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夏目友人帳 [Natsume Yūjinchō] #10
Pakt der Yokai, Band 10
Natsume trifft zufällig auf seinen alten Schulkameraden Shibata und lässt sich auch prompt von ihm in einer Yokaiangelegenheit einspannen. Eigentlich möchte Natsume die Wahrheit über die Yokai verbergen, doch das ist schwieriger als gedacht. Denn bei dem Mädchen, in das Shibata verliebt zu sein scheint, handelt es sich um einen Yokai.
192 pages, Paperback
First published July 5, 2010
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 - 30 of 37 reviews
June 1, 2025
Like What Did You Eat Yesterday?, this is a manga that I parcel out, because it's a favorite and I don't want to run out. :) Of course, they all end eventually. I love this manga's melancholy and coziness, its meetings and partings. A compassionate vibe that's nice to sink into now and then.
February 19, 2023
i think this is one of my favourite volumes. i like shibata. i'm not sure if i'm supposed to but i really do. and his present dynamic with natsume is interesting. i love how snarky natsume was with him.
i also like the story about the two gods and natsume and natori working together and getting closer. all in all, this was a very nice volume
i also like the story about the two gods and natsume and natori working together and getting closer. all in all, this was a very nice volume
April 25, 2022
This was a fun volume, although the focus on "gods" made me sad because it's just a reminder of how much the Japanese culture is steeped in non-Biblical beliefs.
But I enjoy watching Natsume gain more confidence and learn how to relate to others. He's growing!
But I enjoy watching Natsume gain more confidence and learn how to relate to others. He's growing!
March 9, 2023
I'm really enjoying watching Natsume progressing with friendships and yokai. As well as discovering exactly who he wants to be.
January 12, 2022
One of my favourite arcs 🥺
January 4, 2026
Original 2013 review: This is a particularly excellent volume in a great series. It's the culmination of the slow and subtle development Natsume's been going through for the past 10 volumes. It shows off how much he's changed. It's incredibly rewarding to see the lonely kid we were originally introduced to become truly happy and loved by humans and yokai alike.
The first story of this volume involves an old classmate of Natsume's. It shows how much he's changed since he was the sad, bullied, and misunderstood child we've learned about in flashbacks. The second story is about Natsume and Natori working together. This one shows how Natsume has become more comfortable with both people and yokai. He's forged bonds with them, bonds that he use to only dream of.
Natsume's not the only one who's changed. The relationship he has with Nyanko-sensei has developed from a partnership to a true friendship. He and Natori have formed an (albeit uneasy and awkward) friendship, and they've both decided not to let their differences in philosophy change that. Even Natsume's reputation among the yokai has changed and grown to the point where yokai will seek him out for help instead of just trying to attack him.
Natsume's Book of Friends is a beautiful series that I think anyone can enjoy. If you haven't tried it yet, then you're really missing out on something amazing.
The first story of this volume involves an old classmate of Natsume's. It shows how much he's changed since he was the sad, bullied, and misunderstood child we've learned about in flashbacks. The second story is about Natsume and Natori working together. This one shows how Natsume has become more comfortable with both people and yokai. He's forged bonds with them, bonds that he use to only dream of.
Natsume's not the only one who's changed. The relationship he has with Nyanko-sensei has developed from a partnership to a true friendship. He and Natori have formed an (albeit uneasy and awkward) friendship, and they've both decided not to let their differences in philosophy change that. Even Natsume's reputation among the yokai has changed and grown to the point where yokai will seek him out for help instead of just trying to attack him.
Natsume's Book of Friends is a beautiful series that I think anyone can enjoy. If you haven't tried it yet, then you're really missing out on something amazing.
January 26, 2026
A really stand-out volume. The multi-part story at the end about the missing harvest god was especially melancholy and beautifully told. Good stuff.
September 3, 2012
~3.5/5
[Also available at my blog.]
