Original run 2005 – present | Volumes 21 | |
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Adaptations Natsume's Book of Friends (2008) Similar Hotarubi no Mori e, Bungo Stray Dogs, Haikyū!!, March Comes in like a Lion, The Disastrous Life of Sai |
Natsume's Book of Friends (Japanese: 夏目友人帳, Hepburn: Natsume Yūjin-chō) is a Japanese fantasy 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-one 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.
Contents
- Anime review natsume yuujinchou natsume s book of friends
- Story
- Main characters
- Development
- Manga
- Drama CDs
- Anime
- Reception
- References

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, which was broadcast on TV Tokyo in 4 seasons in 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012. The manga is licensed for English-language release in North America by Viz Media, which released the first volume in January 2010. All 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 will begin airing in April 2017.

Anime review natsume yuujinchou natsume s book of friends
Story

For as long as he can remember, Takashi Natsume has had the ability to see spirits, inheriting the power 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 ostensibly 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

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.
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 (aimed at teenage girls) manga magazine LaLa DX; in 2008, serialization switched to the monthly sister magazine LaLa. The untitled chapters have been collected in twenty-one 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, 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 television series produced by Brain's Base, directed by Takahiro Omori. It was broadcast on the TV Tokyo network in two seasons of 13 episodes each, the first from July 7 to September 29, 2008 and the second, called Zoku Natsume Yūjin-chō (続 夏目友人帳?, Natsume's Book of Friends Continued), from January 5 to March 30, 2009. For the first season, the opening theme was "Issei no Sei" (一斉の声?, "Simultaneous Voice") by Shūhei Kita, and the ending theme was "Natsu Yūzora" (夏夕空?, "Summer Evening Sky") by Kousuke Atari.
For the second season, the opening theme was "Ano Hi Time Machine" (あの日タイムマシン?, "That Day's Time Machine") by Long Shot Party and the ending theme was "Aishiteru" (愛してる?, "I Love You") by Kourin (pronounced as Callin'). Both seasons were released on five DVDs each.
A third season, titled Natsume Yūjin-chō San (夏目友人帳 参?, Natsume's Book of Friends Three) began airing on July 5, 2011. The opening theme was "Boku ni Dekiru Koto" (僕にできること?, "I Can Do") by HOW MERRY MARRY and the ending theme was "Kimi no Kakera" (君ノカケラ?, "Pieces of You") by Kousuke Atari featuring Emiri Miyamoto.
A fourth season titled Natsume Yuujinchou Shi (夏目友人帳 肆, Natsume's Book of Friends Four) began airing on January 2, 2012. The opening theme was "Ima, Kono Toki" (今、このとき。?, "Now, This Time") by Hiiragi and the ending theme was "Takaramono" (たからもの?, "Treasure") by Marina Kawano.
In the August, September, and October 2013 issues of LaLA Magazine, readers were able to get a special original-OVA DVD for Natsume Yuujinchou titled "Nyanko-Sensei and the First Errand", "Nyanko-sensei to Hajimete no Otsukai" (ニャンコ先生とはじめてのおつかい). This one-hour long episode OAD was aired on December, 2013.
An OVA titled Itsuka Yuki no Hi ni (いつかゆきのひに) 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.
A fifth season, titled Natsume Yūjin-chō Go (夏目友人帳 伍, Natsume's Book of Friends Five), was announced in the Monthly LaLa magazine's May 2016 issue and began airing on October 4, 2016. Shuka produced the anime, while the main staff from the previous seasons returned for the sequel. The opening theme was "Takarabako" (タカラバコ?) by Sasanomaly and the ending theme was "Akane Sasu" (茜さす?) by Aimer.
A sixth season, titled Natsume Yūjin-chō Roku (夏目友人帳 陸, Natsume's Book of Friends Six), was announced at the end of the fifth season's final episode. It is scheduled to premiere in April 2017.
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 (Also known as Callin').
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. 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 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 (number 2 for the week of January 2–8, 2012, number 4 for the week of January 9–15, 2012, then falling to number 19 the following week).