Natsume Yuujinchou (Seasons 1 & 2) - Anime Review

Story: This anime follows a teenage boy named Natsume, who has the ability to see spirits, which he inherited this power from his grandmother named Reiko. However, he's not too thrilled about this ability. During his life time, he has always been alone and doesn't have any friends. When he was a child, he actually told his neighbors that he can see spirits, but nobody believes him, even his parents thought that he was lying. In addition, he is pretty much an outsider to the human world. As he grew older, he began to have a grudge for the spirits that he sees and blames them for the misfortunes that he had experienced.

After the death of his grandmother, Natsume inherits the "Book of Friends," which is a book that Reiko wrote the names of the spirits and those whose name is written on the book are forced to serve her. Reiko also has a similar situation as Natsume, the people around her thinks that she is a freak for seeing spirits that nobody else can see. So, Reiko decides to seek companionship through the spirit world and also bullies the spirits in to obeying her by playing games with them.  

After Natsume receives the "Book of Friends," many different spirits have been knocking on his door step and demanding that their names should be returned to them. Eventually, Natsume does help out the spirits by returning their names. Also, Natsume has met a lot of unfriendly spirits who are trying to kill him and trying to get their hands on the "Book of Friends." However, Natsume accidentally releases a cat spirit named Madara, from a sealed shrine. Madara takes it's form as a maneki neko, which Natsume later nickname him as Nyanko-sensei. Nyanko-sensei serves as Nastume's body guard, but in return, he wants Natsume to promise him that he will give the "Book of Friends" to him when Natsume dies. Natsume continues to assist the spirits and make many friends along the way in the yokai world and the human world.

Review: The characters in this series are very likable. Natsume is not the type of character that is emo and depressed all the time. However, he tries to live his own life the best way that he can. As I got to learn more of the back story of his life, the more I sympathize with him. But I'm glad to see that he gradually starts to open up more to other people and make new friends. Another character that I enjoyed watching was Nyanko-sensei. He mostly gives off all of the comedy relief in this show. Sensei and Natsume always gets into an argument with each other and constantly getting into each others nerves. Also, sensei likes to threaten Natsume by saying that  he will eat him once he is dead. But I think that Nyanko-sensei actually enjoys his company.

Each season is 13 episodes long and in each episode tells a different story. This type of pattern continues throughout the series. Yet, it's not boring. In each episode, they show different spirits and their back story of their own life. And some of them do make a reappearance throughout the season. Also, at the end of each episode, the characters leaves a heartwarming impression which makes me put a smile on my face. But overall, this show is an episodic series.

All-in-all, I though it was a really good anime and there were a lot of heartwarming moments throughout the series. This anime had a lot of wonderful characters and a great story development which keeps the storytelling interesting.