NATSUME YUUJINCHOU

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME DramaZoku Natsume Yuujinchou
MANGA DramaNatsume Yuujinchou
ONA FantasyIchiban Kuji Natsume Yuujinchou: Nyanko-sensei to Hana Shirabe

REVIEWS

• 

  HelpTool

  89/100
  Natsume Yuujinchou combines gentleness and warmness into one anime

  

  __`3 / 5`__ `Natsume Yuujinchou is an anime with no need of a straight story line. It has its unique way of representing the story to the viewers. The whole anime is based around the main protagonist and his ability to see youkais. With each episode you get a new and refreshing story about Natsume and his surroundings. This anime is not only showing one side of Natsumes life it shows its flaws and beauties mixed with the existence of the youkais that definetley play a big part in it. Storywise you could compare it with Mushishi. Natsume Yuujinchou finds the perfect mix between the genre of an Adventure and a Slice of Life. With each episode you get to see new people and new youkais.` __`4 / 5`__ `You have the humans on the one hand and then you have the youkais on the other hand! It's fascinating to see that each Character has its own personality and this is something that makes Natsume Yuujinchou interesting, different and worth to watch. Some characters may appear for only one episode but trust me 20 min will be enough to bond with them. Some characters reappear more often but it wont get boring, because with each episode you get to know them better. Natsume himself is a very grown, natural and warmhearted protagonist. It may take a few episodes but you'll love him and you'll stick with him till the end. A big plus is that youkais are able to communicate, it makes the anime more relevant and it points out on the importance of the youkais.` __`4 / 5`__ `Music wise I personally can't find anything bad. The music is very calm and warm it even fills the coldest heart with purity and love. Each episode has its perfect fitting music, may it be a sad, happy, dangerous or whatever moment. I'm a big fan of the OP and ED of Natsume Yuujinchou and with every season they bring something new and relaxing. The animation of Natsume Yuujinchou is not the best, BUT it fits in its own way. This anime has its warmness and gentleness partly because of his animations and his style. Some scenes may appear too normal compared to the situation but it gives you the chance to focus on the beautiful music in the background. Boom it harmonizes well! Music and animation together - breathtaking.` __`4 / 5`__ `Natsume Yuujinchou is not the normal anime you usually watch. It's a ball full of emotions when you need some break from all the casual stuff and just want to enjoy, not just an anime, but enjoy life and yourself. Natsume Yuujinchous best thing is not having a straight story line, making it perfect to watch everytime and everywhere you feel like. I highly recommend everyone who likes either Supernatural, Slice of Life or Drama genres to watch Natsume Yuujinchou! Hopefully you'll enjoy it like I did :)` _The Sequels just getting better and better._
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• 

  AdmiralNyan

  100/100
  The Importance of Impermanence in Natsume’s Book of Friends

  The series follows the everyday life of a young, fifteen-year-old boy named Natsume Takashi who inherited the ability to see and interact with yōkai, or spiritual and supernatural beings, from his late grandmother Reiko. As we tag along for the journey, we will witness him experience many things, such as loneliness, bullying, loss, friendships, the burden of responsibilities he never asked for, and much more. The series is filled with breathtakingly contemplative motifs that tackle serious elements with heart-warming empathy and grace, as well as the bitterness of reality. It instils into the watcher as much sorrowful emotional depth as it does feel-good, fluffy ones because at it’s core the series is built upon the fundamental beliefs of Japanese Buddhism: that life is suffering and that everything in life is impermanent.

  The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, regardless of the specific sect, all focus on the fact that life is suffering in one way or another, and that that suffering isn’t a permanent entity. They include:

  1.) Life is Suffering, whether that suffering is subtle or more prominent, it’s always there. Even when you feel completely happy and at ease, beneath that joy, there will be an air of suffering to one degree or another.

  2.) The Causes of Suffering almost always stems from craving and fundamental ignorance. People suffer because they are unable to see that we are not separate, independent individuals that leaves no effect on others around us; there’s this delusion of ego that we focus in on that is selfish.

  3.) The End of Suffering arises when we realise that suffering is inherently temporary, like clouds that pass over our heads in the sky. Even though the clouds are always there, they are constantly moving, changing, and shifting.

  4.) The Path is just living as a decent and ethical human being. Learning to be wiser about the decisions that we make and the negative emotions that we use to inflict pain and suffering upon others.

