YMMV / Natsume's Book of Friends

• Creepy Cute: Nyanko-sensei is the cute Mentor Mascot, but he also has an intimidating true form that regularly threatens to eat people and other youkai, and even his Maneki Neko form was once rated "4/5 for scariness" by Junji Ito for his "unsettling" expression.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • The black Nyanko-sensei, a god who was trapped in a Maneki-neko much like Madara, except this one is black. He appears in as much official merchandise as Nyanko-sensei himself (meaning a lot), despite only appearing once. He's also popular in fan art.
  • The fox spirit kid is surprisingly popular, and fans of him always say one thing about him: D'AAAAAWWWWWWWW.
  • Gen, the snow bunny-turned-bishounen who, again, appeared in only one episode.
  • Hozukigami and Fuzukigami. Or mostly just their extremely pretty masks, but it's also common to ship them together.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • With, of all series, Kuroko's Basketball, judging by the multiple crossover fanarts on Pixiv and the fact they aired around the same time. It helps that Natsume and Akashi are both voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya.
  • Durarara!! as well for the Hiroshi Kamiya connection and being made in the same studio. Crossovers between the two are also common.
• Heartwarming Moments: So many that making a Drinking Game out of it would have you unconscious by halfway through the first season.
• Ho Yay: So much so it has its own page. It is a shoujo manga afterall.
• Moe:
  • The Little Fox is a little fox who appears to Natsume as an adorable child.
  • Kirinoha is a shy youkai who takes the form of a young boy with bangs and wants nothing more than to see the ocean.
• Periphery Demographic: Actually has a sizable male fanbase in spite it being a shoujo.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Shigeru is implied to be have become this thanks to curse incident at his house. He easily brushes off Natsume wrecking the room and does not question it despite Natsume not being able to formulate an explanation behind it. This trait is possibly influenced by the fact that this accident carries much resemblance to the past and that he knows both Natsume and Reiko aren't exactly ordinary people. However, this trope is highly downplayed as he seems to not be completely aware of Natsume's powers.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: Kogitsune (The Little Fox-child) is still young, is drawn as a generically cute child, has long, silky hair, and has worn a sun-hat with a pink ribbon and a long, white shirt that could be mistaken for a dress.
• The Woobie: So. Many. Characters! But particuarly Natsume, in a Stoic Woobie fashion.