Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

夏目友人帳 [Natsume Yūjinchō] #13

Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 13

Rate this book
Takashi Natsume can see the spirits and demons that hide from the rest of humanity. He has always been set apart from other people because of his gift, drifting from relative to relative, never fitting in. Now he's a troubled high school student who has come to live in the small town where his grandmother grew up. And there he discovers that he has inherited more than just the Sight from the mysterious Reiko.

Intrigues abound in the world of professional exorcism, and Natsume wants nothing to do with it. But he has no choice when Matoba, head of a prominent exorcist clan, blackmails him into coming to an exorcist meeting. Is Natsume’s fate sealed when one of his special talents is exposed in front of Matoba?

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 4, 2012

8 people are currently reading
304 people want to read

About the author

Yuki Midorikawa

66 books290 followers
Yuki Midorikawa (緑川ゆき, Midorikawa Yuki) is a Japanese mangaka (manga artist). Midorikawa is best known for drawing the manga series Natsume Yujin-cho ("Natsume's Book of Friends").

Yuki Midorikawa started writing manga when she was an elementary school girl. When she was a junior high school student, she sent her manga for the first time to "Hana to Yume", a semi-monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Hakusensha. Since then, she had kept drawing manga to become a mangaka.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
479 (61%)
4 stars
220 (28%)
3 stars
76 (9%)
2 stars
8 (1%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
Profile Image for Beth.
1,450 reviews200 followers
June 20, 2025
Maybe it's just a peculiarity, but I'm not all that interested in politicking between adults when I'm reading a story intended for teens. Seeing that Matoba was a central figure in the story that takes up the first three episodes of this volume, I kept putting it off. A few hours in bed feeling unwell today made me finally get around to finishing it.

I appreciated seeing the difference between Matoba's and Natori's approaches to Natsume more clearly--it's pretty obvious which the narrative wants the reader to prefer--and the central yokai was appropriately spooky. I also liked the two short stories featuring Natsume's introductions to Nishimura and Kitamoto. They haven't distinguished themselves all that much to me previous to now, so it was nice to see their families and more about what makes them tick. It's nice that the boys aren't put off by Natsume's sometimes-peculiar behavior.

This is the 1000th entry on my "manga" shelf! I didn't start logging them until a couple months into 2017, so it doesn't reflect manga I read from the late 90s until then (Goodreads itself didn't even exist until '06, and I signed up in '11). In the meantime, I've made good progress on clearing out a backlog that goes back to the time that Borders was still around. 100 or more entries each year isn't too bad. :)
Profile Image for usagi ☆ミ.
1,206 reviews333 followers
November 25, 2012
While I admit I'm not entirely caught up with this series as of yet, one of the things I love the most about "Natsume Yuujinchou" is that you can pretty much start at any volume in the manga and still be able to get oriented and easily sink into the story. Midorikawa is a ridiculously talented storyteller and artist, and volume 13 in the "Natsume" saga is just all the more proof of that. If you haven't started this series yet, while volume 13 isn't the ideal place to start, it's still a great one to try your hand at to see how comfortable you feel with Midorikawa's style.

With slow, delicious storytelling, we're right in the middle of the "Exorcist" arc, with Natsume trying to live his life by gently dealing with youkai (monsters) and try to make sure they don't meet terrible ends by the exorcists, vengeful families that want nothing more than to finish those youkai off. Natsume (and his grandmother, who started the yuujinchou ("the book of friends"), has this attitude of live and let live, whereas all of these other exorcists families like Matoba (with the seeming few exceptions of men like Natori and his youkai servant, Hiiragi) have the absolute opposite way of wanting to deal with the shrinking youkai population. It's a wonderful way of really comparing and contrasting the new world way of doing things compared with the old world (pre-modernization, which in this case would be pre-Meiji era, or pre-1868) when it comes to religion, superstition, and mythological creatures. This volume just really shows all the more how severe these two differences are, and one could even possibly say that this is a possible social commentary on how things are in Japan right now within its culture (the battle of retaining the old culture while dealing with globalization).

