Natsume's Book of Friends

Natsume's Book of Friends
Cover of Natsume's Book of Friends volume 1 as published by Hakusensha
夏目友人帳 (Natsume Yūjin-chō)
Genre	Supernatural, Drama, Comedy
Manga
Written by	Yuki Midorikawa
Published by	Hakusensha
English publisher	NA Viz Media
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	LaLa DX, LaLa
Original run	2005 – present
Volumes	21
Anime television series
Directed by	Takahiro Omori Kotomi Deai (seasons 5-6)
Written by	Sadayuki Murai
Music by	Makoto Yoshimori
Studio	Brain's Base (seasons 1-4) Shuka (seasons 5-6)
Licensed by	NA NIS America
Original network	TV Tokyo
Original run	July 7, 2008 – present
Episodes	74 (List of episodes)
Original video animation
Directed by	Takahiro Omori
Written by	Sadayuki Murai
Music by	Makoto Yoshimori
Studio	Brain's Base
Released	December 15, 2013 – February 1, 2014
Runtime	22 minutes (OVA 1) 23 minutes (OVA 2)
Episodes	2 (List of episodes)

Natsume's Book of Friends (Japanese: 夏目友人帳, Hepburn: Natsume Yūjin-chō^?) is a Japanese fantasy manga series by Yuki Midorikawa. It began serialization by Hakusensha in the shōjo manga magazine LaLa DX in 2005, before switching to LaLa in 2008. The chapters have been collected in twenty-one bound volumes. The series is about Natsume, an orphaned teenage boy who can see spirits, who inherits from his grandmother the notebook she used to bind spirits under her control. Natsume's Book of Friends was a finalist for the first Manga Taishō award in 2008.

Natsume's Book of Friends has been adapted as a series of drama CDs, as well as an anime television series produced by Brain's Base, which was broadcast on TV Tokyo in 4 seasons in 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012. The manga is licensed for English-language release in North America by Viz Media, which released the first volume in January 2010. All four seasons of the anime have been licensed by NIS America for a North American release in 2012. A fifth season began airing on October 4, 2016. A sixth season began airing on April 11, 2017.

For as long as he can remember, Takashi Natsume has had the ability to see spirits, inheriting the power from his grandmother Reiko. Upon her death, Reiko bequeaths to her grandson her Book of Friends, a book containing the names of spirits Reiko had bullied into servitude. The Book of Friends is a highly prized item in the spirit world, and spirits haunt Takashi constantly. Whereas Reiko formed the contracts, however, Takashi spends his time dissolving the contracts and releasing the various spirits that come to him for help. But that doesn't mean there aren't malicious spirits trying to kill him. Which is where Madara (called Nyanko-sensei by Natsume) comes in; Madara serves as Natsume's bodyguard and spiritual advisor of sorts, even though ostensibly he is motivated by his own desire to possess the Book of Friends. He later on begins to become more attached to Takashi.