Natsume's Book of Friends

Takashi Natsume (夏目 貴志, Natsume Takashi)

Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya,[10] Ayumi Fujimura (young) (Japanese); Adam Gibbs,[11] Paige Guillory (young) (English)

Takashi Natsume, just like his long deceased maternal grandmother Natsume Reiko, is able to perceive and hear ayakashi/yokai (i.e., "spirits"; the anime/manga often uses the two terms interchangeably). It is from Reiko that Takashi inherited the "Book of Friends" – a ledger of names written by ayakashi after being bested by Reiko in some type of contest. Because possession of an ayakashi's false name obliges it to heed any command of the one who has the decades-old magical/spiritual book, the abuse potential of the Book of Friends is vast: and as such, is considered far too dangerous and forbidden to even exist.

Because of Takashi's strong resemblance to the young exorcist-like woman late Natsume Reiko (both in appearance and infinitely strong spiritual powers), yokai routinely mistake Natsume for his maternal grandmother, often pursuing him intensely under the mistaken presumption of shared history and understanding. Accordingly, a regular part of Natsume's daily life is spent trying to cope with the idiosyncrasies, and discern the true intentions of such yokai: e.g., those who still deeply resent Reiko, but covet the great power of the Book of Friends to bend hundreds of various levels of yokai to their will; those who feel perpetually lonely and hurt that Reiko never called upon them anymore as the decades passed until her demise as a young adult underneath a tree; those who simply want their names returned to them; and pretty much anywhere or everywhere in between.

Upon discovering the Book of Friends, Natsume – kindly but detached in demeanor, driven in equal parts by curiousness and conscientiousness – decided to take responsibility on his own terms, to return the names of the dozens of ayakashi to their owners himself: and in doing so, learn more about his maternal grandmother and the spiritual connection they shared. He is aided in this by the formidable yokai Madara (whom he calls "Nyanko-sensei": a nod to both his usual cat-like appearance and his self-proclaimed job-title of "bodyguard"), to whom he has promised the Book of Friends should he die.

Natsume is an orphan; his mother (Reiko's illegitimate daughter) having died giving birth to him sixteen years ago, and his father died when he was a very young child, leaving him to be passed from distant paternal relative to paternal relative: in large part due to the "odd" or "creepy" behavior one might expect from a young child able to see creatures no one else could see. Behind Natsume's perpetual distant smile hides a childhood spent in constant anxiety and shame: borne in equal parts of the ayakashi and the people who called him a liar and attention-seeker because of them. Natsume is eventually passed on to the Fujiwaras, a middle-aged couple on his late 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. Being the only grandchild and descendant of the infamous Reiko, his innate spiritual powers are quite immense, allowing him to actually incapacitate and/or purify yokai with one punch alone, as well figure out if a human is possessed.

Natsume is described by Yuki Midorikawa as "a boy who is trying to be a kind person."[12]

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 only direct descendant. The cost of releasing the name, however, is that Natsume's spiritual energy is drained temporarily. 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 into their memories, so that he can understand them and his long deceased grandmother better. Natsume can also see their memories when he releases a yokai's name, seeing their last encounter with a teenage Natsume Reiko. 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 "Mary", he started drawing it in his sleep, making his friends wonder if he was in love with a foreigner. His incredibly strong ability in exorcist spells and immensely powerful spiritual strength causes him to smell "yummy" to man-eating yokai, as Madara puts it for Takashi having Reiko's scent as well as her great looks.

Natsume's ever developing/increasing spiritual powers and his keen sixth sense regarding yokai leave him targeted by yokai and wanted by exorcists. At the beginning, Natori wants him to join his exorcist clan, but later prefers him as a good friend. Seiji Matoba, one of the strongest and most dangerous of exorcists, also tries to recruit Natsume, but for his nefarious intent for being related to Natsume Reiko.

