Midorikawa Yuki - Natsume's Book of Friends, vol. 01-04 (Eng. trans.)

[oyceter]

(original title: 夏目友人帳/Natsume Yuujinchou)

(OMG posting about BOOKS YAY!!!)

Natsume Takashi has always been able to see strange things, and because of this, people think he's lying, and he's been passed around from foster family to foster family. Currently, he's been living happily with his distant relatives the Fujiwaras, but because of that, he doesn't want to let people know about his spirit-seeing abilities and get kicked out yet again. Unfortunately, he's recently found a book of names. Apparently, his grandmother Reiko was also a bit of an outcast because of her spiritual abilities; to compensate, she basically enslaved spirits by writing their names in her book.

So far, I like this series, but I'm not in love with it. I like Natsume and the looks at his distance from everyone else, and I find Nyanko-sensei particularly amusing, but I keep comparing this to Mushishi, which is a bit more otherworldly, though Ginko is less sympathetic. I suspect things will improve once we stop getting a "This is what the Book of Friends is!" every. single. chapter.

Also, unsurprisingly, I wish there were more girls and women, especially since the one major female character (Reiko) is both dead and not a great model, given that whole enslaving of spirits thing.

That said, I really like the looks at Natsume slowly reaching out to people, and unlike Mushishi, I very much like that the spirits of the week aren't just cases to be solved. I also like that Natsume seems to have more of a connection with the spiritual world than the human one, and I especially like his sympathy toward the spirits, particularly when contrasted with the other exorcist guy.

Pretty, and I will keep reading it, but it is not on my best-of list yet.

Comments

[lnhammer]

When the series moved from bimonthly to monthly, Midorikawa stopped trying to make every chapter stand alone, so the re-re-introductions go down. Though I still am very fond of Natsume's self-introduction ("Since no one else can see them, they must be what are called spirits"). The continuing storyline also allows Natsume's growing connections with people around him to develop more clearly.

The anime beefs up the roles of the two girls who are, at best, intermittent characters in the manga, which helps the stories from, especially, early in the series.

I adore the artwork, and Natsume's awkwardness, and his occasional stupidity in the name of righting Reiko's wrongs. Unfortunately, while I really like the series, it does not hold up to rereading as much as I'd like, or expected. Which is a shame. I'm going to continue buying the series, though, and keep up with the scans.

---L.

[oyceter]

Yay, I am glad to see more of Natsume! My favorite parts are his interactions with people and spirits, and I'm hoping that goes up!

[chomiji]

smillaraaq convinced me to buy the first several of these (1 to 5, I think) at Katuscon in February ... and I still haven't started them. I think the fact that I have a whole stack of them is intimidating me, in terms of time commitment.

So I'm glad you wrote them up. It's another little nudge to break open the first and get reading.

[oyceter]

They are very pretty and I do like them! Especially Nyanko-sensei, who is especially amusing because I am rewatching Princess Tutu with CB and having fun with Neko Sensei there.

[littlebutfierce]

I tried to watch the first ep of Mushishi b/c everyone kept mentioning it in connection w/Natsume & just... I dunno. It struck me w/a giant bat of meh.

The "Ever since I was young I've seen things other people don't see, they're probably what you would call spirits" doesn't stop, although certainly it gets pretty pared down--after a while it's only one or two panels, I think.

There is my FAAAAAAAVORITE female character who comes in later, though of course obviously I wish she would get more air time (she gets more than I fear, though, but... bar low, blah blah).

Hahaha, basically I love this series so I cannot be objective. The combo of the physical comedy (I love when Natsume whacks Nyanko-sensei or some random spirit) plus the yeaaaaaaaarning & people who are lonely & reeaaaaaaching for each other? I cannot resist. Plus awesome spirits. *_*

[alas]

Mushishi is not as meh as the first episode might initially make you think! (I had a similar reaction on first exposure to it ^^;.) I think a lot of it is that the pacing is really, really, slow, even for anime. I mean, I was watching Mononoke, if you've seen that, at the same time, because their pacing was quite similar. But it has some genuinely haunting imagery in it (and is usually gorgeous to watch to boot).

[oyceter]

I can see not liking Mushishi if you started with Natsume! I think they have very different aesthetics, and it took me a while to get into the beautiful detachment that I think characterizes Mushishi more.

