Yuki Midorikawa

I liked Natsume's Book of Friends so much that I ordered volume two. I was not disappointed. Orphan Takashi Natsume has not been chased out of his current home with his distant paternal relatives, kindly Mr. & Mrs. Fujiwara. Of course he's still trying to hide his ability to see spirits and demons from them. The yokai who wants to be called 'Naynko Sensei' can be seen by normal humans because he melded with the beckoning cat statue in which he was imprisoned. Takashi has a pet 'cat' and the yokai (real name 'Madara') has a place to live and activity to amuse himself.

As we learned in volume one, Takashi has inherited his power from his late grandmother, Reiko, who used to beat up demons and force them to write their names in her 'book of friends'. So long as a Yokai's name is in that book, that yokai must obey whoever has the book. Takashi is trying to give them back their names.

Chapter (Story) 5: Takashi is begged/nagge into being one of the 20 students who will participate in the annual haunted schoolhouse challenge. This year is special because it's going to be the last: the school is going to be torn down.
The students gather together. Nyanko Sensei followed Takeshi. He's talking to his human, when another student asks if the cat made a weird sound. A 'mrowr' is enough to convince him it's just a weird cat.

All the kids have to do is go in as pairs, walk down the hall, and sign their names on a sheet at the end. It hasn't been set up as an American Halloween Haunted House, or so Takashi has been assured. All 20 numbered slips have been drawn, but one hand in the circle of hands has no number to display. Oops.

A girl named Sasada tells the legend of the school, which involved a greedy merchant and a god of luck. Tatsuke and Tsuji, another boy, are the fourth pair to enter even though the three pairs that went in first havened returned. I'm sure you won't be surprised to learn that the school really is haunted.

Sasada is smart and figures out that Takashi can see spirits. She tries to get him to admit it. As we learn, a yokai helped her out during last year's challenge and she wants to see him again to thank him and tell him how much what he did has meant to her. Can Takashi and his 'cat' help her fulfill her wish and save the captured kids? (Madara puts on a disguise in this story that made me smile.)

Chapter (story) 6: Takashi frees a Yokai shaped like a frog and follows it. He meets an evil Yokai tied to a pine tree. The Yokai leaves a mark on Takashi's arm. Nyanko-sensei touches that arm and the curse causes him to lose control of his powers. He's small enough to fit in a teacup, so he advises Takashi to summon Misuzu, the giant horse-headed Yokai introduced in volume one. Misuzu summons a female Yokai named Hinoe to be Takashi's substitute bodyguard. Hinoe loved Reiko and hates men. She's rather upset to see Reiko's face on a boy's body, but she investigates. Meanwhile, Takashi keeps seeing a human-shaped shadow. He calls the shadow 'Mary' after an urban legend about a threat that gets closer and closer to the victim. We know the evil spirt isn't going to kill Takashi, but how the teen is saved was interesting. Hinoe gives Takashi some good advice. She and Misuzu both indicate their willingness to have Takashi call them again.

Chapter (story) 7: This one starts out with Takashi walking his 'cat' on a leash. I enjoyed a dog's reaction. Takashi meets a film star named Shuichi Natori who has a geko-shaped tattoo that moves around his body. Takashi has a scary experience that night (Nyanko-sensei is out boozing). He meets the actor again. Natori is also an exorcist who wants Takashi to become his assistant. He lives in he town of Sasaki with his two familiars, Sasago and Urihime. He's on a case. Natori hates and is violent with Yokai, aside from his familiars. Takashi thinks Natori is too violent and Natori thinks Takashi is too reckless.

Chapter (story) 8: We learn that Takashi wants to get a job and be independent as soon as possible instead of going to college as he chats with a classmate just before a haunted umbrella shows up. The Yokai in the umbrella wants Takashi's body for Asagi, who was lute player of mythical Isozuki forest until a disease prevented her from playing for the god of Mibu. Takashi calls him 'Mary II' because he won't give his name to a mere human, but Asagi says he's Akagane. Akagane succeeds and Takashi is forced to make a new lute (koto) for Asagi. She's not leaving his body until she can play one last time.

I enjoyed volume two as much as volume one. Natsume is a very nice boy and Madara/Nyanko-sensei a fun supporting character. I can't say he's the best of bodyguards, given how often he leaves Takashi unprotected at night while he's off drinking and who knows what else.… (mer)

Being able to see supernatural stuff is not what it’s cracked up to be. It’s pretty scary and makes you a weird outsider. I feel for Natsume. Luckily, even after years and years of having yokai follow him around, Natsume’s heart is still in the right place and he is trying to be kind to everyone.

