first impression: Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou (anime)

Natsume Takashi is a young boy who can see ayakashi-- a trait that other humans do not have. He inherited from his grandmother, Natsume Reiko, this ability to see ayakashi as well as the all-powerful Book of Friends. With the Book of Friends, Natsume Takashi is constantly being attacked and seeked out by various demons and spirits who either wish to have their names returned, or who just want to own the book for their own evil purposes.

This is a continuation-- the second season-- of Natsume Yuujinchou which ended on thirteen episodes during the 2008 fall season.

To be exact, this particular post is more for my own opinionated thoughts rather than for a first impression. As a first impression, it is more a way for me to compare the first season with the second season's beginning. In a way, Natsume Yuujinchou fans of the world will be given a chance to compare Natsume Yuujinchou's second season with the glory of its first season.

When I first picked out Natsume Yuujinchou from various other broadcasting anime in the fall, it was because I had been drawn to the advertised poster. This is all explained in first impression: Natsume Yuujinchou.

As the first season drew to a close and the anime loving community was informed of a second season, I was extremely ecstatic. After all, the first season was rather short and left much to be desired. While I had intended to draw up some hype on the soon-to-be-aired Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, my busy schedule and loss of motivation sort of threw all of that into the dumpster.

But lo and behold, having finally gotten my hands on the first episode of the second season of Natsume Yuujinchou, I am thoroughly revived and ready to tackle my almost abandoned anime blogging once again.

And now back to the anime.

I remember why I liked this series so much. It's relaxing and it makes you really think about every situation and every scene and every dilemma. As I had described it in the end of series thoughts, instead of being an action packed, supernatural and fantasy adventure, Natsume Yuujinchou borders more on a serene, slice of life, drama-esque type of genre. Supernatural elements just happen to be its basis, used to better distinguish Natsume Takashi's growth and development and how he learns to deal with the world around him.

The second season starts off in very much a bit of a bang compared to how the first season had started. Of course, once again, our beloved hero is being chased by some greedy ayakashi out to get him for the Book of Friends, and again, Takashi-kun meets up with a danger to himself involving more dangerous ayakashi. The second season has Takashi tripping over yet another barrier and releasing yet another high level ayakashi from its seal. And then the story goes from there.

It feels less of a sequel and more like a continuation from the first season, exactly where it had left off. Little seems to have changed save for Takashi-kun's level up in emotional and mental quotients.

The anime is still aiming for the same feel and wonder as the first season.

The only difference I can filter out of it is that Natsume Takashi seems a bit livelier than he did from the first season. It could be because of a plethora of things, such as all the friends he had made from season one, and how much more secure he is feeling in his own home now. His sense of duty from accepting the presence of youkai has been amped up a few levels-- its as if he feels that, since he has the power to do so, he needs to play mediator between youkai and humans.

Otherwise, his personality still remains quite the same: he is a good kid with nice qualities and a penchant to think for other people's sakes. He's just a little less monotonous, more active, and less depressing-- not that he had been depressing in the first season at all.

The second season seems to be trying to bring up the comedy just a little more, but hopefully it will incorporate that element as the first season had done-- the first season had the perfect dosage of every genre it portrayed and hopefully the second season will remain as such.

I have to admit though that the first hit of comedy which involved Takashi-kun being smashed in the face with a soccer ball unawares as he is reminiscing was very classic. I jumped and then I gasped and then I laughed. The bit with Natsume Takashi's overpowering strength towards ayakashi is quite admirable-- and amusing-- when he is pissed off enough to take action instead of just relying on his unreliable feline/high-level ayakashi bodyguard.

On top of everything else, I think that I have become mesmerized everytime Takashi-kun does his little clap and blow bit when returning a name to the present ayakashi. Something about how he does it and the fact that he has proven to be quite the bishie and kind-hearted boy... it just makes me unhesitatingly add him onto my list of favorite bishounen males.


Natsume Takashi has become one of my favorite main anime characters. Hands down, he's great!

The theme song is more upbeat than the first season's, but I like it. It kind of synchronizes with Takashi-kun's personality as he continues through this serial anime journey. It took me two watches, but I had noticed that the first half of the theme song shows scenes without ayakashi and the second half shows those exact same scenes with the ayakashi. I feel like it's really significant in showing just how natural the presence of youkai are in the Natsume Yuujinchou world.

Overall, I will continue to look forward to watching the rest of Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, although I know I'll be hard pressed not to compare it to its first season.

