Nanami Momozono

Template:Character Page Switches Template:Infobox Nanami Momozono (桃園 奈奈生) is the main protagonist of the manga series Kamisama Kiss, the human land god of Mikage Shrine. She is one of the descendants of Yukiji and Hiiragi.

Appearance

Nanami is considered to be very beautiful. She has long, dark brown hair that stops on her lower back with chocolate colored eyes, rosy cheeks and fair skin. She seems to be oddly overlooked by the human boys at her school, even while simultaneously capturing the hearts and attentions of every supernatural creature she comes in contact with. Nanami and Kumimi bear the same resemblance except the fact that her mother has a lighter brown hair color and eye color than Nanami, but their smile and eyes are both very similar. Nanami's dark hair came from her father's side of the family.

She is normally seen in her school uniform, but also occasionally wears dresses, blouses and pants, kimonos and formal wear. A true "diamond in the rough", her grace, charm, inner and outer beauty draw the eye of demon and human alike when she is dressed exquisitely.

In Chapter 124 and at the end of the anime, Nanami appears to have cut her hair either in neck-length or shoulder-length.

Personality

Plucky and determined, Nanami is not someone who gives up even when the odds are not in her favor. Though her bestowed title of land god gets her into hot water far more often than it gets her out of it, her wit, resourcefulness, and tenacity (along with a little help from her friends) ensures things always turn out well in the end.

Throughout the anime, she is loving and fiercely protective of those she cares about. Her optimistic, kind-hearted nature drives her to do what she can to help those in trouble, much to the irritation of Tomoe, her white fox familiar.

Her idealistic belief that humans and yokai can live and love together in peace is a constant source of contention between Nanami and Tomoe, who believes such ideas are human-centric and foolish. Partly out of a stubborn drive to change Tomoe's mind but mostly out of her earnest desire to help others, she orchestrated and continues to support the love affair between Himemiko (a catfish yokai) and Kotarou (a human boy).

The Tengu of Kurama Mountain hold Nanami in adoration, caling her "Tennin" or "Celestial Maiden" / "Fairy". With her help the Tengu's beloved (and long dormant) thousand-year-old sakura tree was able to bloom once again. As a result, the Tengu children call her "elder sister" and describe her as being beautiful and warm.

History

When Nanami was a child, she was deeply affected and influenced by her mother. Nanami listened when she told her to "never trust papa, never tell him where the money is even if he begs you", and "grow up and don't ruin your health like mama, grow up and become an adult on your own".

As a child, Nanami learned that she couldn't rely on men or "Husband" and that growing up and living alone as an adult was best. This was mainly due to her mother's influence which resulted in Nanami getting her independent nature from her mother. Growing up, instead of using "I" when addressing herself, she would say her name and would constantly say "want" or "don't want" in her sentences.

Nanami's mother stated that for generations her family had picked the worst men. She also stated that her family can only give birth to a single healthy baby girl, because her family ancestor drank from a "divine spring", which turned her into a beautiful girl. In VIZ translation the cause was slightly different, as it was a god who gave a medicine to Nanami's ancestor who drank it and became beautiful.

After the death of her mother, by some unknown disease, Nanami became responsible for the house and tried to keep her irresponsible dad in check. One day, after being evicted from her house, Nanami meets a stranger, a land God called Mikage, who offers her shelter at the Mikage Shrine. He kisses her forehead, leaving the mark of a land God in between her brows. From there she pursues her duties as a Land God, eventually falling in love with her once hated familiar and fox, Tomoe. Nanami likes Tomoe but in her past her mom said "be single and be a hardworking woman.”

Characteristics

As noted by Tomoe, although Nanami appears to be a weak human, her spirit is strong. Because of this spirit, Nanami tends to land herself in a lot of trouble without even trying. She also tends to have a lot of courage (though she can be a hothead at times), and tends to stand up for herself and others. She also doesn't give up, and is very "stubborn" as shown when she didn't beg Tomoe to save her, even though she was hanging on for her life up in a tall tree. Even though she is human, she will do whatever she can to help those she cares for and those in need.

Since she is human, she has "feelings" that yokai and immortal Gods don't understand, which makes her one of the strongest characters in the show, (even though she sometimes has problems believing in herself and her abilities).

Nanami has a kind, gentle, understanding, and caring heart for those around her, even if they are bad people or Yokai. She often cries when things get too hard or when someone is hurt or in pain, and it has been noted that her crying face has had its effect on humans and Yokai alike, who don't like it when she cries or is upset.