What peaked my interest the most about this volume in particular was that we hear Natori confirm that children (with the Sight) like Natsume are becoming increasingly rare, and thus that's why the exorcist families like Matoba are trying to get their hands on him. After about six volumes or so of going back and forth between dealing with youkai his own way and trying to save them from the brutal treatment of banishment by Matoba's hands, we get confirmation that yes, children like Natsume are a dying breed, and that's what's fueled the exorcism arc the way that it has. Even though it's a rather late admission, everything now makes a lot more sense in hindsight when looking back on the past six or so volumes where we deal with Matoba and families like his with banishment, trying to get Natsume to work for him by any means necessary (including kidnapping), and trying to preserve the youkai world as it is now, even as it's slowly starting to die out.

So for the reader who, like me, was starting to get frustrated in terms of why this arc is so long? Stick with it, because volume 13 is full of very important and tasty admissions like Natori's, as well as Matoba's "offer" to once again try to get Natsume to work with him to kill off youkai.

What was also wonderful in this volume was Midorikawa's very understated, gentle art style. Much like "Mushishi" (which has a bit of a similar storyline), the art can go to insanely detailed to just mere sketches and not lose any quality of the story itself. You can kind of see why Midorikawa has won awards for her work (notably, her very "Natsume"-related previous work of short stories, "Hotarubi no Mori e", made into a film last year). I keep hoping for a "Hotarubi"/"Natsume" crossover, since there are quite a few similarities between the two series, especially now that the "Hotarubi" film is out on DVD in Japan. Absolutely gorgeous artwork with a pace that's both slice-of-life pleasantly slow yet darkly sinister, this is just another feather in Midorikawa's hat when it comes to her mangaka skills. What's funnier, is that the author even talks about the film version of "Hotarubi" in one of her side panels within this panel. Awesome.

Even though this particular volume's plot has to do with the mystery of who's cursing exorcists, it still begs the question - which is better for the youkai, and thus, for the world? No youkai at all from the dangerous banishments that the vengeful exorcist families like Matoba use? Or the gentler, name reclamation that Natsume (and his grandmother) use along side Nyanko-sensei? Is it youkai who are getting angry and cursing the exorcists? Or is it the more sinister human element trying to eliminate the gentler competition like Natsume and Natori instead? Midorikawa asks us questions that are really important in this volume under the metaphor of youkai and human relations, which is - what should remain? The old culture? Or new globalization? Can we coexist together at all? It's a wonderful thing to read, once you take the entire arc into consideration and it will definitely give you something to think deeply upon.

"Natsume's Book of Friends (Natsume Yuujinchou): Volume 13" will be out December 4, 2012 in North America from Viz, so be sure to check it out when you get the chance. It's definitely a volume you can't miss in this series, and just kind of reminds me why it's one of my favorites.

(posted to goodreads, shelfari, and birthofanewwitch.wordpress.com)

Profile Image for LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions).
1,307 reviews25 followers
January 11, 2018
In the first part of the volume, Matoba offers Natsume a job. Natsume doesn't want to accept, but he does agree to help with Matoba's little problem, a mask yokai hiding somewhere in his gathering of exorcists. Natori helps Natsume out by getting rid of Matoba's letter. The next part of the volume is a bit from Nishimura's POV - how he and Natsume met and became friends. He never realizes it, but The volume ends with a story from Kitamoto's POV - how he met and befriended Natsume, and also Tanuma. He connects with Natsume over their shared anxiety about what to do once high school is over.

The stuff with Matoba was interesting and more suspenseful and action-filled than the rest of the volume. Still, I didn't like that part quite as much as the chapters that came after it. The Matoba clan feels so dark and cold compared to most of the people and beings Natsume interacts with. It was nice to see Natori again, though.

The two chapters from Kitamoto and Nishimura's POVs were great examples of why I love this series. Nishimura was such a nice guy, trying to befriend awkward Natsume. Tanuma and Taki are great, but it's also good to see people who have absolutely no clue about Natsume's abilities liking him and enjoying being with him, even though he probably comes across as a little strange from time to time. Kitamoto's chapter was nice too. I liked how he and Natsume had the same sort of seriousness and sense of responsibility - they both want to avoid being a burden on their family, although for different reasons.

I feel like every time I try to describe how good this series is, I make it sound boring...

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
Profile Image for machinaheart.
429 reviews6 followers
February 15, 2015
(Since goodreads killed quite a long review from me just now, I am too tired to redo it and now you're stuck with the gist of it.)

