Minor spoilers for season 1 and this is only review for the first season

After a long anime burnout and pausing/dropping so many series because of my obsession to find a favourite, Nastume's book of friends seems like the series I needed the most, not an extraordinary tale but one brimming with emotions. And experiencing it; made me nostalgic of the time, when the 9 year old me discovered this medium for the first time

Natsume's Book of Friends is a series about a boy named Natsume who has the ability to see supernatural entities known as 'Youkai,' and his daily life of helping these creatures despite the fact that this ability have caused him nothing but trauma his entire life. His personality is really endearing and I always have a huge grin of my face seeing him help these youkais against all the odds. This scene perfectly expresses why I adore him so much

The story is not perfect or unique in anyways, heck it gets formulaic and is filled with cliches but at the end of every single ep it still makes me tear up. The series strongest point for me how it's able to humanize youkai's in such a short amount of time, they are filled with so much personality. Coming to the main youkai and my favourite character in the series, Madara. HE IS SO ADORABLE and his over the top personality is such a perfect coil to Natsume's. There interactions always makes me smile and its hilarious how he goes from badass fox to such a goofy fat cat. I am still not sure why he is so friendly with Natsume from the get go. Maybe its because he owes something to Reiko but i guess I will find out as i progress more. Reiko is also another character I already adore without knowing much about her. But the glimpse we see of her through flashbacks makes her feel like such a fun person(She kinda reminds of Arisa from fruits basket). Also I really like inclusion of Natsume's current family and them being so delightful , they don't really standout but subtly add so much to the series.

Another one of my favourite aspects of the series is how it handles the relationship between youkais and humans. From a beautiful relationship of a love between a youkai and a human to a pure relationship of a woman and her god, Natsume handles these bonds so beautifully.

The adaptation is subpar, but the incredible soundtrack makes up for it at times, perfectly capturing the tonal shift. The last episode felt like the perfect send off to the season and honestly looking forward to watch more of Natsume's Youkai adventure. 7.5/10