TV-Series
Description
Aoi Nanamori, who is also known as Nue, is the central male protagonist and the guardian of the mystical Momochi House. He is a 17-year-old who was born on May 9th. In his normal human state, Aoi has the appearance of a handsome teenage boy with black hair and blue eyes. However, his true nature is that of the Nue, a legendary hybrid creature from Japanese folklore. When he transforms into the Nue, his hair turns white and his eyes become a vivid red. This form grants him the ears of a cat, the wings of a bird, and the tail of a fox, which together symbolize his role as a powerful being that exists on the boundary between different worlds.
Aoi's past is marked by tragedy and abandonment. As a child, he possessed the ability to see ayakashi, or spirits, a gift that caused his parents to cast him aside. He eventually found his way to the Momochi House, a structure that serves as a barrier between the human and spiritual realms. The house was intended to be inherited and protected by Himari Momochi, but at the age of ten, Aoi forcibly broke the seal and entered the property. This act triggered his transformation into the Nue, a role and a destiny that was never meant to be his. By claiming the position of guardian, known as the Omamori-sama, he severed his ties to the human world, and his existence was erased from the memories of his family and friends. The only lingering connection to his human past is his childhood friend, Hayato Hidaka, whose fractured memories resist the house's power of erasure.
Personality-wise, Aoi is defined by his isolation and the immense burden of his duty. He has become guarded and fiercely loyal to those he considers his own. This is especially true regarding Himari Momochi, the true heir who arrives at the house years later. Aoi is deeply protective of her and prioritizes her safety above all else, even to the point of suppressing his own romantic feelings for her. He is keenly aware that his power is unstable and that the house is slowly consuming him. A deep sense of guilt haunts him, as he believes that his emotional vulnerability and his love for Himari accelerate his transformation, threatening to make him lose his humanity entirely. This leads to a core internal conflict: he wants to be with Himari, but he also feels compelled to distance himself to protect her from the monster he fears he is becoming.
His role in the story is that of the tormented protector of Momochi House. As the Nue, he wields immense power to purge hostile ayakashi and maintain the barrier between worlds. However, this power comes at a great cost, as he is eternally bound to the house and cannot leave its grounds. The central struggle of his character arc involves resisting the house’s hunger to consume him completely. This conflict is externalized by the emergence of the Dark Nue, a corrupted former guardian who challenges Aoi’s right to protect the house and accelerates his metamorphosis into a half-ayakashi.
Aoi is not alone in his duty. He has formed unbreakable bonds with three shikigami, or spirit familiars, who are fiercely loyal to him. Yukari is a serpentine water spirit, and Ise is a gruff orangutan. The third is Hakka, an exiled gatekeeper from the spirit realm who hopes to one day succeed Aoi. These beings are bound to him through pacts forged in protection, and their relationships mirror that of a family. Despite his efforts to push them away when his power becomes unstable, they refuse to abandon him. His relationship with Himari is the emotional heart of the narrative. He sees her as both a light in his darkness and a temptation that could lead to his downfall. He is determined to keep her from inheriting the same cursed power, knowing it would trap her as it has trapped him.
Throughout the story, Aoi undergoes significant development as he is forced to confront the traumatic memories of his past that he has long suppressed. The loss of his mother, the discovery that his childhood siblings were ayakashi, and the abuse he suffered from his stepmother are all wounds that the Nue entity fills, threatening to erase Aoi’s consciousness altogether. His journey is a fragile balancing act between his dual nature as guardian and ayakashi, as lover and protector. Each choice he makes underscores this duality, highlighting his struggle to remain mortal in the face of a myth that seeks to consume him. Later in the series, his situation evolves, and he eventually returns to a human form, though the circumstances are complicated by the lingering effects of his time as the Nue.
Aoi's past is marked by tragedy and abandonment. As a child, he possessed the ability to see ayakashi, or spirits, a gift that caused his parents to cast him aside. He eventually found his way to the Momochi House, a structure that serves as a barrier between the human and spiritual realms. The house was intended to be inherited and protected by Himari Momochi, but at the age of ten, Aoi forcibly broke the seal and entered the property. This act triggered his transformation into the Nue, a role and a destiny that was never meant to be his. By claiming the position of guardian, known as the Omamori-sama, he severed his ties to the human world, and his existence was erased from the memories of his family and friends. The only lingering connection to his human past is his childhood friend, Hayato Hidaka, whose fractured memories resist the house's power of erasure.
Personality-wise, Aoi is defined by his isolation and the immense burden of his duty. He has become guarded and fiercely loyal to those he considers his own. This is especially true regarding Himari Momochi, the true heir who arrives at the house years later. Aoi is deeply protective of her and prioritizes her safety above all else, even to the point of suppressing his own romantic feelings for her. He is keenly aware that his power is unstable and that the house is slowly consuming him. A deep sense of guilt haunts him, as he believes that his emotional vulnerability and his love for Himari accelerate his transformation, threatening to make him lose his humanity entirely. This leads to a core internal conflict: he wants to be with Himari, but he also feels compelled to distance himself to protect her from the monster he fears he is becoming.
His role in the story is that of the tormented protector of Momochi House. As the Nue, he wields immense power to purge hostile ayakashi and maintain the barrier between worlds. However, this power comes at a great cost, as he is eternally bound to the house and cannot leave its grounds. The central struggle of his character arc involves resisting the house’s hunger to consume him completely. This conflict is externalized by the emergence of the Dark Nue, a corrupted former guardian who challenges Aoi’s right to protect the house and accelerates his metamorphosis into a half-ayakashi.
Aoi is not alone in his duty. He has formed unbreakable bonds with three shikigami, or spirit familiars, who are fiercely loyal to him. Yukari is a serpentine water spirit, and Ise is a gruff orangutan. The third is Hakka, an exiled gatekeeper from the spirit realm who hopes to one day succeed Aoi. These beings are bound to him through pacts forged in protection, and their relationships mirror that of a family. Despite his efforts to push them away when his power becomes unstable, they refuse to abandon him. His relationship with Himari is the emotional heart of the narrative. He sees her as both a light in his darkness and a temptation that could lead to his downfall. He is determined to keep her from inheriting the same cursed power, knowing it would trap her as it has trapped him.
Throughout the story, Aoi undergoes significant development as he is forced to confront the traumatic memories of his past that he has long suppressed. The loss of his mother, the discovery that his childhood siblings were ayakashi, and the abuse he suffered from his stepmother are all wounds that the Nue entity fills, threatening to erase Aoi’s consciousness altogether. His journey is a fragile balancing act between his dual nature as guardian and ayakashi, as lover and protector. Each choice he makes underscores this duality, highlighting his struggle to remain mortal in the face of a myth that seeks to consume him. Later in the series, his situation evolves, and he eventually returns to a human form, though the circumstances are complicated by the lingering effects of his time as the Nue.