Omamori Himari is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Milan Matra. The story follows Yuto Amakawa, an orphaned boy who, on the day of his sixteenth birthday, meets Himari, a sword-wielding girl who turns out to be a cat spirit. He soon discovers that his family is one of the twelve Demon Slayer families that had slain demons for hundreds of years, and that Himari has sworn an ancient oath to protect him from the demons that are out to kill him until his powers fully awaken. Throughout the series, Yuto encounters other girls who later take a romantic liking to him, most of them ayakashi: Shizuku, a mizuchi in the form of a small child, Lizlet, a tsukumogami in the form of a busty tea-serving maid, and Kuesu, the heiress of the Jinguji Family of Demon Slayers and Yuto's fiancée.
Omamori Himari began monthly serialization in the July 2006 issue of Monthly Dragon Age (released on June 9, 2006[1]), and ran until the October 2013 issue (released September 9, 2013), spanning a total of seventy-five chapters. Twelve bound volumes were released by Fujimi Shobo from February 1, 2007, to November 9, 2013.[2][3] The first five volumes were published under Kadokawa Shoten's "Dragon Jr." imprint, while the remaining volumes were published under Fujimi Shobo's "Dragon Comics Age" imprint. An official guidebook to the series (sold as Volume 0) was also released by Kadokawa Shoten on October 24, 2009.[4] The manga was also serialized in Fujimi Shobo's paid online magazine, Age Premium, starting from the inaugural September 2011 issue (released on August 3, 2011) to the November 2013 issue.[5]
A four-panel spinoff called Omamori Himari: Himari's Panties (おまもりひまり 緋鞠のおぱんちゅ, Omamori Himari: Himari no Opanchu), illustrated by Nikubanare, began serialization in the November 2009 issue of Monthly Dragon Age and ended in the November 2010 issue.[6] 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) was released on April 9, 2010.[7] A bonus two-part side story, called Omamori Himari: Book of the Gaiden (おまもりひまり 外伝の書, Omamori Himari: Gaiden no Sho), 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.[8]
Omamori Himari is licensed in North America by Yen Press, and released all thirteen volumes (twelve plus Volume 0) from October 26, 2010, to July 22, 2014.[9] The manga is also licensed in Taiwan by one of Kadokawa Shoten's subsidiary companies, Kadokawa Media,[10] and in Germany by Panini Comics under the title of Talisman Himari.[11] A 12-episode anime adaptation created by animation studio Zexcs ran between January and March 2010 on TV Saitama, Chiba TV, and other networks.[12]
Individual chapters of the series are called Menageries (匹目, Hikime), and each chapter uses either the kanji, katakana, or hiragana for "cat" (猫, ネコ, ねこ, neko) within its title.
- ^ ドラゴンエイジ 2006年 07月号 (in Japanese). 富士見書房. 9 June 2006. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
- ^ おまもりひまり 1 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
- ^ おまもりひまり 12 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
- ^ おまもりひまり 0 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
- ^ "エイジプレミアム vol.1" [Age Premium, Vol.1] (in Japanese). booklive.jp. Archived from the original on November 10, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
- ^ "Omamori Himari Gets New 4-Panel Manga Spinoff". Anime News Network. September 9, 2009. Retrieved November 14, 2009.
- ^ おまもりひまり1/4 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
- ^ おまもりひまり 外伝の書 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
- ^ "Yen Press Adds Kobato, Darker than Black, Romeo x Juliet Manga". Anime News Network. July 24, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
- ^ 守護貓娘緋鞠01 (in Chinese). Kadokawa Media. Retrieved April 30, 2009.
- ^ "TALISMAN HIMARI 1" (in German). Panini Comics. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ "Omamori Himari Manga Gets TV Anime Green-Lit". Anime News Network. April 7, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2010.