On an end note, the ending theme is not only animated beautifully with Takashi walking through snow and his friends joining him one by one, but it is also catchy and pretty. I will wait patiently for the full version of this song.

spotlight: Natsume Yuujinchou (anime)

It's a wonder that I've even been trying to show my enthusiasm for blogging. I've been slacking off extremely for the past couple weeks-- past month, actually-- and had even disregarded the December spotlight.

However, with the coming of the new winter season in anime as well as my continued love for shoujo manga, I think I can manage to post a few things here and there for the sake of keeping this blog alive somehow.

To start the year off, my first order of business happens to be the first spotlight of the year. The Januaray spotlight goes to none other than one of the best anime series of fall 2008 and hopefully of the winter season in 2009.

***




I'm hooked on this particular anime for many, many different reasons. I truly do believe that Natsume Yuujinchou can easily be called a "diamond in the rough." It's also one of those surprising pleasures that you would have never thought you'd fall in love with.


As explained many times before, I picked up this anime series purely because I thought the poster was gorgeous. The summary seemed cliched, just like any other supernatural series, and I hadn't had much high hopes for it in the first place. But then, after watching the first and second episode, ditching it for a while and then picking it back up, I found how refreshing and mellow the series made me feel.

I fell in love with it and then I basked in the moment of knowing that a second season would be airing soon after.

This is a true episodic series in which every episode has a story of its own, which also pertains to the rest of the running story line. And everything just kind of falls into place neatly and nothing seems forced. If a filler had been interjected, I don't think I would have noticed. Because even as the series progressed in a nonlinear fashion, our main hero, Natsume Takashi continues to develop and continues to grow and continues to learn new things about hisself, about the world around him, and about his special ability.


I fell in love with Natsume Yuujinchou, despite my main genre being romantic comedies based around shoujo manga. Comedy meshes naturally with the drama, the melodrama, the supernatural, and the everyday slice of life elements.

Instead of being a supernatural series with a side of drama, comedy and adventure, Natsume Yuujinchou prides itself on the drama and slice of life areas, which just so happen to have supernatural, comedy, with a side of adventure and sprinkles of action. Natsume Yuujinchou is not flashy or fast-paced, and Natsume Yuujinchou does not force action or comedy.

In a sense, it depicts one specific kind of subject: "This is what your natural life would be like if you could interact with ayakashi." And then, "This is what Natsume Takashi's natural life is like, having always been able to interact with ayakashi." There is nothing thoroughly exciting and funny about being able to see these things, and we are shown this through the flashbacks and the emotional stress that Takashi-kun exhibits throughout the series. He is in contact with ayakashi every day of his life, every hour of every day, and everything is suddenly second nature to him. Like interacting with various people, Takashi simply ignores what he doesn't care to see and deals with what he thinks should be dealt with.

This life is not an adventure for Takashi, this is just how life is for him. And the series does well to depict how he comes to accept his abilities and the constant presence of ayakashi around him. Yes, he is different from others and because of this, he has been shunned and thrown from household to household. But somehow, Natsume Takashi has been able to manage himself quite well.

In other comments and posts around the anime-internet community, it has been mentioned that Natsume Takashi's personality is quite different from manga to anime. In the manga, I've read, he is more melancholic and less kind than he is in the anime. Frankly, I really do prefer to see a serene and good-natured Natsume Takashi over one who will brood and hate because of his lonely and tortured history. Somehow, it adds onto the wonder and amazement that is the anime of Natsume Yuujinchou; the character of Natsume Takashi makes the series such a hit.


Everything from his past history, his flashbacks, his insecurity, his sense of needing to know where he belongs, and his consistent state of kindness and serenity towards the world and the people around him despite all that has happened to him make him a very unique person.

And it is this part of the series that makes for an awesome beauty. The characterization of Natsume Takashi. He can be melancholic, but in a rather subtle way, and he can be a bit terse. But he is depicted overall as a very nice boy who cares about the people around him and cares about the welfare of any perfect stranger, be that stranger ayakashi or human. He is simply lonely and full of concern about what will happen to him and about all the people he may or may not trouble because of his ability to see and communicate with ayakashi.

In a perfect world, one would be hard pressed to find such an optimistic person who has gone through what Natsume Takashi has gone through. But it is this type of person who allows the viewer a sense mysterious hope that not all views of life are filled with drawbacks and malicious evil. There is always a silver lining.

