Natsume yûjinchô

I love this series, but then, this kind of anime is my thing. Mushi-shi, Mo No No Ke, Paranoia Agent - definitely my fave themes. The show overall has a nice solid rating, but the episodes are ranked horribly! The five highest ranked episodes out of this entire series rate only 4 stars? Some are 2 stars?? What The?!? That makes no sense. The entire series would rate 3.5/10 stars if these episode rankings were true. Something doesn't tabulate here. IMDB Staff have any ideas?

I was so surprised about the episode rating. It's not even that bad and top-rated episode is 5.5 like a joke. What happened? Btw it's a good healing anime.

It was a good anime love to watch more. It lighten my heart. And it does'nt bored me for a second and i m waiting for next season

I stumbled upon this series entirely by accident and started in the middle of the series (5 I think) and had to go back and watch the whole thing. What a tremendously wonderful anime!

Natsume is a teen-aged boy who can see "youkai" (Japanese spirits/monsters...their form varies so much that it's a little hard for me grasp exactly what they are...perhaps someone more familiar with Japanese culture would). This ability has caused nothing but problems for him particularly given that he was orphaned at an early age.

At the beginning of the series, he's been taken in by a childless couple who seem to be the first family to treat him with kindness. We see him struggling to connect with the couple as well as other teen-agers who want to be his friend. While Natsume is shown to be compassionate, caring and responsible but he's also portrayed as emotionally damaged by his childhood experiences and a bit reckless at times. We see these characteristics played out time and time again via his interactions with youkai. Natsume is frightened by them but wants to help them as well given that many youkai come to him with problems to solve (generally involving the titular "Book of Friends"). What I find particularly interesting is how the writers of the series present understandable motivations for some of the most frightening youkai (though some are just scary for their own sake).

His "spirit guardian", a cat called "Nyanko-Sensei" who can transform into a terrifying monster if needed, finds his compassion and recklessness irritating and often scolds him for it. However, in one of the most subtle touches in the series, we see the ornery dismissive cat becoming more and more fond of Natsume (though he denies it strenuously).

The pace of the films is often slow-moving and sometimes there is very little plot. But each episode ends in a positive, life-affirming way. Some even bring tears to the eyes. Well worth watching for those weary of the action-packed violence of other shows in the genre.

I've started Mushishi right after finishing Natsume yûjinchô due to all the similarities and I notice that the latter is shoujo, the former seinen... they're distinct, yet parallel... while Natsume seeks out to grow and develop himself its 'masculine' counterpart seems to just serve as a caretaker, already wise...

Natsume is about feelings, essentially... he explores what might be, what was, what couldn't be... every episode can end in tragedy, but thanks to a Deus ex machina in the form of a chubby cat... who is really this most ferocious wolf, things are reconciled. Not realistic, but at least Natsume himself is indeed vulnerable, especially when alone... and loneliness seems to be a predominant subject in the series.

At times it can be sweet, others almost transcendental... visceral essentially, but also attempts to think things through; Natsume doesn't often act irrationally, although he seems to be perpetually optimistic.

This series, along with the aforementioned, may truly be the yin and yang of yōkai anime... and while the depths of the psyche can be perceived in both, Mushishi is generally darker... Natsume, being calmer, is not necessarily naïvely optimistic like, say, Aria can be... and generally has an episodic direction, and while there isn't much that is over-arching, there is ample time where all the ayakashi just decide to hang out...