In SHORT: Magical, personal and quietly brilliant.
In DETAIL:

Themes: Being different, loneliness, creatures from myth and legend, friendship and camaraderie and the meaning of family.
Setting: Rural Japan in all its loveliness! (When it comes to a time period I’d say, roughly the ‘here and now’.)
Atmosphere: At once magical and ordinary. The focus on interpersonal relationships in a world where a vast array of supernatural creatures are never far, is the key to making this story so wonderful. It is almost always less about the being’s strangeness and abilities, but rather its hopes and wishes.
Characters & Relationships: Every character is incredibly unique and loveable in their own way. What I adore the portrayal of the ayakashi is that Natsume always tries to understand the circumstances of a creature first and only if there is no other way will try to bind it or even kill it. Mostly the ayakashi are shown as having different values or being ignorant of human customs.
Plot: Natsume has to cope with his ability to see ayakashi and with the mysterious “Book of Friends” his grandmother left behind. Not to mention this erratic lucky-cat (that is actually something very different) called Nyanko-sensei. At first the chapters are rather episodic in a monster of the week style (but many really touching and never boring), but somewhere along the line more characters, supernatural and human, appear and as Natsume’s friends and acquaintances expand, the plot branches out.
Cover & Artwork: The artwork has a lovely light touch which adds to feeling of otherworldliness and gives it a sense of fragility.
Profile Image for Estara.
799 reviews135 followers
February 24, 2013
This volume focuses a lot on the exorcist way, we have Natori and Matoba, who are at opposite ends of how they treat and use yokai and both come from old exorcist families - there's quite a bit of info about the set-up of these family-heritage yokai hunters. It seems plausible that the Natsume family is also a lost yokai-hunter family.

Takashi manages to keep the knowledge of the book of friends from Matoba - at least he thinks he does (I'm not so sure) - and there even seems to have been an honest letter from Matoba to Takashi (however Natori has it intercepted and monitors their relations closely, without telling Takashi, which makes me question his previous behaviour and how much of the truth he has told Takashi so far). What is clear is that Takashi thinks he befriends Yokai and Matoba sees his interaction with them as just another form of contract (I mean Madara/Nyanko supposedly is waiting to get the Book of Friends if Takashi dies...).

Lots of fodder for further developments in all directions and rather action-based.

My favourite two chapters where when Midorikawa finally fleshed out those two boys who have been Takashi's friends since he first appeared as a ward of his uncle and aunt. We get to see the development of their friendship and what makes them tick in the first place.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jean.
358 reviews1 follower
December 6, 2012
I have to admit that I read this one before reading the ones before it so I may be missing something. However, we have further interactions with Natsume and Matoba. Again, Matoba tries to coerce Natsume into joining his group who are ruthless and holds yokai in distain. Natsume is persuaded to help Matoba against the lastest Yokai threat but must decide whether the safety of those he love is worth joining Matoba.

In the end, it is the same cycle with Natsume. I think why I keep coming back and reading each adventure is that I really love how Natsume is able to stick to his guns realizing that his position is an extremely difficult and ungrateful one. He straddles the worlds of the humans and yokai which seem at odds with each other all the time. Each adventure is a test for Natsume where we are happy when he triumphs.
Profile Image for Luula.
177 reviews25 followers
September 18, 2012
I really love Natsume's book of friends. It's an incredibly gentle manga. I say gentle, not because it has no fighting, but because the storyline is so soft, and the characters are so precious. Natsume is the kind of boy you'd want to protect, and all of his friends are so sweet and understanding. I think you can really understand Natsume, and why he does what he does. It's beautifully drawn, very gentle.
This is a gentle manga.

Only I do get scared by the yokai sometimes...
Profile Image for Sophie.
2,642 reviews117 followers
January 24, 2015
I really loved the special episodes with Nishimura and Kitamoto. It's always interesting to see a character from a different perspective, and it was great to be able to get to know these two better.
Profile Image for Rereader.
1,451 reviews210 followers
October 16, 2020
The more times Matoba shows up, the more I pray that Nyanko sensei will rip his head off. Which is wishful thinking, I know, but still.

Not a whole lot to say about this volume. I really loved the two side stories at the end mostly because they both showed different difficult0 family situations, which correlates to Natsume's struggles with family. It was also nice to see some depth given to two characters I originally pinned as disposable side characters. Good job, Midorikawa, good job.

A short review, I know, but that's all I've got. Really did love this volume, looking forward to more!
3,248 reviews
June 28, 2023
Natsume attends a party of exorcists and learns more about the profession.

