Customer Reviews

Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 3

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Don't be put off by Amazon's silly product description. This is a set of thoughtful, poignant tales, beautifully illustrated, of a young boy attempting to find his place in the world. It's suitable for readers aged 12 and above.

Takashi Natsume is an orphan, shunted from one reluctant relative to another. He's been seen as strange and difficult, a child who tells lies to get attention. But the truth is, he can see yokai - the Japanese equivalent of the sidhe or fae - and while he now knows that most people don't share his ability and keeps it to himself, he can't always control his reactions when something strange or horrifying appears. Natsume now lives in the same small town his deceased grandmother Reiko did, and is gradually allowing himself to relax into life in the Fujiwara house and friendships at school. But the supernatural will keep intruding, and even as Natsume yearns for normality, he finds himself drawn to the yokai and feeling a sense of responsibility for them. He'd like to act as a bridge between humans and yokai, but is this possible when they're so different and there's still so much he doesn't understand?

There are four stories in this volume. In the first, the Book of Friends, a set of contracts extorted by Reiko which enable the possessor to control yokai, is stolen by a lookalike of Nyanko Sensei (Natsume's yokai mentor). But what does the thief really want? In the second, Natsume encounters a man who's outgrown his ability to see yokai and the grieving firefly spirit he was once friends with. In the third, the exorcist Natori pays Natsume a visit, but when he takes Natsume to a gathering of his fellow exorcists and their yokai servants, it becomes clear that revealing his abilities won't bring Natsume comfort or safety. In the fourth, Natsume feeds a hungry yokai and receives a tip about an soon-to-hatch egg, then finds himself needing to protect a very strange baby creature.

Because Natsume's Book of Friends is episodic rather than a single story, you could start the series here and find it perfectly understandable (though you would miss some very good stories if you did). For me, this is the best volume of the series so far. There's nothing here of the nasty shocks or stupid jokiness that can make manga so offputting, just well-crafted short stories that are beautifully complemented by Yuki Midorikawa's distinctive artwork. Natsume is an appealing character, by turns wise, naïve and reckless, though never lacking in bravery or compassion, and it's starting to become clear how powerful his supernatural abilities really are. There's a nice element of comedy, too, usually centring upon Nyanko Sensei as he shows all the self-centredness of the cat he's disguised as. Though there's something of a "lesson of the week" feel to each story, everything is handled very lightly and sometimes there are no easy answers. Recommended.

Excellent! One of the best by Yuki Midorikawa.

I love this Manga Series. Each volume that is released keeps me coming back for the next one.

Takashi Natsume has spent years alone, emotionally if not physically. But slowly, he's beginning to make some actual friends, both human and spectors -- except it's not quite as cut-and-dry as "I have friends, therefore life is good!" The third volume of Yuki Midorikawa's "Natsume's Book of Friends" deals with some deep themes for its young hero, with both beauty and bittersweetness.

A black version of Nyanko Sensei appears and steals the Book, and Natsume goes rushing off into the woods to find it with the real Nyanko Sensei -- only to discover a band of murderous yokai who want to free their human-loving master. Then Natsume encounters a man who once had the same power as him, and simply lost it one day. Unfortunately, a firefly demon fell in love with the man, and she now has only one chance to see him again.

Natori returns to help Natsume capture a vicious demon, and introduces him to a special society of people like himself. Can Natsume actually trust humans, or are these people hiding a secret cruel side? And finally, Natsume finds an unhatched bird egg -- only for it to hatch into a tiny horned child, which he and Nyanko care for. Unfortunately, there's someone nearby who has far less pleasant plans for the baby creature.

The relationship between humans and yokai is explored in detail in "Natsume's Book of Friends Volume 3": the first two stories center on a yokai that loved a human (either platonically or romantically), only to lose that human to old age or the loss of their "sight." And the third and fourth stories revolve around Natsume's slowly-opening heart -- first in his desire to trust others, and then in his love for the baby creature he's been raising.

So there's a bittersweet flavor to these four little stories, such as the winged yokai's flashbacks to his friendship with a human, or the tragic demon who can no longer be seen/heard/felt by her beloved. But there's also an element of hope gently woven into the stories, especially in the last story -- which is just adorable in an "awwww how sweet" way. And the whole manga has exquisitely pretty, light-lined artwork that gives it an ethereal look.

And Natsume himself is grappling with some issues -- his distrust of humans seems to have worsened rather than improved, although he's at least still remained friends with Natori. Despite yokai sometimes wanting to eat him, he seems intent on protecting them (from humans, and from each other). And Nyanko's fondness for Natsume is becoming apparent, as well as the sad fact that he's going to outlive the boy.

"Natsume's Book of Friends Volume 3" is a slightly sadder affair than the ones before it, especially when it addresses the divide between humans and yokai. But there's still some hope.

This volume of Book of Friends focuses on both Natsume as a person and the wider world he lives in.

Half of it involves gentle, small-scale stories about Natsume trying to help Yokai and becoming attached to them. It's feel-good material unabashedly designed to make you feel warm inside. To a lesser extent we also start to see how Natsume's goodness is starting to affect Nyanko, who begins to realize that he's starting to get perhaps too attached to a boy who's going to grow old and die in a relatively short time in his scheme of things.

The other half of the volume, however, deals with Natsume entertaining for the first time the notion that he might have been born with his abilities to act as a bridge between the human and Yokai worlds to generate greater peace between them - something that would be much bigger in scope than his sense of obligation regarding the Book of Friends. But a further meeting with his frienemy, the actor-exorcist Natori, is a sharp reminder of exactly how big that issue would be to take on.

Natsume continues to be a great fantasy hero, and the series continues to be beautifully written.