Tooru Taki (多軌 透, Taki Tōru) is a main recurring character of Natsume's Book of Friends series.
She is one of Takashi Natsume's best friends and schoolmate, as well as one of the few humans who knows Natsume can see youkai. She herself cannot see them, but they are visible to her and other humans if a youkai steps inside her spell circle that she inherited from her late grandfather.
Appearance[]
Taki has the appearance of a small young girl, and is generally described as cute (notably by Satoru Nishimura). She has short dusty blonde hair and light brown eyes.
She tends to wear casual, feminine clothes.
Personality[]
Taki is generally a happy, friendly and optimistic girl. She refrained from speaking due to a youkai's curse, not wanting anyone else to be cursed along with her, making her seem introverted and mysterious at first, but was returned to her former personality when the youkai was sealed away.
She is a very determined and resourceful person, as shown with the fact she kept trying to catch the youkai that cursed her for a while on her own despite the fact she couldn't even seen them; and she is quick to react and take action in dangerous situations. She is pretty booksmart and knowledgeable, especially when it comes to youkai due to what she learnt through her grandfather and can get very excited and talkative on the topic. She however can also be quite blunt and tactless sometimes, as well as a bit obtuse to other people's feelings.
She is shown to have a peculiar taste in cuteness, as is shown when she hugs Nyanko-sensei, calling him cute. She however isn't very good when it comes to art and craft, and is often described as lacking in delicacy despite her appearance.
Like Tanuma, she tries to help Natsume in any way she can, but is usually prevented from doing so because Natsume worries about their involvement with youkai. In season 4, she expressed interest in learning onmyoji through her grandfather's books, gradually becoming more curious with youkai literature and ancient onmyoji spells while still fearful from her past experience with the curse.
History[]
Tooru Taki is the second and youngest child of the Taki family. Descended from former onmyoji, a form of of Japanese divination and geomorphology based on the theory of the yin-and-yang five phases, the Takis are an ancient and wealthy family with a large history who live in a big old house.
Her family is constituted of her father and mother, her older brother Isamu Taki who is six years her eldest, and her grandfather Shin'ichiro Taki.
Tooru says both of her parents have always been very busy with work and so were rarely home: her father works overseas and her mother always come home late[1]; although, it is also said that "both of her parents works overseas." Because of this, Tooru and her brother have principally been raised by their grandfather, Shin'ichiro. Tooru also says that their parents were very stern and wouldn't allow her to do things like run around or play in the house, so the both of them must've had a strict upbringing when their parents were around.[2][3]
Their grandfather had a particular fascination for youkai and folklore as well as for the family's onmyoji history, and Tooru used to listen and believe in his every word. She adored her grandpa and seemed to share a particular bond with him, being apparently the closest to him in the family. On the other hand, Isamu couldn't stand his grandfather's hobby and passion for the supernatural, so as he grew older he kept drifting apart from Tooru and Shin'ichiro.
Tooru says that when she was little she actually used to be jealous of her brother because she felt he had a special connection to Shin'ichiro, with him being older and having spent years with him before she was even born, so she used to pester her mother and the rest of the family to tell them what they did together back then.[4]
At some point, Isamu left the family home, probably when he started high school, and since then he barely came back home anymore; so Tooru was left living alone with her grandfather.
Shin'ichiro then got sick when Tooru was around 10 years old, and died shortly after. At this point, Tooru's parents proposed to her to come with them oversea, but Tooru refused; she didn't want to leave their family home and instead keep looking after it, likely in her grandfather's memories. Which means from this point on, with both her parents busy with work and her brother away and busy with school, she was almost completely left alone in their house.
About five years later, when Tooru was in her last year of middle school, she discovered something in her grandfather's note: a circle. Curious, she started drawing the circle outside, and then one day saw a tiny tengu going through it; that's when she realized that this circle allowed normal people to see youkai, as long as they had at least a little bit of spiritual power. From then on, she kept drawing circles everywhere in her excitement, until the day where a large scary youkai went through it and cursed her as punishment for seeing them.
Plot[]
She is first vaguely mentioned by Nishimura, as he tells Natsume about a "cute girl from Class 5," but who is "a bit weird."[5]
Relationships[]
Takashi Natsume[]
Natsume is one of Taki's best friends. Taki first met, Takashi in school. But due, to youkai’s curse Taki didn’t talk to anyone (due to now wanting other people, being cursed) and she was introverted and mysterious at first. After accidentally saying his name, she apologizes and runs away.
