Omamori Himari
Cover of Omamori Himari Volume 1 as published by Fujimi Shobo featuring Himari Noihara.
おまもりひまり
Genre	Action, Supernatural, Romantic comedy, Harem
Manga
Written by	Milan Matra
Published by	Fujimi Shobo (Magazine) Kadokawa Shoten (tankōbon, Vol. 1-5)
English publisher	Yen Press
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Monthly Dragon Age
Original run	May 8, 2006 – ongoing
Volumes	10 (9 + Bonus volume) (List of volumes)
Light novel
Written by	Kougetsu Mikazuki
Illustrated by	Milan Matra
Published by	Fujimi Shobo
Demographic	Male
Imprint	Fujimi Fantasia Bunko
Magazine	Dragon Magazine
Original run	July 19, 2008 – January 20, 2010
Volumes	4
TV anime
Directed by	Shinji Ushiro
Produced by	Seiichi Hachiya
Written by	Katsumi Hasegawa
Music by	Yukari Hashimoto
Studio	Zexcs
Network	TV Saitama, Chiba TV, Tokyo MX, TV Aichi, NTV, TV Kanagawa, TVQ, Sun Television
Original run	January 6, 2010 – March 24, 2010
Episodes	12 (List of episodes)
Manga
Omamori Himari: Book of the Gaiden
Written by	Milan Matra
Illustrated by	Nikubanare
Published by	Fujimi Shobo (Magazine) Kadokawa Shoten (tankōbon)
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Monthly Dragon Age
Published	September 9, 2011

Omamori Himari (おまもりひまり^?, "Protective Charm Himari"), officially abbreviated as OmaHima (おまひま^?), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Milan Matra. The story revolves around Yuto Amakawa, an orphan who, on his sixteenth birthday, meets Himari, a cat spirit samurai girl who has sworn an oath to protetct Yuto from the various monsters and demons that are out to kill him. The manga began serialization in the May 2006 issue of Fujimi Shobo's manga magazine Monthly Dragon Age, and the first tankōbon was released by Kadokawa Shoten on February 7, 2007. A four-panel spinoff ran in Monthly Dragon Age from November 2009 to November 2010. A light novel adaptation by Kougetsu Mikazuki was serialized in Dragon Magazine, and released four volumes between July 2008 and January 2010. A 12-episode anime adaptation by Zexcs aired in Japan between January and March 2010 on TV Saitama, Chiba TV, and other networks. The manga is licensed in North America by Yen Press, and released the first volume on October 26, 2010. In Japanese culture, an omamori is an amulet worn as either a good luck charm or to ward off evil spirits, in reference to the title character's role in the story as a bodyguard.

Story

Seven years ago, Yuto Amakawa's parents died in a car accident, leaving him alone without a single relative, the only item left of his family being a strange and mysterious amulet given to him by his late grandmother. Ever since then, his childhood friend Rinko Kuzaki (and her parents^[1]) has cooked and taken care of him. His life takes a drastic turn on his 16th birthday when he meets Himari, a cat demon samurai girl. Himari reveals to him that some of his ancestors were part of the twelve Demon Slayer families that have been slaying demons since the feudal era. She has sworn an oath to protect Yuto from the demons that are out to kill him, but Yuto's allergy to cats makes it somewhat difficult to deal with.
Later on, Yuto encounters various girls who take a liking to him: Shizuku, a mizuchi in the form of a small child; Lizlet, a tsukumogami in the form of a busty tea-serving maid; and Kuesu, another Demon Slayer who is revealed to be Yuto's fiancée and an object of Yuto's lost past.
As the series progresses, Yuto and the group encounter some powerful ayakashi, with some of them being allies, and Yuto eventually makes a life-changing decision to fight for his belief of coexistence between human and ayakashi.

Terminology

Demon Slayers (鬼斬り役 Onikiriyaku^?)

Humans with supernatural powers and abilities with the duty to slay ayakashi, which has been their primary purpose for hundreds of years. The Demon Slayers were established by the feudal lords who opposed the ayakashi and because of this, most of the surviving ayakashi bear a grudge against them for their near-extinction. The Demon Slayers consist of twelve families, each family having their own unique powers and abilities, such as the Amakawa Family with their Light Ferry ability and the Jinguji Family with their dark magic. Out of the twelve families in feudal times, less than half of the families remain in existence in present times. Each Demon Slayer family is sorted by rank, with the Jinguji Family being at the bottom (#12) and the Tsuchimikado Family at the top (#1).

Ayakashi (妖^?)

The demons and spirits based on Japanese mythology and folklore. They once coexisted with the humans until the Demon Slayers arrived and killed most of them. As a result, the surviving ayakashi bear a deep hatred towards the Demon Slayers. Some ayakashi, like Himari and Shizuku, can assume human forms to blend in with society (though Himari comments that most do not like human cities^[2]), and some ayakashi can cast barriers and spells using their yōki (妖力^?, lit. "Demon Energy").

Among the ayakashi are three powerful ayakashi known as Japan's Three Evil Demons (日本三大悪妖怪 Nihon Sandai Aku Yōkai^?), consisting of Shuten-dōji, Tama, and Emperor Sutoku, the latter who has yet to appear in the series. They were sealed by humans in ancient times and parts of them were spread throughout Japan until it was broken by Tama's awakening and Shuten-dōji's revival. It remains unclear if Emperor Sutoku has been freed after the seal was broken. Although many ayakashi in Omamori Himari serve as antagonists, there are some who serve as allies.

List of Omamori Himari characters

The main characters of Omamori Himari (from left to right):Yuto Amakawa, Himari Noihara, Rinko Kuzaki (top row); Shizuku, Lizlet L. Chelsie, and Kuesu Jinguji (bottom row).