  In season one of Natsume Yūjinchō (the Romanised version of the Japanese title), we are introduced to these precepts, particularly the first one, very early on. We see it in Natsume himself as he struggles with terrible loneliness and the fear of abandonment due to his special abilities. People see him as strange and weird and constantly make fun of him for being an eccentric outsider whose family doesn’t want him (schoolmates) or they hand him off to the next family willing to take him in so they don’t have to deal with a bizarre orphan kid (relatives). This is the epitome of prominent suffering. The kid is also constantly being chased by scary monsters and he has no idea why. The concept of joy is virtually alien to him.

  When he encounters Madara, otherwise known as Nyanko-sensei, they formulate an accord due to certain circumstances. However, no one could ever have imagined that this simple contractual relationship would turn into a powerful symbol of everlasting friendship that would eventually cause them to Enlighten one another.

  In the second percept, Buddhists learn that suffering is caused from desire, or cravings. One of the things that Natsume yearns for more than anything else is acceptance. He wants to be accepted by a family and finally have one to call his own, and he wants to be accepted by people around him so he’ll know what it’s like to have friends. Over time these wants fall into the territory of unfulfilled dreams. Having been neglected and hated, he concedes to the fact that there are some things he can’t have in life. His acceptance is the third noble truth. By acknowledging that he does suffer and that suffering is just a part of life, he was finally ready to learn what it felt like to end his suffering. Enter Madara.

  Through their accord, they begin to live together and spend most of their waking time with one another. Through everyday interactions of walking to school or sharing meals, an intimacy between them starts to take root. It is one of compassion, understanding, and respect. Slowly, like those shifty clouds that I mentioned earlier, Natsume’s loneliness and longing start to wither away. There is a comfortable companionship that fulfils the emptiness and the ache within his heart. They then began their journey with Noble Truth Number Four: being better, wiser individuals.

  Natsume’s wisdom stems from his interactions with other yōkai. The deeper his understanding of suffering and its many forms becomes, the more that he learns and grows as a person; the more that he realises the world isn’t about “I” or “me,” it’s about the people—living and corporeal, and non-living and non-corporeal—that inhabit the world together. The very same can be said about Madara. Through watching Natsume’s compassion at play in situations where his (Madara’s) way of dealing would be a quick and decisive one, he becomes enlightened to the human condition of suffering and mind-blowing ideal of mercy and forgiveness and trust.

  Throughout the series, we encounter various yōkai, one after another, who also encapsulate the Buddhist ideals of Suffering and Impermanence, it’s not jut limited to our two main characters. It is quite literally in every episode with every arc that is presented to us, thus making it the basic foundation of every other theme and motif to follow suit.

  Hishigaki was a very gentle and caring yōkai, as well as a terribly lonely one. Then one day she met Reiko and suddenly she didn’t feel as alone anymore. When Reiko leaves, Hishigaki is left waiting for a very, very long time. When she stumbles across Natsume, mistaking him for Reiko, she comes to learn that Reiko has passed. Hishigaki’s loneliness lasted for a horribly long time, but it wasn’t permanent. It came to an end, unfortunately so did those moments of reprieve that she felt. Hishigaki is also a prime example of suffering to the extreme because when her loneliness did return, it consumed her.

  Hinoe would be another great example that follows in the same line as Hishigaki. Hinoe holds on to a single hairpin with such vehement adoration. When the hairpin gets stolen, Hinoe is utterly devastated. That small item is a reminder to Hinoe of something very precious that she lost; a keepsake of the impermanence of life, death, and even affection. After Reiko assists Hinoe, she comes to love Reiko very dearly, which once again changes many years later when she encounters Natsume.

  Lastly, as far as yōkai goes, there is Madara, or Nyanko-sensei. His past is mostly a mystery for the vast majority of the series. The only things that a person can truly gauge about him is that he shares a similar loneliness with Natsume, as well as a demeanour in which he wishes to protect himself from emotional heartache. He keeps everyone at a distance to a certain point. The suffering he feels is very self-inflected, at least in regard to the chains he has around his heart. But the more time he spends with Natsume and the more people and yōkai that they help, the warmer and kinder he becomes, at least towards his human companion. That misery and isolation that he underwent for who knows how many years, was ending. The tides of suffering shifted. He learned that while it is an essential part of existence—supernatural or natural—there are many sides to it, and not all of them have to be forever.

  Natsume’s Book of Friends is my favourite slice-of-life serial of all-time and it forever shall be. Watching this series, specifically as a Buddhist, I grew to love and respect it for the wisdom that laces every chapter and every episode. Additionally, it helped me develop a deeper and sincerer appreciation for things such as friendship, family, compassion, companionship, and the power of pacifistic and selfless co-existence—elements that I take with me everywhere outside of the vibrant animation and soulful instrumental music of the anime, or the intricate and stunning designs of the manga. The lessons taught and the knowledge obtained are gems that I have never received from anything else that I have ever seen or read. Natsume’s Book of Friends has shown me that, yes, life is jam-packed with suffering and pain and sorrow, but it doesn’t last forever, and that gives me more hope and inspiration than I could ever ask for.

