Natsume's Book of Friends Vol. 10by Patti MartinsonReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 6 Natsume is a young man who can see spirits and demons called yokai. This ability has isolated him from others and he has few friends family. In this volume, Natsume attempts to protect a former childhood classmate from a wood spirit and then impersonates a god in order to save a sacred mountain.Natsume is a very low-key character. While he definitely garners some sympathy from me and he a nice, sensitive guy, there isn't much else to him that makes me invested in his character or his life. Some spark exists in his relationship with a yokai who hangs around Natsume as both a pet and a guide. His ascerbic character grates, but he does add life to the manga. While Natsume is a rather bland character, at least the story is more exciting and the other characters more memorable and pungent. The wood spirit Natsume's friend falls for seemed initially evil, but the situation was more complicated than that. I liked how Natsume, while knowing that the spirit was attempting to literally eat his friend, realizes the wood spirit does have genuine feelings, and he tries to help her anyway. The other story, about Natsume being conscripted into to impersonating a Harvest God in order to win a battle against the God of Pestilence was deeper and more nuanced than I had expected. It also helped that the story involved Natori, a human actor who also performs exorcisms. Natsume knew Natori already and their relationship makes Natsume a slightly more interesting person. It was a pleasant time reading this manga, but the slow progression of Nastume as a character, given that this is the 10th volume, makes me feel like my patience would not be rewarded anytime soon, so I wouldn't recommend this for folks wanting a more brisk pace to their manga. Written: November 12, 2011
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