The manga and anime series Omamori Himari features an extensive cast of characters by Milan Matra. The series' storyline focuses on Yuto Amakawa, an orphan who, on the day of his sixteenth birthday, meets Himari, a buxom sword-wielding girl and a cat spirit. Yuto later learns that he is a Demon Slayer and that his family is one of the twelve Demon Slayer families that had slain demons for hundreds of years, and that Himari had sworn an oath set by their ancestors to protect him until his powers awaken. Throughout the series, Yuto, along with his childhood friend Rinko, later encounter other girls who soon take a liking to Yuto: Shizuku, a mizuchi, Lizlet, an artifact spirit, and Kuesu Jinguji, an heiress to the Jinguji Family of Demon Slayers who is revealed to be Yuto's fiancée. All of the main characters, except for Shizuku and Lizlet, are 16 years old at the start of the series.

Main characters

Yuto Amakawa

Voiced by: Daisuke Hirakawa

 

 , Mina (child)

Yuto Amakawa (天河 優人 Amakawa Yūto^?) is the male protagonist of the series. He is the sole descendant of the Amakawa Family (天河家 Amakawa Ke^?, ranked #6^[1]), one of the twelve Demon Slayer families who had fought and slain ayakashi for hundreds of years. His parents died in a car crash when he was eight years old and he fell into a deep depression when he arrived in Takamiya until Rinko helped him out of it. He also has a terrible cat allergy, which would cause his eyes to water and his nose to run as well as causing him to sneeze uncontrollably whenever he is near one (later revealed to be Kuesu's doing).
Yuto spent most of his childhood with his grandparents in Noihara, and shared a close bond with Himari when she was a cat. He also had a close friendship with Kuesu Jinguji, who would later be his fiancé. However, due to the strong protection spell placed in the amulet that his grandmother gave to him (an omamori), most of his childhood memories were erased, though they were later regained after his visit to his grandparents' home and his reunion with Kuesu. He is usually portrayed with a friendly and caring demeanor, but he can be shy and nervous in perverted situations or harem acts, most of the time with Himari. Yuto has also been shown to be acrophobic, which resulted from his childhood when he tried to climb a tree to get to Himari only for him to fall each time and when he fell from a cliff one night during his walk home, at which he suffered some physical trauma after Himari passed out using her demon powers to call for help.^[2] Upon learning of his family's Demon Slayer heritage, he is initially dismayed, repeatedly declaring that he has no intention of fighting. This later changes after he witnesses Himari's demon side in Noihara and during the Christmas Eve incident followed by Shuten-dōji and Tama's appearance, as he soon realizes that he needs to start fighting to preserve his way of peace.
As a descendant of the Amakawa Family, Yuto has the power of the Light Ferry (光渡し Hikari-watashi^?), an ability that imbues ordinary objects (such as a pole or twig) with light-based energy, turning them into powerful melee weapons equivalent to that of a legendary blade. He can also imbue other weapons, shield himself from harm, and enhance his physical senses with it, one instance is when he imbued Himari's Yasutsuna to defeat Shuten-dōji.^[3] He can also use it to trap other enemies as well as explained by Hitsugi, once doing so against Tesuma.^[4] In order for him to control the Light Ferry, Yuto must keep a calm mind and have good composure. Prior to having some control over it, the Light Ferry ability only emerged when Yuto was in a near-death situation. Although the Amakawa Family is a higher-ranking family, they were not well liked by the other Demon Slayer families due to their association with ayakashi. In addition, the Light Ferry power has only been descended to the male half of the family.

Himari Noihara

 

Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu

Himari Noihara (野井原 緋鞠 Noihara Himari^?) is a bakeneko, a shapeshifting demon cat, and the female protagonist of the series. She appears to Yuto as his bodyguard to protect him from the ayakashi out of an ancient oath set by her ancestor, who was spared by one of the Amakawa's heads after he refused to kill her. She is known to other ayakashi as the Crimson Blade of Noihara (野井原の緋剣 Noihara no Hiken^?) due to her expert swordsmanship, and refers to herself as the "sword that protects" (護り刀 mamorigatana^?) Yuto. She is usually seen wearing traditional Japanese clothes (when not in her school uniform) and always wears her hair in a long ponytail with a large pink bow to hold it in place, and speaks mostly in an archaic and overly polite way. She is very close to Yuto, whom she refers to as "Young Lord" (若殿 Wakadono^?), and is sometimes philosophical, worried that Yuto will kill her when his abilities awaken. However she is very fond of him, as she wants to be with him as a person, and is very flirtatious with him because she and Yuto got along well in Noihara in the past when she was a white cat. This flirting often annoys Rinko to no end. In the anime, Himari is one of the only people to have kissed Yuto (The other being Kuesu). In spite of this, she is also very serious about her duty as a bodyguard, and is willing to protect Yuto from harm by any means.
In the final episode of anime series, Himari voluntarily gives her heart in to the darkness inside of her to fight Tama at her full strength, assuming a demonic form called Ayakashi Himari (妖緋鞠^?). Aside from the physical changes (white hair, pale skin with black markings, red claws, and a bushier tail), Himari also gains the ability to perform powerful claw swipes from a distance in addition to her increased demon powers, but the loss of her personality makes her a deadly killing machine, unable to distinguish friend from foe. After she was restored by Yuto and Shuten-dōji assumes his Oni form, Yuto imbues her Yasutsuna with his Light Ferry ability, allowing her to assume a powered-up form called Super Himari (スーパー緋鞠 Sūpā Himari^?), which consists of her wearing revealing samurai-like garments. As Super Himari, she gains the ability of levitation and can slice the strongest of demons in two with a single blow.^[5][3]
As a bakeneko, Himari can shapeshift from human to cat (the latter in which she can also talk in) and she can also reveal her cat ears and tail while in her human form (though this triggers Yuto's allergies while doing so). She also has superhuman speed, strength, and endurance, and she is extremely agile due to her cat-like nature. She is armed with Yasutsuna (安綱 lit. "Gentle Crane"^?), a katana crafted in the Heian period that was handed down to her by Yuto's grandfather and the legendary blade that defeated Shuten-dōji in the past,^[6] and is almost never seen without it (its blade was burned in chapters 18–29 of the manga and episodes 7–10 of the anime following her duel with Kuesu). Himari is also proficient with other bladed weapons as well, once using a scythe against Ageha in the anime, and she is also skilled in close-range combat.^[7] Because she is a cat, however, she shares some of their natural instincts as well, such as having a fear of water (Rinko speculates that Himari is afraid of deep water, water in quantity^[8]), a penchant for seafood, and being very sensitive to winter temperatures. Also, due to her ayakashi nature, she becomes weakened whenever she is near a Shinto shrine (to the point where even a thrown stone can knock her out instantly, as shown by Rinko during the summer festival^[9]).
When Himari loses her sanity during a fight, she goes on a berserker rampage, which is depicted by her having red eyes, an uncontrollable bloodlust, and (in the anime only) a dark aura surrounding her body. Also, Himari loses all rational thought, becoming a mindless killing machine bent on hunting and killing anything that moves, which Shizuku states is part of her kind's true nature. Shizuku also warns Yuto that there is a much higher risk of Himari reverting to her kind's killer instincts should she continue to fight. Rinko's nickname for Himari is "Cat Princess" (猫姫 Neko-hime^?), while Shizuku and Kuesu simply refer to her as "Cat" (猫 Neko^?).

