Before the Vanitas case study there was this

Key conclusions

• Natsume's Book of Friends and Vanitas' Case Study emphasize the importance of nomenclature in the development of a story.
• Both series feature orphaned children deeply connected to powerful books central to the story and accompanied by fantastical creatures.
• The concept of real names used in both series moves the narrative forward by exploring the meaning and implications of names.

Given that Natsume's Book of Friends returns to television for the first time in 7 years and celebrates its 15th anniversary; not to mention that it will be part of the busy Fall 2024 anime season, which will feature a number of new and new supernatural games. With relatively few registered “contributors” to the overall MyAnimeList for such a great title, it only makes sense to reiterate what does Natsume's Book of Friends such a great title that uses a similar title that gained a huge following when it aired in 2021.

Natsume's Book of Friends is a name that can be seen as Vanitas case studyearlier Vanitas case study; or, far less sensationally, it is a show that can be seen as headlines that have some sort of spiritual connection; be it a direct inspiration or a spiritual relation of the predecessor/successor. That's why.

A quick look at both headlines

Some background information

Natsume's Book of Friends is based on the manga of the same name created by Yuki Midorikawa and published in the hakusenshi shoujo manga magazine LaLa DX from June 2003 to April 2008 and published in LaLa from July 2007 to the present. It is collected in 31 volumes. Originally produced by Brain's Base, the anime has six completed seasons, the first of which ran for 13 episodes from July to September 2008, and the seventh season, produced by Shukai, aired this fall.

It follows orphan Takashi Natsume who finds an old notebook that belonged to his maternal grandmother Reiko Natsume, an exorcist who binds powerful evil spirits, Ayakasi and yokai into her pages, taking their names, making them subservient to her will. Takashi decides to put all the names back into the notebook, dubbed the Book of Friends, and does so with the help of Madara's cat/wolf spirit, more affectionately known as Nyanko-sensei.

Vanitas no Carteknown in English as Vanitas case studyis based on a manga created by Jun Machizuki serialized in Square Enix's Monthly Gangan Joker since December 2015. It has since been collected into 11 volumes. The anime currently has one season, which was split into two halves, with the first airing from July to September 2021 and the second from January to April 2022.

Set in a fictional 19th century Paris that combines a steampunk aesthetic with fantasy elements such as vampires. Vanitas is a young man who is part of the Blue Moon vampire clan and possesses the Book of Vanitas, a grimoire with the power to heal vampires who have become uncontrollably bloodthirsty as a result of the corruption of their true names through a phenomenon called malnomen, possibly caused by the influence of a mysterious entity , known only as “The Charlatan”.

The biggest similarity between Natsume's Book of Friends and Vanitas' case study

The meaning of nomenclature

As you may have already gathered, the main connection between these titles is the way they use nomenclature; more specifically, the concept of True Name as the main driving force behind the story. For Mochizuki, Vanitas case study there was an attempt to move away from Pandora's Hearther previous success in manga, and draw something with compelling fight scenes and an emphasis on hidden personalities as a thematic component.

Both main characters are orphans who have a deep connection to the book that is central to the story, with Vanitas inheriting this from the vampire who saved his life as a child. Both characters are also accompanied by another character who represents the core fantasy element of their respective worlds, with Madara often serving as an interface between Natsume and the youkai world, and Vanitas being accompanied by Noe the Archivist, who is part of a lineage capable of reading people's memories. whose blood they consumed. Naturally, these names differ in their approach, p Vanitas case study having a lot more action and fight scenes than Natsume's Book of Friendswho feels more alive; however, both titles explore the mysterious pasts of their characters through the character's own delving into the stories of the mystical characters that inhabit its universe.

Nomenclature is very important in both titles, as the meaning and interaction with names is the main theme that drives the story forward, and in both cases, having a name can be a disaster for that person, as names act as the very core of that existence and are a summation his abilities and experience. When Takashi Natsume calls upon the power of the Book of Friends, it comes at a temporary cost of spiritual energy, but it is also an artifact that is highly sought after in the youkai world, making it a target for all kinds of factions that want access to the book's power. Like Vanitas, Takashi can only use the book because he is a direct descendant of his grandmother; while in the case of the Book of Vanitas, the titular character is also able to use it due to the blood of the Blue Moon Vampire coursing through his veins, giving him abilities beyond those of a normal human.

An age-old concept

Nomenclature: The tie that binds

What inspired Machizuki to explore vampires in this way was her desire to portray Vanitas as a character who cures vampires of their ailments, but she didn't think readers would be interested in a story where vampires were under the knife. Rather, it relied on the concept of a real name; one that appears constantly in Japanese folklore and media, and used it to give the aforementioned healing a more abstract quality that better relates to the theme of hidden identity prevalent in Vanitas case study. Natsume's Book of Friends it's very likely that this mechanic has a similar inspiration, although “healing” the yokai isn't the goal, but using the notebook to retrieve their names and thus return them to their true state is very similar to Vanitas' goal.

Natsume's Book of Friends and Vanitas case study are available to stream on Crunchyroll.