She is able to change people with her great determination and kindness, making them just the right way and helping them with their problems. And also can be changed and determined by those around her too.

As noted by almost everyone she has ever met, she doesn't have proper behavior, she can be a busy body, and is a bit tomboyish, and she also has the habit of promising things without thinking through (Which makes Tomoe and Kurama scared when she gets ideas.) She also tends to think "outside the box" and comes up with the weirdest ideas. Even though she is human, she has good body strength, as seen when she raised up a heavy clam shell that Tomoe had hidden under in order to talk to him face to face, resulting him being shocked and a bit afraid.

She will often get into other's faces when they do something that she doesn't feel is right, and she'll grab them by the collar of their shirts or kimonos, if she is angered enough at their actions. She has been known to hit others when she is really angered. She hit Tomoe on the back of the head with her purse and slapping Mizuki when he kissed her while she slept. Overall, Nanami is the type of person that would like to see others happy and will go out of her way to make them that way, even if it means that she has to get hurt or sacrifice something to make it so.

One of Nanami's most distinguishing traits is her belief that yokai and humans can truly love each other. She goes out of her way and states this whenever she gets the chance or whenever Tomoe or anyone else responds negatively on the subject. 

She has stated that she will never get married (like she promised her mother), but in chapter 62 when Tomoe proposes to a child Nanami in her past, she agrees to it. Nanami currently does not remember doing this. This also leads her to be careful with spending money as a result. On a side note, she hates mushrooms.

When Nanami gets her soul implanted in Yukiji's body, she witnesses Tomoe's hate and disgust for humanity. Even thought she was frightened, she still fought against him, by biting his finger. Once she managed to escape, and when back into her own time, Nanami grew frightened when Tomoe reach to touch her. Instead of him hurting her like she thought, he only touched her forehead for her temperature. She then began to cry, happy that she got the Tomoe she knew back.  "I'm glad this is the Tomoe that I know."

She accepts Tomoe's nature and how he was in the past. But knows that he is different and won't do anything to hurt her and doesn't harbor any ill feelings for what he almost did to her in the past when she was in Yukiji's body. She knows that he is different now and that is all that matters to her.  This is an example of her forgiving nature. She will forgive anyone who has ever hurt no matter how bad it is.

Relationships

Kumimi Momozono

Nanami and her mother

Kumimi is the mother of Nanami, she had died of an unknown disease when Nanami was a child. As a child, Nanami was deeply affected and influenced by her mother.

Nanami listened when she told her to "never trust papa, never tell him where the money is even if he begs you", and "grow up and be as healthy as mama, grow up and become an adult on your own".

Yukiji

Yukiji is the ancestor of Nanami, they share a striking resemblance with each other. Yukiji is seen being very caring and protective of Nanami, this may be due to the fact that they have similar backstories.

Tomoe

Nanami and Tomoe having fun

At first, when she came to Mikage shrine, he thought she was Mikage returning after a twenty-year absence and proceeded to attack Nanami, who shouted she wasn't Mikage. Realizing that it wasn't Mikage after all, he notifies the two shrine spirits, Onikiri and Kotetsu, who disguised themselves as "will-o'-the-wisps" for dramatic effect for his entrance. Once he figures out that Mikage gave Nanami his position as the Land God, Tomoe got mad and ordered Onikiri and Kotetsu to get her out of the shrine, but they stated that, "Mikage has given her his blessing," horrified that he would say such a thing. He then leaves, but comes back and sees Nanami bleed from plucking out the grass and he states that she is weak and helpless and that she should go back home, thinking her to be a runaway. Nanami explains that she wasn't the one to run away from home and that it was her dad who did so. Surprised, Tomoe kicks her in the butt with his foot and tells her to stay away from the mirror of the hall. In the beginning of the story, Tomoe acts indifferent towards anything having to do with Nanami. Tomoe doesn't seem to trust Nanami and thinks that she will leave like Mikage, resulting in him keeping a close eye on her.

As the story continues, Nanami shows Tomoe that she won't abandon him, with him becoming extremely loyal to her. It has been indicated that Tomoe has fallen in love with Nanami as they spend more time together. He constantly compares her to being as weak as a bug, knowing how weak she is as a human compared to his kind and immortal gods. He thinks of her as a flower that is lovable, pure, and awe-inspiring. He ends up having more faith in Nanami as the story goes on, but still can't help to call her an idiot at times.