Rinko Kuzaki

Voiced by: Iori Nomizu

Rinko Kuzaki (九崎 凛子 Kuzaki Rinko^?) is Yuto's tomboyish childhood friend and next-door neighbor. She had a very close friendship with Yuto, as she helped him out of his depression when he first moved to Takamiya and cried along with him when his parents died. She also has feelings for Yuto until Himari and the other girls appeared, causing her to display a tsundere personality as a result of their constant flirting. She also suffers from an inferiority complex from their well-endowed breasts (sans Shizuku). She is also a remarkable athlete, excelling at nearly every sport at her school.
Rinko always tends to ruin every romantic or perverted moment Yuto has with another girl by hitting him with her signature nail bat (or any other object she could find) despite the fact that he had nothing to do with it in the first place. However, despite all of this, she still wants to support Yuto to the very end even if he does become a full-fledged Demon Slayer, believing the she is the only person good for him due to their long relationship and that all he ever wanted was a normal life. Rinko is always seen wearing two red ribbons in her hair; a tradition involving them is that, every year during a summer festival, Yuto would buy her a new pair for her to wear year round and she would tie last year's ribbons to a treebranch.^[10] She owns a pet cat named Ranmaru (蘭丸^?).

Shizuku

 

Voiced by: Kei Shindō

Shizuku (静水久^?) is a mizuchi, a water deity (traditionally depicted as a dragon) who is introduced in chapter 5 of the manga (she had a brief cameo in chapter 3 prior). She assumes the form of a green-haired child with red eyes, looking like a drowning victim just pulled out of the water, abnormally pale, cold to the touch and dripping wet, and has a cold-fish personality to match her appearance. Her demeanor can quickly change to a murderous grin when her desire to kill emerges. She first appears to Yuto at a nearby lake in the forest where Himari was killing other ayakashi, warning him to deviate from his Demon Slayer heritage or face death, and then disappearing. Later on, after witnessing Yuto's resolve to save Himari from her water whirlpool during her fight with the latter, she becomes puzzled about him and, in an attempt to understand him more, invites herself to live in his house, flirting with him on multiple occasions. She is shown to have developed feelings for Yuuto and also tends to show signs of jealousy when another girl flirts with him. Her family was killed by the Jibashiri Family of Demon Slayers 100 years prior to the series' start, and she bears a grudge against them as a result. However, she lets go of it following an intervention from Yuto and Himari after meeting one of their descendants. She often ends her sentences with na no (〜なの^?, lit. "You know"), and her name is a homonym for a drop of water (albeit with different Kanji).
As a mizuchi, Shizuku can manipulate water and ice and use it as a weapon or a shield, even using it to heal the wounds of others, once doing so with Yuto after Himari's battle with Ageha.^[11] However, if the water is mixed, such as with another ayakashi's blood, she cannot control it.^[12] She can also regenerate her body after being sliced in two and her hair extends whenever her desire to kill emerges. She is also very sensitive to variations in temperature, as she is cold-blooded, and needs to cool down in the summer by eating shaved ice or other frozen treats and needs to warm up in the winter by staying in warm places (such as hiding in a kotatsu). She can also extend her snake-like tongue to abnormal lengths. She claims that her kind were excellent housekeepers prior to the Demon Slayers' arrival, and as a result is very adept at cooking and cleaning.^[13] She is often referred to as "lolita snake", "loli-snake", or simply "snake" by other female characters, namely Rinko, Himari, and Kuesu.