I really, really like this series. It’s so sweet, and simple, and maybe has a nostalgic (reminiscent? wistful?) tone to it. It’s just really good, and it bothers me that so few bookstores near me (pretty much, one of the, say, five or six bookstores that are near me) carry it; along with a few other series, too, actually. (I swear, ever since Borders closed, it has been much too hard for me to find manga. Way too hard.)
It’s been a while since I read a volume of Natsume, and while the books are a bit slow, I still really enjoy them. And it’s always nice, getting to see Nastume and Nyanko-sensei again.
While I would really like for there to be a more set storyline for this series, since each chapter tends to be about a different thing, I still enjoy reading all of them. In this volume, there was a two-chapter and a three-chapter long storyline, which was nice.
The first one focused on a boy, Shibata, who Natsume knew from elementary school; a time when he told people that he could see the supernatural and no one believed him. Natsume is wary, and bumps heads with him a bit, but helps the boy when he asks for it. Shibata is a but strong headed, and has fallen for a yokai girl, whom he wasn’t sure was human and needed Natsume’s reassurance on. This wraps up pretty nicely at the end of the second chapter, but I’m doubtful Shibata will be a character we’ll be seeing much of.
The three-chapter story is about two yokai gods, one of which, the harvest god, is missing. His minions don’t know where he is, as he’s believed to have been sealed away somewhere, and so ask Natsume to pretend to be him for a bit. At the same time, Natori is trying to find the sealed god so he can set him free (an unusual thing for his job, but he was asked because they don’t want the mountain to die.
There are some sweet moments in this, some funny ones, and it’s interesting to see how different Natori and Natsume are, even when just interacting with Natori’s servant, Hiragi. This one also ends rather well, and there are sure to be new yokai and new problems in the next book.
My favorite chapters are when we get to see other sides of Natsume, like when he’s around friends (as we glimpsed in the first chapter, actually), and when we get to see him as a little kid in flashbacks, or just getting to see him growing at all, really. He’s getting a bit more strong-headed, and arguing with people more freely, which was apparent in this volume, and that was nice to see. I just love seeing Natsume, really. He’s so sweet and kind-hearted, and after being passed around and mentally/emotionally beaten down for so long, I like seeing him getting stronger and more comfortable.
I already have the next volume, and I plan to read it very soon.
[Also available at my blog.]
I really, really like this series. It’s so sweet, and simple, and maybe has a nostalgic (reminiscent? wistful?) tone to it. It’s just really good, and it bothers me that so few bookstores near me (pretty much, one of the, say, five or six bookstores that are near me) carry it; along with a few other series, too, actually. (I swear, ever since Borders closed, it has been much too hard for me to find manga. Way too hard.)
It’s been a while since I read a volume of Natsume, and while the books are a bit slow, I still really enjoy them. And it’s always nice, getting to see Nastume and Nyanko-sensei again.
While I would really like for there to be a more set storyline for this series, since each chapter tends to be about a different thing, I still enjoy reading all of them. In this volume, there was a two-chapter and a three-chapter long storyline, which was nice.
The first one focused on a boy, Shibata, who Natsume knew from elementary school; a time when he told people that he could see the supernatural and no one believed him. Natsume is wary, and bumps heads with him a bit, but helps the boy when he asks for it. Shibata is a but strong headed, and has fallen for a yokai girl, whom he wasn’t sure was human and needed Natsume’s reassurance on. This wraps up pretty nicely at the end of the second chapter, but I’m doubtful Shibata will be a character we’ll be seeing much of.
The three-chapter story is about two yokai gods, one of which, the harvest god, is missing. His minions don’t know where he is, as he’s believed to have been sealed away somewhere, and so ask Natsume to pretend to be him for a bit. At the same time, Natori is trying to find the sealed god so he can set him free (an unusual thing for his job, but he was asked because they don’t want the mountain to die.
There are some sweet moments in this, some funny ones, and it’s interesting to see how different Natori and Natsume are, even when just interacting with Natori’s servant, Hiragi. This one also ends rather well, and there are sure to be new yokai and new problems in the next book.
