Natsume's Book of Friends

As a young child, Takashi Natsume believed his ability to see youkai to be nothing but a curse. Now a high school student, Natsume has managed to heal from his old wounds and form unbreakable bonds with humans and youkai alike. Natsume's newfound friendships—including the one with his spirit bodyguard Madara, nicknamed "Nyanko-sensei"—are often interlaced with his duty to return the names of the spirits written inside the Book of Friends, his late grandmother Reiko's keepsake. While more remarkable youkai reach out to him, Natsume discovers that he still has much to learn about the world that surrounds him.

• 
  E1The Fragment's Lament

  Oct 8, 2024· 24m

  Tanuma gives Natsume some clay, and he tries his hand at sculpting a figure. However, the next day, the figure has disappeared, and other strange things are happening in the house. Is a Yōkai causing mischief in the house? Or is it just a rat?

• 
  E2Someday's Garden

  Oct 15, 2024· 24m

  Natsume is forced to help rebuild a tiny house that's a residence for a goddess.

• 
  E3Tookanya

  Oct 22, 2024· 24m

  Natsume is caught up in a mysterious game between youkai and man.

• 
  E4Depths of the Page

  Oct 29, 2024· 24m

  Natsume and Kitamoto are victims of a horrid curse.

• 
  E5Chobi's Treasure

  Nov 5, 2024· 25m

  Chobi is depressed because his favorite comb broke. Meanwhile, Natsume sees a white dragon in the sky...

• 
  E6The Abandoned Station, Two Wheels

  Nov 12, 2024· 25m

  Natsume meets Matoba in an unusual place. Matoba hunts for a dangerous yokai at an abandoned mansion.

• 
  E7A Difficult Two

  Nov 19, 2024· 25m

  Taki's brother suddenly comes home from college, and has something very important on his mind...

• 
  E8Natsume on the Moonlit Night

  Nov 26, 2024· 25m

  Nishimura finds Natsume coming to visit him each night at his house, but something seems strange...

• 
  E9That Which Blocks the Ceremony

  Dec 3, 2024· 25m

  Natsume finds himself in a house with a strange ritual, and unknown forces moving against those who would perform it.

• 
  E10The House Where a Promise Remains

  Dec 10, 2024· 25m

  Natsume, Natori and Matoba work to complete the ritual to welcome a powerful god.

• 
  E11Tell Me Your Name

  Dec 17, 2024· 25m

  Natsume meets the very first Yokai whose name was written in the Book of Friends.

• 
  E12From the Path of DreamsFinale

  Dec 24, 2024· 25m

  Natsume takes in a strange origami doll that shows wonderful dreams.

Takashi Natsume has grown accustomed to his encounters with youkai through the Book of Friends, which contains the names of youkai whom his grandmother, Reiko Natsume, has sealed in contracts. These encounters allow Natsume to better understand the youkai, Reiko, and himself. The Book of Friends is a powerful tool that can be used to control youkai; it is sought after by both youkai and exorcists alike. Natsume just wants to live out his daily life in peace but is constantly disrupted by these experiences. If he is to end this torment, Natsume must explore more about the book and the world of exorcism, as well as begin to open his heart to those who can help him.

• 
  E1The Days Eater

  Apr 12, 2017· 24m

  Natsume helps a youkai out of a pot, and as a "reward," is made young again. But Natsume is already young, and making him younger just confuses him and addles his memories. When he doesn't know who to trust, will he have the strength to know who his real friends are?

• 
  E2It Blooms Tomorrow

  Apr 19, 2017· 24m

  Natsume's town is visited by a stonewasher: a powerful magical being capable of purifying tainted rocks. The stonewasher is looking for its lost student, and turns to Natsume for help.

• 
  E3Nitai-sama

  Apr 26, 2017· 24m

  Natsume gets a call from his old "friend" Shibata, who he once helped with a youkai problem. Shibata wants him to come visit, and Natsume reluctantly agrees. He and Tanuma pay Shibata a visit, and have a pleasant chat at a park. But when Shibata mentions a local haunted house, Natsume finds his visit has turned into more than he expected...

• 
  E4Lying Eyes

  May 3, 2017· 24m

  Natsume watches a movie starring Natori, and when he's done he finds one of Natori's paper dolls. The doll is soaked and the text on it is impossible to read, and Natsume becomes concerned for Natori's safety. He travels to the location that's just barely legible on the doll, and finds a young woman whose home is haunted by not one, but three youkai.