Lizlet L. Chelsie

Voiced by: Asuka Ōgame

Lizlet L. Chelsie (リズリット・L・チェルシー Rizuritto L. Cherushī^?), nicknamed Liz by the others, is a tsukumogami, an inanimate object that comes to life after a hundred years, who first appeared in chapter 8 of the manga (she had a cameo in the chapter preceding it, when Yuto and Himari were in town). Her true form is an antique teacup, while she frequently appears as a busty blonde girl with blue eyes wearing a maid's outfit. She came to Japan from England, and works as a waitress at Café Relish (カフェ・リリッシュ Kafe Ririsshu^?), a popular maid café where she also resides. Liz is a self-proclaimed "Tea Sprite" due to her expertise with it (to the extent of having a garden that contains numerous types of tea leaves^[14]) and adheres to the maids' code of conduct. When Liz got suspicious of Yuto's constant watching during his first visit to the café, she believed that he was an exorcist trying to kill her with Himari as his accomplice. Fearing for her life, she spiked his tea with poisonous tea leaves, which was soon foiled by Shizuku tasting it (in the anime, it makes whoever drinks it to leave her café). After her true identity was discovered during her fight with Himari, she tried to protect her real body from breaking but failed to recover it after Himari lost her grip on it until Yuto caught it at the last minute, saving her. Soon after the misunderstanding was cleared, Liz took a perverse liking to Yuto and fell in love with him, seeing him as her "significant other" and "Master" to the others' annoyance, and starts to flirt with him every time he comes to visit. Later on, she starts serving him "Milk Tea", in which she hugs her breasts every time she says it, suggesting she means her breast milk. She has a pacifist nature and gets intimidated easily when she sees someone powerful, often resulting in her being the series' comic relief.
Liz can use her magic tea leaves to attack her opponents as well as defend herself when needed, and is shown to have feats of superhuman strength, once managing to throw Yuto at a very high altitude without much stress during his "training session".^[15] Because her human body is an illusion, she is immune to any damage caused by a bladed weapon, where it would just regenerate at the site of damage (her body, not her clothes). She can also teleport from a limited range as long as her teacup is present. However, because Liz's human body is symbiotic to her real body, she feels whatever the teacup is feeling, meaning that if the teacup breaks, her human body will also suffer the same fate. This was demonstrated in one of the manga's side stories when Himari rubs and licks her teacup while she was sleeping, causing Liz to feel the same effects as a result.^[14]

Kuesu Jinguji

Voiced by: Yuki Matsuoka

Kuesu Jinguji (神宮寺 くえす Jingūji Kuesu^?) is the heiress of the Jinguji Family (神宮寺家 Jingūji Ke^?, ranked #12), a Demon Slayer family that uses Western dark magic, who made her first appearance in chapter 15 of the manga. She is Yuto's fiancé, claiming that both of their families had promised their future marriage, and dresses in gothic lolita fashion. She is condescending towards ayakashi and, unlike Yuto, is fully trained in her Demon Slayer heritage. She is very arrogant and haughty as a result of her upbringing, and is shown to be highly aggressive and assertive, once kissing Yuto twice in front of Himari to stake her claim during her debut. She also has an enduring rivalry with Himari over Yuto, which stems from their first encounter in Noihara when she told Himari to stay away from him, and made Yuto allergic to cats with her magic so Himari couldn't get close to him.^[16] Prior to leaving for England to study magic, she and Yuto made a promise together to fight ayakashi, which was forgotten due to the magic in Yuto's amulet. Like the other girls, she, too has feelings for Yuto, but due to him befriending ayakashi, which to her is contradictory to his duties as a Demon Slayer, she often displays tsundere traits much like Rinko. She slowly begins to accept the ayakashi siding with him as her comrades, though this does not change her views about them should they betray him.
Kuesu is on unfriendly terms with the other Demon Slayer families, as her family was looked down upon by them and the ayakashi as heretics and outcasts for using Western magic. The only Demon Slayer family that didn't look down to them, however, was the Amakawa Family. Because they were one of the higher-ranking families, the Jinguji Family tried to make allies with them through marriage (even Himari speculates it as a well-thought idea^[16]). One of Kuesu's notable features is the crescent-shaped mark on her forehead, similar to the one that often appears on Sailor Moon's Usagi Tsukino. Because of this and her relentless killing of ayakashi, she is given the infamous title of "Twilight Moon" (黄昏の月 Tsaogare no Tsuki^?). Another notable feature is her white hair. Originally black, it turned that color as a result of her casting a forbidden magic spell to stop an evil cult that released a demon during her time in England.^[17]
As a descendant of the Jinguji Family, Kuesu can cast various magic spells through her spellbook, though she can easily cast these spells without it. During their fight, she told Himari after losing her spellbook that Himari had made a grave error in that her spellbook didn't act as a talisman or focus to enable or enhance her spells, but as a limiter to decrease her enormous power (so she'd do less damage to the area such as making just a small crater where her target stood as opposed to wiping out most of the hill they're on). She also has the ability to teleport and wields a Stechkin APS machine pistol loaded with magic bullets as her personal sidearm. Similar to the Amakawa Family's power, the Jinguji Family's dark magic has only been passed down to female members of the family.

Ayakashi

Japan's Three Great Evil Demons

Tamamo-no-Mae (玉藻前^?)

Voiced by: Kaoru Mizuhara

Known by her pet name Tama (タマ^?), she is a golden nine-tailed fox and the main antagonist of the series. First appearing in chapter 28 of the manga, assuming the guise of a small child, she is a very powerful ayakashi despite her appearance. Because she is not as powerful as she was before she was sealed, she eats other ayakashi to restore her yōkai powers and seems to have an insatiable appetite for them, once devouring an entire countryside of them in her first appearance. When she first tried to eat Himari's breasts, she states that she wasn't delicious because she was holding back her true nature, and as such, sends numerous ayakashi in an attempt to compel Himari to show her true power, which almost succeeded during the Christmas Eve fight.^[18] She is portrayed as a quiet girl who rarely speaks, having Shuten-dōji speak for her on most occasions, and is always seen eating something, be it another ayakashi or some sweets. In the anime, she is defeated by Himari in her ayakashi form but survives and is last seen in Yuto's house eating lunch with the other girls.

Tama has the ability to levitate, use telekinesis to move large objects or trap her opponents, and can generate force fields powerful enough to break a single sword on impact. In chapters 40-43 of the manga, she assumes an adult form while Yuto and the others were temporarily residing in a ski resort owned by Kofuyu, where she showed a sexual interest in Yuto. She is significantly more powerful in this form and is able to generate large amounts of yōki enough to overpower Himari and the others, though because of her current state she is vulnerable to powerful attacks, such as the case with Himari through the teamwork of Yuto and the others.

