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180th out of 570 books
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1,754 voters
Natsume's Book of Friends, Volume 1 (Natsume's Book of Friends #1)
With friends like these, enemies are overkill. R to L (Japanese Style). Takashi Natsume can see the spirits and demons that hide from the rest of humanity. He has always been set apart from other people because of his gift, drifting from relative to relative, never fitting in. Now he is a troubled high school student who has come to live in the small town where his grandmo...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
January 5th 2010
by VIZ Media LLC
(first published January 1st 2005)
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I admit that I watched the animated version of this series before I read. At first, I was looking for a lighthearted series that gave a kind of post-reading warm feeling, and NY was the answer unexpected.
Midorikawa-sensei's simple artwork definitely works to build the right atmosphere. It's series that makes me sympathize with youkai (Japanese for evil spirit, to put it simply)--imagine that. Forget fierce, man-hunting youkai in Takahashi-sensei's Inuyasha or Tanabe-sensei's Kekkaishi. And more...more
Midorikawa-sensei's simple artwork definitely works to build the right atmosphere. It's series that makes me sympathize with youkai (Japanese for evil spirit, to put it simply)--imagine that. Forget fierce, man-hunting youkai in Takahashi-sensei's Inuyasha or Tanabe-sensei's Kekkaishi. And more...more
I like the author's previous works but I refuse to read Natsume's Book of Friends any further because after I read the first three volumes, it became clear to me that Yuki Midorikawa ripped the main story concepts about Yokai (demons) and relationships between characters off from my favorite manga-ka: Ichiko IMA, especially her "百鬼夜行抄" series (French translation: Le cortège des cent démons). (Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1..., https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...)
Let's do a rip-...more
Let's do a rip-...more
Natsume's Book of Friends
Volume 1
Art and Story by Yuki Midorikawa
Amazon Synopsis:
With friends like these, enemies are overkill. R to L (Japanese Style). Takashi Natsume can see the spirits and demons that hide from the rest of humanity. He has always been set apart from other people because of his gift, drifting from relative to relative, never fitting in. Now he is a troubled high school student who has come to live in the small town where his grandmother grew up. And there he discovers that he...more
Volume 1
Art and Story by Yuki Midorikawa
Amazon Synopsis:
With friends like these, enemies are overkill. R to L (Japanese Style). Takashi Natsume can see the spirits and demons that hide from the rest of humanity. He has always been set apart from other people because of his gift, drifting from relative to relative, never fitting in. Now he is a troubled high school student who has come to live in the small town where his grandmother grew up. And there he discovers that he...more
Nov 24, 2012
Michelle
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Teens, Adults who like Teen fiction, Those who enjoy Fantasy.
Takahashi Natsume can see spirits and demonds that are in hiding from humanity. This gift has always kept him separate from other people and he has been very much alone. Due to his gift, Natsume has been sent from one relative to another and ends up living in the same town as his grandmother, who seems to have shared his gift. They now also seem to share something else – The Book of Friends. Unbeknownst to Natsume, his grandmother (who also felt alone) captured the names of spirits in demons in...more
This is a very Japanese spiritually charged manga/anime. It has a slow pace and the situations and problems that arise with the Ayakashi and with other people that Natsume meets are dealt with in a direct but gentle way.
At first it all revolves around the Book of friends, that Natsume's grandmother made, with the names of several youkai that she defeated and could call upon to make her bidding. Nyanko-sensei (Masara) is a strong youkai that accepts to be Natsume's bodyguard until he dies to the...more
At first it all revolves around the Book of friends, that Natsume's grandmother made, with the names of several youkai that she defeated and could call upon to make her bidding. Nyanko-sensei (Masara) is a strong youkai that accepts to be Natsume's bodyguard until he dies to the...more
(akhirna saya memasukkan manga ke rak GR saya :p)
FAVORIT~~~ ♥♥♥
SAYA IRI KEPADA Midorikawa-Sensei karena beliau bisa membuat cerita selembut ini! >A< Beliau berhasil membuat saya SELALU nangis baca Natsume! ;w; #padahal emang dasarnya cengeng
Natsume Yuujinchou dan karya-karya Midorikawa-Sensei lainnya memang memiliki plot yang cenderung bertempo LAMBAT (mungkin sangat-lambat bagi sebagian orang) dan tidak memiliki konflik yang benar-benar bisa disebut konflik.
Yang membuat saya suka Natsume...more
FAVORIT~~~ ♥♥♥
SAYA IRI KEPADA Midorikawa-Sensei karena beliau bisa membuat cerita selembut ini! >A< Beliau berhasil membuat saya SELALU nangis baca Natsume! ;w; #padahal emang dasarnya cengeng
Natsume Yuujinchou dan karya-karya Midorikawa-Sensei lainnya memang memiliki plot yang cenderung bertempo LAMBAT (mungkin sangat-lambat bagi sebagian orang) dan tidak memiliki konflik yang benar-benar bisa disebut konflik.
