manga: Natsume's Book of Friends Vol 1-2

Natsume Takashi has seen yokai that no one else can see his entire life. When he moves to his grandmother, Reiko’s, hometown to live with distant relatives, he learns that Reiko also saw yokai and that when she was his age, she would challenge the local yokai to get them to write their names in her book, which she then used to force them to come when she summoned them. When the yokai learn that Takashi is in town, they come to try to kill him to gain their freedom, and to gain control over the other demons in Reiko’s book. Takashi decides to find and free the individual demons in the book, protected by his self-proclaimed bodyguard, a powerful yokai named Nyanko who will get Reiko’s book if he dies before all the yokai are freed.

The series starts slowly, but picks up once Takashi is actively seeking yokai and getting involved in their lives. It’s fairly fluffy, but not too much so, and the art reminds me of a shoujo version of Mushishi’s art. I find Reiko’s story and potential more interesting than Takashi’s, but not enough so that I’m annoyed that it’s about him instead. I hope, though, that more of a central supporting cast evolves soon, and that the plot solidifies around more than freeing the demons.