And while the intro theme is still largely forgettable, they did manage to find a suitably nice ending theme to replace the excellent "Natsu Yuuzora" from the first season.īut more than anything, the show just strikes that perfect balance of reflectiveness, sentimentality and fun that I've grown to love so much in the shows I watch. The art is a pretty accurate faximile of the manga, which is certainly good. Natsume's Book of Friends is also still a mixture of nice animation and budget-saving still images, hard as it is to tell sometimes, the show being as gentle and reflective as it is. It's hard to tell, though, since those appearances are limited to one episode alone, presumably to be followed up on if there ever is a third season to be made. The human side still doesn't fare much better either, though we are eventually introduced to a group of humans in a community, some of which are probably as close as this show is willing to give us villains. And the former, I guess, through her association with Natsume.) A few of them even carry over from the first, like Hinoe and Hiiragi (though the latter might be explained with her being the familiar of Natori the exorcist, who is one of the returning human characters. The second season also continues its own tradition of being mostly about the youkai, and, like the first season, they are still presented as emotionally and morally diversified as the first season. They hit so hard, even the rest of the first season had a hard time keeping up, which still sort of counts long into this season. Now, I say "gentle and quiet", but despite this, the first two episodes of the first two seasons were among the most choke-strangling, tear-inducing episodes of anything I had ever seen.
The transition is as seamless as any of the aforementioned shows, each episode as self-contained as the others (with one of the stories-of-the-moment stretching over two episodes this time around.) Like other shows before it - Aria, Maria Watches Over Us, Sketchbook - Natsume's Book of Friends continues to be a quiet slice-of-life drama based on the adventures (and not MISadventures - it's not that kind of show, thankfully) of a young man who carries a special ability few people share. It is this bond, however, that eventually taught Natsume just how important his friendship with these spirits are, and just how awful it would be, were he to suddenly lose this ability. And he's continuing his task of returning the names of the youkai who comes searching for him together with Nyanko-sensei. He's meeting new people and forming tighter bonds with the ones he's known since moving there. Since he's moved into his new location, Natsume Takashi has been living a pretty nice and quiet life.
Natsume's Book of Friends season 2 Synopsis This show is released in the US in a package together with season 1.
The manga has been licensed by Viz and released under the moniker "Natsume's Book of Friends". Notes: Based on the manga by Yuki Midorikawa, serialized in LaLa. Related Series: Natsume's Book of Friends season 1 (prequel), season 3-6 (sequels)Īlso Recommended: Shinigami no Ballad, Haibane Renmei, Fruits Basket.
With his newfound goal of freeing those Reiko had sealed, Natsume's relationship with both youkai and humans slowly begins to improve.Length: Television series, 13 episodes, 23 minutes eachĭistributor: Currently licensed by Nippon Ichi Software America, but also still available and streaming on crunchyroll.Ĭontent Rating: 13+ (Some non-slapstick violence, mature situations.) Therefore, he makes a deal with Madara: he will hand him the book once his time is up, and in turn, Madara will act as Natsume's unofficial bodyguard, nicknamed Nyanko-sensei. With no interest in its powers, Natsume decides to keep the book for the sake of his grandmother's memories and to protect it from scheming youkai. It is now in Natsume's possession, along with its power to call upon the written names of the youkai Reiko had defeated. Madara notices that Natsume bears a remarkable resemblance to his late grandmother Reiko Natsume, an outcast girl who became known across the youkai world for creating the Book of Friends. When Natsume accidentally breaks an intangible barrier, he frees Madara-a mighty spirit in the form of a lucky cat.
Over time, he has accepted that no one would ever believe him and has closed himself off to his current caretakers and classmates. Passed around from one foster home to another, he was left isolated and lonely. Due to an unusual ability to see strange creatures called youkai, Takashi Natsume has never fit in.