In the anime, when she changes into her fox form, a large ring with nine smaller rings appears around her neck, with the flame inside of each ring representing the number of tails she has.^[3] She does not take such a form in the manga, as of Volume 9.

Shuten-dōji (酒呑童子^?)

Voiced by: Masami Kikuchi

A powerful Oni ruler from ancient times. He swears vengeance against the human race for sealing him after he was awakened by Tama's yōki, and is condescending towards them as a result, finding them in modern times weak and pathetic. Because he is incomplete, he uses Tama's yōki from the ayakashi she devours to help regain his power so he can have his revenge. Appearing as a well-dressed young man, he is a very powerful demon that is agile and fast enough to sense the presence of incoming attacks. Tama is usually seen riding on his shoulder and he usually does most of the talking for her.

In the anime, after Tama was defeated by Himari's ayakashi form, he planned to use Himari to put the human race in a state of fear, only to have that foiled when Yuto brought her back to normal and soon met his end by being incapacitated and sliced in two by Super Himari after he assumed his Oni form.

In the manga, he dies at the hands of Himari, trying to protect Tamamo-no-Mae from a possibly fatal attack.^[19]

Minor ayakashi

Kaya (加耶^?)

Voiced by: Mariko Honda

A Zashiki-warashi who lives at Yuto's grandparents' house. She is very fond of Himari, as she once lived with her when Yuto's grandparents were alive, but does not like Yuto due to the fact that she is very jealous of him and blames him of Himari leaving her. She is usually seen either cleaning up the house or reading books and scrolls in the storehouse. Kaya once provided Shizuku with the Amakawa's family book, which held information about the family itself and Himari's ancestors at the latter's request, and (in the anime only) provided Yuto and Rinko brief information about Shuten-dōji and Tama's origins. She can generate a force field around herself and other people in her vincitiy to repel enemy attacks, though this ability was only shown in the anime.

Ageha (明夏羽^?)

Voiced by: Chiaki Takahashi

A Hinoenma (飛縁魔^?), a succubus who feeds off the blood of men, who attempted to kill Yuto and Himari in a nearby lake in Noihara in chapters 10–12 of the manga. However, after Yuto blocks her finishing blow that was meant for Himari, she is almost killed by the latter during her demon rampage until Yuto intervened with the awakening of the Light Ferry. After the incident, she begins to display tsundere traits and later reappears in chapter 25 to drink his blood under a bridge. However, she found herself so intoxicated by it that she actually tried to violate him until Himari and Shizuku intervene. After Sasa stops the fight at Rinko's request, she leaves with him not before telling Yuto that she'll drink his blood next time. In the anime, she becomes a supporting character following Shuten-dōji and Tama's appearance. Her anime incarnation portrays her as being more perverse towards Yuto following their first encounter in Noihara, as she once made Yuto grope her breasts during their second encounter, dressed in a revealing schoolgirl outfit in an attempt to awaken Yuto's powers (which was an idea of hers), and once attempted to drink Yuto's blood while the latter was sleeping only to find that he was outside with Himari (in which how she says is an euphemism for sex).

In her first appearance, Ageha wears an outfit modeled after those worn by mikos, in addition to wearing boots and a beret-like hat. In her second appearance, she swaps her outfit for modern-day clothing, wearing a violet tube top underneath a tan jacket, a miniskirt, silver and black boots, and violet sunglasses. She can stretch her limbs to unimaginable lengths, use pyrokinesis,^{[volume & issue needed]} and hypnotize her victims with her eyes. She can increase her powers by drinking the blood of a Demon Slayer, but the blood itself must have enough time to mix in properly; if she uses too much power while it is still mixing, she will be paralyzed for a short period, such as the case during her fight with Himari when the latter was turned into a child.^{[volume & issue needed]} She also wields a single-edged sword modeled after a kunai as her personal weapon, which was broken in the anime by Tama's force field when Himari wielded it.

Sasa (沙砂^?)

Voiced by: Miyako Nigo

An ippon-datara (一本ダタラ^?), a monopedal cyclops-like demon that lives in mountains. He is Ageha's accomplice that attacked Shizuku, Kaya, and Rinko at Yuto's grandparents' house and was almost killed by Shizuku until he was spared when the latter saw Yuto's Light Ferry ability. In his second appearance, he assumes a bipedal form with androgynous features. After Rinko took him out to eat ice cream at Café Relish, he stopped the fight between Ageha and Himari at her request. Sasa can summon giant pillars from the sky to crush his opponents, increase his mass at will, and fire energy beams from his eye. It is mentioned by Ageha in the anime that his kind are excellent swordsmiths and as such, can repair and restore broken swords to their original condition and strength.

Sasa's anime incarnation portrays him as bipedal and his gender has been changed to a girl. Also, like Ageha, he/she becomes a supporting character following Shuten-dōji and Tama's appearance, and plays a key role in restoring Himari's Yasutsuna by shooting it with his/her eye, something that was originally done by Kuesu in the manga by recreating it through some sort of time magic.^[20]

Kagetsuki (影月^?)

A Kasha, a cat-like monster that steals and devours corpses, with his human form bearing a strong resemblance to L Lawliet from Death Note. Appearing in chapter 16 of the manga when he takes Shizuku away from her fight with Kuesu, he becomes Yuto, Himari and Shizuku's informant. He is one of the monsters that likes to be an ally to Yuto due to his kindness, leading to a time that he once killed an ayakashi for Yuto right after he awakens his Light Ferry power, saying that he was not ready to fight monsters due to him making them his allies.^[2] Aside from his human form bearing a physical resemblance to "L", he also has the same personality as the latter, being calm, smart, having good composure, and being quiet most of the time. His name literally means "Shadow Moon".

