Character Info
Watanuki Kimihiro
Occupation: high school student, Yuuko's victim
Birthday: April 1st (Aries)
Age: 15 in first book, 17 in most recent chapters
Powers: ability to see spirits and be annoyed by them
He's the link between the normal world and the mystical world inside the shop: a human teenager cursed by the sight of weird spirits. Kimihiro has an explosive temper, so Yuuko's strange attitude and words shocks him often. He has no patience, he doesn't like to be bullied or bossed around, and deep down he wishes for some peace and a regular life. And he looks SO funny when he's angry!! ^_^
His parents died on an accident in order to save him, so he must live all alone. He inherited his powers; Yuuko said the cause of his problems was in his blood: it attracted the ghouls. He's good with his hands, and he's forced to do chores everywhere (his house, the shop... u_u poor boy!).
At first Watanuki seems dense and dumb, but later on the story he occasionaly shows mature and smart comments (but still, his temper doesn't seem to improve... XD). He understands more and more the supernatural, through Yuuko's explanations and his new experiences. He probably isn't as clumsy and silly as we thought! It could be he was so confused at chapter one we misjudge him.
We don't know about his school life either, but we do know he has a crush on a classmate, a girl called Himawari. Besides, he's jealous of his classmate Doumeki, a guy who's exactly his opposite.
Doumeki Shizuka
Occupation: high school student
Birthday: March 3rd
Age: 15 in first book, 17 in most recent chapters
Powers: ability to repel spirits
He's Watanuki's classmate, and some sort of a rival. Those two had never got along, as they have opposite personalities. Doumeki is cool, silent, sarcastic, and he's great at sports, even better than Kimihiro. He also is a part of the archery club at school, and he's quite popular with the ladies. Himawari seems to find him attractive, and of course, that doesn't help Watanuki to like the guy. Let's just say they both annoy themselves mutually, as Doumeki can't stand Kimihiro's loudness and temper.
Shizuka lives in a Shintoist temple. Even if he's almost null to paranormal things, his grandfather (assumable, a priest) could see ghosts and performed exorcisms. He may not be able to see anything weird, but he can certainly repel the strange things our main character is chasen by. And here's the big point: when Kimihiro is near Shizuka, the monsters won't attack him that much, so Yuuko makes them go together to the "missions", which bring some laughters to the reader.
Besides, he has saved Watanuki several times and made important sacrifices for him (and viceversa). With time, their friendship and bond has intertwined deeper, to Watanuki's dismay. I think we could assume Shizuka's feelings for Watanuki should be romantic, as he's usually doing so much for him.
The Relationship
While it is hard to tell in the manga/anime what Watanuki's true feelings are for Domeki, we know that he does not hate the other boy, whether or not he says he does. You can see many instances where they are getting along, and Watanuki seems to appreciate the other boy more and more as the storyline progresses.
On the other hand, Domeki proves many times that he must have some sort of romantic interest for Watanuki.
SPOILER ALERT BELOW!
source: Shizuka Domeki Wikipedia Article
It has been sighted multiple times by various characters that Watanuki will be linked to someone that will make a major contribution to his life. The clearest citation of this all is the phrase "someone he (Watanuki) will constantly fight with." This is believed to be Dômeki. Dômeki is constantly seen throughout the series as an annoyance to Watanuki. Dômeki often has a sarcastic way of making Watanuki help out with his chores as well as make lunches for him. Yuuko has advised Watanuki to stay close to Dômeki, since his mere presence drives away evil spirits. Thus because of this Yuuko always asks Watanuki to bring Dômeki along his "assignments".
Even though Dômeki may seem sarcastic around Watanuki and is sometimes annoyed with his eccentricity; Dômeki does have some concern for him as shown in the following instances:
Angel San arc: When Watanuki fell over the school rooftop he caught him and held on despite the fact that his arm was injured
Volume 5 Hydrangea arc: he dug up a hole and waited for 10 hours in the rain for Watanuki to re-emerge from the Ajasai after Watanuki disappeared
Volume 5 Wings arc: he stood up for Watanuki against the irate girl and caught the box cutter she wielded in his fist before she could stab Watanuki
Volume 6 Lady in the Park: Also known as lady who lost her son. After a much concern about Watanuki’s decline in health and rescuing him after he collapsed at Yuuko’s shop, Doumeki made a choice of shooting the Lady (who appeared transparent to him) with his arrow. Later on Yuuko explained that Doumeki did this because he did not want to lose Watanuki.
Volume 7 - 8 Spider Grudge Arc: The most recent incident showing Dômeki’s concern for Watanuki. In volume 7, Dômeki invokes the wrath of a spider when he destroys its web and in revenge, his right eye is sewn over with a spider web. Upon learning that Doumeki will eventually lose the sight in that eye, Watanuki finds a way to transfer the spider’s grudge (making Watanuki lose his eye to save Dômeki's) to himself. In response, Dômeki becomes very agitated and concerned. He starts researching ways to get Watanuki’s eye back. In volume 8 Watanuki goes to see the Spider Queen to save the Zashiki-Warashi but in the process he completely loses his right eye's sight. Dômeki then decides to give half of his right eye’s sight to Yuuko so she can transfer it to Watanuki. Currently, he and Watanuki sometimes share visions since they share half an eye. This is only one of the many situations in which the two lend each other a helping hand; it's obvious that their futures are tightly intertwined.
Volume 9 Sakura Tree and Kohane in the rain Chapter: After Watanuki gives his umbrella to Kohane at the park, Dômeki appears shortly, and in a very awkward yet touching moment, says that he had an umbrella ready for Watanuki so he wouldn't catch a cold. He also prepared ginger tea for him at his house.
Volume 10 : In chapter 118-119 of the manga, he saw Watanuki falling from the school building and was the one who brought him to Yuuko's shop. Because of this, he now became a client of Yuuko and was able to finally enter the shop. In order to save Watanuki he gave his own blood.
Volume 11 Chapter 131: Kohane's "Mother" tried to hit Watanuki after she saw Kohane speaking and drinking tea with them[1]. Domeki was able to pull Watanuki out of the woman's way. Domeki seems to be sensing something different about Kohane's mom and her violent nature. Also in this chapter Yuuko and Mokona stated that Domeki and Watanuki are both changing in the inside ( part of the eyes they both share and blood he donated) and that Domeki will indeed be a part of the final " battle" or challenge that Watanuki has to face.
Dômeki and Yûko's Shop
Early on in the manga Dômeki and Yûko Ichihara separately stated that Dômeki could not enter Yuko's store. This was finally explained in volume 8 of the manga; since he does not need her store, he does not see it. To Domeki, the area where the shop is supposedly standing is just a huge empty lot with old posts. In the lady in the park episode where Yuuko calls him to wait for Watanuki after he collapsed, Watanuki seemingly appears out of nowhere.
However in Volume 10 of the manga, after Watanuki's near death experience from falling, upon Yuuko's orders he sent Watanuki to Yuuko's shop. He was able to enter because this time he and Himawari needed to pay the price to Yuuko in order to save Watanuki.
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Also I want to add, Domeki's lack of emotion. When Watanuki had the Spider's grudge transfered to himself, Domeki bcame VERY angry. Most likely feeling as if the sacrifice he made for Watanuki was wasted.
Well, anyone have anything to add?