Madara (斑) / "Nyanko-sensei" (ニャンコ先生, Master Kitty-Cat)

Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue[10]

A mysterious inugami. 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 ordinarily takes on the shape of a maneki neko (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, so Madara often complains when Natsume returns other yokai's names, saying that at this rate there will be nothing left in the Book when Natsume 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.[13] In the anime, Natsume is more respectful to Madara.

Many times in the manga, other characters call Madara a 'pig' because of his round shape as a maneki neko, which annoys him greatly. Madara is implied to have had a close relationship with Natsume Reiko in both her teenage and young adult years til her premature death underneath a tree, which is implied to be one of the reasons he is content to be Takashi Natsume's yokai companion until the end of Natsume's own fleeting human life. Fans speculate that he may be Natsume's maternal grandfather but this has yet to be confirmed.

Reiko Natsume (夏目 レイコ, Natsume Reiko)

Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi (Japanese); Alexis Tipton[11] (English)

Natsume Takashi's late maternal grandmother, from whom he inherited the rare spiritual ability to see and hear yokai as well as banish or seal them away. When Reiko was a teenager and young adult, 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 invisible spirits for companionship and killing time. Reiko was extraordinarily powerful, and so she easily bullied hundreds of spirits in to obeying her by playing games with them or even using a mere baseball bat or broom to fend them off whenever she chose not to even display her infinitely powerful spiritual knowledge and innate prowess either by banishing or sealing them away via sacred sutras or shikigami, quite similar to exorcist Natori Suuichi. If they lost, she would make them give her their false names as proof of their loyalty to her. Reiko gathered said aliases in her decades-old magical/spiritual Book of Friends, and commanded most spirits to follow her every whim, with the exception of Madara whom she seemed to have been quite close with.

Madara mentioned that she had sloppy table manners and was very forgetful most times. Reiko died when she was a young adult underneath a tree, either in her twenties or thirties, so no one remembered her, which was her what she had wanted. Her legacy and fame throughout the supernatural world still remains strong as her innate spiritual might was feared and greatly intriguing to both yokai and exorcists alike, which is why they are so interested in her one-and-only grandchild who possesses the exact same infinitely high level of spiritual power she possessed.

Kaname Tanuma (田沼 要, Tanuma Kaname)

Voiced by: Kazuma Horie (Japanese); Tyson Rinehart[14] (English)

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. He became a close companion and even knew about Natsume's secret of seeing spirits and always helped him whenever he is in a tight spot.

Touru Taki (多軌 透, Taki Tōru)

Voiced by: Rina Satō[15]

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 onmyouji; she cannot see spirits without drawing a magic circle. Taki, like Tanuma, wants to help Natsume in any way possible. She has an older brother who is staying at university and flatly refuses to believe that yokai even exist.

Jun Sasada (笹田 純, Sasada Jun)

Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro[10] (Japanese); Marisa Duran[16] (English)

The president of Natsume's homeroom. Sasada believes that Natsume can see, hear and battle spirits, although he repeatedly denies this to her. To Natsume's chagrin, she frequently tries to accompany him when he is on business involving spirits. 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 stepfather's new job.

Shuuichi Natori (名取 周一, Natori Shūichi)

Voiced by: Akira Ishida,[10] Fuyuka Ōura (young) (Japanese); Aaron Roberts[17] (English)

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 of meeting Natsume, Natori developed concern for his wellbeing, for he tends to be too softhearted and reckless when it involves fellow exorcists or spirits with malicious intent alike. However, he does acknowledge that Natsume may even be much more powerful than himself or even those strongest of the nefarious Matoba clan. In the sixth season finale, he is finally is told about Natsume Reiko and her Book of Friends by Natsume, who thinks that such an old artifact as powerful as it is dangerous would be better off burned, but keeps its existence for Natsume's sake.

Hiiragi (柊)

Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino[10]

Seiji Matoba (的場 静司, Matoba Seiji)

Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe (Japanese); Reagan Murdock[18] (English)

The head of the Matoba clan who is twenty-two years old. A coldhearted yet levelheaded young man, Seiji is a topmost-level 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 eye patch with a certain protection spell on it, due to an ancestor 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 immediately takes great interest in him, and even later asks him to join the Matoba clan since finding out he is the grandson of Natsume Reiko herself.