Aya (文^?)

Voiced by: Mami Kosuge

A fugurama-yōbi (文車妖妃^?), a spirit messenger, working under Kaya's wing. Her original form is a magical envelope that can be used to summon her in her human form, which consists of her having long blue hair with matching eyes wearing a long light blue yukata. She makes her first appearance in chapter 21 of the manga when Himari was looking for a replacement weapon from Noihara's weapon vault, as she lost Yasutsuna during her battle with Kuesu, and again in Kuesu's hotel room after the field set around the hotel was broken when the latter was pushed back towards the window by Yuto's Light Ferry powers, vomiting out numerous weapons for Himari to use. Aya can store multiple objects inside her stomach, a sort of hammerspace, and regurgitate them when necessary to the disgust of anyone who witnesses it.

Kofuyu (小冬^?)

A Yuki-onna who owns a ski resort. She invited Yuto and the girls to her ski resort to stop Tama, as she, like Yuto, wanted humans and ayakashi to coexist. She has also taken quite a liking to Yuto, once flirting with him in an onsen underneath the ski lodge. As a Yuki-onna, she can control ice and snow and use it to trap her opponents, once doing so against Tama in her adult form.^[21]

Light novel ayakashi

Yama-hime (夜魔姫^?)

A shinboku (神体^?, lit. "Sacred Tree") who appears in volume 1 of the light novels.

Ginko (銀子^?)

A wolf spirit who appears in volume 2 of the light novels. She made a brief cameo appearance in chapter 44 of the manga at Yuto's grandparents' house.

Hana (華^?)

A swordswoman who appears in volume 4 of the light novels.

Other Ayakashi

Tsuchigumo (土蜘蛛^?)

Voiced by: Tatsuki Takizawa

A spider demon that possessed Taizo and attacked Yuto and Rinko on the school rooftop. Himari managees to expel it from Taizo's body before she kills it by impaling it in front of a water tower. During its possession, Taizo's skin turns blue, numerous leg-like projections protrude from his body, and he gains the ability to fire energy spheres. It is an anime-exclusive ayakashi, as its spider form was never shown in the manga, only appearing as a floating mass of fog that was killed in a similar fashion by Himari.^[22]

Daidarabotchi (ダイダラボッチ^?)

Voiced by: Tashiro Kiryu

A giant ayakashi that aided Ageha in attacking Yuto and Himari in Noihara. It was later incapacitated by Himari in her demon rampage before it was finally destroyed by the energy produced from Yuto's Light Ferry. In the manga, it is revealed that it was apparently not destroyed, as Sasa mentions in chapter 26 that "Daidarabotchi sends his regards".

Tesuma of the Sentoro (閃蟷螂の薙蘇魔 Sentoro no Tesuma^?)

A mantis-like ayakashi who appeared in chapters 38-39 of the manga, assuming the guise of a man wearing sunglasses and a trenchcoat. He sided with Tama so he can witness "the world she has created" and was sent out to attack Himari as well as to see Yuto's Light Ferry power. He can turn his left hand into a mantis' sickle to slice his opponents and wields an H&K USP pistol as his personal sidearm. His sickle arm was sliced by Himari after he was distracted by Yuto's Light Ferry trap before he was finally killed off by Hitsugi's wire trap after he attempted to escape.

Zenju (然樹 Zenjū^?)

An oshira-sama (おしら様^?), a spirit with the body of a tree stump and dead treebranches for arms, who appeared in chapter 42 of the manga. He is the leader of the ayakashi that are residing in the ski resort. He makes a brief appearance in the anime as a minor character, bring part of a mob of ayakashi attempting to kill Yuto.

Kara (雅羅^?)

A Futakuchi-onna who appeared in the Book of the Gaiden side manga.

Hime (ヒメ^?)

An ayakashi who appeared in the Book of the Gaiden side manga.

Demon Slayers

Aiji Tsuchimikado (土御門　愛路 Tsuchimikado Aiji^?)

A bespectacled member of the Tsuchimikado Family (土御門家 Tsuchimikado Ke^?, ranked #1) of Demon Slayers. He makes a cameo appearance in chapter 34 of the manga and made his full appearance in chapter 49, where he reveals that he has met Yuto once in Norihara prior to the latter moving away to Takamiya.

Ranka Mikari (三雁 藍華 Mikari Ranka^?)

Mikari is a descendant of the Jibashiri Family (地走家 Jibashiri Ke^?, ranked #8) (it has been stated by Kuesu that her family name has changed^[23]) and Kuesu's friend who appeared in chapters 31–33 of the manga. Her Jibashiri ancestors channeled the power of the Earth, giving them superhuman strength. They were later wiped out in the front lines of the Great War, but there are a few descendants like her (those without their powers) that survived. Her ancestors were also responsible for killing Shizuku's family 100 years prior to the series' start. Kuesu brought her out so that Shizuku could have her revenge, which almost succeeded hadn't it been for Yuto and Himari intervening. Before leaving after the fight ended with Shizuku letting go of her grudge, she states that she would be on Yuto's side should her powers emerge.

Kasuri Kagamimori (各務森 飛白 Kagamimori Kasuri^?)

Kasuri is the Demon Slayer of the Kagamimori Family (各務森家 Kagamimori Ke^?, ranked #3), a family that uses Shinto magic to seal ayakashi within mirrors, and have been the only Demon Slayer family to do so. She is a miko of the Kagamimori Shrine, and have met Himari and Kaya in the past when they visited their shrine prior to the series' start.^[17]

As the head of the Kagamimori Family, Kasuri holds the Beast Eye (獣の目 Kemono no Me^?), which is located in her left eye. Her family name translates to "mirror forest", in reference to her family's ability.

Hisuzu Kagamimori (各務森 飛鈴 Kagamimori Hisuzu^?)

