oyceter: man*ga [mahng' guh] n. Japanese comics. synonym: CRACK (manga is crack)
Oyceter ([personal profile] oyceter) wrote2011-04-06 05:40 pm

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

(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.
littlebutfierce: (natsume yuujinchou foxkid please)

[personal profile] littlebutfierce 2011-04-07 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
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 [community profile] 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?
lnhammer: the Chinese character for poetry, red on white background (Default)

[personal profile] lnhammer 2011-04-08 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
Natsume is one of the few where I actively prefer the anime to the manga. Because of, I think, that warmth.

---L.
littlebutfierce: (natsume yuujinchou spirits)

[personal profile] littlebutfierce 2011-04-10 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)
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.