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夏目友人帳 [Natsume Yūjinchō] #17
夏目友人帳 17 [Natsume Yūjinchō 17]
おつかいからの帰り道、幼なじみの女の子を探す不思議な少年・葵と出会った夏目。彼女の学校さえ知らず手がかりを求める葵を自分の学校まで案内することに。そこである秘密を知り…? 名取と的場の過去がひも解かれる特別編も収録。あやかし契約奇譚第17巻!!
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 4, 2014
About the author
Yuki Midorikawa
66 books295 followersYuki 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
November 7, 2014
A particularly great volume, in no small part because of the great bonus story starring a younger Natori.
May 20, 2015
The usual high quality of art and story-telling, with the bonuses of finally learning a bit more about Natori's background and some truly great throw-away details like Nyanko Sensei explaining his cooking secrets in the background of yet another all-night sake party.
October 24, 2023
Does Natsume's Book of Friends ever fail to give me the warm fuzzies?
So far, no.
I loved the "Nyanko-Sensei rock" moments.😆
So far, no.
I loved the "Nyanko-Sensei rock" moments.😆
November 2, 2014
The real high point of this issue, for me at least, was the two part backstory we get for Natori in the latter half of the boko.
Nattori, as a young man who can see yokai living in a family that used to be famed exorcists but which has largely lost the ability to see the supernatural. In their fear of retaliation for their years of exorcising spirits, they try to stay out of that life and to keep Natori out of it as well. But his life is different from theirs, and so he enters that world in an attempt to find the answers he feels he needs.
What he finds instead of answers is Matoba, running series antagonist, with whom he forms a complicated relationship. They're not friends, but there is an understanding there and an acceptance of knowledge, and that they are facing some of the same things. It was interesting because their prickly relationship has been apparent since they were both first mentioned together, but to see the genesis of the whole thing was a real treat. The story is well paced and the art lovely, as alwys.
The other two stories in this volume feel a little bit repetitive, as the first involves a human/yokai relationship that went wrong and the second involves Natsume getting involved in playing a game with yokai that ends up having unintended consequences. They're both cute, but I didn't feel like either one brought anything much new to the series.
Nattori, as a young man who can see yokai living in a family that used to be famed exorcists but which has largely lost the ability to see the supernatural. In their fear of retaliation for their years of exorcising spirits, they try to stay out of that life and to keep Natori out of it as well. But his life is different from theirs, and so he enters that world in an attempt to find the answers he feels he needs.
What he finds instead of answers is Matoba, running series antagonist, with whom he forms a complicated relationship. They're not friends, but there is an understanding there and an acceptance of knowledge, and that they are facing some of the same things. It was interesting because their prickly relationship has been apparent since they were both first mentioned together, but to see the genesis of the whole thing was a real treat. The story is well paced and the art lovely, as alwys.
The other two stories in this volume feel a little bit repetitive, as the first involves a human/yokai relationship that went wrong and the second involves Natsume getting involved in playing a game with yokai that ends up having unintended consequences. They're both cute, but I didn't feel like either one brought anything much new to the series.
November 29, 2016
Ah, here's where I left off on my last read (this one hadn't been published in English yet). Further along in the series than I'd thought.
This volume sees Natsume facilitating a human/yokai romance that ends on a happier note than usual. He also had an adventure without Nyanko-sensei that he handles all by himself (I'm so proud *wipes away tear melodramatically*).
There is also a two-parter "special episode" with backstory for Natori and Matoba. Very interesting stuff!
This volume sees Natsume facilitating a human/yokai romance that ends on a happier note than usual. He also had an adventure without Nyanko-sensei that he handles all by himself (I'm so proud *wipes away tear melodramatically*).
There is also a two-parter "special episode" with backstory for Natori and Matoba. Very interesting stuff!
March 20, 2018
Series Review:
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.
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.
October 18, 2020
While I raised a concerned eyebrow over the less than healthy relationship Kaoru and Aoi had, the tag game was really entertaining and I liked the two part side story at the end. It was nice seeing a younger Natori and understanding why he has the feelings and values he has. Matoba, apparently, has always been a giant douchecanoe to the shock and amazement of NO ONE, but it was interesting seeing him at a younger age.
But seriously, the tag game was so fucking entertaining. I loved Natsume's fan club trying to help, but were so unorganized and petty it almost made things worse. Also, I loved how the yokai in charge of the game was generous and held no ill will when Natsume asked to be excused. The balance between the more vengeful yokai (like in the side story) and the more laidback yokai (like in the tag game) is one of the things I appreciate most about this series. Yokai are not all one or the other, just like humans, and that's what makes Natsume's struggles have more depth than if all yokai were evil.
