Natsume's Book of Friends

Takashi Natsume has spent most of his life on the outside looking in. Gifted—or burdened—with the ability to see youkai, he’s been passed from one foster home to the next and learned to keep his experiences to himself, convinced that neither his caretakers nor his classmates could ever understand.

Everything shifts when he accidentally dispels a barrier and releases Madara, a powerful spirit who takes the form of a beckoning cat. Madara recognizes a connection to Natsume’s late grandmother, Reiko Natsume, whose name is well-known among youkai for creating the Book of Friends—a collection of the names of spirits she once defeated and bound. Now in Natsume’s hands, the book carries the dangerous ability to summon those it contains.

Uninterested in using that power, Natsume keeps the Book of Friends to preserve Reiko’s legacy and prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. He strikes a bargain with Madara—soon dubbed Nyanko-sensei—promising him the book someday in exchange for protection, and begins returning the sealed names one by one. As he does, Natsume slowly finds his place between the human world and the youkai who have long haunted his solitude.