My favorite chapters are when we get to see other sides of Natsume, like when he’s around friends (as we glimpsed in the first chapter, actually), and when we get to see him as a little kid in flashbacks, or just getting to see him growing at all, really. He’s getting a bit more strong-headed, and arguing with people more freely, which was apparent in this volume, and that was nice to see. I just love seeing Natsume, really. He’s so sweet and kind-hearted, and after being passed around and mentally/emotionally beaten down for so long, I like seeing him getting stronger and more comfortable.
I already have the next volume, and I plan to read it very soon.
December 28, 2011
Natsume’s Book of Friends is still the best supernatural shojo manga you aren’t reading even though you most definitely should be. It has a lot of things going for it, like gorgeous artwork and an amazing cast of characters, but this particular volume highlights one of its best strengths: the continuing character arc of one Takashi Natsume, the boy who can see yokai. In this most recent volume, he has some true moments of growth related to his relations with both humans and the supernatural which are beautiful to witness, and it’s this kind of gradual yet worthwhile development in a protagonist that makes Natsume’s story an essential one for manga fans across the board.
You can read the rest of my review over at Nagareboshi Reviews.
You can read the rest of my review over at Nagareboshi Reviews.
August 19, 2017
Wieder ein sehr guter Band, wo wir einen alten Schulkamerad von Natsume haben, der diesen in eine Yokai Sachen mit rein zieht. Und dann haben wir erneut eine längere Geschichte mit Natori, der wieder einmal sieht wie sehr natsume versucht das gute zu tun, sodass ich das Gefühl habe, dass diese Empathie langsam auf ihn abfärbt. Guter Band!
November 12, 2019
The art was exceptional in this volume. I loved Murasaki’s hair. It flowed like wisteria in bloom. The harvest god’s robes and headdress, on the cover, were magical. Sensei’s vision of who Natsume is is becoming well defined. Her artwork is creating a world he wants to a part of. Absolutely beautiful.
August 21, 2024
¡¡¡Omg!!! I love this volume +1 for this beautiful cover. Me siento orgullosa del proceso que ha tenido en todos estos volumenes
Natsume se me voy bonito con ese traje y me gusta mucho Shibata la verdad
Natsume se me voy bonito con ese traje y me gusta mucho Shibata la verdad
April 4, 2026
I love how this manga is so melancholic, yet there’s a calm feeling surrounding each of the story. It doesn’t overwhelm, it feels like soft pat on the back after a very long day filled with stress. I really love everything about this series
November 24, 2016
Completely unintentionally, I got to read Natsume and the Harvest God's story on Thanksgiving! Nicely timed. (I ate too much food, though...)
November 30, 2017
Absolutely amazing.
March 28, 2018
斑に夏目どうやってつながるの?ただのおもちゃとかようじんぼうとかじゃないと思う。この巻で斑が神を挑発した。夏目大切に思うーようじんぼだからは納得できない、何かもっと深いつながり思う。
October 5, 2018
This one was great.
January 11, 2019
A relaxing story about a boy who are spirits. I love the breezy art work at well.
May 22, 2019
Great story. I love to see characters working together. Beautifully illustrated and unique.
February 4, 2020
It was so awesome I don’t know how to describe it I 💕😻🥰😍🤩🧜🏼♀️🧚🏻
October 8, 2021
the art style seems so seamless.
July 29, 2024
3.5
勧善懲悪じゃないし、白黒はっきりしてない物語も良いし、主人公夏目に仲間がちょっとずつ増えていくのも良い。
何巻もいっぺんに読むと飽きてしまうスタイルではあるけれど、ちょっとずつ読む分には優しい気分にさせてくれる話で、今回も癒された。
（6-9も当然読んでるけれど、いちいちGRに入れるのが面倒なので、切りのいい10巻までの感想を入れておく。）
勧善懲悪じゃないし、白黒はっきりしてない物語も良いし、主人公夏目に仲間がちょっとずつ増えていくのも良い。
何巻もいっぺんに読むと飽きてしまうスタイルではあるけれど、ちょっとずつ読む分には優しい気分にさせてくれる話で、今回も癒された。
（6-9も当然読んでるけれど、いちいちGRに入れるのが面倒なので、切りのいい10巻までの感想を入れておく。）
June 16, 2025
Two stories both equally wonderful to read. I liked seeing Natsume's past relationships and his current relationships and how Natsume has grown as a person dealing with Yokai.