Another fun volume in a fun series, looking forward to more!
But seriously, the tag game was so fucking entertaining. I loved Natsume's fan club trying to help, but were so unorganized and petty it almost made things worse. Also, I loved how the yokai in charge of the game was generous and held no ill will when Natsume asked to be excused. The balance between the more vengeful yokai (like in the side story) and the more laidback yokai (like in the tag game) is one of the things I appreciate most about this series. Yokai are not all one or the other, just like humans, and that's what makes Natsume's struggles have more depth than if all yokai were evil.
Another fun volume in a fun series, looking forward to more!
December 15, 2017
I'm so sad when I heard that this series only have 22 books :( I hope this series going to be like another manga that have so many books in their series. I really love to read about Natsume and the other exorcists like Natori or Seiji. I think Seiji is pretty cool, I want to read about him more :D
July 6, 2017
Menyenangkan sekali baca cerita pertama di jilid ini, tentang manusia dan siluman yang saling jatuh cinta dan akhirnya memutuskan untuk tetap bersama.
April 6, 2018
この巻も面白かった。特に若い時の的場と名取の話は楽しかった。アニメでそのモノノケの着物のイメージ結構残った。そのイデアは何か引っ張るよね。夏目はどやって見られるかな？次の巻で話せるかな？！
葵と香の話初めて見た。ちょう可愛かった！いいカップルだよね。世界が合わないけど愛は橋を立てるって感じ。
葵と香の話初めて見た。ちょう可愛かった！いいカップルだよね。世界が合わないけど愛は橋を立てるって感じ。
June 12, 2018
This manga series never disappoints me. I really love it.
October 14, 2018
Yeah. I like that bird one.
July 21, 2023
I liked the story of Natsume helping a yokai and human connect again, and the one with Natsume playing hide and seek with yokai but didn't enjoy the two issue Natori backstory.
March 17, 2024
Yet another wonderful continuation of Natsume's story plus backstory for Matoba and Natori.
April 15, 2026
A love story between a yokai and a human will never fail to not create a tear in my heart…
April 5, 2026
Have to savor this series - I say as I'm only halfway through :3
Natsume’s Book of Friends Review
5/5 stars
I ended up down this rabbit hole of trying to find cozy/supernatural stories about yokai, partially because I’d just read Kusunoki’s Garden of Gods, and partially because I watched the movie Mononoke: Phantom in the Rain and was craving literally anything in the same vein.
So of course I ended up reading Natsume’s Book of Friends. This is the quintessential yokai manga. It’s about a teenage boy who can see yokai, which gets him into a lot of situations. Have you ever seen that thing on the internet where people are like, let’s put that character through situations? That’s Natsume. But it’s also sort of cozy, despite being all about ghosts. Not sure how that’s achieved, but it works.
Natsume ends up with this yokai trapped in a lucky cat shrine statue as his bodyguard. His name is Nyanko Sensei and I love him so much. He’s both the most helpful cat around, and also a pain in the butt. He sticks around Natsume mostly because Natsume promises to give him his grandmother’s book if anything were to happen to him.
Natsume’s grandmother’s book is a notebook filled with names of tons of yokai who she tricked into writing their names in the book. All of the yokai in her book have to do the bidding of whoever is holding the book, so all the yokai in the book either want their name released, or want to own the book themselves. Natsume is determined to return all their names, that way he doesn’t have the burden of constantly being attacked by yokai who want the book for themselves, and he doesn’t have to fear someone else getting their hands on it and controlling so many powerful yokai.
It’s a relatively episodic series where in each new chapter, Natsume comes face to face with a new yokai, which may or may not be in the book. There are a lot of fun returning characters who Natsume hangs out with, very little of whom know anything about the book, if they even know he can see yokai.
My favorite is the guy with the weird lizard tattoo. I am very curious to see if in the future we end up getting any clues as to what sort of yokai caused it, and if it can be removed, but I’m also scared that finding out that information would make that character suddenly less mysterious. I also hope this series never ends. It’s very fun, and has been going on for so long that I hope I’ll be able to keep reading it for a very long time.
This will be a spoiler free review. Onto the review!
Have a nice day/night everyone!
Natsume’s Book of Friends Review
5/5 stars
I ended up down this rabbit hole of trying to find cozy/supernatural stories about yokai, partially because I’d just read Kusunoki’s Garden of Gods, and partially because I watched the movie Mononoke: Phantom in the Rain and was craving literally anything in the same vein.