Kasuri's younger sister. She is sometimes hot-blooded and arrogant, often requiring Kasuri to calm her down. Like most of the Demon Slayer families, she looks down to the Kuesu and her family.

Hitsugi Yakouin (夜光院 柩 Yakōin Hitsugi^?)

Hitsugi is the detective-like Demon Slayer of the Yakouin Family (夜光院家 Yakōin Ke^?, ranked #11^[24]), a family that has the ability to analyze and gather information quicker than a normal human, which Himari states is similar to having the ability of seeing into the future. However, it causes sensory overload from the loss of brain cells, causing many of them to die as a result. She made her debut appearance in chapter 38 of the manga when she aided Yuto during his training session with Himari by predicting her oncoming moves. She was after Tesuma of the Sentoro, using Yuto and Himari as bait to lure him out so she can kill him through a series of wire traps set up in the forest. After his defeat, she told Himari that she will eventually die. She gets a visit from Kuesu at her office in chapter 40, eventually telling the latter that she is looking down on Yuto and the others and mentioning her and her family's lust for power. It remains unclear of what her current intentions are at this point.

Maki Tsuchimikado (土御門 麻輝 Tsuchimikado Maki^?)

Sid Tsuchimikado (土御門 志土 Tsuchimikado Shido^?)

Other characters

Gennosuke Amakawa (天河 源之介 Amakawa Gennosuke^?) and Sawako Amakawa (天河 佐和子 Amakawa Sawako^?)

Voiced by: Sayuri Sadaoka (Sawako)

Yuto's grandparents that lived in Noihara and Himari's caretakers, with Gennosuke being a Demon Slayer in his younger days before he retired. Prior to Yuto moving to Takamiya with his parents, Sawako gave him an omamori which, unknown to the latter at the time, had a magic spell that hid his Demon Slayer presence from the ayakashi until his sixteenth birthday, and Gennosuke was the one who bestowed Yasutsuna to Himari prior to his death.^[16] Yuto later revisits their house with Himari and the others and, upon seeing their tombstone, pays his respects to them, not realizing they were dead due him being separated from them by his parents. Himari refers to them as "Grandpa Gen" (源爺 Gen-jii^?) and "Grandma Sawa" respectively.

Sae Kisaragi (如月 冴 Kisaragi Sae^?)

Voiced by: Michiko Neya

Yuto, Rinko, and Himari's schoolteacher. A smoker and a pervert, she always seem to catch Yuto in an erotic act with a girl, and is passively supportive of whatever erotic acts the students do as long as they do it outside of class. Rinko sometimes call her "Sae-chan", which she detests. It is later revealed in the manga that Sae is actually an ayakashi who protects Takamiya from the shadows, and claims to be more powerful than Himari and Shizuku at her peak. She is also the one responsible for erasing the memories of the patrons at Café Relish, and is shown to have lesbian tendencies.^[25] It is unknown as of yet what ayakashi species Sae is.

Taizo Masaki (柾木 泰三 Masaki Taizō^?)^{[Note 1]}

Voiced by: Tatsuhisa Suzuki

Yuto's best friend and classmate. He is a shameless pervert who is attracted to almost any beautiful girl he sees, often resulting in him getting beat up for his actions. He is attracted to Himari as well as Shizuku, one time asking Himari to be his model for his art sketch only to be rejected to his disappointment and when he convinces both of them to be contestants in a swimsuit pageant he organized at the school festival.^[20][26]

Yū Shimamura (嶋村 有 Shimamura Yū^?)

Voiced by: Yū Shimamura

A bespectacled classmate at Yuto's school and the class representative of Yuto's class. She has been shown to get along well with Yuto and Rinko (abeit from the fact she has larger breasts than the latter), and often jokes around with them when it comes to romantic topics, especially their close relationship with each other. She is also shown to be an otaku, once doing a witch cosplay at the school festival and playing video games in her free time.^[26] Like Rinko, she, too, doesn't tolerate Taizo's pervertedness, which was shown in one chapter when she, along with Rinko, drowned him for attempting to peep at girls underwater.^[27] She apparently knows about the existience of the Demon Slayers, as shown in her research on Kuesu.^[28] She, along with her mother, were later put under Tama's control in Chapter 50. Her real name (which was not revealed until Chapter 49) is derived from voice actress Yū Shimamura who voiced her in the anime.

Hyogo Kaburagi (鏑木 兵吾 Kaburagi Hyōgo^?)

Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara

Kaburagi is a secretary working for Unit 4 of the Defense Branch for Public Peace (警備局公安4課^?), a secret government department whose purpose is to investigate supernatural activities. He made his first appearance in chapter 16 of the manga and is assigned to Kuesu, his job trying to keep any activity between the Demon Slayers and the ayakashi away from the public. He frequently has to deal with her arrogance and is quite concerned about her antics, once asking her how many bullets she fired from her duel with Himari. He later appears to recruit Yuto into his department, revealing to him and the others news about a cannibalistic ayakashi, only for Yuto to decline his offer.

In the anime, he left Kuesu and went to Shuten-dōji and Tama, orchestrating behind the scenes the events that will eventually lead to Himari's final battle with Tama. Because they both share similar but different goals (Kaburagi wants the ayakashi exterminated, while Shuten-dōji and Tama want to devour them to regain their full strength), he managed to reach an agreement with them that they can proceed with their plan, but they must not harm any humans as part of his deal; it was later broken after Tama's defeat by Himari's ayakashi form when Shuten-dōji betrayed him and injured him, having used him from the start. In the final episode's end credits, he is last seen returning to Kuesu with a cast on his right arm. It is later revealed in the manga that he has a wife and a daughter, which was mentioned by Kuesu when she stated at her Christmas party that he left to pose as Santa Claus for his daughter.^[29]

Yuko Akutsu (阿久津 悠子 Akutsu Yūko^?)

