The Book of Friends or Natsume Yuujinchou

In the country-side of small-town Japan, Takashi Natsume is running from something. Out of breath and slightly panicked, he crashes through bushes to the main road and stops in front of two high-school boys. Out of breath, he asks casually if there's a holy place round. After confirming his route with the baffled boys, Takashi takes off again as if there's a bakemono (monster) after him.

There is.

This anime is a delight of the yokai (spirits), kami (gods), and monsters (bakemono) of Japan. With every moment, I had the feeling of a world filled with magic and wonder. The water colours of this anime put me in that lazy, summer-time mood were the sun is shinning, and anything is possible.

The premise of the story is that Takashi, who has been shuttled from family member to family member since he was orphaned, comes to settle in the country-side. In the country-side, the spirits of the land take an unusual interest in him, mistaking him for his grandmother, Reiko. Takashi discovers that his grandmother had been bully the spirits in the area, and collecting their in the Book of Friends, after defeating them in battle. Once their names were written in this Book, anyone who read their names had power over them. The spirits are not happy and want their names back.

The spirits have various ways of hounding Takashi to return their names: politely, in anger, or by generally being a nuisance. Since Takashi is kind heartened, he returns their names without reservation. This causes Madara, his appointed Lucky Cat guardian, to berate him with disgust and contempt as Madara wants to use the Book of Friends to control all the spirits whose names are written within.

This anime is a perfect blend of humor and heartache. The story theme of loneliness is woven through every encounter with the sprits of the land. The story of the forgotten god in his shrine, once so powerful and tall when he was filled with the prayers of his believers, and who slowly faded away when his last worshipper finally died was incredibly sad. The loneliness of Takashi is also prevalent through out each story, as he brings his understanding of himself - a strange boy with who talked to imaginary friends and who was shunned – into play when interacting with the spirits.

The anime ended too soon and I have every intention of reading the manga version by Midorikawa Yuki. I’m also happy to find that a third season called Natsume Yuujinchou San has been announced for later in 2011.