| Natsume's Book of Friends The Movie: Ephemeral Bond | |||||
| Native Name: |
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| Screenplay: | Sadayuki Murai | ||||
| Music: | Makoto Yoshimori | ||||
| Editing: | Kazuhiko Seki | ||||
| Studio: | Shuka | ||||
| Distributor: | Aniplex | ||||
| Runtime: | 104 minutes | ||||
| Country: | Japan | ||||
| Language: | Japanese | ||||
| Gross: | $17,473,797[1] | ||||
is a 2018 Japanese animated film based on the Yuki Midorikawa's manga and anime Natsume's Book of Friends. The film is produced by Shuka and directed by Hideki Itō under the chief direction of Takahiro Omori; with an original story written by Sadayuki Murai under Midorikawa's supervision. It was released in Japan on September 29, 2018.[2] [3]
Natsume travels to a town where his exorcist grandmother Natsume Reiko stayed in for a bit, there he meets an acquaintance of hers. Meanwhile Nyanko-sensei follows some spirits into the woods and end up with a weird seed stuck on him that later becomes a spirit tree in Natsume's front yard.
| Character | Japanese voice | |
|---|---|---|
| Takashi Natsume | Hiroshi Kamiya[4] Ayumi Fujimura (Child) | |
| Madara/"Nyanko-sensei" | Kazuhiko Inoue | |
| Reiko Natsume | Sanae Kobayashi | |
| Shuuichi Natori | Akira Ishida | |
| Kaname Tanuma | Kazuma Horie | |
| Touru Taki | Rina Satō | |
| Jun Sasada | Miyuki Sawashiro | |
| Atsushi Kitamoto | Hisayoshi Suganuma | |
| Satoru Nishimura | Ryōhei Kimura | |
| Touko Fujiwara | Miki Itō | |
| Shigeru Fujiwara | Eiji Itō | |
| Hinoe | Akemi Okamura | |
| Misuzu | Takaya Kuroda | |
| Chobihige | Chō | |
| Hiiragi | Satsuki Yukino | |
| One-Eyed Middle Class Yokai | Takashi Matsuyama | |
| Ox-Faced Middle Class Yokai | Hiroshi Shimozaki | |
| Kappa | Kyouko Chikiri | |
| Sasago | Ayako Kawasumi | |
| Urihime | Akari Higuchi | |
| Daisuke Yūki | Ayumu Murase | |
| Monmonbō | Eiji Kotōge | |
| Roppon-ude | Mizuki Nishimura | |
| Yorie Tsumura | Sumi Shimamoto | |
| Mukuo Tsumura | Kengo Kora | |
| Mamoru | Binbin Takaoka | |
| Habaki | Fukushi Ochiai | |
| Hat Yōkai | Aki Kanada | |
| Small Yōkai of Five Chome Town | Shin'ya Takahashi Hiroki Matsukawa Manami Hanawa | |
| Elementary School Teacher | Kenya Tomatsu | |
| Elementary School Girl | Arisa Kōri | |
| Mother | Akane Odagiri | |
| Girl | Ayako Mitani | |
| Nomiya-Sensei | Hideyuki Hori |
The cast of the television series also returned to reprise their roles. Uru to perform the film's music "Remember".[5]
The film was released in Japan on September 29, 2018.[6] In Japan, the film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 29, 2019.[7]
Aniplex of America released the film in North America, with a premiere at Anime NYC 2019 and a home video release on November 26, 2019.[8]
Natsume's Book of Friends the Movie grossed $17,473,797 at the box office.