Talk:Natsume's Book of Friends

Thx for updating

Hey thx for updating the main page and info on the show, if u don't mind I just did a little touch up. I think it will look more organized like that, I'm sure more will help out now. Chimasternmay (talk) 07:14, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

I also added the Episode list part... the only thing to be done for it now is to add the Summary... which I'm not too good at unless we want a paragraph. And also put it on a new pages, however I am not a Elite Expert to know how to do that too lol... Chimasternmay (talk) 07:36, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

Reviews

English reviews

• PCS vol. 1PCS archive link
• CSBG vol. 1
• AA vol. 1 vol. 4 vol 6
• CBB vol. 1
• Manga Critic vol. 1
• Manga Bookshelf vol. 1
• The Comics Journal
• ANN vol. 2
• CWR vol. 2-3
• Mania vol. 2 Mania vol. 3
• Sequential Tart vol. 4

• [1] David Welsh (wrote for Tom Spurgeon Comics Reporter)

update --KrebMarkt 21:45, 18 June 2010 (UTC)

Note both Melinda Beasi & Katherine Dacey also write for Pop Culture Shock and other RS websites so their blogs reviews are also RS. --KrebMarkt 10:06, 19 January 2010 (UTC)

Not bad reviewage there. Time to take these, and the French reviews, and start compiling a Reception ... in a couple days. —Quasirandom (talk) 14:21, 19 January 2010 (UTC)

ANN's review all but glows. Well, okay, it literally does, since I'm reading it on an LCD screen, but still. —Quasirandom (talk) 21:13, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

French Reviews

Answering Quasirandom's request.

Vol 1 Manga News, Vol 2 Manga News, Vol 3 Manga News, Vol 2 Anime Land, Vol 6 Anime Land, Vol 1-3 Manga Sanctuary

Not the whole tour of the possible reviews French websites but enough to assert notability. --KrebMarkt 08:03, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Sweet. There's some rave reviews out there, for all that it took Manga Sanctuary a while to warm up to the series. —Quasirandom (talk) 16:34, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Highlights from Manga News volume 1: Rated 18 out of 20. Un univers digne des films de Miyazaki. "A world fit for Miyazaki films." Ainsi, ils sont vu ici comme des être aussi complexes que les humains, ce qui mène à des aventures passionnantes et parfois poignantes. "Thus, they [yokai] are seen here as being as complex as humans, which leads to exciting and sometimes poignant adventures." Reviewer notes how the fantasy conceit serves to isolate the protagonist, who needs to build relationships. (My note: which as a fostered orphan he already needs to do.) Les graphismes servent le récit à merveille. "The art serves the story perfectly." L'auteur nous plonge donc dans un monde alternant entre réalité et légendes et qui comprend son lot d'action mais aussi de mélancolie et de poésie. "The author plunges us into a world alternating between reality and legend, with a lot of action but also melancholy and poetry." Il s'agit d'une très bonne découverte "This is a great discovery" (Please correct my English rendering, as they're cobbled together from various machine translations plus a dictionary.) —Quasirandom (talk) 18:58, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Highlights from Manga News volume 2: Rated 18 out of 20. Notes that Natsume's relationships with Yokai, his classmates, and his foster family evolve together, and that while the human relationships are complicated the Yokai ones are even more so. Dans ce manga, la frontière entre le bien et le mal reste floue, on ne retrouve pas les gentils d'un coté et les méchants d'un autre, et c'est ce qui fait tout son charme. "In this manga, the border between good and evil remains unclear -- we do not find good guys on one side and evil ones on another -- and that is [part of] its charm." Seul petit bémol, à chaque début de chapitre, il y a un petit résumé de la situation de Natsume ce qui donne un aspect un petit peu lourd au scénario ... Loosely: "The repetition of the premise at the start of each and every chapter gets old." ... mais en dehors de ce détail chaque chapitre nous raconte une histoire passionnante avec son lot de rencontres, d'émotions et de poésie. "But outside of that detail, each chapter tells a story with a lot of meetings, emotions, and poetry." Looking forward to more. —Quasirandom (talk) 19:09, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Highlights from Manga News volume 3: Rated 18 out of 20. L'auteur insiste donc encore sur la complexité de ces relations, ce qui rend le manga encore plus attrayant. Aventures, frayeurs, poésie et émotions seront alors au rendez vous comme dans les volumes précédents ! "The author again insists on the complexity of these [human-Yokai] relations, which makes this manga even more appealing. Adventures, frights (thrills?), poetry, and emotions await as in the previous volumes."