Natsume Yuujinchou is a wonderful and lovely series. And if you think I haven't boasted enough about it, then you haven't read my thoughts on the first season. Another written post for the second season may enter into this blog as well as soon as I finish watching it.


Throughout this post I have mentioned only the series itself and the main hero. I have made no mention of the fat cat, which is also a significant factor to the series. Of course, I feel like the anime really fluorishes because of its tone and it's slow paced storytelling. The characterization of Natsume Takashi is wonderful, and the supporting role of Madara/Nyanko-sensei is a must as the cat actually gives Takashi the hope that there is somewhere he belongs and someone who will always be with him. The introduction of each ayakashi and their episodic storyline can be touching or amusing, and they all add onto the greatness of Natsume Yuujinchou.

Natsume Yuujinchou is probably not for those who seek shounen adventures and the like. But I definitely recommend this series to anyone and everyone who just wants to sit back and relax with a good series. It is a series that needs to be felt rather than rushed through, and I enjoy watching the entire series slowly by episode as it seems only right to feel at ease when watching such a serene series.


Indeed, as the first spotlight of 2009, there is no other who could take the place of Natsume Yuujinchou, the unexpected treasure of 2008's fall season and the looked forward to love of 2009's winter season.

thoughts: Natsume Yuujinchou (anime)

Since the very beginning, I know that I've been drawn to the majestic beauty of Natsume Yuujinchou. From the artwork to the animation, and most importantly to the characters and the storyline, everything about Natsume Yuujinchou has held my attention long enough for me to feel awestruck by just how gorgeous this anime can be.



As stated in my first impression post of Natsume Yuujinchou, I was drawn to the anime via the poster. It was a very pretty poster. The summary did nothing for me, really but let me know what was going on.

In essence, what actually kept me watching the entire series from beginning to end would have to be the feeling I get from viewing Natsume Yuujinchou as a whole. It's almost like reading about a majestic legend, or some form of old folklore. The mood is relaxing, the music and artwork help with that, and altogether, without being over exaggerated or flashy, Natsume Yuujinchou delivers a very fascinating, amazing story for the viewers.

This may be a horrible comparison, but I get a slight feel for Hayao Miyazaki when I see the stories of each episode unfolding and hear the music playing softly in the background.

Like works by Hayao Miyazaki, Natsume Yuujinchou sort of plays on images and feelings more than the actual action of each storyline of each episode. And also more so than words.

The storyline is cliched, but the way it's executed is simple and soothing for a supernatural anime. The characters, though limited, are interesting to follow. Natusme Takashi and Nyanko-sensei are really the only two that we get to follow throughout the series and we learn a lot about the two as the thirteen episodes progress. Natsume Reiko, Takashi's grandmother with the same ability as Takashi, is mentioned infrequently, and a plethora of ayakashi are presented each episode along with their sentimental stories.


With this anime, I hate that I can't seem to relay the exact feeling I have of each and every episode. But I can still try to describe how I feel...

It's almost like watching the sun rising-- something phenomenal, yet at the same time so natural is taking place. The scenery is wonderful, but at the same time it's not loud or flashy. It is simply one simple event. But it's wonderful nonetheless.

This is Natsume Yuujinchou in a nutshell.

Many would not be drawn to it because it is so quiet and simple as an anime filed under fantasy. But in essence, this anime is more so a slice of life drama hidden within all the beautiful supernatural phenomena it boasts as it's central theme.

Up to the ending of the thirteen episodes, the only conflicts we encounter are very realistic and everyday normal, even for a storyline that plays on a boy being able to interact with supernatural beings where no one else can.

As others have stated before, Natsume Yuujinchou delivers its central theme much differently than many would expect. Natsume Takashi is living in a life where he is the only person who can see youkai, ayakashi, ghosts, spirits, and the like. No one believes him because of what he can see and instead he is shunned by his family and tossed around until he is finally taken in by Touko-san wherein he does what he can to keep others from suspecting what he can do.

For Takashi-kun, it is hard for him to explain his strange behavior, and at the same time, his personality does what can be done to remain a good person, which is what Natsume Takashi is from beginning to end. Even though he may refuse to help certain youkai, he cannot help but to butt his nose into their business when he feels he needs to help.

After all, as he reasons, he can see them after all. There's no reason for him to pretend that they don't exist.

Overall, Natsume Takashi is a very kind person.