  10 outta 10.

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• 

  wagnerincrivel

  90/100
  Natsume Yuujinchou é uma jornada pela humanidade dos Youkais (THIS REVIEW WAS WRITTEN IN PORTUGUESE)

  ___Natsume Yuujinchou é uma jornada pela humanidade dos Youkais___

  Natsume é um jovem que durante toda a vida foi desacreditado pelos pais pelo fato de conseguir ver Youkais, herança de sua avó. Reiko, a avó de Natsume, fez durante a vida vários acordos com Youkais e conseguiu guardar o nome de cada um deles em um livro, chamado livro dos amigos. De modo geral, o objetivo do Natsume é devolver o nome dos Youkais e durante esse processo vive histórias únicas com cada um deles.

  __Enredo/Roteiro (3.0/3.0)__

  O anime é episódico, ou seja, segue uma linha cronológica mas os episódios não são conectados entre si, cada um trás uma nova história. Temos aqui o maior acerto do anime. Cada história é única e todas elas variam de boas a espetaculares. São 13 episódios e neles somos levados a refletir a respeito de várias situações diferentes. Existem episódios que tratam a respeito da nossa relação com a fé que outras pessoas depositam em nós, solidão, gratidão, amizade, nosso lugar no mundo, entre outros sentimentos e ações.

  Durante o anime, o Natsume conhece vários Youkais, e com cada um deles ele aprende uma lição valiosa. Todas as histórias a que somos apresentados buscam trazer uma reflexão que no final trata da humanização dos Youkais. Em cada história eles são mostrados, em um determinado momento como monstros, mas no decorrer do episódio, são desenvolvidos, e fica claro que cada uma deles carrega dentro de si o que nós chamamos de humanidade. Nosso protagonista percebe isso e cria nos Youkais amigos que ele não teve durante toda a vida, a solidão do Natsume é amenizada a partir do momento que ele começa a conhecer cada Youkai. A relação que ele cria com cada um é linda e forte, a ponto de em um determinado episódio ele chorar pelo fato de um Youkai ter conseguido cumprir o desejo que tinha.

  __Personagens (1.3/1.5)__

  As duas estrelas aqui são o Natsume e o Nyanko-Sensei. Natsume funciona muito bem como protagonista humanizado que se preocupa com o bem estar de todos. Nyanko, como mestre e protetor de Natsume também é muito bem utilizado o guiando pelo caminho que deve trilhar e, além disso, é um ótimo alívio cômico. Em todos os episódios são com eles 2 que nós vamos embarcar na história. Como o anime é episódico, os Youkais raramente aparecem uma segunda vez, mas cada um, individualmente, é um bom personagem e todos são muito bem desenvolvidos.

  __Opening, Ending e Trilha Sonora (1.0/1.0)__

  A opening e a ending desse anime são maravilhosas, são tranquilamente uma extensão antes, e depois, de cada episódio. A trilha sonora não fica nenhum pouco atrás, é uma composição calma e muito aconchegante que corrobora perfeitamente para as cenas e nos dá uma imersão ainda mais profunda no sentimento e na reflexão que estamos fazendo. Simplesmente perfeita!

  __Arte/Produção/Direção (2.0/2.5) __

  A produção do anime é satisfatória, visto que não tem tanta ação e é um anime bem estático. Infelizmente como é de 2008 a qualidade da imagem não é tão atrativa assim, talvez seja o maior defeito do anime. Já a direção do anime é primorosa, os diretores de episódios conseguiram de maneira muito efetiva tirar o máximo de cada cena e fazer com que os sentimentos fossem valorizados ao máximo.

  __Entretenimento (1.7/2.0)__

  É um anime MUITO gostoso de se assistir, super leve e com um tom dramático mas na medida correta. Penso que seja uma jornada que vale totalmente a pena e que qualquer pessoa que goste de refletir a respeito da vida vai curtir demais assistir. Um ou outro episódio é menos bom e não toca tanto quanto os outros, mas mesmo assim são todos bons de assistir.

  __Opinião pessoal/Veredito__

  Natsume Yuuchinjou é um anime para quem gosta da vida, e de aprender sobre ela. É sobre como nos tornamos mais humanos e amáveis. Indico pra qualquer pessoa que tenha interesse nesse tipo de tema. Por favor assistam!

  Obrigado a quem leu até aqui!

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