I wasn’t sure about this manga at first, because I disliked the art so much. But it grew on me, a bit like all those yokai – you say hi to one of them, and before you know it, your house is swarmed and you have to be a good host.

I feel both satisfied and melancholy now, these pages are about loneliness and finding friendship and affection in strange places.

*3.8 stars*

5/6 of my birthday mangas… (mer)

I rathered enjoyed this slice of life supernatural Manga by the talented Yuki Midorikawa. The story focuses on Natsume, an orphan boy who can see yokai (a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore), and has had a troubled childhood therefore, ends up with a better foster family in a small rural Japanese town. In this town, he inherits from his grandmother Reiko something called "The Book of Friends", which turns out to contain pages with the true names of a lot of yokai which she'd obtained in her youth, subjugating them (shame on her!). The yokai naturally want their names back.

The first volume is Episodic, as Natsume solves different yokai problems each chapter or so, with a gradually developing story arc as he finally starts to make friends both human and other.

… (mer)

I wanted to read Natsume's Book of Friends after I read a review of the first volume at James Nicoll Reviews, so I was very happy to receive it for an early birthday gift. Takashi Natsume, the hero of this manga, is a really nice boy. He's also a very lonely one. Orphaned at a very early age, Takashi has been handed from relatives to relatives because of the psychic powers he inherited from his late maternal grandmother, Reiko Natsume.

Takashi can see and hear yokai, which are ghosts, demons, monsters, shapeshifters, tricksters, or other supernatural beings. He's long wondered why no one else can see them, while his relatives think he's creepy because he talks to thin air. He's high school age now and living with distant paternal relatives, a kind older couple, Mr. and Mrs. Fujiwara. He doesn't want to freak them out, so he doesn't tell them about what he can see.

Don't worry about cliff-hangers. This is a collection of four stand-alone stories. Yes, it means each story starts out with a brief synopsis of the plot. I think it's a good trade-off for not having to wait for the next volume to come out to find out what happened.

This volume starts with one of Natsume's new classmates and another boy being startled when Takashi falls out of a tree, then barely talking before he runs off. Takashi is desperately trying to reach a shrine before the yokai chasing him catches him. He doesn't make it this time. A recurring fact in these stories is that the yokai can't tell her grandson from Reiko herself. Takashi manages to free himself, but then trips over and breaks the kekkai around the shrine. (In this case, the protective barrier was a rope.) Takashi is worried that he has accidentally released something dangerous. He has. That cute ceramic "beckoning cat" figurine in the shrine was imprisoning a yokai. He comes walking out looking like the ceramic cat.

The cat-shaped yokai knew Reiko. He tells Takashi about her, particularly her habit of dueling with yokai and forcing them to write their names in the book she called The Book of Friends. The cat disappears. Takashi goes home and searches among his boxes of his grandmother's things until he finds the book. The cat shows up and tries to take it from him. He's stopped.

The cat yokai decides that he owes Takashi for freeing him and offers to be his bodyguard. He suggests that the boy address him as "sensei," which is like "san," but used for teachers, instructors, doctors, and, I think, politicians. Takashi uses "Nyanko" as the cat's name. Nyanko-sensei explains that the book gave Reiko power over the yokai whose names she had. No wonder yokai who mistake Takashi for Reiko are chasing him. They want to be freed by being given their names back. More yokai come to the house, so Takashi flees. Nyanko-sensei comes with him, suggesting Takashi give him the book. The kid's no fool so he refuses. Then we get to see the cute little round cat transform into a sleek, giant feline.

Takashi makes a bargain - he'll be giving back those names, but if he dies before the task is completed, Nyanko-sensei may have the book. Nyanko-sensei agrees, saying he'll see it to the end. Instead of killing Takashi on the spot, he tells the boy how to give those names back. It does explain why Takashi has a piece of paper in his mouth on the cover. Interestingly, Takashi gains the memory of Reiko's interactions with the yokai whose name is being released. An unpleasant side effect of the ceremony is that it saps Takashi's energy.

In the second story, we learn that Nyanko-sensei's real name is Madara. He continues to help Takashi with the other yokai.
There's a bit of comic relief when two mid-level yokai beg Takashi's help with an exorcist. Takashi meets another boy from school who is also psychic, but not as powerful as our young hero. Luckily for the other boy, his father is very understanding.

There are scary scenes, but also sweet ones. I enjoyed this manga enough that I ordered the second volume.… (mer)