• 
  E5The Bound Ones

  May 10, 2017· 24m

  Natsume finds that Tsukiko's home is haunted by not one, but three separate youkai, each with its own motivations. One wants to protect Tsukiko's father, and the other two... Natori wants to exorcise them and protect Tsukiko, but Natsume wants to find some way to protect them. Is there a peaceful solution?

• 
  E6Nishimura and Kitamoto

  May 17, 2017· 24m

  Natsume's friends reflect on how they met him, and the difference he made in their lives. He's found a home, and he means a lot to the people who live there.

• 
  E7Gomochi's Benefactor

  May 24, 2017· 24m

  Natsume meets a youkai named Gomochi, who has come in search of Reiko. The youkai has a message for Reiko, and wants to thank her for a favor she did him long ago. In hearing his story, Natsume comes to learn more about his mysterious grandmother.

• 
  E8A Day That Will Someday Come

  May 31, 2017· 24m

  Natsume is on his way home when he finds a letter on the ground. The letter seems to belong to a nearby man, who asks Natsume to take him to his school. The man is actually a youkai, who was once deeply involved with a human girl. He cut the relationship off, but the girl isn't ready to give up...

• 
  E9What Flows

  Jun 7, 2017· 24m

  Natsume travels to an inn for a study session with the rest of his class. While he's there, a flood washes away a local shrine. The shrine is said to house three masks, but Natsume can see four...

• 
  E10The Sealed Room

  Jun 14, 2017· 24m

  Natori is trying to find information on Natsume and his book of friends. Meanwhile, Natsume visits his house to deliver some of Touko's homemade jam. But this is the start of an adventure...

• 
  E11What MattersFinale

  Jun 21, 2017· 24m

  Natori's group searches the Hakozaki mansion for the study. But other forces want the powerful magics contained within, and Natsume doesn't want them to have it...

Blessed with eyes that are able to perceive the otherwise invisible youkai, Takashi Natsume hides his ability from his newfound family and friends to protect everyone's peaceful daily life. Meanwhile, the exorcist clan Matoba still wishes for Natsume to join their ranks due to his overwhelming gift. However, Natsume firmly rejects the clan's invitation since not all exorcists are as reasonable as his friend Shuuichi Natori, and many improperly and indiscriminately seal away every youkai in their way. Unsatisfied with Natsume's answer, Seiji Matoba blackmails Natsume into attending a grand gathering of powerful exorcist families. Natsume soon finds himself in the company of dangerous people and youkai alike. But even then, he continues to defy the exorcists' hard-handed methods and believes that peace between both worlds is possible.

• 
  E1Unchanging Form

  Oct 4, 2016· 24m

  Natsume continues to spend his days giving back Youkai their names from the book of friends. One day, as he's heading home, he finds himself chased by a giant, rolling pot. The youkai in the pot insists that his grandmother Reiko stole a doll from her. When she threatens to hurt his family, however, he's forced to go out and find it. But would his kind, smiling grandmother Reiko really steal a doll from someone?

• 
  E2Mischievous Rain

  Oct 11, 2016· 24m

  On a rainy day, Natsume meets a young girl youkai. Her name isn't in the Book of Friends, but she wants his help anyway: she wants him to find a man she met once. The man couldn't see youkai normally, but a mischievous trick of the weather let him see her for just one day. For the next fifty years she visited him, hoping he'd see her one more time, but he never did. Now he's vanished. Can Natsume find him for her?

• 
  E3The Letter from the Exorcist

  Oct 18, 2016· 24m

  Natsume receives a letter from Matoba, an exorcist whom he's had unpleasant dealings with in the past. The world of exorcists is a dangerous place lately, and Matoba wants Natsume's help. Natsume wants to refuse, but Matoba threatens to reveal Natsume's powers to his adopted family, which would spell the end of his peaceful life.

• 
  E4Shadow Linked Chains

  Oct 26, 2016· 24m

  An inexperienced exorcist tries and fails to completely seal a youkai near Natsume's school. Natsume decides to take the pot the youkai is sealed in to Natori, in hopes that it can be disposed of properly. While he's there, he learns that there is an ongoing feud between exorcists lately, and that one exorcist in particular is attacking his rivals. When Natsume gets home, he finds that Matoba, another exorcist who's tried to take advantage of him in the past, wants his help dealing with just that particular problem...

• 
  E5It Must Not Be Bound

  Nov 2, 2016· 24m

  Natsume arrives at the exorcist meeting to help smoke out the youkai that Matoba wants to find. But he quickly discovers that the situation is more complicated than it first seemed. The youkai is capable of replicating itself to possess targets, and no one but Natsume is able to see who is possessed. Natsume and Nyanko-sensei search the halls, still unsure if they even want to be there.

