Natsume Yujin Cho (DVD)

Gifted - or cursed - with the ability to see things others can't, Natsume Takashi spends his life talking to things that go bump in the night in new anime Natsume Yujin Cho.

The original manga by Yuki Midorikawa is serialised in LaLa DX, an anthology magazine. The anime is by Brains Base, responsible for shows such as Majin Kaiser, Shin Getta Robo and Kamichu.

Takashi looks like your regular teenager, but he has a sad history. Orphaned as a child, he was passed from one relative to the next, an unwanted burden. His ability to see spirits made matters worse: when he was young he didn't realise his visions frightened his relatives.

Now in his teens, Takashi lives with some of his father's relatives in the same town his grandmother Reiko grew up in. Reiko, too, was able to see spirits, and used the gift to her advantage.

She would challenge the spirits to a duel which she would always win. Then she would trap the spirit by making them write their name in what she called the Book of Friends.

Reiko died young, but her legacy lives on. A lot of the enslaved spirits have heard Takashi is in town, and are prepared to go to great lengths to be freed.