I liked the first arc/story with the exorcists but I wasn't a fan of the two following stories that told events from the point of view of two of Natsume's friends. I keep reading these because Natsume is such a gentle, loving kid who is just trying to be fair and helpful to everyone (people and yokai alike).
Profile Image for Rici.
546 reviews
November 18, 2017
Hier haben wir eine Story mit Matoba, wo Natsume einen Yokai finden soll, der Besitz von Menschen ergreift. Zum Schluss noch zwei Geschichten, bei denen wir Natsume aus der Sicht seiner Freunde sieht, die nichts mit Yokai zu tun haben. Interessanter Blickwinkel!
Profile Image for Bee (BacchusVines).
2,138 reviews15 followers
February 8, 2022
Each volume I read of Natsume's Book of Friends, the story and backstory of exorcists gets more and more good. I freaking love Natsume's attitude and how much he's grown in the last dozen volumes. The two ending stories of Natsume's friends getting to know him is even better.
Profile Image for Khari.
3,129 reviews77 followers
March 29, 2018
的場好き!

かっこよくてミステリアスの男は最高!もっと知りたい!

夏目の鬼姿もステキだった。この巻の特別編は面白かった。てっきり北本のお父さんが妖怪にやられたと思うたけど違うみたい。ま北本と西村はいい友達よね。良かった。
Profile Image for R.
2,279 reviews6 followers
October 21, 2019
So awesome. Beautifully illustrated with awesome experiences. I love getting to know some of the other characters a little better as well.
Profile Image for Mary Emma Sivils.
Author 1 book63 followers
January 10, 2023
I don't like Matoba, so I don't like seeing Natsume help him out, either. 😒
I really enjoyed the stories of how Natsume got to know his school friends, though!
Profile Image for Judyth.
1,745 reviews41 followers
January 27, 2013
~4-4.5/5
[Also available on my blog.]


This volume was so good. Overall, every volume of this series is good, but sometimes there’s a slower one, filled with one shots and nothing with his friends or family, but then sometimes there are ones like this one, where you really get to know a characters more, with some kind of development.

The first three chapters of this volume were focused on one story, and it was so good. Natsume runs into some trouble with a yokai, and gets a letter from Matoba (a scary exorcist, who I think we met briefly before, because I didn’t remember him), and decides to go visit Natori.

Previously, I hadn’t had very high thoughts of Natori, but there was some development in this volume. Now, he just seems like he wants to help Natsume if he can, not push him too much or anything. I rather like him more, actually. Also, I hadn’t noticed how attractive Natori was before, but seeing him in casual clothing really brought that to my attention.

After that meeting, Matoba approaches Natsume, and he wants his help. Matoba is somewhat high in the exorcist ring, but nobody likes him very much. Everyone has gathered at his place for some kind of meeting, which is secretly to find out who is spreading information about exorcism. Natsume pretends to be a yokai for this, and he is so freaking cute with a mask and horns. In the chapter covers, we also got to see him in a suit, and that was so cute as well. I just... he is so cute.

Anyway, after that, there are two special chapters, one each for Natsume’s friends from school, who we’ve seen a few times, but who I never really got a good feel for. Now, I hope we get to see more of them, and I want Natsume to tell them about the yokai and why he acts so weird sometimes. The two guys are just so sweet and I really liked them, but I like seeing other people interact with and care about Natsume.

If it isn’t apparent yet, I love Natsume. I’ve said this multiple times, including how cute and sweet I think he is. But he is, and I love him. I just want to love him and be his friend and hug him. He makes me smile, and I’m really looking forward to the next volume (even though I’m going to have to wait till freakin’ July).