Also, YAY female character! Do you think I should try the anime too?

Ahaha, I was so sad I was not in love with this, because I know so many people who are, but who knows! Maybe after a few more volumes!

[littlebutfierce]

For me, anime > manga pretty much always, so I may not be the best person to ask. I do think the music & the color add to stuff, as well as getting to see the physical comedy stuff animated. (I linkdrop this all over the place, so apologies if you are seeing this for the 23423423rd time, but the OP to the second season is awesome. I love how we see the scenes first as anyone else would, then as Natsume would--w/all the spirits added in.)

Over in natsumeyuujinchou there seems to be a general consensus that the manga is darker than the anime, which seems to hold w/an interview w/Midorikawa where she said she felt that Natsume's world was v. cold, & when the anime came out, she was surprised & moved to find Natsume in a warm caring world. So you might feel slightly differently about the anime anyway?

[oyceter]

I have actually not seen that so thanks for the link! It is so pretty! (Also, I want to find out who girl in glasses is.) And OMG I am probably disproportionately amused by Nyanko-sensei IN MOTION!

Ooo okay. I tend to like the manga originals better just because they tend to have more of the complete story, though any time there's something funny, the animation usually makes me laugh more (OURAN!).

[lnhammer]

Natsume is one of the few where I actively prefer the anime to the manga. Because of, I think, that warmth.

---L.

[oyceter]

Just watched two or three eps of the anime and really like it! I think the color palette and the music and the sound effects for Nyanko-Sensei help a lot, and because I tend to read fast, having tv to pace me means I focus more on the important emotional moments.

[littlebutfierce]

Hee, I'm glad you're enjoying it!! I love Nyanko-sensei's cranky little voice too.

Upthread, re: girl in glasses in 2nd season OP--it's actually Sasada, the class rep (she's definitely shown up in the manga bits you've read so far). They make her look much more imperious than she is in the manga, heh (well, they make her slightly moreso in the anime too). I actually like her a lot--to me she escapes being the bossy class rep stereotype, but I know other people don't always agree.

[oyceter]

Excellent! I really liked her bit in v. 2 and was hoping she'd be a recurring character, yay!

(Also, I, uh, kind of like the bossy class rep, largely because I was the bossy clean-up monitor in high school, ahaha.)

[alas]

Waaaatch the anime~~~~

Like Mushishi, Natsume Yuujinchou really benefits from colour, motion, music and voices. It takes their atmosphere to the next level.

That said, I do enjoy NY more, perhaps because the 'otherworldliness' is made almost domestic? I mean, Mushishi can feel like quite a cold barren world, albeit interposed with moments of wonder, but it has this tendency to rip my heart out and stomp on it, whereas NY tends to be quite comforting, and is at it's saddest, more bittersweet than anything else.

[lnhammer]

Very domestic -- I like that phrase.

---L.

[oyceter]

Hee, okay!

I do like the domesticity; that is a great word for NY, especially in contrast to Mushishi, which I think has the beautiful eeriness of the mushi, but in a more clinical way.

[littlebutfierce]

I definitely agree that Natsume can be absolutely comforting, but it totally does rip my heart out & stomp on it too! (Have you read chapter 46? BRB CRYING FOREVER.) (Obviously this is subjective though!)

I am intrigued that Mushishi can rip out one's heart as well, b/c it seemed like anything but that kind of series on first watch. Hm...

[oyceter]

OMG it does! There isn't a lot of it that does, but Ginko's backstory gah. And just... the mushi tend to leave imprints on the lives of the people they meet up with.

[alas]

Ginko's backstory! And why he keeps on travelling, it's just so very TT____TT.

The mushi seem kind of like...not a metaphor, even, but an expression of nature, both the possible hostility and wonder of it. The series normally shows what happens when humans have to face that. A lot of the time it feels as if mushi are almost supernatural diseases ^^;, so plenty of scope for heart-ripping. While I haven't read ch46 of NY, I find that overall in NY there's always the feeling that Natsume will be okay - things are slowly getting better for him as he grows up and meets more people. Whereas in Mushishi, the characters pretty much have no choice but to accept some quite heart-rending things, and it doesn't get any better than that.