But going through life seeing youkai does not mean a walk in the park. Others who don't see these spirits and demons have nothing to fear because of such. Because as the saying goes, when you look at someone or something, there is always the possibility that he, she, or it will look right back at you. In Takashi-kun's case, because he can see youkai and youkai can see all humans, when it is known that he can see youkai, they don't simply just look right back at him. They also act, as is revealed by all the dangerous youkai who make a habit of chasing Takashi around.


Up to this point, I've made no mention of the second central theme in this series. The Book of Friends is the item that brings Takashi and Nyanko-sensei together, as well as propels the series' beginning. The Book of Friends is a small pamphlet of papers recording the names of various youkai, big and small, calm and dangerous. This book was passed onto Natsume Takashi by his grandmother, Reiko who had made a habit of collecting these contracted names assumingly because she was lonely and wanted friends.

But as the anime progresses, less is mentioned about Reiko and her Book of Friends. Instead, the producers seem to have forgotten about the book altogether and decided to focus more on other issues of Takashi surrounding his ability to interact with youkai... as well as his long, lonely childhood past.

Can you only imagine...?
The anime itself seems adamant on featuring Takashi-kun's morbid life from day one of being able to see youkai and being shunned from his family because of the "strange things" he keeps saying. A lot of the latter episodes of this series pays strict attention to the worries and the emotional turmoil that kind and caring Natsume Takashi has had to endure from past to present.

His most important worry being whether or not he can continue to remain with Touko-san in his current home, and whether or not he will ever find a place he can feel like he belongs in.

Takashi was lonely and abandoned since childhood, as was his grandmother. His grandmother created a Book of Friends for her own sake, and from the beginning of the series, Takashi is dead set on scrapping his grandmother's Book of Friends by returning all the names contracted. His only few human friends are merely background noise, and when he meets others who know of his plight, nothing seems to be as he had expected.

This was probably not the kind of "I can see them too" friendship that Takashi-kun was looking for.
Tanuma is a boy who is curious about Takashi because he can see the shadows of youkai, though not the actual youkai itself. Natori-san is an older man who can see and interact with youkai, had the same horrible and lonely childhood as Takashi, but who takes action against youkai in a way Takashi would have never even dared do.

Gee, I wonder why Takashi's not scared.
Yea... that would be why.
The only true close friend Takashi could probably boast would be his fat cat, Nyanko-sensei (also known as Madara in his true form) who gets a beating from Takashi regularly. The relationship between this youkai and Takashi is hard to consume in that how they act towards each other seems rather unbelievable... at least until you realize that the cat is always going to be on Takashi's side.

And the persistence of Nyanko/Madara...
What? Gave up already? It was only a left knuckle to the head.
After all, when transformed into his true body as Madara, I really doubt that it would be extremely hard for him to simply pluck Takashi off the ground and eat him. Had Nyanko-sensei been a little less caring for Takashi, there would probably be no story to tell.

What youkai as powerful as Madara would allow some mere human to beat him over the head all the time?

I think that's relative to how much the fat cat actually wants the book. But this scene is so sweet and beautiful.
Everything that is part of the true episodic adventure of Natsume Yuujinchou comes around to develop the character of Natsume Takashi and his relationship with both the youkai world and the human world. And as his own story is told from childhood, you feel with him and you feel for him.

To be able to be such a kind and calm young boy after all that's happened to him... it's a little hard for a viewer to grasp. But in the end, I am personally glad that Takashi-kun is the way that he is. He brings much needed optimism to such a morbid fate and at the same time he conveys the reality of his own fate.

Natsume Yuujinchou is a success because of the way in which it ties together the theme with the main protagonist. The series itself is a distinct and grade-A expample of, "So you can see youkai? Well this is the reality of what your situation would be like if this were a possible occurence." And it has little to do with action or comedy-- this series is pure slice of life drama.

The drama, the angst, the action, and even the comedy is all natural rather than artistically timed for best effect. This is real life at its best concerning a boy who can see things that others cannot. This is not a horror or thriller, and this is not forced comedic timing nor is it forced action and adventure just because supernatural beings are a part of the scenario.

As I already stated, Natsume Yuujinchou plays on the emotions of the viewer and relates to us everything that is Natsume Takashi.

An eager, joyful childish hope.
It wasn't until episode three when we see a flashback of Takashi as a child that I realized just how emotionally damaged Takashi could have become. Realizing that he is the only one who sees strange things, realizing that no one believes him, and realizing just how lonely he is becomes a tremendous, sad stone sitting on his shoulders. When he meets a nice onee-san who claims that she "can see them too," little Takashi is thrilled because he no longer has to be alone anymore. But then the reality struck when he was asked what he was doing all by himself at the park.