Sidenote: Midorikawa mentions in this volume that there are four seasons of the anime now. What? I haven't even watched one episode; I hadn't realized it was so popular. I'm really thinking about starting to watch it now.
Profile Image for Holly Letson.
3,849 reviews527 followers
December 27, 2012
When I saw this on Edelweiss, I knew nothing about it, and only got it because I wanted to find out what it's about. I admit that starting reading on Vol.13 was probably not the smartest move ever, but I was curious. And, I figured that any manga series that currently has FOUR SEASONS OF ANIME out MUST BE GOOD. I stand by that statement, and do not regret my decision.
-----------------------
Natsume is an exorcist, who has a knack for seeing that which others cannot. This cause Motoba to come for him. Motoba wants him to get rid of an evil yokai that is targeting high-up exorcists. Natsume goes along with the plan, and does indeed get rid of said yokai. But, refuses to join Motoba's crew/clan. He does, however, agree to come back to help if they need his help again.
---------
Also, we are treated to two wonderful side stories, which are back stories of sorts, that detail Natsume being a new student in school. The side stories were OK, but kind of slow-paced. Compared to other mangas I have recently read, I enjoyed the main story more than the side stories in this one.
-----------------------------------
This volume was provided to me by VIZ Media, via Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own.
------------
I would, most likely, read further volumes of this series, if given such chance.
Profile Image for Sarah Maddaford.
914 reviews11 followers
July 2, 2013
Matoba is back and plotting to use Natsume. Fortunately, Natsume has his own way of doing things that Matoba just can't understand or interrupt because Matoba is a creepy, crazy guy and Natsume is far more kind-hearted than many people with his upbringing. We get to see how his friendships with Nishimura and Kitamoto formed as well as their home lives. It's good to see the other characters fill out and become more than just methods for Natsume to grow as a human capable of interacting with other people.
The manga includes some violence including evidence of bullying, fights between youkai, Natsume and Nyanko-sensei, but the worst results seem to be cuts, bruises and talk about eating people (very rarely do people actually get eaten in the series). There isn't any cursing. Nyanko-sensei is a drunkard, who spends most of his time in a Lucky Cat form.
Profile Image for scarlettraces.
3,125 reviews20 followers
February 1, 2013
it's rare that i like a series more as it goes on, especially since a lot of manga are navigating marine life of various sizes if not quite jumping the shark by this point in a series. but Natsume just keeps getting better. i'm not sure how she does it. maybe it's that Nyanko-sensei's expressions are always varied and fresh, and always make me laugh. maybe it's that the stories are perfectly balanced between the continuing narrative and Natsume's backstory, and the episodic structure the series started with. (Midorikawa-sensei gives us a special treat in this vol - the same events though two different povs, which is one of my very favourite ways of telling stories.) i still have 2 series of the anime saved up for the perfect rainy day, but in the meantime i'd be happy for this series to continue forever.
697 reviews5 followers
December 19, 2019
I really liked the first story that had to do with the exorcists. That was very interesting, and I really liked it. But the other two I didn't much care for. They didn't have the usual spark of the story, especially since they weren't about yokai. It felt like it was recapping on how awful Natsume's life has been.

My favorite part was seeing Natsume dressed up as a Yokai. He was really cute like that. I was kind of expecting that there be something about how he was treated when he was pretending to be a yokai, but the author didn't touch too much on that. I hope that it is brought up in later volumes.
Profile Image for Kate.
795 reviews15 followers
December 13, 2012
In this manga volume we delve into the world of exorcists when Natsume is blackmailed into helping out the exorcist, Matoba, with a traitor in their midst. Hopefully Natsume is tempted to join their ranks in later volumes. The following chapters were lighter and involved Natsume's new friends, Nishimura and Kitamoto. It was interesting to see how they perceive Natsume. I now wonder what Mantoba and Natori are both planning around Natsume?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
1,026 reviews10 followers
December 9, 2012
This was the first volume of this manga that let me down a little bit. It felt like we really didn't get anywhere on any level in the main story.

this was nearly made up for by the bonus stories detailing how Natsume got to know his two best friends at school, and what they initially thought of them. It was a cute and fun look back, and I enjoyed it immensely.
Profile Image for Miss Susan.
2,769 reviews65 followers
February 18, 2013
liked the side stories with natsume's friends on the end. i was talking with my brother about how it's difficult to predict an ending for this series -- it's so low key and slice-of-life that i can't really see a natural ending point. i think maybe the conflict introduced with the other exorcists might give something like a plot structure to put an end to. we'll see. :) 4 stars
Profile Image for Pinky.
7,043 reviews23 followers
April 4, 2025
Natsume helps Matoba find an exorcist that is attacking other exorcist due to being possessed by a yokai. In order to lure them out Matoba dresses Natsume as a yokai. Matoba finishes the yokai after Natsume flushes it out. He refuses to join Matoba to the relief of Natori.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Silverin.
269 reviews41 followers
March 2, 2023
This one felt a bit slow or maybe that's because I took a long time to read it. One volume left till I catch up with my reread and start on the newer volumes! (✿•ᴗ•) 📚
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.