• 
  E6Soundless Valley

  Nov 9, 2016· 24m

  Natsume's friend Taki lives in a house filled with traps and mazes for youkai. She can't see the youkai herself without the aid of a special circle, but she can hear them when they're trapped in her house. She saves one of them, but it refuses to leave her home. Natsume suspects that there may be danger involved, and visits her to make sure that everything is okay.

• 
  E7Distant Festival Lights

  Nov 23, 2016· 24m

  Natsume and his friends go to a distant hot springs to help with the renovations. When he arrives, he meets an old friend of Tanumas, but he quickly gets caught up in local youkai trouble. Tanuma's old friend is actually a youkai, and she threatens terrible things if Natsume reveals her secret.

• 
  E8A World Unbent

  Nov 30, 2016· 24m

  Natori's family has always been exorcists... until they lost the abililty to see youkai. After generations of fearing the youkai's revenge, Natori is suddenly born with the ability to see them. His family doesnt want anything to do with his powers, though, and he's left to figure out how to live on his own. His life changes when he meets a young Matoba at an exorcist gathering, and the two of them end up hunting a powerful youkai together...

• 
  E9Following a Narrow Path

  Dec 7, 2016· 24m

  While on the run from a fearsome youkai, Natsume accidently sits on a tiny mushroom youkai. The mushroom youkai is incensed, as it has a meeting with a 'noble person' later in that day. It insists on Natsume helping it prepare for its meeting with this 'noble person', and Natsume finds himself drawn into the strange story of its past...

• 
  E10Touko and Shigeru

  Dec 14, 2016· 24m

  Touko and Shigeru are the kind elderly couple who took in Natsume when no one else would. But what were they like before they let Natsume move in?

• 
  E11To the Ephemeral OnesFinale

  Dec 21, 2016· 24m

  Natsume has come down with a cold after adventuring in the hills. All of his friends, both human and youkai, do their best to make him feel better. As he lies in bed, he begins to realize how much the people around him care for him, and how valuable the bonds he's established are.

Takashi Natsume, the timid youkai expert and master of the Book of Friends, continues his journey towards self-understanding and acceptance with the help of friends both new and old. Natsume, while briefly separated from Nyanko-sensei, is ambushed and kidnapped by a strange group of masked, monkey-like youkai, who have spirited him away to their forest as they desperately search for the Book of Friends. Realizing that his "servant" has been taken out from right under his nose, Nyanko-sensei enlists the help of Natsume's youkai friends and mounts a rescue operation. However, the forest of the monkey spirits holds many dangerous enemies, including the Matoba Clan, Natsume's old nemesis. Stretching from the formidable hideout of the Matoba to Natsume's own childhood home, Natsume's Book of Friends Season 4 is a sweeping but familiar return to a world of danger and friendship, where Natsume will finally confront the demons of his own past.

Episode list not loaded for this season.

Natsume's Book of Friends Season 3 follows Takashi Natsume, a boy who is able to see youkai. Natsume and his bodyguard Madara, nicknamed Nyanko-sensei, continue on their quest to release youkai from their contracts in the "Book of Friends." Natsume comes to terms with his ability to see youkai and stops thinking of it as a curse. As he spends more time with his human and youkai friends, he realizes how much he values them both and decides he doesn't have to choose between the spirit and human worlds to be happy.

Episode list not loaded for this season.

As with its prequel, Natsume's Book of Friends Season 2 is about Takashi Natsume, a boy who has had the ability to see youkai since he was young, and his bodyguard youkai Madara, nicknamed Nyanko-sensei. Natsume attempts to return names written in his "Book of Friends" (which he inherited from his grandmother Reiko) to youkai in his village. Throughout these adventures, he meets some youkai that are friendly, some that want to steal the Book, and some that want to kill him, as Natsume learns about himself and his relationship with these mysterious beings along the way.

Episode list not loaded for this season.

Due to an unusual ability to see strange creatures called youkai, Takashi Natsume has never fit in. Over time, he has accepted that no one would ever believe him and has closed himself off. When Natsume accidentally breaks an intangible barrier, he frees Madara—a mighty spirit in the form of a lucky cat. 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. It is now in Natsume's possession. 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. 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. With his newfound goal of freeing those Reiko had sealed, Natsume's relationship with both youkai and humans slowly begins to improve.

Episode list not loaded for this season.