Highlights from Anime Land 2: rated Interesting. Maintenant que Natsume a accepté son « rôle », la série devient plus grave et les histoires démontrent que les yôkai sont comme les humains : des éponges à émotions. "Now that Natsume has accepted his "role", the series becomes more serious and the stories demonstrate that yôkai are like humans: sponges for emotions."

Highlights from Anime Land 6: rated Interesting. Toujours aussi tranquille et effrayant, ce sixième volume gagne en émotion car nous nous attachons à de plus en plus de personnage. Encore un peu de poésie dans ce monde mangaesque. "Always as calm and scary, this sixth volume increases in emotions because we are more and more attached to the characters. Again, a bit of poetry in this manga-esque world."

Highlights from Vol 1-3 Manga Sanctuary: rated 3/5, 3/5 & 3.5/5 respectively.

Vol 1 review:

j'attendais beaucoup de ce titre fantastique sur le folklore japonais et malheureusement on ne peut pas dire que ce titre est réellement répondu à mes attentes. "I was expecting a lot from this fantastic title on Japanese folklore, but unfortunately it can't be said that this title answered all of my desires." (how does desires work here?)

L'histoire part donc d'un postulat de départ assez original et qui promet de bon moment de lecture, en découvrant au fur et à mesure le folklore japonais, mais aussi le passé du jeune homme. Pourtant, ce manga est particulièrement lent et manque sérieusement de dynamisme, j'ai eu beaucoup de mal à arriver à la fin de ce premier tome et j'avoue que la lecture a été plutôt laborieuse. Est-ce parce que l'on est dans plusieurs petites histoires indépendantes les unes des autres et qui casserait donc le rythme du manga, je ne saurais le dire. Ce manga est pourtant intéressant à lire mais il n'est pas passionnant! "The story starts with a rather original concept and promised some good reading moments, as we progressively discover the world of Japanese folklore as well as the young man's past. However, this manga is particularly slow and lacks real dynamism; I had a lot of difficulties reaching the end of that first volume and I admit that reading was rather laborious. If it is because we are faced with some short stories independent from each other, and this breaks the rhythm of the manga, I can't say. This manga is interesting to read, but it's not passionate!"

Le graphisme peut aussi être responsable de cette impression de lenteur, il est plutôt particulier et avare de décors, le trait est fin et il y a peu de détails, on est dans l'épuration, mais parfois les trames font que l'on est happé par une certaine lourdeur, on passe d'image pleine de douceur à une noirceur presque dérangeante. "The art is perhaps responsible for this slow feeling -- it's rather particular and stingy in style, the lines are fine and there are few details, for the clutter has been removed; however, the screentones sometimes catch us with a certain heaviness, [as] we switch from an image full of softness to a darkness that is almost disturbing."

(Gave up on translating épuration & trames. épuration is close to expurgating while not quite it. Trame is the more background layout or something like that.)

(possibly on est dans l'épuration = we are purged or which are purged?) —Quasirandom (talk)

(Let say combo simple + pure implying the art to be purged of the rest, frame could a good translation for trame) --KrebMarkt 15:16, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

So for the knotty passage, how about: " ... the trait (lines?) are fine and there are few details, for the rest has been purged; however, the layouts sometimes catch us with a certain heaviness ... " (in context, it looks like trame would be layout) —Quasirandom (talk) 15:53, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

That would do no need to get burnt out for a translation as long that the editors using the review has the right meaning in mind. That why i usually translate more text than necessary so editors can grasp better reviews --KrebMarkt 16:44, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

That's why I find your translations so useful, getting the feel of the whole -- as for putting work into it, it flexes my language muscles. (I sometimes collaborate on translations from Spanish, in much this way.) —Quasirandom (talk) 17:04, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

je dois dire qu'il m'est assez difficile de donner une note à ce titre, car on ne peut pas dire qu'il soit mauvais, seulement j'ai eu du mal à adhérer au style de l'oeuvre et ainsi à être réellement passionnée par cette lecture, j'attends donc de voir comment va évoluer cette série qui par certains aspects n'est pas sans rappeler 'XXX Holic' ou encore 'Le cortège des cents démons'. "I have to say that it's difficult for me to give a mark to this title, because it's not a bad one -- just that I had difficulties taking to the style and thus being really passionate about reading this; I'm waiting to see how this series, that in some aspects is similar to xxxHolic or Beyond Twilight, will evolve."

Vol 2 review

Ce second volume apparaît un poil plus intéressant que le premier, surtout par l’évolution du personnage principal Natsume. "This second volume appears a bit more interesting than the first, especially because of the evolution of the main character Natsume."