Realization.
I could feel my own breath catching at the realization of what Takashi's friendly onee-san really is. At that point in time, with the color of the setting sun showing in animation as well as the expressive look on little Takashi's face, I probably couldn't feel what the child was feeling, but I knew just how surprising and saddening the situation had become.

Sense of loss and betrayal.
Once again, Natsume Takashi was all alone. It was absolutely a wonder that Takashi grew up to be the kind and caring kid he is.


A very endearing friendship between youkai and human. Tsubame thanks Takashi-kun for his efforts in making her wish come true.
This could have turned out into some other type of series if Takashi-kun had some sense of romanticism in him. But no, we remain pure and innocent.
There are a lot of very touching moments in all of Natsume Yuujinchou, many of which involve the simple guest appearances of many youkai per episode.

Some other unfortunate soul falls victim to a forbidden romance. This was one of the saddest scenes in the entire anime. To have fallen for someone and then never be able to see her again. And for Hotaru to be able to see, but not let him know that she was always there and shares his feelings as well...
No matter how, each story interrelates with Takashi's own feelings of self-worth, of loneliness, of understanding, and of his relationship towards the youkai and his human friends and family. Aside from that, we also get to see a slight bridge in the similarities and differences between youkai and humans, which is yet another insight of Natsume Yuujinchou that is rarely brought up in more action/adventure-packed supernatural series.

We are brought to the attention of various questions that have always plagued Takashi since the beginning of time, and one by one, the questions are asked, but the answer is so vague that there's no way that even Takashi himself could answer no matter how thoroughly he's thought them over.

How does he view the youkai in his life? Who else in this world has the same ability as himself? Is there really that big of a difference between youkai and human? Will he see youkai for the rest of his life, or will he lose that ability at some point in time? Why is it that only he can see these youkai?

So many questions and no answers are given. Instead, the viewers are indirectly given the chance to think over these issues. Because as far as I can tell, Natsume Yuujinchou focuses on the here and now, taking from the past in slight, and only speculating about the future that is to come.

A good way to wrap up the first season with fireworks. Sadly, Takashi-kun sees none of it...
There are always setbacks for being able to see things other people cannot.
I thoroughly enjoyed this series as I had predicted in my first impressions post. I pegged it as a Wagaya no Oinari-sama, but much better. I don't know how to comment on that assumption, because both series are on completely different levels of supernatural awe. While I believe that Natsume Yuujinchou is indeed better than Wagaya-- and better than a lot of other anime I've seen recently-- there is no way to compare.

Natsume Yuujinchou is in a league of it's own.

The ending wraps up quite well by bringing back a few of previous episode guest youkai and human, but somehow, it definitely is missing something. It feels as if it's just another episode and that it hasn't really ended yet. Like others have mentioned, it's like a recap or an intermission curtain call for all the viewers to reminisce in the reappearances of some of the series' cameo youkai and human.

And then what's this, Natori-san and some secret gathering? A scene that is shown only briefly but left to the wonderings of the viewers.

Takashi and his friend Tanuma spend a good portion of the ending episode searching for Takashi's "fat cat" who is held hostage by Takashi's classmate Sasada in an attempt to keep him around her for her amusement. But overall, the ending had the same soothing feel as the rest of the series.

*

Season two of Natsume has been announced to begin broadcast in January of 2009, and so we know for a fact that the series has yet to reach its end. I'm glad, because although there is very little to keep you hanging at the edge of your seat to look forward to, Natsume is a good enough anime series to keep you hooked as each episode rolls out slowly.

Though without action or adventure or over the top comedy or exaggerated storytelling, Natsume Yuujinchou is definitely a must see anime. Not bad are the visual affects, the background music, the theme music, and even the seiyuu of each character.

Natsume Takashi's seiyuu Kamiya Hiroshi is not familiar to me, but he does an excellent job portraying Natsume's calmness and his kind demeanor. Included in the voice cast role call are Inoue Kazuhiko as Nyanko-sensei and his youkai form Madara, and Kobayashi Sanae in her few appearances as Reiko.

