The July issue of Hakuensha's Lala magazine revealed on Thursday that the next issue will offer an original anime DVD inspired by Yuki Midorikawa's Natsume's Book of Friends (Natsume Yūjin-Chō) manga. The anime DVD will have a completely original story not told in the manga or its earlier anime adaptations. The DVD will also have a roundtable talk between the cast members.

Readers can get the DVD for 1,350 yen (about US$13). Lala will also offer the first set of five Chibi-Kyun Chara figures to mark the 10th anniversary of the manga. Each figure will cost 980 yen (US$10) for readers. The campaign for the second set will begin this fall.

The manga follows Takashi Natsume, a boy with the ability to see spirits. He inherits a strange book from his deceased grandmother containing the names of the spirits, and realizes that they are trapped by a binding contract. Natsume decides to free the spirits and dissolve the contracts.

Viz Media publishes the manga in North America, and the story has received four television anime adaptations, with the first season airing in 2008. Crunchyroll streamed the four anime seasons as they aired in Japan, and NIS America announced plans to release all four seasons on home video in North America.

[Via Manga News]

Images © Yuki Midorikawa, Hakusensha/Natsume's Book of Friends Production Committee