Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 20

夏目友人帳 [Natsume Yūjinchō] #20

by Yuki Midorikawa

Even though Natsume is getting better at dealing with yokai, he still tries to stay uninvolved. But when he runs into a yokai with his head stuck in a jar, Natsume can’t leave him to suffer. But the yokai’s idea of a gift of gratitude turns Natsume into a little kid with no memories of his current life!

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Supernatural, Young Adult, Comics, Paranormal, Graphic Novels

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Rereader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes it's really hard to write reviews for each volume because there's not a lot to talk about that I haven't already mentioned in previous reviews. Thus, here's a list of things I liked, enjoy:

1. Younger Natsume calling the yokai liars when they try to trick him into leaving was incredible. If he didn't still have some memory of his relationships with Taki and Tanuma, he would've believed the yokai because people have rarely been kind to him in the past. Also, Nyanko sensei being upset when younger Natsume called him a monster and was visibly frightened by him was the best.

2. The scarecrow yokai were so cool! And Tokanyo's an...interesting game to play to win a house. Toootally not creepy at all O.O

3. Omg, when Princess Shiba visited the villa Natsume helped restore I nearly died. Such a beautiful and heartwarming scene.

That's all, folks. Moving on!

[Katie❄️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wonder what Natori really thinks about Natsume's book of friends. I cannot tell if he wants to help because he cares about Natsume or if it is because of what the book of friends is. Or what... I dislike he keeps asking others about it. That certainly isn't helping Natsume any...

[Miss Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

ahhh, been awhile since i visited the relaxing world of natsume's book of friends. my favorite chapter was the de-aging one. love to see little kid natsume be taken care of!

4 stars

[machinaheart · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been one of my favorite volumes of this series. Natsume is turned into a child by yokai, helps a man keep his house when he has unwittingly entered a 'game' with yokai, and (the best one), Natsume helps some spirits fix up their diorama so that a goddess will visit. Natsume remains such a sweet, kind person that I always enjoy reading about him. The perfect example of this is when he spends a day or more creating a flower garden for his aunt.

[Bryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a big fan of episodic stories, but I like the characters in this one and the sort of gentle occult nature; there are threats but never too big or too much, and the endings are never tragic or horrfying ones -- happy, sad, bittersweet, nostalgic, those sorts of feelings. I do not go out of my way to find this manga, but I enjoy it when I come across it.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Natsume's character development is really showing, Nyanko-sensei and he are just precious cinnamon rolls!! The stories are getting darker but have more warmth in the contrary. The bonds that Natsume created are the highlight of every series. Surprisingly it made me laugh out loud bunch of times which I adore! 5 stars!

[Pinky N.A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Natsume's smile is always heartwarming. I love the ishi-okoshi chapter, and how considerate Nyanko-sensei was despite what he said. And I never thought Kitamoto is a mystery fan! Hey Kitamoto, you're the same as me!

[Beck B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the tsukihigiu and garden chapters so much! Also hope to see more chapters with Mr. Yorishima in the future. He's so mysterious and seems to know more about Reiko and the book of friends than he's letting on.

[Mary Emma Sivils · Rating 5 out of 5]

The warm fuzzies continue with this volume! Natsume looking for ways to make Aunt Toko happy is just adorable.🥰
And the story with Natsume turning young again was sweet but also sad because it shows how alone he was as a kid.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG, Natsume gets de-aged and its adorable. *hugs little!Natsume*

[Jen W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is so good.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like it.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really really loved this

[aj · Rating 4 out of 5]

screaming and crying at the baby!natsume chapter aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[antito · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Nyanko sensei ¿somos amigos?” “Para nada, fue cosa del destino”

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[S46354595 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nyanko should keep drawing fish. He's very good at drawing fish, especially considering he's a cat using a brush pen.

[Khari · Rating 5 out of 5]

チビ夏目って可愛いい！！！！にゃんこ先生のリアクションもすごく楽しかった。

案山子の話全然分からなかった。。。

面白いけど、名取は夏目より歳上でしょう、でもなんか夏目はもっと大人ぽい。夏目がいつも一人だったからかな。名取は「一人でやった」の態度があるたけど的場や他な祓いやや家族の書斎からならった。それだけじゃない両親とあまりよく関係なかったけど関係あった。夏目が幼いからいつも一人と他な人に頼ってなかった。名取がもっと人とつながりあるけどなかなか人の問題と突っ込まない。名取の人生は何か胡散臭いでも夏目は本心から行動する。

[Pinky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tsukihigui wants to repay Natsume after he gets a jar off his head. His repayment is shrinking Natsume and taking his memory. Taki and Tanuma watch little Natsume while Nyanko tries to find Tsukihigui and get him to return Natsume to his age. Natori needs Natsumes help to rid a man of yokai who want to take his house. Natsume helps build a garden for the Fujiwara's.

[Elias Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume was really relaxing. The first chapter was my favorite. The others were okay.

[Black Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beginning a second read in sept 2024 to prepare for season 7♡
I just realised they used some of these chapters for the OVA so they may skip the two short ones and start from vol 21.

[nidah05 (SleepDreamWrite) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good volume.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent set of Natsume & Nyanko-Sensei stories.