Summary
I don’t have much time to watch anime anymore, but my favourite will always be Natsume’s Book of Friends. I love its interpretation of Japanese yokai, Natsume’s gradual but satisfying character progression, and of course, its chubby cat mascot, Nyanko Sensei. I have an entire collection of plushies to prove it.
I’ve always thought its blend of the slice-of-life genre and monster-of-the-week style episodes would translate well to a game, so much so that I considered pitching an article on that exact topic. When I went to look into this further, I discovered that thereisin fact a Natsume’s Book of Friends game, and it’s coming next month.
As I hurriedlyread through the announcementand began following updates on the game, I discovered that it wasonly releasing in Japaneseand Chinese. Neither of which are languages I know.
My heart shattered. My dream game, but no way for me to play it. Time to start learning Japanese, I guess?
What We Know About The Natsume’s Book Of Friends Game
There’s no official English translation for the information we’ve been given about the game, so all I’ve got to go on is Google Translate. It’s called Natsume’s Book of Friends: Hazuki’s Chronicle, and will launch on Nintendo Switch and Steam, according tothe Twitter account.
Fromthe website description, it looks like it’s going to be a slice-of-life visual novel-esque game where you play as Natsume and walk around the town, interacting with the Yokai and Natsume’s human friends and family.
Players become Natsume Takashi and can move freely through the world of ‘Natsume’s Book of Friends.’ […]
Join Nyanko Sensei and enjoy the summer with your friends to the fullest.
Screenshots immediately reminded me ofthe Shin-Chan games, which I also lovefor their laid-back gameplay andJapanese countryside setting. If the Natsume game is anything like Shin-Chan, it’ll be an instant winner in my books.
Please Watch The Natsume Book Of Friends Anime So I Can Play The Game
At the moment, the only way for me to play a game I know I’m going to love is to import a Japanese copy and use Google Translate on my phone to translate the text. Not exactly the ideal experience, to say the least.
If I have to, I absolutely will, though. The limited edition with exclusive merch looks particularly tempting…
Natsume’s Book of Friends is never going to reach the same heights of popularity as anime like My Hero Academia or Jujutsu Kaisen in the West, but the animedidrecently have a seventh series (a great one, in fact), so now is the perfect time to watch it and give it a boost so the team can consider a Western launch. Please, I’m begging you.
Shin-Chan: Shiro and the Coal Town got an English version half a year after the Japanese launch, so here’s hoping Natsume’s Book of Friends: Hazuki’s Chronicle can get one too.
