Review of Natsume's Book of Friends

Natsume Yuujinchou / Book of Friends is about Natsume, a human child who can see spirits. As such, he is initially misunderstood by others and very lonely. The anime is about him helping out various spirits while also piecing together their stories. What I like about Natsume Yuujinchou is its maturity; I think that maturity in media is not about presenting adult topics or more complicated ideas to the viewer, but rather about assuming prior knowledge and maintaining simplicity. Whereas a lot of shows targeted towards children will go out of their way to explain everything (whether visually or with dialogue), something like Natsume Yuujinchouassumes you already understand the nuances of life, showing only the important details. This spares all the details of how seeing spirits would actually work in society, the usual fanservice/sexuality that is in my opinion very unnecessary, and other topics that are generally unimportant to the anime. A typical episode contains a point of conflict involving a spirit, Natsume trying to sort it out, and eventually an emotional conclusion. As for the art and music, they both fit this kind of anime very well. If you're looking for something relaxing and/or emotional to watch in the middle of the night, I highly recommend it.