La relation entre Natsume et maître Griffou apporte même des touches d’humour, ce qui détend un peu l’atmosphère qui est tout de même assez pesante et dramatique. "The relationship between Natsume and Master Griffou brings comedy touches that alleviate a bit an atmosphere that is rather heavy and dramatic."

ce tome était bien plus agréable à la lecture, et l’on commence à s’habituer au graphisme assez particulier de l’auteur. Contrairement à mon premier avis, j’attendrais donc la suite avec plus d’enthousiasme. "This volume was more pleasant to read, and we begin to get used to the rather particular art of the author. In contrast to my first review, I await the follow-up with more enthusiasm."

Vol 3 review

Ce volume laisse apparaître une réelle trame de fond et les histoires courtes ne sont plus isolées les unes des autres. Avec ce volume, l’histoire prend une tournure des plus intéressantes et devient donc plus passionnante. De plus, les scènes deviennent moins lourdes et sombres pour laisser place à de l’humour et une certaine douceur. "In this volume a real background story appears, and the shorts stories are no longer isolated from each other. With this volume, the story takes a more interesting turn and becomes more affecting. In addition, the scenes are less heavy and dark, leaving more room for comedy and a kind of softness."

un manga qui a su bien évoluer et qui devient à chaque tome un peu plus intéressant à suivre ! "A manga that has developed well and which becomes with each volume more interesting to follow !"

--KrebMarkt 18:16, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Referencing

BTW, the most recent assessor indicated that the only thing keeping this from a fill B-class is citing the drama CDs. Because the CDs were extras released with issues of the magazine, rather than commercial releases, this has proved to be a bit difficult. I can verify all the statements via auction sites (and copyright violating downloads) but I haven't found a reliable source that can be used. If anyone manages to find some before I manage to, I'd appreciate it.

Also, if anyone finds a DVD releases page with actual release dates, that can be used to replace the one I put in the article, that would also be Good. Not to mention stubbed in info about the soundtrack releases (one album per season, it looks like, but machine translators are choking on the titles). —Quasirandom (talk) 14:56, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

OP1 Rank 48 ED1 Rank 27 OP2 Rank 38

No ED2 single but a bing album.

OST

Will inquire for Drama CDs but that's going to be hard.

This Somehow we missed some more easier Drama CDs to verify. --KrebMarkt 16:03, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

There -- incorporated the music bits. Now for the drama CDs. —Quasirandom (talk) 16:51, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Yaoi?

It just occurred to me that the series seems to heavily imply that the main male lead (and Tanuma) are either ghay or have a severe fear/aversion of women. I wondered if it was relevant enough to mention it in the article, since some characters (Tanuma) even go so far as saying that "... I'm glad it wasn't a female spirit. That would have troubled me" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.133.115.77 (talk) 05:30, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Two answer for you.

First mentioning that would making Original Research as only verifiable fact should be on the article. Words like probably, imply, possibly, maybe don't fall in that category. They are great in forum discussions but not wikipedia.

Second you should be aware that a lot of shonen and shojo use that kind of tropes to attract yaoi genre readers, always using "ambiguity" as a open big door for yaoi doujinshi. That's not yaoi but a trick to enlarge readership for magazines. Others example: Hikaru no go or Prince of tennis both were serialized in Shonen Jump or 07-Ghost in the shojo Monthly Comic Zero Sum. --KrebMarkt 09:31, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

And speaking for myself, I don't see it. Natsume doesn't become close friends with any female humans like the male friends he eventually develops at school, but that's not unusual in Japan -- and he does have a series of transient acquaintences (some of high emotional intensity) with several female spirits and a couple human girls. Also, Tanuma's comment reads to me like standard-issue misogyny, rather than teh gays. The anime, also, brings out better than in the manga that he has a strong fascination, bordering on a sort of stalking at two generations remove, with his grandmother, beyond just cleaning up the damage she did.

All of which highlights the problem of interpretation and why we don't want to include it here, without authoritative sourcing. —Quasirandom (talk) 14:14, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Please Un-Merge Infoboxes

It was easier to look-up information about the names of the various seasons and when they were aired in the previous version of this article. Not everyone is familiar with Nihongo and will know right away which season comes first and which ones follow. Pixelbard (talk) 09:15, 25 January 2017 (UTC)

Is it one series or is it multiple series? This is an important question as we don't create infobox subsection for each season. —Farix (t | c) 21:21, 25 January 2017 (UTC)

It is the same series but split into multiple seasons with different titles. For example, the most recent season being season six was titled Natsume Yūjin-chō Roku, which translates to Natsume's Book of Friends Six. The third, fourth and fifth seasons' titles were similar with the number at the end being changed ("San", "Shi" and "Go", respectively, still retaining Natsume Yūjin-chō as the stem). As the Infobox animanga/Video documentation mentioned that the "last" parameter should be left empty if the series was ongoing/renewed, this was done and the total episode count of the anime series as a whole was listed (which after the sixth season finished airing, was 63, excluding any OVAs). Dynasty889 (talk) 23:25, 25 January 2017 (UTC)

Orphaned references in Natsume's Book of Friends

I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of Natsume's Book of Friends's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "vadb":

• From Rina Satō: "声優さん出演リスト 個別表示：佐藤利奈(Rina Satou)＝朝倉鈴音" [Voice actor's appearance list individual display: Rina Satou]. Voice Artist Database (in Japanese). GamePlaza-HARUKA-. July 28, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
• From Kazuma Horie: "声優さん出演リスト 個別表示：堀江一眞＝堀江秀尚＝堀江" [Voice actor's appearance list individual display: Kazuma Horie]. Voice Artist Database (in Japanese). GamePlaza-HARUKA-. April 28, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
• From Junichi Suwabe: 声優さん出演リスト 個別表示：諏訪部順一(Junichi Suwabe) [Voice actor's appearance list individual display: Junichi Suwabe]. Voice Artist Database (in Japanese). GamePlaza-HARUKA-. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
• From Hiroki Tōchi: "声優さん出演リスト 個別表示：東地宏樹(Hiroki Touchi)" [Voice actor's appearance list individual display: Hiroki Touchi]. Voice Artist Database (in Japanese). GamePlaza-HARUKA-. September 15, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
• From Hiroyuki Yoshino (voice actor): "声優さん出演リスト 個別表示：吉野裕行(Hiroyuki Yoshino)＝先割れチョップスティック＝北山幸二＝風間瞬" [Voice actor's appearance list individual display: Hiroyuki Yoshino]. Voice Artist Database (in Japanese). GamePlaza-HARUKA-. 2015-09-29. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
• From Kazuhiko Inoue: "声優さん出演リスト 個別表示：井上和彦(Kazuhiko Inoue)＝紫花薫＝紫華薫" [Voice actor's appearance list individual display: Kazuhiko Inoue = Murasaki Hana Kaoru]. Voice Artist Database (in Japanese). GamePlaza-HARUKA-. August 17, 2015. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
• From Hikaru Midorikawa: 声優さん出演リスト 個別表示：緑川光(Hikaru Midorikawa)＝青川輝＝黒崎和弥＝氷河流＝ヒロキ＝春城学幸 [Voice actor's appearance list individual display: Hikaru Midorikawa]. Voice Artist Database (in Japanese). GamePlaza-HARUKA-. July 4, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
• From Akiko Yajima: "声優さん出演リスト 個別表示：矢島晶子＝こゆき" [Voice actor's appearance list individual display: Akiko Yajima]. Voice Artist Database (in Japanese). GamePlaza-HARUKA-. January 4, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
• From Takaya Kuroda: "GamePlaza-HARUKA- 声優さん出演リスト 個別表示：黒瀬鷹＝黒田崇矢". gph.sakura.ne.jp. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
• From Mayumi Shintani: "声優さん出演リスト 個別表示：新谷真弓(Mayumi Shintani)" [Voice actor's appearance list individual display: Mayumi Shintani]. Voice Artist Database (in Japanese). GamePlaza-HARUKA-. May 7, 2015. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
• From Houko Kuwashima: http://gph.sakura.ne.jp/va_memo/system/vadb.cgi?action=view_ind&value=00335&namecode=1
• From Miyako Itō: "桃井ももこ(Momoko Momoi)＝伊東みやこ" [Voice actor's appearance list individual display: Momoko Momoi = Miyako Ito]. Voice Artist Database (in Japanese). GamePlaza-HARUKA-. October 22, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
• From Kenji Nojima: "声優さん出演リスト 個別表示：野島健児(Kenji Nojima)＝高嶺悠賀" [Voice actor's appearance list individual display: Kenji Nojima=Yuga Takane]. Voice Artist Database (in Japanese). GamePlaza-HARUKA-. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
• From Sanae Kobayashi: "声優さん出演リスト 個別表示：小林沙苗(Sanae Kobayashi)" [Voice actor's appearance list individual display: Sanae Kobayashi]. Voice Artist Database (in Japanese). GamePlaza-HARUKA-. August 17, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
• From Atsuko Yuya: "声優さん出演リスト 個別表示：湯屋敦子" [Voice actor's appearance list individual display: Atsuko Yuya]. Voice Artist Database (in Japanese). GamePlaza-HARUKA-. May 31, 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2018.

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT⚡ 09:11, 4 September 2018 (UTC)