Ahhhhhh! It's been forever since I published something manga related!!!
So, how exactly did I end up picking this up? Well, I was browsing the manga section of the library, when this caught my eye; something new. And I knew that the anime adaptation of this is somewhere in the top 30 on MAL, so that had me interested. So, what did I think of this volume?
We are introduced to a character I initially thought was a girl, Takashi Natsume. The reason I thought he was a girl was I thought his name was Reiko, which is actually his grandmother's name (she's important). His whole life, Takashi (he's referred to as Natsume in the manga, which I found to be very confusing) has been able to see yokai, spirits/monsters of Japanese folklore. (Gee, how many times have we seen this premise?) He then accidently releases a cat yokai, who informs him of his grandmother's "Book of Friends." It contains the names of all the yokai she met, and having these names, she can give them any order and they will obey. But yokai are after Takashi for their names, so he decided to return all of them, though doing so takes a great deal of energy.
What I found unusual about Natsume's Book of Friends is that this is a shojo series, but so far, has no sign of romance anywhere. This is evident in that Takashi is the only main character, while the others merely appear in their respective chapter alone. Sure, we do get some implication of possible recurring characters, but it was so focused on Takashi doing his "job" that it felt like I was watching the younger sibling of Mushi-shi. And like Mushi-shi, Natsume's Book of Friends took an episodic approach, something that manga-ka Yuki Midorikawa stated had never done before this. Episodic manga and anime tend to not sit very well with me, and this held true while I was reading this. Sure, there are implications of themes and ideas that stemmed from decent writing, but the manga focused more on "how to return the name" instead of fleshing out its potential for a quiet but powerful philosophical series. I just couldn't get attached to the story or characters, which usually is my problem with episodic manga and anime.
Takashi Natsume so far seems to have the personality equivalence of a loaf of bread. He's useful and necessary, but he's lacking in the personality department. Sure, he's smart enough to figure out the "little mysteries" associated with returning the names, but this doesn't equal a personality. Plenty of smart characters in anime/manga have personality traits other than their intelligence (Light, Lelouch, Ed Elric). Being taken in by distant relatives of his, he has to keep his new duty a secret, but that just seemed cliché to me instead of adding to his character. His "Sensei" Nyanko (the cat yokai) is also only hanging around because he wants to eat Natsume after he's returned all the names, so this didn't help his likability. These two have a very strained relationship, and I'm skeptical that it will change, really. I really don't think I need to mention any other characters, just because I know so little about them so far. This is not a character driven story, and that's a bit of a shame, because being character driven is usually the saving grace of an episodic anime/manga for me.
Now, for the (semi) easy part. The art looks, I don't want to say sloppy, but...Natsume's Book of Friends even looks like the aforementioned Mushi-shi. The faces are simple, the backgrounds both realistic and surreal, and the designs of the yokai are very unique. I do, however, like Midorikawa's style of drawing hair, and Nyanko's small form. Midorikawa seems to be very fond of using the angry-vein makrks, but I guess this helped show the strained relationship mostly between Takashi and Nyanko.
So, what do I think of this volume? Well, I was kind of disappointed, but I might check out the anime, seeing as it's gotten a lot of positive feedback from the community, but I'll probably be skipping the first 4 episodes. Do I regret reading this volume? Of course not. But I'm probably not going to be picking up the second volume at all.
I would REALLY appreciate feedback on my posts and how to make them better!
Cheers,
~Selena
Last Updated: 25 October 2014
Originally Published: 25 October 2014
So, what do I think of this volume? Well, I was kind of disappointed, but I might check out the anime, seeing as it's gotten a lot of positive feedback from the community, but I'll probably be skipping the first 4 episodes. Do I regret reading this volume? Of course not. But I'm probably not going to be picking up the second volume at all.
I would REALLY appreciate feedback on my posts and how to make them better!
Cheers,
~Selena
Last Updated: 25 October 2014
Originally Published: 25 October 2014
You should look up this anime called Spice and Wolf. it was one of the first ones I watched and the one that made me an anime lover.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of Spice and Wolf. Should I count that as a review request?
DeleteSure. It's about a traveling peddler named Lawrence in a fantasy world who meets a forsaken wolf demi-goddess of harvest and wisdom named Holo (or Horo depending on the translation). He agrees to take her up north to her birthplace, but only if she increases his fortunes along the way. The series as a whole is unique as while most fantasy worlds have epic plots and heroes on grand adventures, Spice and Wolf is light-hearted and paced slowly. Though I'm not saying there isn't drama in the series, Lawrence and Holo have their share of problems, such as bankruptcy, smuggling, the corrupt Monotheistic church that's hunting Holo, and the growing romantic tension between them.
DeleteHere's the opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN_WgwEmRaw
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