is a Japanese manga series by Yuki Midorikawa. It started in Hakusensha's shōjo manga magazine LaLa DX in June 2003, where it ran until April 2008; it has been serialized in LaLa since July 2007. The chapters and special chapters have been collected in 30 volumes as of September 2023. The manga is licensed for English-language release in North America by Viz Media, which released the first volume in January 2010.
The series follow Takashi Natsume, an orphan boy in his late teens who can perceive and combat . One day, Takashi finds a very old notebook that his late maternal grandmother, Reiko, an exorcist who possessed strong spiritual powers, used to bind dozens of powerful demonic spirits, both good and evil (known as either or ), that she defeated to follow her very whim and desire if called upon. Takashi resolves to give back all the names in the age-old notebook, Book of Friends, and in the process joins forces with another feline/wolf-like spirit called Madara (nicknamed "Nyanko-sensei" in his borrowed lucky cat-like form), who knew Reiko when she was alive. Madara takes the form of an overweight cat and intends to take back the notebook after Takashi dies. Until then, he agreed to protect Takashi from the nefarious spirits who want to harm him for being the grandson of Reiko, who died in her young adult years decades prior to the story.
The series has been adapted into a series drama CDs. An anime television series adaptation, produced by Brain's Base (seasons 1–4) and Shuka (seasons 5 onwards), have been broadcast on TV Tokyo in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2017. A seventh season was announced in 2023. Two anime films, Natsume's Book of Friends the Movie and Natsume's Book of Friends: The Waking Rock and the Strange Visitor, were released in 2018 and 2021, respectively. The first four seasons of the anime were licensed by NIS America for a North American release in 2012 and released on home video in Japanese with English subtitles. The series has also been streamed by Crunchyroll, who produced an English dub in 2022.
By September 2023, the manga had over 16 million copies in circulation.
Story
For as long as he can remember, Takashi Natsume has had the rare ability to see and commune with , inheriting the power from his late maternal grandmother Reiko. This ability resulted in his having a lonely childhood, because children his age considered him strange. He had also been passed from one paternal relative to another. Upon her death at a young adult age, Reiko bequeathed to her grandson her Book of Friends, a book containing the names of hundreds of spirits she had bullied into servitude.
The Book of Friends is considered a highly prized item in the supernatural world, and spirits—both good and malicious—hunt Takashi constantly because of it. Takashi spends his time dissolving the contracts that Reiko created and releasing the various spirits that come to him. Malicious spirits, on the other hand, try to kill him to obtain possession of the powerful Book of Friends, which is where Madara (called "Nyanko-sensei" by Takashi) comes in. Madara serves as Takashi's bodyguard and spiritual advisor of sorts, even though he is ostensibly motivated by his own desire to possess the Book of Friends once Takashi dies. He later begins to become more attached to Takashi, with the latter forming a similar bond with Madara.
Takashi also finds a good friend in an exorcist named Natori Suuichi, who also one of the very few humans who is capable of perceiving and taking down spirits via certain banishing or sealing spells, but also finds a dangerous adversary in Matoba Seiji who has plans for wanting Takashi to join him and his nefarious clan of exorcists. Takashi is determined to release all of the names before the conniving Matoba clan or other malicious spirits attempt to use it for their own gain as he tries to learn whatever he can about his maternal grandmother and the strong spiritual connection they share.