#1 Ami Koshimizu plays a catgirl ninja
While Yukari Tamura remains my all-time favorite voice actress, Ami Koshimizu has always been her most prominent competitor. She is the Actress behind Spice & Wolf‘s Holo and Kill La Kill‘s Ryuuko Matoi, as well as numerous other roles throughout various anime, including some of my personal favorites. She also makes an appearance in Omamori Himari and her role is… a little special.
Ami Koshimizu plays the titular Himari, a demonic catgirl who is infatuated with the show’s male lead. Yuuto Amakawa is the latest descendant in a long line of professional demon hunters and it’s her duty to serve him because an ancestor of her was spared by one of Yuuto’s predecessors. While it’s not her most memorable role, Koshimizu really sells the character and I like how she speaks in very archaic Japanese to match her “loyal ninja follower” backstory.
I went into Omamori Himari expecting a simplistic and low-effort harem fantasy anime, but having such a strong performance for one of the main characters was an early indication I was actually going to enjoy it. Even if it still is a simplistic harem, at least it’s not low-effort.
#2 Pervy harem silliness
Throughout the show, Yuuto ends up meeting more and more girls, both regular humans, as well as Demons that either have a human-like form or can take on the guise of one. As these things go, several of them become attracted to Yuuto and start having a 12-episode long fight over who gets to… romance him.
Omamori Himari is really forward with this, having its female characters dress in all manner of revealing clothing and stopping at nothing to rub up against poor Yuuto. Besides Himari and his childhood friend, they also end up befriending a water Demon in the guise of an anime loli, a creature that works in a maid café, and a gothic Demon Huntress.
Where Omamori Himari succeeds where others fail is that it really gets you in the right mood to laugh at the ridiculous nature of its fan-service. Many of the sexy scenes ended up being hilarious for one reason or another, which Omamori Himari is completely aware of. They even use this really generic and cheesy romance music at several points, including the mid-episode eye-catchers. It’s stupid, but they put a lot of effort into making it that stupid and I can totally appreciate that.
If you hate ecchi shows already then this won’t change your mind, but I generally have a low tolerance for it myself and still really enjoyed its implementation here.
#3 Demon hunting with kindness
Despite being the heir to a legacy of demon hunters, Yuuto has inherited none of the skill involved in it. By all accounts, he’s a normal kid and has to learn how to use the family’s special powers from scratch, but his most prominent trait is his pacifism.
After meeting Himari, he soon begins to wish for a world where Humans and Demons can live in peace. Himari would rather fight and kill everything that crosses their path, but he begins to hold her back and attempts to persuade other Demons out of fighting them. While he achieves early successes with some of the more reasonable among Demonkind, he soon runs into foes that are inexcusably violent and can’t be persuaded. Furthermore, as his powers begin to manifest, other Demon Hunters take notice of him and begin to embroil themselves into his life.
The big question is whether or not Yuuto’s pacifistic approach can last when challenged by these circumstances. Must he eventually give up and kill Demons anyway and what would that do to the Demons that have gathered around him. Will he be able to coexist with other Demon Hunters or would his beliefs be refused? At the same time, the anime also sets up an interesting conflict in regards to Himari, which for the sake of spoilers I am not going to give away, but it sure made me wonder how everything was going to turn out.