Sae's colleague and the school's art teacher.

Haru Masaki (柾木 ハル Masaki Haru^?)

Taizo's younger sister. She transfers to Yuto's school as a first-year student in Chapter 49.

 

Media

Manga

Omamori Himari began serialization in the May 2006 issue of Fujimi Shobo's manga magazine Monthly Dragon Age. The first tankōbon was released on February 1, 2007 by Fujimi Shobo under Kadokawa Shoten's "Dragon Jr." imprint, and sold a total nine volumes as of January 9, 2012. From Volume 6 onwards, the manga is currently published under Fujimi Shobo's "Dragon Comics Age" imprint. An official guidebook to the series (sold as Volume 0) was released by Kadokawa Shoten on October 24, 2009.^[3] The manga is licensed in North America by Yen Press, and released the first volume on October 26, 2010,^[4] with a total of seven volumes available as of May 20, 2012.^[5] The manga is also licensed in Taiwan by one of Kadokawa Shoten's subsidiary companies, Kadokawa Media.^[6]
A four-panel spinoff illuratrated by Nikubanare called Omamori Himari: Himari no Opanchu (おまもりひまり 緋鞠のおぱんちゅ^?) began serialization in the November 2009 issue of Monthly Dragon Age, and ended in the November 2010 issue.^[7] A compilation called Omamori Himari 1/4: Himari's 4-Koma Anthology (おまもりひまり1/4 緋鞠の4こまあんそろじぃ Omamori Himari 1/4: Himari no Yonkoma Ansorojyi^?) was released by Kadokawa Shoten on April 9, 2010.^[8]
A bonus two-part side story, called Omamori Himari: Book of the Gaiden (おまもりひまり 外伝の書^?), also illustrated by Nikubanare, was released by Kadokawa Shoten on September 9, 2011. The stories were serialized in the May 2011 and June 2011 issues of Monthly Dragon Age.^[9]

Light novel

A light novel adaptation written by Kougetsu Mikazuki and illustrated by Matra began serialization in the July 2008 issue of Fujimi Shobo's Dragon Magazine. The first volume was released on July 19, 2008,^[10] and released four volumes until January 20, 2010 under their Fujimi Fantasia Bunko imprint.^[11] The light novels consists of side stories that differ from the manga's plot, and introduces new novel-exclusive characters.

Internet radio

An internet radio show promoting the anime called OmaHima☆HR (おまひま☆HR^?, "OmaHima Starring Himari and Rinko") aired on Animate and ran 13 episodes from November 12, 2009 to April 30, 2010.^[12] The show was hosted by Ami Koshimizu and Iori Nomizu, the voices of Himari and Rinko, respectively, and guest voices from the anime series appeared for each radio episode. The theme song used is "love and peace" by Koshimizu. A CD containing all 13 episodes was released on August 13, 2010 by Columbia Music Entertainment.^[13]

Anime

A 12-episode anime adaptation produced by Zexcs and directed by Shinji Ushiro aired on TV Saitama and Chiba TV from January 6 to March 24, 2010, with subsequent broadcasts on Tokyo MX, TV Aichi, NTV, TV Kanagawa, TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting, and Sun Television.^[14] Six DVD compilation volumes were released by Kadokawa Pictures between March 26 and August 28, 2010.^[15] English-subtitled simulcasts were provided by Crunchyroll on its video portal.^[16] A Blu-ray box set was released on January 27, 2012.^[17]
The opening theme for the series is "Oshichau zo!!" (押しちゃうぞっ!!^?) by AyaRuka, consisting of singers Aya Sakamoto and Ruka Kawada. The ending theme is "BEAM my BEAM" by Himarinko L. Shizukuesu (ひまりんこ・L・しずくえす^?), consisting of the main female cast. From episodes seven through eleven, the seventh episode version was sung by Ami Koshimizu; the eighth episode version was sung by Iori Nomizu; the ninth episode version was sung by Kei Shindo; the tenth episode version was sung by Asuka Ōgame; and the eleventh episode version was sung by Yuki Matsuoka. The ending theme for episode 12 is "Sakamichi no Hate" (坂道の果て^?, "At the End of the Hill") by Yuto Amakawa (Daisuke Hirakawa). "Oshichau zo!!" and "BEAM my BEAM" were later released as maxi singles by Columbia Music Entertainment on February 24, 2010.^[18][19]

Reception

Manga sales

In Japan, the fourth volume of Omamori Himari reached #29 on the Tohan charts between November 11 and November 17, 2008.^[20] Volume 5 reached #15 on the Tohan charts between April 7 and April 13, 2009,^[21] and #27 between January 11–17, 2010.^[22] Volume 7 reached #16 on the Oricon charts between August 2 and August 8, 2010,^[23] and #22 between August 9 and August 15, 2010.^[24] Volume 8 reached #19 on the Oricon charts between April 4 and April 10, 2011,^[25] and #30 between April 11 and April 17, 2011.^[26]
In North America, the third volume of Omamori Himari made The New York Times Manga Best Seller List, reaching #7 between April 24, 2011 and April 30, 2011 on its first week of sales.^[27][28] Volume 5 of Omamori Himari reached The New York Times Manga Best Seller List at #8 between December 4, 2011 and December 18, 2011, also on its first week of sales.^[29] Volume 7 of Omamori Himari reached The New York Times Manga Best Seller List at #9 between May 27, 2012 to June 2, 2012 on its first week of sales.^[30] It has also been featured on Nielsen BookScan's Best-Selling Graphic Novels List, debuting at #22 between May 14, 2012 and May 20, 2012 before the volume's official release, #14 between May 21, 2012 and May 27, 2012 on its first week of sales,^[31] and #21 between May 28, 2012 and June 3, 2012 on its second week of sales, selling a total of 1,270 copies.^[32]

List of Omamori Himari episodes