Natsume Yuujinchou / Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou
 

It's not really something that's newly-announced since it's slated for airing in summer but I didn't see any announcement of it made here (unless I've utterly missed it despite combing through the subforum) for it so here we go:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...jinchou_pr.jpg

Title translation: The Natsume Book of Friends

Original work by: Midorikawa Yuki

Begins airing: 7/7/2008

Summary (taken from Storm in Heaven):
Natsume's just an ordinary kid, except he can see spirits, just like his grandma Reiko could. Reiko, though, used to bully the spirits, and bound them to her will in the "Book of Friends". Now that Natsume has inherited this book, a never-ending stream of spirits is coming after him. With the help of a spirit "cat" (who really just wants Natsume to die so he can have the book), Natsume spends his days dissolving the contracts that bind the spirits and trying not to get killed.


Official website /ANN Link

Production Studio & Staff:
The studio and project spearheaders are pretty much all mentioned in ANN so just follow the link above (looks like a good line-up to me, though), except for the music composer, who's listed in the official site as Yoshimori Makoto (Baccano!, Gakuen Alice).

Cast (Not mentioned in ANN but the VAs for the two lead characters are mentioned in the official site. But since the names aren't romanized, I'll put them here):
Natsume Takashi: Kamiya Hiroshi (Takemoto in Hachimitsu to Clover, Tieria in Gundam 00, Michel in Macross Frontier)
Nyanko-sensei a.k.a. Madara: Inoue Kazuhiko (Gunther in Kyou Kara Maou, Angel in Crisis Core, November in Darker Than Black, Kakashi in Naruto, Hatori in Fruits Basket and the list goes on and on)

Character design sample:
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/9...4001ty2.th.jpg
Scan courtesy of bearmoon from the SiH forums

Trailer:
None released on the net as of yet. Only one I found online was a terribly sucky one with bad sound and visuals (imagine a camera aimed at a TV from a slightly off-side angle with reflections and people walking past the camera galore) that was taken during the recent Tokyo Anime Fair.

UPDATE! Thanks to the alert of the kind people in this thread, it's come to my attention that a 30-sec trailer and a 2-min(ish) one, which is actually the good version of the sucky quality one I mentioned above:

30-sec trailer
2-min trailer


Manga (Ongoing, currently up to vol 5):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ume_vol1-1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ume_vol2-1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...tsume_vol3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...tsume_vol4.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...tsume_vol5.jpg

Personal comment:
I'm a fan of stuff like Mushishi, Ayakashi (Samurai Horror Tales), Mononoke, 100 Monogatari, Hyakkiyakou Shou, Kwaidan, Tales from Tono and heck, even Gegege Kitaro. I read this manga and, not unexpectedly, fell in love with its enchanting art and storyline, as well. I'm having some pretty high hopes for the anime (not just for the story but it also has a lot to do with seeing Nyanko-sensei's snarky, smexy butaneko ass in all its animated glory xD).

EDIT: Added premier date.

Further info supplied by NeoSam.

Ah! So it's been announced after all. Totally missed that. Sorry. ^^; Hopefully my post isn't totally useless since there wasn't a thread made of it before this and I /am/ terribly excited about this anime. ^^;;

First chapter didn't do much for me since aside from the brief flashes of Reiko I wasn't interested in any of the characters. I'll see how I feel about chapters 2-4 when I get around to reading them.. not high priority atm.. I'll be watching the anime anyway since after Baccano! and Kure-nai I'll pretty much watch anything Brains Base do except for that fan pandering alternate route ova they are doing...

This looks interesting...WAIT! This isn't ecchi, is it?

There is no fanservice in the first volume of the manga - I don't know about the rest of it, but it's shoujo so it'll probably just be boys with open shirts etc. It's definitely not an ecchi story, though.

I was quite surprised how much I liked the manga. The premise doesn't seem to lend itself to a particularly interesting story from the first chapter; it seems like it's going to be a "gotta free 'em all!" style story, but Midorikawa doesn't even use that aspect of the story in the third and fourth chapters (although the Yuujinchou does come into play for its original purpose - to bind spirits to Reiko's will...). It reminds me of Mushishi more than anything, although it's not quite as overtly "moral" as Mushishi sometimes is.

Plus Nyanko-sensei is awesome, if a little confusing. I don't know why he doesn't just eat Natsume straight away; he could just steal the book then, it's not like his name's in it!

