Himawari Kunogi
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Himawari Kunogi (九軒ひまわり, Himawari Kunogi?) is a fictional character in the Clamp manga, and anime, xxxHolic. The manga is currently ongoing and the anime series started 6 April 2006. Her given name Himawari literally means "Sunflower".
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[edit] Character
Himawari is the major love interest of Watanuki Kimihiro. She has a cheerful attitude and is very friendly around Watanuki and Doumeki. She is often cheering for them, if not commenting them on their "comedy acts" together. She does share and give food to Shizuka Doumeki and Watanuki, yet they are never handmade by herself, which has become a running gag in the series.
Despite the fact that Watanuki is very open in showing his feelings and admiration for her, she seems very oblivious to the fact that he likes her. She has never shown any favoritism from the two, but Watanuki always thinks that Doumeki is more favored.
She is also the only human besides Watanuki and Doumeki that Mokona interacts with.
[edit] Role
In the beginning of the manga when Himawari was first introduced Yuuko had already said that Himawari was "not Watanuki's goddess of good luck" and this has been suggested strongly throughout subsequent storylines.
During the case of the Lady with Bad Habits, Watanuki met up with Himawari just before the girl was killed in a car accident (this scene was altered in the anime to exclude Himawari's presence and to let the girl survive).
In the Tales of 100 Ghost chapter, Yuuko said that "all the players" were present; being Watanuki, Doumeki, herself, the dead man in the other room and Himawari. Each had a role to play, as Yuuko explained at the end of the ceremony. While she mentions that Watanuki and Doumeki were necessary to draw out and then exorcise the spirit while Yuuko herself was required to explain they needed to do, she fails to reveal Himawari's role because Doumeki has returned with sake, Yuuko's favourite drink.
When the a university student obtained a monkey's paw, the sealed cylinder it was in opened up after Himawari touched it. Yuuko did not further comment what role Himawari was to play in that group. Himawari's presence seems to always foreshadow bad luck, such was when Watanuki has a seemingly prophetic dream on the day he gave his eye to the spider, in which he saw Himawari through half of his vision.
It is not yet revealed fully in the manga what the mystery or secret is behind Himawari, but it is obvious that Yuuko knows more than what she may lead on. Even the Ame-Warashi is cautious of her presence (Although it may just be because Himawari's name means 'Sunflower' while Ame-Warashi is a rain sprite). Speculations may also add that Doumeki himself may know/feel something strange about Himawari since he has always accompanied Watanuki whenever the two should be alone. By chapter 116 of the manga Watanuki was slowly sensing the difference in Himawari.
In chapter 118, after Watanuki nearly died after falling from the 2nd story of their school, Himawari for the first time was seen inside Yuuko's shop. It is here revealed that she is aware to the fact she is bad luck not only to Watanuki, but to everyone around her. She has been waiting for Watanuki to notice it too.
When Himawari was four she started noticing things going badly for the people she interacts with; starting with a neighbor's house where she wandered to get her ball, the next day that house caught fire. Most of her friends get involved in accidents, even her teachers gets bad luck when interacting with her. Strangely enough her parents are the only ones unaffected by these occurrences. Her grandmather who brought her to a shrine for a consultation died a few days later, and Himawari blames herself even though her grandmother was already sickly and old. The priest in the shrine even told her that she is a normal girl.
After the accident involving Watanuki falling from their school she tried to say goodbye for the last time to Watanuki; however, Watanuki refused to let her go and slightly confesses to her that he likes being with her and that her presence makes him happy. Himawari reluctantly agreed to continue being friends with him and is seen crying out of happiness because it was the first time anyone told her that they were happy to be with her.
Recently Watanuki gave Himawari a magical bird that according to Yuuko, is immune to her bad luck (it is revealed that her "power" also does not affect Doumeki). Himawari asked him to give a name to it and Watanuki chose to name him "Tanpopo" (the Japanese name for dandelion) because of its yellow color.
[edit] Her Relationship with Watanuki, Doumeki and Yuuko
- Watanuki - Watanuki sees her as her love interest but little is known yet how deep her feelings for him run. She has been trying to avoid hurting Watanuki with her bad luck while secretly hoping one day he would notice it as he did later on in the manga. She cares very much for Watanuki and Domeki as good friends, who maybe are the only real friends she has. She avoids going home alone with Watanuki even though he is now aware of her "bad luck".