File:Nanami mad at Tomoe.png

Nanami punishing Tomoe

Tomoe started out not caring at all about Nanami, but eventually becomes quite fond and taken with her kindness and beauty, despite the fact he refuses to admit it, and becomes quite envious with any boy who touches her or spends time with her, besides him, especially if it is a human boy. In recent chapters, Tomoe has realized that the woman he fell in love in the past was not Yukiji but really Nanami, who is actually the descendant of Yukiji and her child. The two are now in a relationship, are keeping their promises of the past, and are now married.

Now, it shows Nanami wants to try harder in her school because she does not want to hold Tomoe back. In Ch. 102 the two share a scene under a umbrella, which in Japan is the sigh of Ai Ai Gasa, "Love-Love Umbrella". In Ch. 103, it show that Tomoe does not want to hold back any more and wants to continue where they left off 500 years ago (or he was just really drunk and had no clue on what he was doing), which somewhat shocked and scared Nanami, but was saved by a protective Mizuki and an angry Mikage.

In the last few chapters, Tomoe wanted to become human desperately to be by Nanami's side. He even accepted the drink from Kurama which he thought he would really become human. He was stopped by Nanami who considered the consequences but nonetheless still drank it, only to be turned into a fox. This showed that Tomoe wanted to be by Nanami's side no matter what it takes.

In chapter 124 Nanami tells that she and Tomoe are offically engaged. In anime, in the last OVA, Nanami and Tomoe get married among they friends, Tomoe turn into a human and Nanami also come back to being a human. In the final chapter, they both have a baby boy.

Mikage

Mikage was the previous land god of Mikage shrine, and the one responsible for making Nanami a human god. Twenty years before the start of the series, Mikage went on a journey in the hopes to find a cure that will break Tomoe's curse markings. With no luck, he decided to head back, but he was chased by a dog on the way, where Nanami found him up a tree calling for help. She "shoos" the dog away, "saving" his life.

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Mikage's Mark

As they sit on a bench and talk, Mikage mentions Tomoe's name, which makes Nanami wonder if that is his wife (Because Tomoe is a girl name). After Nanami tells Mikage that she has no home, he tells her that he will give her his, stating that, "It can't be empty forever". He kisses her on the forehead, placing the mark of the land god and making her become the new land god.

It is later revealed that Mikage wanted to show Tomoe that humans were not as weak as he thought in the hopes of "retying" his fate to humans, which he thanked Nanami for during the God Summit arc, saying, "I hope Tomoe chooses you". In the end, Mikage puts all his faith in Nanami, believing her to be the only one that can save Tomoe.

Mizuki

Though Nanami considers Mizuki a close friend, he loves her. After saving a white snake from being bullied by a couple of classmates, Nanami releases it into the outside, but notices there was an odd red mark on her wrist where she held it. The white snake left an engagement mark on her wrist, created by his saliva. He captures her and keeps her in the Yonomori Mitsuha Shrine where he lived with his former master many years ago.

Eventually, Nanami finds it strange she has never seen Yonomori at all. In actuality, the shrine was recreated with Mizuki's power after Yonomori died due to lack of worshipers. Nanami feels bad for Mizuki because he keeps waiting for a master that will never return. She promises to come back and keep him company in the future.

Mizuki sealing the familiar's contract with Nanami

Soon after the Dragon king kidnapped Tomoe, Nanami came to the realization that, in order to save Tomoe, she must get back the Dragon King's Eye (which Tomoe stole from the Dragon King centuries ago). Accompanied by Mizuki, she visits the sea witch, Isohime who finds the eye in her body, but in the process of removing it, the Isohime tricks her. Instead of taking some of her life force, the witch ends up taking her soul and the dragon eye.

However, because of Mizuki, who had decided to become her familiar, Nanami was saved. Mizuki realized that even though without her familiar by her side, and still being just a human, she was still willing to do anything to help those in need. As a sign of respect, Mizuki kissed Nanami, who was knocked out, saying "This is my highest respect. I only bow down to you."

Mamoru

Mamoru and Nanami cleanse away evil spirits

Mamoru is Nanami's Monkey Shikigami that she had hatched by an egg. He was given to her by Otohiko as a test to see if she was ready to attend the Divine Assembly in Izumo. Mamoru tends to stay very close to her, mostly sleeping in her bag, her clothes, or resting on her head or shoulders.

Mamoru is always very eager to help Nanami, and alerts her of oncoming dangers that are nearby. He is very affectionate towards her, and is able to synchronize with her in order to purify evil spirits.

Numano Himemiko

Nanami thinks of Himemiko as one of her friends that is a girl that she can talk about boys to. Nanami had met Himemiko when she wanted to reconnect with Kotarou, the human boy that Himemiko had met ten years ago.