After Nyanko-Sensei trips her, she introduces herself as Tooru Taki. Natsume asks about her, and after telling him about the youkai curse he wants to help her win. At school, he insures Taki that they will win. When finding the youkai, Natsume gets caught and gets into an unknown place, in the next episode, Natsume gets cursed so he can't see youkai. Taki apologizes for dragging him into this mess, and later they find the youkai. Taki gets caught by the youkai and gets stuck, then Natsume reaches out to help her. Nyanko-Sensei takes on his true form, and helps Natsume get the mirror. When in the circle, Natsume chants the ritual and seals the youkai that cursed Taki. Natsume and Taki become great friends after it all ends.
Kaname Tanuma[]
Tanuma is one of Taki's best friends.
In the manga, she first meet him in Volume 8: Chapter 27, during the school festival, where Natsume introduces them. In the anime, she meet him early on in Season 2: Episode 12, during the Kai arc. Their interaction is awkward at fist, but they both worry about Natsume and feel the urge to support him. Another time, Tanuma, along with Natsume, helps Taki deal with a Youkai at her home. They end up becoming good friends after a while. She and Tanuma also take care of Natsume when he is turned into a younger version of himself by a Youkai.
Madara[]
Taki first meets Nyanko-Sensei after he trips her. Nyanko-Sensei/Madara helps Taki get free of the curse, and their bond goes as close to "helpers" or "friends." Because she is overwhelmed by the cuteness of his cat form, she can't resist cuddling Nyanko-Sensei every time she sees him. Nyanko-Sensei tries but often fails to avoid this.
Shin'ichiro Taki[]
Taki's grandfather. Taki has always been very close to her grandfather, and she absolutely adore him.
Isamu Taki[]
Taki's older brother, who is six years her eldest. Tooru and Isamu have a distant relationship.
Tooru Taki's Parents[]
Not much is known about Taki's parents and her relationship with them. Both of them are very busy with their work and almost never home, which is why Taki was almost entirely raised by her grandfather. Probably because of how absent they are, she seems a little detached from them; however, she has never shown outright resement towards them for their absence, so it is unclear what her feelings on them are.
Seiji Matoba[]
It is revealed that Tooru has actually met Matoba once in the past, as he came to pay his respects to her grandfather during his sixth memorial service.[6]
Jun Sasada[]
In the anime, Sasada doesn't move at the end of Season 1: Episode 4 like she does in the manga, and instead become a part of Natsume's school friends group. As such, she and Taki also ends up becoming friends.
Powers & Abilities[]
Youkai Circles[]
Even though Taki herself has too little spirit energy to see youkai, she does have the knowledge of drawing youkai circles, discovered by her grandfather.
The circle, once drawn, gives any human the ability to see youkai who step within the radius of the circle. The circle does not require any spirit energy to create and activate, so anyone could possible draw it if they know how to. But due to it being complicated in looks, Taki is presumably the only one able to draw it without the need of a guide.
Other Spells[]
Taki's grandfather created or attempted many other "spells" related to Youkai, but was unsuccessful in seeing one. In the present, some still remains, such as the seals on dangerous Youkai, (Kakura), around Taki's house, and the circle mentioned above. Taki does not know much of them, but knows the purpose of some of them.
Etymology[]
- Her given name, "透 [Tooru]" can mean "Transparent/Clear." It is a gender neutral name, although it tends to be more often given to boys.
- Her family name, "多軌 [Ta-ki]," can mean "Many ruts/wheel tracks," written with the characters "多 [Ta]" which means "Many/Multiple" and "軌 [Ki]" meaning "Rut/Wheel tracks," or less common "Way of doing."
Trivia[]
- In English translation published by Viz Media, her first name is given as "Tohru."
References[]
- ↑ Natsume's Book of Friends Volume 16: Chapter 64
- ↑ Natsume's Book of Friends Volume 24: Chapter 78
- ↑ Natsume's Book of Friends Volume 24: Chapter 95
- ↑ Natsume's Book of Friends Volume 24: Chapter 95
- ↑ Natsume's Book of Friends Volume 5: Chapter 17
- ↑ Natsume's Book of Friends Volume 28: Chapter 112