Omamori Himari

Omamori Himari (おまもりひまり) is a Japanese manga series written and illistrated by Milan Matra (的良みらん). The story follows a young boy who, on his sixteenth birthday, encounters a mysterious girl who turns out to be a spirit who has sworn an ancient oath set by their ancestors to protect him from the demons that are out to kill him. It began serialization in Fujimi Shobo's manga magazine Monthly Dragon Age and the first bound volume of the manga was released on February 7, 2007 by Kadokawa Shoten. In January, a 12-episode anime adaptation was produced by animation studio Zexcs. In Japanese culture, an omamori is an amulet worn as either a good luck charm or to ward off evil spirits, referring to the title character's role in the story as a bodyguard.

Plot
Seven years ago, Yuto Amakawa's parents died in a car accident, leaving him alone without a single relative. Ever since then, his childhood friend, Rinko Kuzaki, has woken him up, cooked for him, and generally takes care of him. The only thing he has from any relative is a mysterious amulet given to him by his grandparents (an omamori). On his 16th birthday, the amulet he wore has lost its effectiveness and Himari—a cat spirit samurai girl—suddenly appears in his life as his bodyguard. There is only one small problem: Yuto has an allergic reaction to cats!

Characters

 * Yuto Amakawa (天河 優人) is the protagonist of the series. His parents died in a car crash when he was eight years old, leaving Rinko and her family to take care of him. He has a terrible cat allergy, which would cause his eyes to water and his nose to run whenever he’s near one (Himari, for example). He was given an amulet (an omamori) by his grandmother when he was young, which he always wore around his neck. He is a kind and caring person, but he can be nervous whenever he is involved in a romantic or harem act. He soon learns from Himari that his family are descendants of a Demon Slayer family that had slain Ayakashi for hundreds of years, and it is now his turn to take up the mantle of Demon Slayer. He is hesitant upon discovering this fact, believing that he could somehow get the Ayakashi and the humans to coexist without having to fight each other. He later discovers his family’s ancient power, the Light Ferry (光渡し), which can empower ordinary objects to use as weapons.


 * Himari (緋鞠) is a cat Ayakashi (a bakeneko) known as Noihara’s Crimson Blade (野井原の緋剣) due to her expert swordsmanship. She appears to Yuto on his sixteenth birthday to protect him from the Ayakashi after the magic in his amulet stopped working. The fact that she is a cat troubles Yuto to no end due to his allergies reacting whenever her cat ears are out. She refers to Yuto as "Young Master" (若殿) and she is very flirtatious, even flirting with him in front of others such as Rinko to stake her claim. Despite this, she is very serious about her duty as a bodyguard and will protect Yuto by any means necessary, even to the extent of sacrificing herself to ensure his safety. It is later revealed that she got along well with Yuto when he was a child (at which she was a white cat at the time) and had romantic feelings for him, which was soon forgotten due to the powerful magic that was in his amulet. If Himari loses her sanity during a battle, she turns into a berserker cat with an uncontrollable bloodlust.


 * Rinko Kuzaki (九崎 凛子) is Yuto’s childhood friend and next door neighbor. She had a very close relationship with Yuto and had feelings for him until Himari and the other girls appeared, causing her to display a yandere personality as a result of their constant flirting. She is quite a tomboy, as she excels in every sport she participates in at her school and she is their top athlete (that is, until Himari outdid her in a series of sporting events). She suffers from an inferiority complex from the other girls’ larger breasts (sans Shizuku, who is flat-chested), as her breasts are still developing, and always ruins every romantic moment between them by hitting Yuto with her signature nail bat despite the fact that Yuto had nothing to with it in the first place. Despite this, she still wants to support Yuto to the very end even he becomes a full-fledged Demon Slayer.


 * Shizuku (静水久) is a Mizuchi, a water dragon deity. Her entire clan was wiped out by the Jibashiri clan of Demon Slayers, causing her to bear a deep grudge against them as a result. She encountered Yuto at a nearby lake, warning him to deviate from his Demon Slayer heritage or face death. After witnessing Yuto’s courage and kindness during her fight with Himari, she becomes confused and, to understand him more, invites herself to live in his house. She is portrayed with a stolid demeanor and she is always drenched in water. She takes numerous opportunities to flirt with Yuto, becoming a subject of lolicon fanservice as a result. She often ends her sentences with "na no" (なの).


