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Crunchyroll to Stream Natsume's Book of Friends Anime's 7th Season
posted on by Alex Mateo
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Crunchyroll will stream the anime in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, CIS, and India.
Takahiro Ōmori is returning as chief director at Shuka, and Hideki Ito is returning from the two recent films to direct the new season. Sadayuki Murai is returning to oversee the series scripts. Akira Takata is returning as the character designer, and Makoto Yoshimori is returning to compose the music. NAS is producing the anime.
The additional staff includes:
- Yōkai Design, Action Animation Director: Tatsuo Yamada
- Chief Animation Director: Akira Takata, Orie Tanaka
- Art: Yukihiro Shibutani, Mao Miyake
- Color Design: Hiromi Miyawaki
- Screen Layout: Hitoshi Tamura
- Photography: Eiko Hiramoto
- Editing: Kazuhiko Seki
The anime will star:
- Hiroshi Kamiya as Takashi Natsume
- Kazuhiko Inoue as Nyanko-sensei / Madara
- Sanae Kobayashi as Reiko Natsume
- Akira Ishida as Shūichi Natori
- Kazuma Horie as Kaname Tanuma
- Ryōhei Kimura as Satoru Nishimura
- Hisayoshi Suganuma as Atsushi Kitamoto
- Miyuki Sawashiro as Jun Sasada
- Rina Satō as Tōru Taki
- Miki Itō as Tōko Fujiwara
- Eiji Itō as Shigeru Fujiwara
- Junichi Suwabe as Seiji Matoba
The anime is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year.
Yuki Midorikawa's Natsume's Book of Friends (Natsume Yūjin-Chō) manga debuted in Hakusensha's LaLa DX magazine in June 2003, but has run in LaLa since 2007. Viz Media is releasing the ongoing series in English.
The anime seasons and Midorikawa's original manga revolve around Natsume, a boy who has been able to see yōkai since he was little. Unfortunately, humans shun him, and there is not much fondness between him and yōkai either. One day, he inherits a Yūjin-Chō ("Book of Friends") from his grandmother. The book is actually full of contracts that his grandmother made to trap yōkai. As one yōkai after another shows up, Natsume tries to release or help them — even while many of them seek vengeance on him.
The anime's sixth season premiered in April 2017. The show had 11 episodes and two OVAs. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired.
The Natsume Yujin-cho the Movie: Ephemeral Bond film debuted in September 2018. Aniplex of America released the film on Blu-ray Disc. Aniplex of America screened the film at the Anime NYC convention in November 2018. The anime tells an original story.
The Natsume’s Book of Friends: The Stone Waker and the Strange Visitor film opened in Japan in January 2021. Funimation streamed the film.
Source: Crunchyroll panel at Anime Expo (Alex Mateo)
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