is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshikazu Hamada, started in 2007. Two volumes of the series were published in English by the now-defunct JManga service. An anime television series adaptation aired in 2017. A second season aired in 2020.
Synopsis
Kazuya Kagami, an ordinary boy, finds his life turned upside down when his late mother's obi transforms into a girl wearing a kimono named Kiriha. She happens to be a tsukumogami called a "tsugumomo," objects that have gained a soul through long years of harmony with their owners. Kazuya has no recollection of meeting Kiriha when she exclaims "Long time no see" to him. He nearly loses his life from an attacking "amasogi", premature spirits born only to fulfill impure wishes of certain people, and Kiriha defends him. With Kiriha's arrival, Kazuya enters a reality with gods and other tsukumogami and slowly discovers his dark past.
Characters
Main
Kazuya has a dark past that is hidden from himself with a seal which slowly comes undone throughout the series. He often mourns over his status as a Taboo Child, feeling responsible for the amasogi that are born around him and feeling greatly distressed upon seeing someone suffer from a severe Curse Backlash. He's quite brave, often stepping up and selflessly throwing himself into the fray to accomplish his mission as Kamioka's exorcist, as well as frequently prioritizing the safety of the host's and the others above everything else. Over the series, Kazuya comes to hold a very strong sentimental value for those he met upon becoming an exorcist, like Kukuri, Kokuyou and Kiriha. He becomes exceedingly concerned for their well-being to the point of being thrown into a great rage if he feels they are endangered.
Kiriha is a tsukumogami who used to be in a form of a white cherry blossom obi that Kazuya carries around, in a human form she appears as a teenager who is very powerful and is capable of taking down amasogi and other tsukumogami. She has a malevolent side where she enjoys roughing up others especially Kazuya and Kukuri, when in her chibi form, she is basically crude, arrogant, brash, boastful, possessive, lazy, ill tempered and curses a lot, as an obi she use to belong to Kazuya's mother where the scent serves as a memento to Kazuya. She also has a perverted side where she occasionally enjoys sexually harassing Kazuya when they are alone and Kukuri as well though the former is due to her infatuation with him.
Kyōka is a flute tsukumogami who was originally a member of Mayoiga. She first appeared as part of a radical group who would wait for Kukuri to weaken and attacked Kazuya and Kukuri's other defenders. However, Kazuya defeats her and she exhausts her spirit powers, turning back into a flute. Kazuya spares her because he understood that she attacked Kukuri to protect her fellow tsukumogami at Mayoiga, who were running out of spirit power and returning to their original forms. For this reason, Kukuri returns Kyōka's flute form to Kazuya believing that Kyōka can be revived. Kazuya carries the flute with him until Kazuya is imprisoned at Tsuzura Temple along other tsukumogami users who viewed their tsukumogami as partners rather than tools. Kyōka awakens and helps the group escape from their prison and later partners with Kazuya since Kiriha had been destroyed in a previous confrontation with a resurrected Kanaka Kagami. After she partners with Kazuya she acts as a typical tsundere until she comes to understand him and starts to like him.
Supporting
She is Kazuya's childhood friend who has a crush on him unbeknownst to Kazuya. She is the Class Representative of Kamioka East Middle School's Class 2-2.
Kukurihime no Kami is the god of the land (ubusunagami), protecting Kazuya's city. She specializes in using water spells and attacks. In her adult form, she is very powerful to the point she can even beat Kiriha, though she would always wear a Noh Mask that enhances her power. But in her chibi form, she is basically too weak and is no match for Kiriha even in her chibi form, she would often find herself being on the receiving end of Kiriha's bullying where she would end up screaming in agony. She and her familiar Kokuyo used to live in a shrine but after suffering from financial difficulties, they both lived in a park, then in Kazuya's house after their temporary home was demolished. Unlike Kiriha who bums around, she is very helpful with household chores which pleases Kazuya's sister, Kasumi. She also likes Kazuya and hopes that she can marry him and have a family.