Story

Characters

Main characters

Takashi Natsume^[9]Takashi Natsume, like his deceased grandmother Reiko, is able to see 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 name obliges it to heed the command of they who call it, the abuse potential of the Book of Friends is vast: and as such, is largely considered too powerful and forbidden to actually really exist.Because of Takashi's strong resemblance to Reiko (in appearance and spiritual "feel" alike), yokai routinely mistake Natsume for his 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 resent Reiko but covet the power of the Book of Friends; those who feel lonely and hurt that Reiko never calls upon them anymore; 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 ayakashi to their owners himself: and in doing so, learn more about his grandmother and the connection they share.He is aided in this by the formidableMadara (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 parents died when he was a very young child, leaving him to be passed from relative to relative: in large part due to the "odd" or "creepy" behaviors 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 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 yokai.Natsume is described by Yuki Midorikawa as "a boy who is trying to be a kind person."^[10]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 "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 spiritual magic and strength causes him to smell "yummy" to man-eating yokai, as Madara puts it.Natsume's incredibly strong spiritual power and his keen senses 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 friend.Matoba, a powerful exorcist, also tries to recruit Natsume to the Matoba clan.Madara"Nyanko-"^[11]A mysterious.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 *

• (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 name, say that at this rate he 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.

^[10]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.This annoys him a lot.Madara is implied to have had a close relationship with Reiko, which is implied to be one of the reasons he is content to be Takashi Natsume's companion.Reiko NatsumeNatsume'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, excluding Madara.Madara mentions that she had sloppy table manners and was very forgetful.Reiko died when she was young, so no one remembered her.

Supporting

Kaname TanumaAnother 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.Touru Taki^[13]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.Jun Sasada^[14]Theof 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 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 step-father's job.Shuuichi Natori^[15]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.Hiiragi^[16]Seiji MatobaThe 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 asks him to join the Matoba clan.Atsushi KitamotoSatoru NishimuraClassmates 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 FujiwaraShigeru FujiwaraVoiced by|^[19]and Eiji Itō^[19]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), is preventing him from forming close human attachments.Despite this, he still fears being rejected because of his abilities.HinoeA powerful youkai whose form is a 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.MisuzuA 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.KogitsuneAn 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 youkai.Chukyuu (A and B)ChobihigeKappaNanaseKatsumi Shibata

Development

Media

Manga

Drama CDs

1. LaLa Treasure Drama CD (October 2007)

2. LaLa Excellent Drama CD (November 2008)

3. LaLa Double Premiere Drama CD (May 2009)

Anime

Film

Others

Reception