April 5, 2026
Kitty want squid
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!
February 23, 2012
This starts with two chapters that were animated in the third series - which is interesting because certain chapters of volume 9 weren't animated at the time - I expect they will be in the fourth series for the anime.
One of the boys who ridiculed Takashi seeks him out, because he has fallen for a girl whom he isn't sure is a yokai. It's one of those bittersweet chapters of love between human and yokai. Takashi doesn't want his normal human friends find out about him yet - even though he now has Taki and Tanuma.
The rest of the volume is taking up with a yokai case where Takashi and Natori are both asked to help - the humans ask Natori to exorcise certain yokai because they may become dangerous after a certain ritual, and the yokai ask Takashi to impersonate one of the local gods so the ritual can go over safe.
It's a race against time and once they realize they're both working on the same problem, there's this worry about doing things which will make the other one despise them. Fortunately it turns out okay, and a lovely final ceremony sees the withdrawal of both local deities from the land.
One of the boys who ridiculed Takashi seeks him out, because he has fallen for a girl whom he isn't sure is a yokai. It's one of those bittersweet chapters of love between human and yokai. Takashi doesn't want his normal human friends find out about him yet - even though he now has Taki and Tanuma.
The rest of the volume is taking up with a yokai case where Takashi and Natori are both asked to help - the humans ask Natori to exorcise certain yokai because they may become dangerous after a certain ritual, and the yokai ask Takashi to impersonate one of the local gods so the ritual can go over safe.
It's a race against time and once they realize they're both working on the same problem, there's this worry about doing things which will make the other one despise them. Fortunately it turns out okay, and a lovely final ceremony sees the withdrawal of both local deities from the land.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 12, 2012
In this volume, Natsume impersonates one of two mountain gods after helping someone who used to bully him. The former bully is in love with a girl he suspects is a spirit. I was a bit disappointed with how passively Natsume dealt with this one. When dealing with the two gods though, Natsume truly shows his ability to help people by allowing them to make their own choices.
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. The idea that Pestilence and Harvest are gods may make some people uncomfortable, but in Japanese mythology there are many gods especially those that protect certain regions.
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. The idea that Pestilence and Harvest are gods may make some people uncomfortable, but in Japanese mythology there are many gods especially those that protect certain regions.
January 24, 2015
My favourite stories in this series always have either Natsume and Tanuma or Natsume and Natori. It's not even for my usual (slashy) reasons, it's because the dynamic between them is just really interesting. Somehow these stories seem to capture the difficulty of human relationships - how much can you trust someone? How much can you rely on someone? How well can you know someone? - the best.
I know I tend to use superlatives a lot and of course there are many things I love. But this series really does hold a special place in my heart. It's so beautiful and heart-warming, but never in a naive way. Despite - or because - the yokai, this series feels real.
I know I tend to use superlatives a lot and of course there are many things I love. But this series really does hold a special place in my heart. It's so beautiful and heart-warming, but never in a naive way. Despite - or because - the yokai, this series feels real.
March 30, 2026
This volume’s chapters are full of engaging adventures as Natsume attempts to save a former bully from a spirit and later pretends to be a god to save an entire region. I always wish there was a bit more character growth from one book to the next, but we do usually see other characters’ understanding of Natsume grow, which is also great.
May 31, 2012
I'm starting to feel like this series is a bit stuck on repeating the same emotional beats but as I still find them effective I don't much mind. Plus it was nice to see Natsume reconnect with someone from his past in a way that wasn't completely awful. 3.5 stars
October 15, 2020
Could this series give me a fucking break and stop kicking me in the feels so damn hard?! Holy shit, I don't think my heart can take much more! And damn, the artwork was incredible in this volume! AND my baby got to act in a god's place, so awesome! Loved this volume so damn much!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews