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Takashi Natsume (夏目 貴志, Natsume Takashi) is the main protagonist of the anime and manga series Natsume's Book of Friends. He's been able to see yokai as long as he can remember. He is the grandson of Reiko Natsume, who could also see yokai long before he was born.
He is voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya in the Japanese version and Adam Gibbs in the English version. As a boy, he is voiced by Ayumi Fujimura in Japanese and Paige Guillory in English. As a baby, he was voiced by Rebecca Chiara Marano in English.
Appearance[]
Takashi has dusty-blonde hair (silver colored in the manga), golden-brown eyes with slitted irises, and usually wears a soft smile (noted by several to occasionally be fake).
He often wears the school uniform that consists of a white collared shirt (at least in the summer) and grey pants.
Because of Takashi's strong resemblance to Reiko (in appearance and spiritual "feel" alike), youkai routinely mistake Natsume for his grandmother, often pursuing him intensely under the mistaken presumption of shared history and understanding.
Personality[]
Unlike his grandmother, Takashi is kind towards both humans and youkai, to the point that he can be easily fooled by deceitful examples of the latter. Despite being haunted by youkai his entire life and his life being made miserable by his ability to see them and not be believed by those around him, as well as bullied for it by some other kids his age, he refuses to see all youkai in the same negative light and even tends to feel sympathetic to those that are dealing with various troubles to the extent of going out of his way to help them even when they don't want, or in some cases, even deserve it. Originally, he was convinced he would never warm up to youkai, but this repeated tendency to go out of his way for them when they're not actively antagonizing or trying to hurt him show that he is a very compassionate and kind individual, and through these various experiences, he has come to see youkai in a more well-rounded light over the course of the series.
Natsume's kind and considerate nature extends to the people around him; he tries to keep his ability to see youkai a secret from the Fujiwaras, which is initially because he fears that they'll treat him the same way his other relatives did in the past, but over time, it becomes less about that and more because he wants to ensure they stay safe and don't get involved in his troubles. He takes the same approach to the friends he eventually makes at his school like Kitamoto and Nishimura, who are also unable to see youkai, as he is determined to deal with whatever supernatural troubles he has on his own. This extends to those like Tanuma who can actually sense youkai in some capacity since one of his greatest fears is the possibility of anyone he cares about getting hurt in their efforts to help him. However, as the series progresses and he witnesses those like him deliberately risk their well-being for him despite ebing fully aware of the danger, he begins to open up and be more willing to accept their help when they offer it. He is also very altruistic, since despite being bullied by other kids growing up for the odd way he came across, he never expressed the desire to get back at them or let his bad experiences shape him into an angry or vengeful individual.
In general, Natsume comes off as very reserved and soft-spoken, especially when he was younger due to being very troubled by his ability to see youkai and how it has essentially caused him to be a social outcast. However, as he meets more people who at least appreciate his kind nature and those who understand him due to their own awareness and limited ability to see youkai like Tanuma and Taki, Natsume begins to open up and become a little more social, to the extent of developing a respectable circle of friends. He can still come off as a little socially awkward at times due to his limited experience interacting with others growing up, but this has gotten less pronounced the more he was come out of his shell. In general, while he's still far from a social butterfly and has generally maintained his reserved and soft-spoken demeanor, he's become a lot more well-adjusted and open to socializing compared to before.
His relationship with Madara tends to be more strained due to their very different personalities, with the two often comically bickering or arguing over various matters. Much of the time, Madara is irritated by his tendency to keep getting involved with other youkai and their problems even when he has nothing to gain from it, since in his eyes, he's just taking on unnecessary trouble and even putting himself in dangerous situations he could easily avoid if he weren't so inclined to get involved. Likewise, Natsume tends to get irritated by Madara's selfish and indulgent tendencies. However, the two of them repeatedly demonstrate that behind their frequent arguing, they really do care for each other, with Madara frequently helping Natsume in his endeavors even though he always has an excuse on hand for it and will often worry about him whenever he truly gets mixed up in dangerous situations, while Natsume, in turn, is often appreciative whenever he demonstrates this care and his more selfless tendencies.
In conjunction with this other traits, Natsume is very pacifistic, preferring to talk things out even with youkai who are trying to attack or harm him, and often shows disgust towards the more violent methods of people like Matoba, as well as even tries to convince people like Natori, who believe it's necessary in certain situations, that using force can be avoided. That said, whenever push comes to shove, Natsume will still defend himself when he's forced to, to the extent that it's almost become a running gag for him to punch or kick a youkai when they have him pinned down, which due to his strong spiritual power, tends to hurt them enough for him to be able to get away. Additionally, despite his aforementioned open-mindnessness to youkai and how diverse they are, he still gets easily irritated by and shows little patience for the antics of those that insist on harassing him, usually either for the Book of Friends, as a result of mistaking him for Reiko, or a combination of the two, which leads to him having to give them a well-deserved punch to put them in line when they refuse to listen to him and keep attacking.
History[]
His parents died when he was a very young child, leaving him to be passed from relative to relative after being orphaned as a result of many of them finding him "odd" and/or "creepy" due to his tendency to see and react to youkai, which they could never see, with some of them even believing he was acting out for attention. He also inherited the Book of Friends from his grandmother, which is what generally made him a target for various youkai and only exacerbated his existing troubles.
Behind Natsume's perpetual distant smile hides a childhood spent in constant anxiety and shame, borne in equal parts because of the yokai and the people who called him a liar and attention-seeker because of them. Natsume is eventually passed on to the Fujiwaras, a middle-aged couple on his father's side of the family. He loves them and does not want to cause them trouble, especially due to all of the kindness they've shown him compared to many of the others he used to live with, so he keeps this 'alternate landscape' problem to himself.
Plot[]
At the very beginning of the series, he was seen running away from a pair of youkai named Hishigaki and Karikage who, like may others, had mistaken him for his grandmother. However, while he managed to evade them, he accidently tripped over some sealed rope at a shrine and released an especially powerful Youkai named Madara, who threatens him for the Book of Friends. He subsequently finds the book in question and discovers that it contains the names of various youkai whom his late grandmother, Reiko, formed a contract with so that she could call upon them whenever she needed them. However, with his grandmother having passed away, having learned how many names there are in the book and having no desire to control them for himself, despite Madara warning how dangerous it is to be in possession of such a thing due to how many youkai desire to have the book for themselves, including a number of violent and dangerous ones, he resolves to return as many of them to their rightful owners as possible, as well as hopes to find out more about Reiko along the way since it's his last link of sorts to her. Additionally, he makes a deal with Madara, who offers to be his bodyguard as a way of thanking him for releasing him from the shrine, that if he helps him in this endeavor, that whenever he dies, including if it happens before he can complete this task, he can inherit the book from him, which Madara agrees to.
From this point on, Natsume sets out to accomplish this, with most episodes revolving around him interacting either with a youkai that his grandmother beat in a duel and claimed the name of and returning their name to them, or some other youkai that's dealing with some kind of problem that he sympathizes with and agrees to help. All the while, he tries to keep this all a secret from the Fujiwaras to keep them safe and balance this responsibility with his school life. He also gradually begins to open up to other people and make new friends over the course of the series as he meets more people who appreciate and/or understand him, but also must contend with more antagonistic and dangerous youkai who desire to hurt or kill him for the Book of Friends, as well as exorcists like Matoba who have more violent methods of dealing with youkai and eventually desires to recruit him as an ally.
Powers and Abilities[]
He has incredibly strong spiritual power, allowing him to actually hit and hurt yokai. When angered, he often lashes out in a punch or a kick of resistance, which has enough spiritual energy in it to knock even the highest level of youkai out in a second. However, his fighting abilities only extend to youkai; his punches, as noted by Madara, aren't as effective on humans. Takashi is very agile and good at climbing trees because he was always running away from youkai.
Trivia[]
- He seems to be the only human (besides Reiko) to be able to read the names in the Book of Friends. (However, both Natori and Matoba have not tried to read and the guide book states that anyone with spiritual power could read it.)
- His Japanese voice actor, Hiroshi Kamiya, also voiced Koji Minamoto in Digimon Frontier, Levi Ackerman in Attack on Titan, Kusuo Saiki in The Disastrous Life of Saiki K., Trafalgar D. Water Law in One Piece, Yato in Noragami, Shizuo Heiwajima in Durarara!!, Lobomon, Beowolfmon, MagnaGarurumon, and KendoGarurumon in the same series, Mephisto Pheles in Blue Exorcist, Koyomi Araragi in Nisemonogatari, Ataru Moroboshi in Urusei Yatsura (2022), Tieria Erde in Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Quon Miduchi in Towa no Quon, Naoya in Megami Ibunroku Devil Survivor, Choromatsu Matsuno in Osomatsu-kun, Jean-Bot in Ultraman series, Kau in Bucky: The Incredible Kid or Bucky: Searching for World 0, Jean in Queen's Blade, Ranpo Edogawa in Bungo Stray Dogs, and Gamma 1 in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
- His English voice actor, Adam Gibbs, also voiced Cid Kagenō in The Eminence in Shadow, Hachiman Hikigaya in My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong, as I Expected, Hyakkimaru in Dororo, Shinichi Izumi in Parasyte, Seiya Kanie in Amagi Brilliant Park, Ryota Suzui in Kakegurui - Compulsive Gambler, Seita Yokokawa in Grave of the Fireflies (2012), Kuki Urie in Tokyo Ghoul, and Nice in Hamatora.