiwan by Tong Li, and in Thailand by Bongkoch Publishing.
In addition, a fan book was published on January 5, 2009 (ISBN 978-4-592-18696-0) and a notebook reproduction of Natsume's Book of Friends was published July 3, 2009 (ISBN 978-4-592-18690-8).

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 (October 2007)
LaLa Excellent Drama CD (November 2008)
LaLa Double Premiere Drama CD (May 2009)

Anime

Natsume's Book of Friends has been adapted as an anime

Anime

television series produced by Brain's Base

Brain's Base

, directed by Takahiro Omori

Takahiro Omori

is a Japanese animation director and storyboard writer. He has directed many anime series, including Fancy Lala, Koi Kaze, Gakuen Alice, Hell Girl, Natsume's Book of Friends, Baccano!, and Durarara!!.- Filmography :1988...

. It was broadcast on the TV Tokyo

TV Tokyo

network in two seasons of 13 episodes each, the first from July 7 to September 29, 2008 and the second, called , from January 5 to March 30, 2009. For the first season, the opening theme was by Shūhei Kita, and the ending theme was by Kousuke Atari

Kousuke Atari

Kousuke Atari is a J-Pop artist, born July 13, 1980, on Amami island, Japan. Hailing from Amami-Oshima in southern Japan, Atari Kousuke is a folk singer currently signed to Epic Records Japan...

. For the second season, the opening theme was by Long Shot Party

Long Shot Party

Long Shot Party was a Japanese six-piece ska band, formed in Sendai, 1998.They released their first mini-album titled Making Ourself Understood in our Sounds in January 2000...

and the ending theme was by Kourin (Also known as Callin'). Both seasons were released on five DVDs each.

A third season, titled began airing on July 5, 2011. The opening theme is by HOW MERRY MARRY and the ending theme is by Kousuke Atari

Kousuke Atari

Kousuke Atari is a J-Pop artist, born July 13, 1980, on Amami island, Japan. Hailing from Amami-Oshima in southern Japan, Atari Kousuke is a folk singer currently signed to Epic Records Japan...

featuring Emiri Miyamoto.

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

Oricon

, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...

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 (Also known as Callin').

The series is licensed in English by Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll is an American website and international online community focused on streaming East Asian media including anime, manga, drama, music, electronic entertainment, and auto racing content...

, which streams it online; episodes of the second season were available online on the day of broadcast.
It is also licensed in Chinese by Muse Communication.

Reception

Natsume's Book of Friends was one of twelve finalists for the first Manga Taishō

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 7 has done the best so far of the volumes, staying on the chart for two consecutive weeks (number 2 for the week of January 6–12, 2009 then falling to number 16 for the following week).

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.