Ami Nekota

Nanami's first friend that she had made at school. She, together with Kei, are the only humans who know about Nanami's god status and the demons (Tomoe, Mizuki, and Kurama).

Kei Ueshima

Nanami had met Kei through Ami, after she had befriend Ami. Nanami sees Kei as a friend and someone to go to talk about her crush on Tomoe.

Kurama Shinjirou

Before becoming the land god, Nanami used to idolize Kurama just like other normal girls. In episode two ("The God Becomes A Target"), it is revealed that he is actually a crow tengu from Kurama mountain. After finding out that Nanami is the land god, he planned to steal her heart and "get a bite of it". This plan was ruined since Tomoe came for Nanami's rescue. Shinjirou gives up later on and decides to help Nanami in later episodes of the anime, and even in the manga.

Quotes

• "No matter how harsh and painful my life is right now, someday....Someday, a day will come when I can smile everyday."

• "Just because I wanted a home, I almost destroyed someone else's home."
• " I can't stop myself. I'm falling in love with you even more."
• " I hope my feelings reach everyone."
• " It would truly be blessing...if we could be that close someday."
• " I get it okay? That you don't have any feelings like that towards me. I don't have the wrong idea about it or anything, so don't worry, okay?"

Trivia

• Tomoe and Nanami share a few similarities. They both have lost a loved one that they cared for with all their hearts (Tomoe lost Yukiji and Nanami lost her mother), both were abandoned by someone (Tomoe was abandoned by Mikage and Nanami was abandoned by her dad), both have bad tempers, both speak their mind. Both are rebellious and don't behave.
• Both Tomoe and Nanami are looked down upon for their rank. Nanami is looked down upon for being a human who has the "Land God" title. Tomoe is looked down upon for being a yokai, but having a "Familiar" title. They are both disliked in their own worlds and in the divine world. 
• Nanami dislikes shiitake mushrooms. 
• Nanami likes cute things such as small children and babies or cuddle-like animals. 
• After her mother's death, Nanami had to take on a lot of responsibility, becoming the "woman" of the house. She was left alone much of the time while her dad left to gamble. When Nanami was younger, her mother was always home, but after her mother's death, there was no one home to welcome her back. 
• Through the story, Nanami is given many titles and is referred to by various different names. "Nanami-sama", translated as the equivalent of "Lady Nanami" in the English sub, is her most famous/and mostly used one. others are "Nanami", "Celestial Maiden/Fairy", "Elder Sister", "Nanami-hime",  "Miko" Or "Shrine Maiden," "Human God", "Human Land God", "Land God", "Human", "Nanami-san",  "Momozono-san", and "Nanami-Chan" "Dirt-poor Momozono-san" "Dirt-poor girl" "Little Princess"
• Nanami tends to love romantic novels. "Beverly Hills Teenage Drama Diaries" is her favorite one. 
• She likes to "sleep in" on Sundays. If Tomoe would let her, she would sleep in the whole day. 
• As a child, Nanami had her hair up in short pig tails. But now, as noted by Tomoe, she hardly ever puts her hair up.
• To keep her classmates from questioning her high rank, Nanami told Tomoe that if anyone asked, to tell them she was adopted into his family. Which is kind of true, since Mikage adopted her into becoming the Land God. Due to this, her classmates describe her as a "Girl that had gone through a lot of hardships and has been adopted into a rich family" in this way, she is similar to Yukiji.
• Nanami seems to learn through the movements of things, and responds well to competition. She also has a habit of bragging about her ability and talismans.
• Kei and Ami are the first human friends Nanami makes.
• Nanami get's her beauty and spirit from her mother, but she also gets her father's lack of discipline and his slothfulness, which is seen when she doesn't like waking up on Sundays and how she sleeps.
• Nanami is in a Music and English class in school.  
• As a child, Nanami's dream was to have a big brother.
• Nanami has a fear of being useless to Tomoe and is constantly comparing herself to him and others. 
• She has a strong distaste for mushrooms. 
• Nanami is a popular female Japanese name that can mean multiple things depending on the two kanji used to spell it out."七海" is "seven, sea", "七美" is "seven, beauty", "七実" is "seven, fruit" and "七生" is "seven, life".
• Tomoe is Nanami's first love. 
• In chapter 100 it was revealed that Nanami is a descendant of Yukiji. 
• Nanami had given up on Tomoe (never time traveled), Tomoe would have perished from his wounds by the riverbank.