 * Lizlet L. Chelsie (リズリット・L・チェルシー) is a Tsukumogami, an inanimate object that comes to life after a hundred years, in the form of a busty blonde girl wearing a maid outfit and is the self-proclaimed "Spirit of Tea" due to her expertise with it. She originated from England as an antique teacup until she was brought to Japan, where works as a waitress at Café Relish (カフェ・リリッシュ), a popular maid café. She developed a perverse liking to Yuto following an incident that happened there, seeing him as her "Special Customer" and "Master" and often serves as comic relief. Despite her being an Ayakashi, she doesn’t want to fight humans, as she would rather blend in with them so she can do what she likes doing the most, which is making tea.


 * Kuesu Jinguji (神宮寺 くえす) is the Demon Slayer of the Jinguji family. She is Yuto’s fiancée, as her and Yuto’s family have arranged their future marriage. She is condescending towards Ayakashi like Himari and Shizuku, believing that all of them must be killed without mercy and she is very arrogant. Like Rinko, she, too, displays a yandere personality. The Ayakashi consider her a major threat due to her relentless killing of their kind, giving her the nickname of "Twilight Moon" (黄昏の月). She slowly begins to accept Himari and the other Ayakashi as comrades, though this doesn't change her views about them. She is a very powerful witch with the ability to cast various magic spells and she can take down multiple Ayakashi with ease.

Manga
The manga began serialization in Fujimi Shobo's manga magazine Monthly Dragon Age and the first tankōbon was released by Kadokawa Shoten on February 1, 2007. A Chinese version of the manga is sold in Taiwan by one of Kadokawa Shoten’s subsidiary companies, Kadokawa Media. Currently, six volumes of the manga, including a bonus volume (sold as Volume 0), were released in Japan as of January 2010. The manga has been licensed by Yen Press and has been schedueled for English releases in North America beginning in October 2010, originally planned for June until it was pushed back for other manga releases.

Light Novel
A light novel version of Omamori Himari is written by Kougetsu Mikazuki and illustrated by Matra. It began serialization in the July 2008 issue of Fujimi Shobo's Dragon Magazine and the first volume was released on May 20, 2009. As of January 20, 2010, four volumes have been published by Fujimi Shobo under their Fujimi Fantasia Bunko imprint. The light novel consists of a unique storyline that differs from the manga, with Yami-hime (夜魔姫), Ginko (銀子), and Hana (華) being original characters exclusive to the series.

Anime
An anime adaptation produced by animation studio Zexcs aired on Teletama between January 6 and March 24, 2010 followed by broadcasts on Chiba TV, Tokyo MX, TV Aichi, NTV, TV Kanagawa, TVQ, and Sun Television. English-subtitled simulcasts were provided by Crunchyroll, but they were later removed by Kadokawa Pictures a month after the series' finale. Three pieces of theme music were used: an opening theme and two ending themes. The opening theme is "Oshichau zo!!" (押しちゃうぞっ!!) by AyaRuka, consisting of singers Aya Sakamoto and Ruka Kawada. They also performed the insert song "Hidamari" (挿入歌), which premiered in episode 10. The first ending theme is "BEAM my BEAM" by Himarinko L. Shizukuesu (ひまりんこ・L・しずくえす), consisting of Ami Koshimizu (Himari), Iori Nomizu (Rinko), Asuka Okame (Lizlet), Kei Shindo (Shizuku) and Yuki Matsuoka (Kuesu). The second ending theme used in episode 12 is "Sakamichi no Hate" (坂道の果て) by Daisuke Hirakawa.

Reception
The fourth volume of Omamori Himari reached 29th on the Tohan charts between November 11 and 17, 2008. The fifth volume of Omamori Himari reached 15th on the Tohan charts between April 7 and 13, 2009, and 27th between January 11-17, 2010.