Yang membuat saya suka Natsume...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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If I could, I'd give this book, and the rest of the series, a million stars. Having read at least five hundred different series of manga/manhwa of a rainbow of genres, I reach this conclusion: Natsume Yuujinchou is my favourite manga out there. Sure, the art's not mainstream, the author isn't too famous--this manga, in my opinion, is amazing (to me, at least). Warning: I say all of this most likely because this manga suits my personal tastes, so I don't know if others feel the same way. But ever...more
book 178 of 1000
Natsume has always seen spirits, but until recently, he's always managed to escape them. Then comes the day that he is fleeing a spirit who wants to consume him, when he trips over a statue of a maneki neko (Lucky Cat) which just happens to house Madara - a powerful spirit that wants something of Natsume's. As it turns out, Natsume has come into possession of a notebook of his grandmother's. A notebook full of names - names of spirits that his grandmother had bound into the book...more
Natsume has always seen spirits, but until recently, he's always managed to escape them. Then comes the day that he is fleeing a spirit who wants to consume him, when he trips over a statue of a maneki neko (Lucky Cat) which just happens to house Madara - a powerful spirit that wants something of Natsume's. As it turns out, Natsume has come into possession of a notebook of his grandmother's. A notebook full of names - names of spirits that his grandmother had bound into the book...more
Natsume is a descendant of Reiko who was a Yokai whisperer. (Equivalent to the ghost whispherer.) Reiko is so powerful she tricks Yokai into signing contracts in a book, which make them indebted to her. When Reiko dies the book is passed onto Natsume her grandson. Natsume also finds that he can see Yokai and soon bumps into a Yokai trapped in a ceramic lucky kitty. The lucky kitty yokai becomes Natsume's guide and bodyguard in exchange for the Book of Friends, upon Natsume's death. Each storylin...more
I really wish I could put into words what it is about this series that makes me love it. If I look at it objectively, the writing is nothing special. You know what's going to happen, more or less. The character development is slow and sometimes clunky and doesn't always make sense. The art is beautiful, a lovely sketchy style, but there's a lot of beautiful art in the manga world. I don't even find Natsume particularly compelling as our hero.
I think, if I look at it and narrow it down to one thi...more
I think, if I look at it and narrow it down to one thi...more
I really love this book. The story was amazing. And I personally like Natsume's character. He is so care about other people, especially who are important to him. Somehow he looks really cool when he trying so hard to save the others, even though he just met that person a moment ago, and how he managed to make the other character to respect him. I found he also looks so cool when I am thinking how he saved so many people even though they didn't know about that.
Midorikawa Yuki-sensei was a great m...more
Midorikawa Yuki-sensei was a great m...more
Recommended by a patron who recommends so many manga series that I eventually give in and read one just to be polite. This has an interesting premise: a young man (Takashi Natsume) is able to see spirits and demons, which has made life difficult for him. Now things get even worse when he comes to live in the small town where his grandmother grew up and discovers her sinister "Book of Friends". I liked the unique demons and there is a spirit in the form of a Lucky Cat (maneki-neko) which is utter...more
Natsume can see and talk to yokai (spirits, essentially) that nobody else can see, which makes him seem odd. He isn't terribly surprised to discover that he's not the first person in his family to have this ability. His grandmother could do the same, and bullied the yokai around her by using her strong magical talents to trap their names in a book, the oddly named book of friends from the title. When Natsume discovers the book, he decides to free the spirits trapped in the book by giving their n...more
I like comic books and graphic novels (including Fables, Buffy, Badger, Grimjack, Jon Sable, Mike Grell's Green Arrow, X-Men from 100-200 and I can go on and on). I'm a fan of Miyazaki - particularly Nausicaä but also Howl's Moving Castle and Castle in the Sky. So how I can I keep on reading manga that others thing of as wonderful and I think of as pointless and uninteresting? I found this manga repetitive and truly not worth discussing on its own merits - though the art was not bad (I've seen t...more
It's been a while since I've read a straight-forward shoujo book like this. Midorikawa's art is lovely and the stories well told. The book treads on extremely familiar territory though, with the teen-who-sees-spirits-and-has-to-help-them-while-avoiding-supernatural-foes genre over-represented in translation. The most interesting thing about this story, as a shoujo manga, is the fact that it features a male lead and no romance. The lack of character development and familiar formula leave me disin...more
This is probably one of the best manga series ever. This is the story of Natsume Takeshi, a boy with the ability to see spirits. His ability isolates him from other people so he's a pretty lonely kid. However, through his interactions with spirits he grows as a person and realizes his gift may not be as bad as he thought. This series has very well developed characters and good storytelling. The anime was very well done as well. It's definitely a must read for anyone that's looking for something...more
Orphan boy, who sees spirits and has been moved from relative to relative since his parent's death, inherits a book from his grandmother containing the name of a bunch of spirits that the grandmother bullied into servitude. Most spirits torment him because they want their names back, so he goes around giving them back their names. He is aided by a spirit in the shape of a cat who will get the book when the boy dies.