If anyone's read any further and can say whether or not a bigger plot arc emerges I'd be very interested to see. The flashes of Reiko's past are quite interesting (as she's a more "vibrant" character than Takashi) and the covers hint at another major character who has yet to be introduced, but I'd be interested to see whether Midorikawa plans to just potter along with enjoyable episodic stories or try and introduce a grander arc to the story.

I've read up to the most recently released volume. The pace is rather meandering, pretty much like Mushishi and Hyakkiyakou. Since it introduces the vast richness of Japanese folklore, like the other two, and a lot of research into actual folklore seemed to have gone into it, I doubt it'd go into grand schemes and what not. It doesn't seem to be Midorikawa-sensei's aim for the manga. What it's to become, has more or less already become. Each story now draws closer and closer to revealing the mystery of Takashi's grandma, a little bit each time, but sometimes, they may serve to increase it instead. They're also slowly revealing a little more of Takashi's childhood each time. And I suppose it'll end with either all the names in the book released or when Madara finally does kill the boy. Though the latter's looking less and less likely since he actually likes the boy but just won't admit it.

It also goes into the issue that despite all the troubles his gift has caused him while growing up, can Takashi really do without it? He temporarily loses it once...well just his sight, he could still hear the ayakashi just fine and it dawns on him that he may not want it gone as desperately as he thought after all.

It's not ecchi. In fact, I think it strange that you thought it may be. I thought I made it pretty clear, even if not explicitly, at the end of my post when I put in my own thoughts on it. There's no gratituous shirtlessness either. It seems more josei to me than it does shoujo. It just so happens to be published under a shoujo publisher.

...strangely enough, it's only been a few weeks since I read vol 5 and while I have an inkling that a character has been introduced briefly, I can't for the life or me remember the details of who he or she is. -.-;;;

Oh! Okay! I guess I'll try this out then!

Sorry. Alot of fanservice-infested anime are coming out more often and I don't like seeing naked people show off their bras and undies and stuff. Sorry. Anyway, I guess I'll try this! Let's see how Tieria (Gundam 00) can pull off this boy!:)

Apparently the PV for this is out. Try downloading it from www(dot)fansub(dot)tv.

This looks like Mushishi, and juding from the preview, hopefully less boring. I'm excited ~ !

For those who care, a 30-second commercial (Nico link) aired right after today's Vampire Knight episode on TV Tokyo.
Some new animation is shown, along with actual voices and a part of the OP sung by Shuuhei Kita (that song sure is nothing like the OP for Persona he's done!). I was fairly surprised when I first read that Kazuhiko Inoue would voice Nyanko-sensei, but he sounds like he can pull it off just fine. As for Hiroshi Kamiya as Natsume... it's the return of Takemoto!

Ahh, can't wait till next Monday. :)

AND its the return of Tieria!:D:)

Edit: Does anyone have a YouTube link of that trailer? I can't see it on Nico because I'm not a member.

I already uploaded that trailer to Crunchyroll(username:romeoxjuliet),it should be approved in a matter of time.But in case you can't wait,i will upload to sendspace for you.It is just 2.90MB anyway.

Already on youtube http://youtube.com/results?uploaded=...ume+yuujinchou

Whee! I heard a hint of Tieria in that kid! I think I might try this anime out! This is pretty much the only anime I'm gonna watch this summer (I need to finish up alot of titles as you can see).

Oh! This show is supposed to air today.

Looking forward to see this :) If it's interesting enough, I'll even watch it RAW xD I also wish it will reach upto the latest volume. It would be nice if Natsume and the kitty aren't the only main characters, hehe.

The raw is up on Veoh and it's BEAUTIFUL! Thank god this season will give us at least one good series without fanservice or old-school animations.

I got more of a "Tactics" (without the gay vibes) feeling from this than "Mushishi". The animation is top notch and every scene is full of either pretty,cute or magical images. Definately a show for the whole family.

I got a Tactics vibe out of it too, but it also doesn't feel as mediocre. It looks very nice and peaceful, so I'm looking forward to next week. : )

I LOVE TACTICS! I saw the 10th episode on my DVD this morning!:D

Edit: I saw the first part of the episode on Veoh, but those commercials kept getting in the way, so if a commercial-less RAW or a sub comes out, I'll watch it. I did like it though. Takashi's voice doesn't give off a Tieria-like attitude, but its good. I like it. But I have to admit, that scene where the kitty was stuck in the door and couldn't get out, that was funny!