Review of Natsume's Book of Friends

Natsume Yuujinchou follows the supernatural/natural genre that seems to be a cross between xxxholic, ghost hound and mushishi. It has a Mushishi-like elegance to the artwork and storytelling while at the same time following an xxxholic-esque structure aka. schoolboy meets schoolghost. It is, however, naive to think that it is merely run of the mill supernatural anime stuff for it does have an extraordinarily well-written plot that follows closely to its original roots in the manga. It's brilliance is not in a complex storyline, grandiose tales of self-discovery or even the attainment of some extraordinary superpowers but the sharp, simple, "I make this sound so ordinary"feel to it. Like a haiku, it starts, develops and ends a story neatly within a chapter and any lingering sentiment after will only reflect the strength of its character developments within that short a period of time.

The protagonist too, is not extremely perculiar. He is Watanuki without the drama, changing and adapting without a lot of fuss. Taking his self-discovery all within stride, without any dramatic fireworks or outbursts either. You might think this may sound boring for an anime but you might want to give it a shot before you turn it out your front door. If the characters don't charm you, the storytelling might...