If I were to describe Natsume Yuujinchou to someone, I don't think I would ever be able to fully give an appreciable account of the anime as a whole. Maybe one of these days I'll just go through and give more thoughts about various parts of Natsume Yuujinchou that are notable, but then, that'll be quite a lot of different posts.

first impression: Natsume Yuujinchou (anime)

When I watched the first episode of this series, it was because I thought the poster looked really entrancing. A boy is sitting on a branch barefoot with a flowered robe draped over his shoulder. He looked so peaceful and deep in thought as he is staring at his own reflection in the water below him. It is nighttime and a partial moon is lighting the dark sky amidst the dotted pin-pricks of stars; the entrance of a shrine can be seen in the background.

The only thing out of place was the "Fortune Cat" hanging on the branch right next to him, but that didn't really bother me.

Natsume Yuujinchou, I guess roughly translates to "Natsume Book of Friends" or something of the like -- everytime the cat says "yuujinchou" the subtitle reads "Book of Friends."

The first episode introduces the boy, Natsume Takashi and immediately allows us to know that he can see spirits and has been able to see spirits ever since he was a child. No one else around him has this same ability, and because of that, he very nearly freaked out his parents -- or guardians, or what have you -- when he pointed at spirits in corners claiming that someone is there. We learn later on that his grandmother, Natsume Reiko was also able to see spirits and that she possessed some form of power. All of these spirits that appear in the series are after the title item, "Book of Friends" or "yuujinchou" of which contains binding contracts between Reiko and the spirits -- basically by contracting their true names, the owner of the book has total control over that spirit. By the end of the first episode, Natsume becomes entangled in his grandmother's past mischiefs among the spirit world, and just as well, he is determined to free all of the spirits by dissolving the contracts. At his side is Nyanko-sensie, the Fortune Cat who could be on Natsume's side, or out to get the "Book of Friends" like every other evil spirit out there.

My impression of the beginning of the episode had been slightly on the serious side. A somewhat fantastical telling of a young boy bound to a mission brought upon him by a spirit, passed onto him by an ancestor or a family member no longer living. It sounded very adventurous. It sounded very magical. I figured it would be a wonderful watch.

And then the cat showed up and we are given some fairly forced comedic scatterings.

The boy himself is quite sardonic, though I'm sure it's not in his nature to try to be funny as he seems quite reserved and monotonous (when not faced with one-eyed hostile spirits chasing him across fields). His sarcastic nature comes out readily, however, as we can see when he points out that Nyanko-sensei is indeed a cat no matter how great of a spirit he claims to be. Overall, Natsume is not a joker -- and how can he be since he's been chased by spirits his whole life?

The comedic timing of this episode overall was rather one-sided, but I had a good laugh at the "cat-and-fuzz-on-a-stick" bit. The story and concept I rather enjoyed.

Instead of taking on some duty passed to him by someone, Natsume decides for himself what he will do with the "Book of Friends" and thus gives himself a mission to carry out for the sake of his own sanity, for the sake of the cat, and for the sake of other spirits' freedoms. In doing so, Natsume presents to us as viewers the side of him that I know we'll learn to love: mercy. Instead of trying to control the spirits by using the book, he is intent on helping them.

Natsume Takashi, I find, is somewhat different from some of the other male protagonists I've seen in anime lately. While most are a mysteriously quiet type with a hidden arrogance, or maybe a cheery, teasing, loud type, Natsume is quiet, reserved, and just... well, natural. He's not excessively moody or dark, he's not excessively melancholic. He's just the right dose of quiet. And on top of that, he's a good kid.

Anyway, by this point of the series, I began to wonder what kind of a woman Natsume Reiko had been during her time. She created these binding contracts to control so many spirits and her reasons seem rather inconclusive. For example, the first spirit to have her contract dissolved flashes back to show us that Reiko had created this contract for the sake of appeasing her own loneliness. But Reiko never called upon this spirit at all and thus the spirit was left lonely and confused. Were all the contracts all for fun, to shake her loneliness, or for other more significant reasons? Were some of the spirits at least evil enough to need to remain bound under Reiko's control?

And then, will this series delve into the past repeatedly to address Reiko's situation? For some reason, I don't see this series focusing mainly on Natsume and the cat. Reiko's youthful past is something of interest that I wouldn't mind learning about as a viewer. How did she cope with being able to see spirits and having such a power to overcome them? And how did she get this power? And why a "Book of Friends?"

With an almost slight "Wagaya no Oinari-sama" twist, the series almost gives off the same feel. Except, I have a feeling that this one may fair a bit better than the former as it has a more likeable protagonist and a less scattered plot device. I intend to keep watching.