Review of Natsume's Book of Friends

I've seen shows before with a similar premise of a main character who is able to see into a supernatural world. Not many of them deal with the implications of what that might do to said character's social life. Natsume Yuujinchou gives a darkly realistic take on the trope by having his powers basically alienate him from everyone and everything around him to such an extent that he starts self-isolating by the time he's in high school. He doesn't want anyone to get to know him too closely and he doesn't try to get to know anyone. By staying that way he assures that histroubles youkai won't ever bring disaster to his school or home life as it apparently has in the past.

This all starts to change when he meets Nyanko-Sensei. Now he has a powerful spirit at his side that can ward off a lot of the trouble he used to face, and suddenly he's able to get closer and form relationships with people that he might not ever have had otherwise. He also will go out of his way to help the youkai and seems to view them the same way he would regular people, and takes pity on them by actually returning the names from the book to them when he could instead use it for personal gain.

Natsume is one of those "healing" anime that just exists to leave you with warm fuzzy feelings when you're done watching it. The plot has a general slow pacing and everything usually resolves with happy outcomes for everyone, or poignant messages about life that make you feel things. It's a good show, real easy to sit down and watch 4 or 5 at a time, fall asleep and then realize that you missed half of it because you were so relaxed you forgot to pay attention. 8/10