Atsushi Kitamoto (北本 篤史, Kitamoto Atsushi) and Satoru Nishimura (西村 悟, Nishimura Satoru)

Voiced by: Hisayoshi Suganuma[10] and Ryōhei Kimura[10] (Japanese); Mike Haimoto and Matthew Elkins[11] (English)

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.

Touko Fujiwara (藤原 塔子, Fujiwara Tōko) and Shigeru Fujiwara (藤原 滋, Fujiwara Shigeru)

Voiced by: Miki Itō[10] (Japanese); Jennifer AuBuchon[11] and Seth Magill[19] (English)

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 ever developing/increasing spiritual abilities.

One-Eyed Middle Class Yokai (一つ目の中級妖怪) and Ox-Faced Middle Class Yokai (牛顔の中級妖怪)

Voiced by: Takashi Matsuyama[10] and Hiroshi Shimozaki[10] (Japanese); Brian Mathis[20] (English)

Hinoe (ヒノエ)

Voiced by: Akemi Okamura[10] (Japanese); Molly Searcy[21] (English)

A powerful youkai whose form is a blue-haired human woman. She is madly in love with Reiko Natsume. Being knowledgeable, she often acts as Takashi Natsume's mentor. Hinoe enjoys teasing Natsume and Madara; the former because of his unncanny resemblance to Reiko.

Misuzu (三篠)

Voiced by: Takaya Kuroda[10]

A huge 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.

Kappa (カッパ)

Voiced by: Kyōko Chikiri[10] (Japanese); Danielle Yoshiko Phillips[22] (English)

Kogitsune (子狐, Little Fox)

Voiced by: Akiko Yajima (Japanese); Kristen McGuire[23] (English)

An orphaned fox youkai whose form is a boy with fox ears and tail however humans only see him as an infant fox. He becomes friends with Natsume after being rescued from bullying yokai.

Chobihige (ちょびひげ)

Voiced by: Chō

Hishigaki (ひしがき)

Voiced by: Kimiko Saitō (Japanese); Kasi Hollowell[24] (English)

Tsuyukami (露神)

Voiced by: Takeshi Aono (Japanese); Doug Jackson[25] (English)

Susugi (ススギ)

Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto

Shigure (時雨)

Voiced by: Hiroshi Tsuchida

Santo (さんと)

Voiced by: Yoshiyuki Hirai

Mikuri (みくり)

Voiced by: Tetsuya Yanagihara

Tsubame (燕)

Voiced by: Ryoka Yuzuki (Japanese); Rachel Glass[26] (English)

Tarusaru (垂申)

Voiced by: Akimitsu Takase (Japanese); Jerry Habibi[27] (English)

Hotaru (ホタル)

Voiced by: Houko Kuwashima

Akagane (アカガネ)

Voiced by: Atsushi Imaruoka (Japanese); Jack Reeder[28] (English)

Asagi (アサギ)

Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (Japanese); Natalie Hoover[29] (English)

Evil Sealed Yokai (印使いの邪鬼)

Voiced by: Tadashi Miyazawa

Benio (紅峰)

Voiced by: Misa Watanabe (Japanese); Kelsey Maher[30] (English)

Riou (リオウ, Riō)

Voiced by: Masaya Matsukaze (Japanese); Oscar Seung[31] (English)

Gen (玄)

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino

Sui (翠)

Voiced by: Ayahi Takagaki

Sumie (スミエ)

Voiced by: Takako Honda

Eggy (タマ, Tama)

Voiced by: Sayaka Aoki (Japanese); Jalitza Chantel,[32] Alex Hom (Enraged form)[33] (English)

Kirinoha (霧葉)

Voiced by: Yuka Terasaki (Japanese); Hannah Alyea[34] (English)

Stitch Mark Yokai (額傷の妖怪)

Voiced by: Takayuki Sugō (Japanese); Alex Hom[35] (English)