- Her greatest act of kindness and subliminal way of indicating that she likes Watanuki was bearing his scars from falling out of the window at school and her help in saving his life.
- In this point of the series it is still unclear whether Himawari will respond to Watanuki's affections. She is still afraid that becoming close to people she cares about will only end up hurting them, but Watanuki is slowing talking her out of her shell.
- Doumeki - Much to Watanuki's jealousy and annoyance Doumeki hangs around her and Watanuki at every chance when they could be alone. Nonetheless, Himawari treats them equally as friends and often teases or compliments on how the two get along. Doumeki is one of the few that can actually sense the difference in Himawari, he is also aware of Watanuki's feelings for her. He seems to keep a close eye on Watanuki and Himawari when they are together since Watanuki often affected by her bad luck. He is also helping her out be more open about hanging out with them rather than hiding and running away from her friends.
- Yuuko and Mokona - Himawari is a person that Yuuko is fascinated with, much to the annoyance of Watanuki; because Yuuko always teases him that she is not his "Goddess of Luck". She was quick to notice bad luck around Himawari, but treated her with good cheer and even invited her on small picnics and outings she sets up for the trio. Mokona, being cute as he is, can always be seen playing with Himawari when they meet. The two of them do not seem to be affected by Himawari's bad luck.
[edit] Mysteries Surrounding Himawari
- Yuuko has always implied that she was bad luck for Watanuki
- She always buys her food or shares the food Watanuki makes. Himawari never makes her own food.
- She never gets to walk home or go completely alone with Watanuki (often she has some errand to do at home) or Doumeki accompanies them, this may be an effort on Himawari's part to protect Watanuki.
- Mokona talks to her, but not to other humans. (Mokona, Maru and Moro do NOT show themselves to other humans or clients of Yuuko unless they themselves are non-human or possess unusual powers).
- The Ame-Warashi is cautious around her and did not want to be seen by her.
- During the Monkey's Paw chapter, when she accidentally caught the sealed tube containing the paw, the seal was broken and the tube was able to open; note that it was Yuuko herself who used magic to place the seal on the tube
- In the 100 Ghost Stories chapter, Yuuko commented that she has a role in the story telling, but this was never fully explained
- In Volume 8, at Doumeki's house the "Bookworm" creature came out from Himawari's book. This happened during the time that Doumeki and Watanuki were trying to find a way to get Watanuki's eye back. The Bookworm ate the words from the important book they needed. Volume 9 shows an eerie look on Himawari's face when Watanuki returned the book.
- Her New Year's dream was "bought" or transferred to Watanuki. The dream was a nightmare involving a hideous sprit and became true
- Volume 10, after Watanuki made a pinky swear promise with Himawari, Watanuki's pinky finger started to hurt. Even Yuuko and Kohane notice the presence of the pinky swear he made with Himawari
- Also in Volume 9, Watanuki falls out of a window and nearly dies after speaking with Himawari. When he regains consciousness Himawari is in the shop for an unknown reason, but seems to have played a part in paying the "price" for healing Watanuki
[edit] Bad Luck
As Yuuko has previously stated, Himawari is a normal human. She possesses no special powers or unusual abilities. In chapter 118, Himawari explains to Watanuki that he is not the only one affected by the bad luck she seems to bring.
Since childhood, no matter where Himawari goes, unfortunate things seem to happen. By simply picking up a ball near her home, the house next door became the target of arson. People she was connected to were hurt, including all her friends, a girl in the neighbourhood who ended up committing suicide, and her class teacher was stabbed by his wife when he was caught in an affair.
Concerned that Himawari may be possessed or using occult magic, her grandmother took her to a priest who found nothing evil attached to her. While this was the priest's conclusion, he regarded Himawari sadly and informed her grandmother that the only people immune to Himawari's tendency to bring bad luck were her parents by virtue of the fact they brought her into this world. It is unknown if her siblings would have been affected because Himawari is an only child. Not long afterwards, Himawari's grandmother died; though Himawari realizes her grandmother was ill and also elderly, she believes that she contributed to her grandmother's death.
[edit] Trivia
- The character "九" (ku) of Himawari's family name is the same as the kanji for the number 9, which the Japanese consider unlucky because it sounds similar to the word for pain ("kutsū") and coincides with her role of bringing bad luck and pain to Watanuki.
- Himawari's birthday is November 27, making her a Sagittarius. She likes sweets, romantic novels, astrology, and ghost stories.
- Himawari is an only child