This story really wasn't worth the time I spent reading it. It's not bad, just re...more
This story really wasn't worth the time I spent reading it. It's not bad, just re...more
Sebagian orang berpendapat kemampuan melihat mahluk halus adalah keren. Namun Natsume Takashi mempunyai pendapat berbeda. Sejak kecil Natsume yang yatim – piatu sudah bisa melihat mahluk halus. Namun tak ada yang percaya, malah ia dianggap pembohong. Oleh karena itu Natsume memilih tutup mulut mengenai kemampuannya. Suatu hari ia dikejar 2 youkai yang menyangkanya Natsume Reiko, nenek Natsume yang sudah meninggal. Natsume yang melarikan diri ke kuil tak sengaja merusak segel pelindung yang mengu...more
First read in scanlation, then saw the fansubbed anime and now I'm willing to buy anything in a licensed version I can get. This is more episodic youkai-life than most of the series with youkai in them, it's also not as metaphysical as Mushishi, but I prefer it for the characters and the slow development and growth of the main character. However, a lot of the episodes are bitter-sweet, so if you're a person who is moved to tears by a story easily (like me) bring tissues and pace your reading.
The foundation of this story is that Natsume also inherited from his grandmother, along with his gift for seeing spirits, is the Book of Friends. The Book of Friends is a book filled with names of spirits or Yokai that his grandmother had tricked into putting their names in the book. And whoever possesses the books control the Yokai to do whatever they like and they can kill the spirit by destroying the page that holds their name.Read More.
A very enjoyable read, I really like picking out a Shojo manga after a reading a thrilling Shonen. This book was my retreat from my usual action-packed adventure stories, and I really like it. ^^
For one, the illustrations was what caught my eye, it's quite original. :)
Secondly, the story. I love spirits and demons, and this one rally brought them to life in a modern time.
I can say that this story has earned a place in my top favorites from the first book. ^_^
For one, the illustrations was what caught my eye, it's quite original. :)
Secondly, the story. I love spirits and demons, and this one rally brought them to life in a modern time.
I can say that this story has earned a place in my top favorites from the first book. ^_^
This series has garnered some good reviews from critics and fans alike, so I finally decided to check it out. It's better than I thought it would be. What makes it work is the feature stories about various spirits/yokai, and how Natsume (in his way) befriends them and tries to give them the peace they desire. Entertaining reading for sure.
Yes, Natsume Takashi sees yokai. The ability actually leaves him rather lonely and ostracized. A strange legacy left behind by his mysterious grandmother, encourages him not only to help set yokai free, but along the way he learns to open himself up and build relationships with humans as well as spirits.
Folklore for Japaneses yokai/supernatural creatures and spirits. Takashi can see them and inherits a book names that draws them to him. I loved the anime, and now I get the manga. I like that Takashi treats creatures with kindness and cares about their well being without any gain in mind.
Too much like Black Bird, love that series, this one is kinda boring. It's just about him returning names to demons and spirits that follow him. That's it, no real plot-it doesn't show his life besides that. However it's really cute how the Luck Cat is his sensei :-)
Enjoyable and full of heart, Natsume's Book of Friends, Volume 1 is the beginning of a graphic novel series that is worth reading.
Simply beautiful.
I usually refrain from rating manga as a five or placing it in my "loveofmylifemanga" shelf before its complete as a series. However, I'm making an exception for this one because of the lovely drawings, plot, and characters.
I usually refrain from rating manga as a five or placing it in my "loveofmylifemanga" shelf before its complete as a series. However, I'm making an exception for this one because of the lovely drawings, plot, and characters.
Ah... Natsume~<3 One of my very favorite animes... However, so far the manga just isn't as good. The anime is so beautiful and peaceful, yet nicely spooky at times. The manga's art isn't as beautiful... The anime has such a nice nature element, but the manga lacks a little of that, I think. I'll keep reading it, though because I'm waiting for new episodes (which might already be out, I really need to check on that again) and I like the stories anyway. :)
Update: Actually, in the last chapter o...more
Update: Actually, in the last chapter o...more
If you liked the Mushishi manga, then you'll like Natsume's Book of Friends. It's a softer, gentler kind of supernatural storytelling that looks beyond the obvious horror in the world to see the sadness and reaching out underneath.
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Yuki Midorikawa (緑川ゆき, Midorikawa Yuki) is a Japanese mangaka (manga artist). Midorikawa is best known for drawing the manga series Natsume Yujin-cho ("Natsume's Book of Friends").
Yuki Midorikawa started writing manga when she was an elementary school girl. When she was a junior high school student, she sent her manga for the first time to "Hana to Yume", a semi-monthly Japanese shōjo manga magaz...more
More about Yuki Midorikawa...
Yuki Midorikawa started writing manga when she was an elementary school girl. When she was a junior high school student, she sent her manga for the first time to "Hana to Yume", a semi-monthly Japanese shōjo manga magaz...more
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