I have just finished watching a very
charming anime series called Natsume's Book of Friends (Natsume Yujin-cho).
. This show has a very warm feeling to it and a very likable cast of characters.
. This show has a very warm feeling to it and a very likable cast of characters.
It starts out with a young boy named
Takashi Natsume who has a disconnected past from his immediate
family. He inherits a strange book that was owned by his
grandmother, Reiko Natsume. In this book, she had collected the
names of all the youkai (spirits) she had met in her life. Reiko had
forced them to give her their names so she could bind them in
servitude to her.
Takashi is not comfortable with this
and begins to give these names back to their owners. While doing
this, he comes upon Madara, one of the youkai that was bound to his
grandmother. Madara becomes a mentor and protector to Takashi.
Madara does not not hide the fact that he is really interested in
getting the Book of Friends for his own use. He is only protecting
Takashi from other youkai that might kill Takashi before Madara can.
Madara, who is called Nyanko Sensei by
Takashi, provides a humorous side kick in his disguise as a very
chubby lucky cat. He is constantly eating and loves to drink too
much sake.
He seems to be a very aloof cat only interested in his own comfort and entertainment – but when real trouble arises, he changes form into a much more formidable spirit and saves Takashi many times.
He seems to be a very aloof cat only interested in his own comfort and entertainment – but when real trouble arises, he changes form into a much more formidable spirit and saves Takashi many times.
Each episode covers another adventure
for Takashi and Nyanko Sensei as they meet more youkai and learn their stories. As the series progresses, we are shown
small pieces of Takashi's past life and how he has moved from home to
home without a real family. We also learn more about his grandmother. Both Takashi and his grandmother can see youkai. This makes them different from everyone else and they have both been outcasts as young children.
This show moves forward with the lives
of Takashi and his new youkai friends at a pace that allows us to see, in a very natural way, how Takashi grows and learns about friendship and family. We follow his discoveries about his own family and how he
is not as alone now as he has believed he is.
Natsume's Book of Friends tells a very
touching tale and does it gracefully and beautifully. You can watch is streaming at Crunchyroll.com or get the DVDs from Amazon.com.
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