So of course I ended up reading Natsume’s Book of Friends. This is the quintessential yokai manga. It’s about a teenage boy who can see yokai, which gets him into a lot of situations. Have you ever seen that thing on the internet where people are like, let’s put that character through situations? That’s Natsume. But it’s also sort of cozy, despite being all about ghosts. Not sure how that’s achieved, but it works.
Natsume ends up with this yokai trapped in a lucky cat shrine statue as his bodyguard. His name is Nyanko Sensei and I love him so much. He’s both the most helpful cat around, and also a pain in the butt. He sticks around Natsume mostly because Natsume promises to give him his grandmother’s book if anything were to happen to him.
Natsume’s grandmother’s book is a notebook filled with names of tons of yokai who she tricked into writing their names in the book. All of the yokai in her book have to do the bidding of whoever is holding the book, so all the yokai in the book either want their name released, or want to own the book themselves. Natsume is determined to return all their names, that way he doesn’t have the burden of constantly being attacked by yokai who want the book for themselves, and he doesn’t have to fear someone else getting their hands on it and controlling so many powerful yokai.
It’s a relatively episodic series where in each new chapter, Natsume comes face to face with a new yokai, which may or may not be in the book. There are a lot of fun returning characters who Natsume hangs out with, very little of whom know anything about the book, if they even know he can see yokai.
My favorite is the guy with the weird lizard tattoo. I am very curious to see if in the future we end up getting any clues as to what sort of yokai caused it, and if it can be removed, but I’m also scared that finding out that information would make that character suddenly less mysterious. I also hope this series never ends. It’s very fun, and has been going on for so long that I hope I’ll be able to keep reading it for a very long time.
This will be a spoiler free review. Onto the review!
Have a nice day/night everyone!
November 23, 2015
We know Natori Shuuichi as the mysterious exorcist who has helped Natsume out a couple of times but the bonus chapter gives us a little insight into how this man came to be involved in the exorcist business, his relationship with the closest character this series has to a classical 'villain' and so on.
I will update the review after reading the other two stories.
I will update the review after reading the other two stories.
September 13, 2015
This volume centers on Natsume playing matchmaker in the beginning. Two lovers, one yokai and the other being human. Rather than be cautious as he used to be, Natsume proactively looks into seeing if it's possible. Great change in his character to try to get the two worlds to interact peacefully. The second tale has him dealing with yokai mischief games without his sagely Nyanko Sensei. We get to see his dedication to befriend some yokai has grown him a bit of a supernatural fan club. The third stroy steps away and talks about how Natori pursued becoming an exorcist for acceptance and regaining his family honor too. The readers see his adversity around Seiji Matoba, who looks down upon many, and seeks power and prestige. He feels he could learn a lot from Matoba's skill, but sees him as cold and bit power hungry. I like to read more on what Natori and Natsume do in their progression of learning to deal with the yokai in their own ways.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 2, 2017
I must review this manga series because it is one of my favourite manga series! I've started reading this a long time ago, and I owned a few volumes in the Chinese version because the English version sold in Malaysia is super expensive! Loved the art style, this manga gives off a soft and warm ambience and very touching!! 5 stars for each volume!
1/12/17
Still loving this so far. Natsume is one of the kindest and down-to-earth protagonist I've ever seen. He is adorable and I like the atmospheric art style and narrative too.
1/12/17
Still loving this so far. Natsume is one of the kindest and down-to-earth protagonist I've ever seen. He is adorable and I like the atmospheric art style and narrative too.
April 15, 2025
Aoi a yokai asks Natsume for help reaching out to a girl he's known and likes Kaoru. In the end he decides to stay by Kaoru even though things might not work out. Young Natori and Matoba could have been friends but Natori is a lone wolf.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2022
As always awesome
Buy this and support the author. It is a really good manga. I have read the previous volumes multiple times. This is one has a,bit of history of two characters.
Buy this and support the author. It is a really good manga. I have read the previous volumes multiple times. This is one has a,bit of history of two characters.
January 21, 2015
The story as usual... AWESOME ><
January 11, 2015
Gets bonus points for Nitori's backstory
December 29, 2016
Continues to be a lovely series.
August 4, 2017
me: *sympathizes with Matoba while everybody is judging him*
October 13, 2014
no commentary: i just really liked both of the primary stories this volume
5 stars
5 stars
May 19, 2016
Another good volume.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews