by The anime series “Natsume’s Book of Friends” began airing on TV in July 2008, and six seasons have been produced. In September 2018, an original feature-length movie version was released, and fans have loved the series for many years. The anime will celebrate its 15th anniversary in 2023, and on July 1, a 15th anniversary PV was released, along with the announcement that the seventh season, “Natsume’s Book of Friends: Urushi,” will be produced.
The original work is the manga of the same name serialized by Yuki Midorikawa in the monthly “LaLa” (Hakusensha) from the September 2007 issue. The 30th volume was released in September 2023, and the total number of copies of the comics published has exceeded 17 million.
In this article, we will predict and introduce when the seventh season of Natsume’s Book of Friends Urushi will start airing, whether it will be available for streaming, and how much of the original work will be adapted into the film.
What is the anime “Natsume’s Book of Friends”?
The anime “Natsume’s Book of Friends” is a beautiful yet fleeting story of humans and spirits. High school student Natsume Takashi has had strong supernatural powers since childhood, allowing him to interact with spirits invisible to ordinary people. After meeting Madara (Nyanko Sensei), he discovers the “Book of Friends” left behind by his grandmother, Natsume Reiko, who also has strong supernatural powers.
This book of friends allows Takashi to control the youkai whose names are written in it, but Takashi decides to return the names to the youkai. As he spends his days returning the names to the youkai with Nyanko-sensei, a self-proclaimed bodyguard who accidentally unseals them, Takashi’s feelings toward youkai gradually change.
When will the seventh season of the anime “Natsume’s Book of Friends” start airing? On which channel?
The seventh season of the anime Natsume’s Book of Friends will air every Monday from 24:00 , starting October 7, 2024. Broadcast stations include TV Tokyo affiliates. The broadcast stations and broadcast times for each station are as follows.
TV Tokyo: Broadcast every Monday from midnight starting October 7
TV Hokkaido: Broadcast every Monday from midnight starting October 7. TV Aichi: Broadcast every Monday from midnight starting October 7. TV Osaka: Broadcast every Monday from midnight beginning October 7
TV Setouchi: Broadcast every Monday from midnight starting October
7th TVQ Kyushu Broadcast: Broadcast every Monday from midnight beginning October 7. AT-X: Broadcast every Tuesday from 11:30 pm starting October 8. Repeat broadcasts: Every Thursday from 11:30 am / Every Monday from 5:30 pm
Is it available for streaming? Can I watch it for free?
The seventh season will also be available online. The earliest it will be available is on Netflix, which will be available from 24:30 every Monday starting October 7, 2024. In addition, it will be available on the Anime Store and U-NEXT from October 10, 2024, every Thursday from 24:00.
Can I watch it for free?
All the services currently announced for distribution are flat-rate monthly subscription services with unlimited viewing, so watching it for free is impossible. If it is decided to be available on a free viewing service, it will be possible to watch it for free online.
How much of the original work will be adapted for the 7th season of the anime “Natsume’s Book of Friends”?
The sixth season was animated based on the first half of volume 20 of the original manga, and parts of volumes 21 and 24 were released in a movie in January 2021. Therefore, the seventh season will likely broadcast content that is not included in the sixth season and the movie but in the second half of volume 20 and volumes 21 to 24.
The anime series “Natsume’s Book of Friends” has been adapted into anime so far, covering three and a half to four volumes per series. However, the order of the original manga needs to be followed in the anime, and there are many parts where the order is skipped or changed. Therefore, the content from volume 25 onwards will likely be depicted in the seventh season.
Summary of Season 1
Natsume Takashi was born with strong supernatural powers and can see supernatural creatures. After losing his parents at a young age, he moved from one relative’s house to another until he finally found himself living with the kind-hearted Fujiwara couple, who welcomed him warmly despite being distant relatives.
The town is a rural area rich in nature, and it is also where Takashi’s grandmother, Reiko, who possessed supernatural solid powers just like Takashi, once lived. One day, while fleeing from a mystical creature, Takashi accidentally breaks the seal of Nyanko Sensei, who tells him about the existence of a “Book of Friends” among his grandmother’s belongings, which contains the names of many supernatural creatures. With the help of Nyanko Sensei, who calls himself his bodyguard, Takashi returns the names to the supernatural creatures written in the Book of Friends.
Summary of Season 2
The second season of “Natsume’s Book of Friends Continued” begins with the first episode, “The Stolen Book of Friends,” in which Nyanko-sensei appears just like Nyanko-sensei. Other episodes that followed include “The Girl’s Camp,” in which Nyanko-sensei meets Taki Tooru, a classmate who a youkai has cursed, and “The Temporary House,” in which strange things start happening frequently at the Fujiwara family home where Takashi lives.
Summary of Season 3
In episode 6 of the third season, “Natsume’s Book of Friends III,” “Something Not Human,” Matoba Seiji, the young head of the Matoba Clan, a group of monster exorcists, appears. Takashi rebels against the Matoba Clan’s ruthless use of monsters to achieve their goals. Takashi’s past is also depicted in episode 4, “In My Childhood,” which depicts Takashi’s childhood memories, and episode 12, “A Place to Return,” which reveals how Takashi came to live with the Fujiwara family.
Summary of Season 4
In episode 6, “Beyond the Glass,” of season 4, “Natsume’s Book of Friends 4,” Nyanko-sensei transforms into Natsume in place of Takashi, who has been imprisoned in a small bottle by a youkai. Although they look alike, Takashi’s attitude is uncharacteristic, and he causes trouble for those around him.
In episode 11, “A Photograph,” Takashi decides to face his past through a photo of his parents that he had kept hidden away. In the following episode, 12, “The Door of Memory,” Takashi and Nyanko-sensei travel to where they once spent their childhood, remembering their childhood.
Summary of Season 5
The fifth season, “Natsume’s Book of Friends Five,” will feature episode 4, “Chained Shadows,” in which Matoba invites Takashi to attend a meeting of exorcists, and episode 8, “A World Without Distortion,” which will reveal the childhood of famous actor and exorcist Natori Shuichi. In addition, episode 10, “Toko and Shigeru,” will tell the story of Takashi’s journey to the Fujiwara family from Toko’s perspective and will include many previously untold details.
Summary of Season 6
The sixth season, “Natsume’s Book of Friends: Roku,” featured episodes such as “Tsukihigui,” in which Takashi is turned back into a child by the power of a youkai, and episode six, “Nishimura and Kitamoto,” in which Natsume is seen by his classmates. And in the final episode, episode eleven, “Precious Things,” Takashi decides to tell Natori about the “Book of Friends.”
Who are the staff and voice actors for the 7th season of the anime “Natsume’s Book of Friends”?
The staff and voice actors for the 7th season of the anime “Natsume’s Book of Friends Urushi” revealed in the teaser PV are as follows:
Original work: Yuki Midorikawa’s “Natsume’s Book of Friends” (serialized in Hakusensha’s “LaLa”)
General Director: Takahiro Omori
Director: Hideki Ito
Series Composition: Sadayuki Murai
Character Design: Akira Takada
Monster Design and Action Supervisor: Kiyoshi Yamada
Chief Animation Directors: Akira Takada, Orie Tanaka
Art: Yukihiro Shibuya, Mao Miyake
Color Design: Hiromi Miyawaki
Editing: Kazuhiko Seki
Screen Design: Hitoshi Tamura
Music: Makoto Yoshimori
Animation Production: Shuka
Production: NAS
Produced by: “Natsume’s Book of Friends” Production Committee
Natsume Takashi: Kamiya Hiroshi Nyanko
Sensei/Madara: Inoue Kazuhiko Natsume Reiko: Kobayashi Sanae Natori Shuichi: Ishida Akira Tanuma Kaname: Horie Kazuma Nishimura
Satoru: Kimura Ryohei Kitamoto Atsushi : Suganuma Hisayoshi Sasada Jun: Sawashiro Miyuki Taki Tohru: Sato Rina Fujiwara Touko: Ito Miki
Fujiwara Shigeru: Ito Eiji Matoba Seiji: Suwabe Junichi
summary
The seventh season of the anime Natsume’s Book of Friends will air every Monday from 24:00, starting October 7, 2024. It is broadcast on TV Tokyo and other networks. Seasons 1 to 6 have been adapted up to the first half of the 20th volume of the original comic, so the seventh season is expected to be adapted from the second half of the 20th volume.
