Takashi Natsume is the main protagonist of Yuki Midorikawa's manga Natsume's Book of Friends. He is the current owner of the titular "Book of Friends" which he inherited from his deceased grandmother Reiko. Orphaned since childhood, Takashi has the ability to see youkai (spirits), and his ability has caused him troubles and misunderstandings in his early life. Due to his strong resemblance with Reiko, he is constantly being pursued by youkai who wants to be freed from the book. Natsume forms a companionship with a powerful youkai named Madara, a giant cat-like spirit who takes on the form of a maneki neko, and becomes his guardian on the condition that Madara gains ownership of the Book if Natsume dies.
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Contest profile[]
Despite debuting in 2008 and having multiple TV-season appearances under his belt, Natsume made his first significant saimoe tournament appearances in the mid-2010's.
Takashi was a tournament favorite in China's Bilibili Moe 2017 contest, securing the top seed of the tournament by virtue of earning the largest vote percentages of the preliminary rounds. During the tournament, some users paired him with Megumi Katou, a fellow top seed. After winning a 4-way match consistiing of "literally who"s and Izuku Midoriya, Natsume proceeded to storm through the knockout stages, taking down Willem, Nagisa, and Saiki before his fateful match against the massively brigaded Romani Archaman in the semi-finals, which he narrowly lost to with a 49.67% vote share. Afterwards, he won the third-place match by defeating Attack on Titan's Levi.
Natsume is also regular competitor in the International Saimoe League's Male division tournament, but is yet to reach its postseason stage. He appeared in the tournament's first three male exhibitions (2011-2013), and was nominated in 2015 but was eliminated in the preliminary rounds. Natsume then made five straight appearances from 2016 to 2020 where he was able to make it into the latter periods, but the farthest he can go was in the Ruby period in 2018. In the overhauled 2020 contest, Natsume made some highlights when he unexpectedly defeated eventual runner-up Sakuta during the tournament's second split (a 16-player single round robin), and subsequently progressed to the third split (same format as before). But he still couldn't make it into the playoffs, and ultimately finished in 27th after playing in the consolation rounds.
Natsume was re-assigned to ISML 2021's Male Spring seasonal after a movie named The Waking Rock and the Strange Visitor was released in Blu-ray format on May 2021. He was placed in a single round robin group consisting of three "Number Two" shonen characters (Sasuke, Zenitsu, Zoro) and two newcomers (Fushi and Adam) who don't really stand any chance. Taking advantage of his status as a fairly strong ISML veteran, Natsume cruised to an easy 5-0 result and secured his first ever ISML award, the male Spring diadem. He also got the 1st seed in the ensuing seasonal playoffs due to having the highest CVP out of all winners, but was defeated in the semi-finals by Winter runner-up Izumi Miyamura. Because of his Spring 2021 win, Takashi is automatically qualified for ISML 2022's main tournament stage.
ISML record[]
Seasonal & Exhibition[]
- Qualified by: The Waking Rock and the Strange Visitor movie BD / DVD release: May 26 (Japan). Wikipedia link
- Group stage: 5W 0L, 1st (Diadem Winner)
- Match 1 (Amet 1):
Roronoa Zoro @ 'One Piece -- 1288 - 870 - Match 2 (Amet 2):
Sasuke Uchiha @ Boruto -- 1003 - 831 - Match 3 (Amet 3: Fushi @ To Your Eternity -- 1374 - 805
- Match 4 (Amet 4): Zenitsu Agatsuma @ Demon Slayer -- 1793 - 1318
- Match 5 (Amet 5): Adam @ Shuumatsu no Valkyrie -- 2333 - 913
- Match 1 (Amet 1):
- Playoffs - Wins: 5, Group CVP: 5.664 (seed 1)
- (PO 3): (8) Kyouya Hashiba @ Remake Our Life -- 3256 - 1514
- (PO 4): (5) Izumi Miyamura @ Horimiya -- 3050 - 3494
Main Tournament[]
TBD
Gem record[]
TBD
Poster gallery[]
Bilibili Moe[]
2017 edition[]
Round of 128 Groups
| Pic | Contestant | Series | Votes | TLV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Takashi Natsume | Natsume's Book of Friends | 89,879 | 2853 |
| Mikazuki Munechika | Touken Ranbu | 20,271 | 755 | |
 |
Izuku Midoriya | My Hero Academia | 17,262 | 773 |
| Angemon | Digimon | 13,574 | 57 |
Bracket Stage
- Win vs Willem Kmetsch, 105,011 - 27,808 (TLV: 1238 - 150)
- Win vs Nagisa Shiota, 132,323 - 48,210 (TLV: 1129 - 91)
- Win vs Kusuo Saiki, 148,414 - 75,149 (TLV: 2584 - 1206)
- Loss vs Romani Archaman, 204,982 - 207,701 (TLV: 24,011 - 23,798)
- Win vs Levi Ackerman, 198,491 - 154,783 (TLV: 7567 - 3325)
Honours[]
Minor Contests (2)
- Myanimelist Forum Husbando Competition 2018 - Winner [1]
- Tencent Buluo Moe III (2019) - Winner
External Links[]
| ISML Seasonal Diadem Winners | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 |  Ririchiyo •  Kuroyukihime •  Asuna •  Rikka
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| 2013 |  Black Rabbit •  Kurumi •  Kirigiri •  Mirai
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| 2014 |  Chitoge •  Shiro •  Chiyo •  Isuzu
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| 2015 |  Megumi K. •  Isla •  Nao •  MitsukiND, SEQ
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| 2016 |  Megumin •  Rem •  Aoba •  Chitose
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| 2017 |  Kanna •  Chtholly •  Suzune •  Nayuta
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| 2018 |  Violet •  UrarakaND, SEQ •  Platelet •  Mai-san
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| 2019 |  Kaguya •  Fumino •  Gray •  Ishtar
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| 2020 |  Kotoko •  Kei S.SEQ •  Chizuru •  Elaina
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| 2021 | Female |  MikuND, SEQ •  IinoND, SEQ •  Keke DC •  RanND, SEQ
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| Male |  TanjiroSEQ, DC •  NatsumeSEQ •  Kimihiko •  Lugh
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| 2022 | ||||
| ND - NOT a DEBUTANT; appeared in a seasonal contest beforehand SEQ - Appeared in a SEQUEL installment DC - Won inter-seasonal playoffs (Divine Circlet / Crown) DCX - Won inter-seasonal playoffs but not a seasonal (listed last) | ||||