Sasafune (笹舟)

Voiced by: Ryō Hirohashi

Miya (巳弥)

Voiced by: Yū Sugimoto

Karime (カリメ)

Voiced by: Ryūsaku Chiziwa

Kai (カイ)

Voiced by: Junko Takeuchi

Hana (ハナ)

Voiced by: Michie Kita (Japanese); Nazia Chaudhry[36] (English)

Taniozaki (谷尾崎)

Voiced by: Satoshi Tsuruoka

Akifumi Sugino (杉野 章史)

Voiced by: Kenji Hamada

Tamiko (民子)

Voiced by: Sawa Ishige

Nanase (七瀬)

Voiced by: Mika Doi, Yoriko Nagata (young)

Chizu Sakanaka (坂中千津, Sakanaka Chizu)

Voiced by: Ikuko Tani

Yasaka (八坂)

Voiced by: Kenji Nojima

Katsumi Shibata (柴田 克己, Shibata Katsumi)

Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya

Natsume's Father (夏目の父)

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi

Natsume's biological father who was deceased in Natsume's childhood.

Written and illustrated by Yuki Midorikawa, Natsume's Book of Friends was first published in Hakusensha's shōjo manga magazine LaLa DX from June 10, 2003,[42][43] to April 10, 2008;[lower-alpha 2] it has been serialized in the monthly sister magazine LaLa since July 24, 2007.[46][47] The chapters have been collected in twenty-nine tankōbon volumes.

The series is licensed in English in North America by Viz Media, with the first volume published in January 2010.[48] It is also licensed in French by Delcourt,[49] in South Korea by Haksan,[50] in Taiwan by Tong Li,[51] in Thailand by Bongkoch Publishing,[52] in Germany by Egmont Manga & Anime,[53] in Italy by Panini Comics,[12] in Vietnam by Tre Publishing House,[22] in Russia by XL Media[38] and in Poland by Studio JG.[54]

In addition, a fan book was published on January 5, 2009 (ISBN 978-4-592-18696-0)[111] and a notebook reproduction of Natsume's Book of Friends was published on July 3, 2009 (ISBN 978-4-592-18690-8).[112]

Natsume's Book of Friends has been adapted as a series of three drama CDs, which were distributed as extras with issues of LaLa.

1. LaLa Treasure Drama CD (October 2007)
2. LaLa Excellent Drama CD (November 2008)
3. LaLa Double Premiere Drama CD (May 2009)

Natsume's Book of Friends has been adapted as an anime television series produced by Brain's Base, directed by Takahiro Omori.[113] It was broadcast on the TV Tokyo network. Seasons 1 & 2 were released on five DVDs each.[114]

The series is streamed online by Crunchyroll; episodes of the second season were available online on the day of broadcast.[115] 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.[116][54][117][118] It is also licensed in Chinese by Muse Communication.

The English dub premiered on Crunchyroll on July 24, 2022.[119] The series is based on the first seventy-three chapters and several special chapters, which do not follow the order of the manga. Since the finale of the sixth season, fans are desperately awaiting subsequent seasons and movies once the manga is complete.

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.[124] A new theatrical anime titled Natsume's Book of Friends: The Waking Rock and the Strange Visitor premiered on January 16, 2021.[125] The film is composed of two stories, "Ishi Okoshi" and "Ayashiki Raihōsha". The main staff and cast members from the previous film are returning to reprise their roles with the addition of Hisako Kanemoto as a guest-star.[126][127]

Separate soundtrack albums for the two seasons were released in Japan by Sony Music on September 24, 2008 and March 18, 2009, respectively.[128][129] The series opening and closing theme songs were also released by Sony Music.[130][131][132][133] As singles, "Issei no Sei" reached a peak rank of 48th on the Oricon singles chart,[134] "Natsu Yūzora" reached 27th,[135] and "Ano Hi Time Machine" reached 38th.[136] "Aishiteru" was not released as a single, but instead included on an album called Uta no Hibi by Kourin (Also known as Callin').[133]