Homuramaru Nowaki

* Anime
* Manga

**Homuramaru Nowaki** (野 (の) 分 (わき) 火 (ほむら) 丸 (まる) , *Nowaki Homuramaru*, ***Homuramaru Nowaki***?) or simply **Nobimaru** (野火丸, ***Nobimaru***?) is the subordinate of Yoko Inari. He is also the leader of the Special Investigation Unit.

## Appearance

Nobimaru is a kitsune who disguises himself to look younger than he actually is as he considers there to be more advantages to being cute.  Due to insufficient energy from having to fake his appearance, he can’t hide his kitsune features or heal his injuries.

Nobimaru appears as a young boy. He has short blond hair, round golden eyes and a beauty mark under the left side of his mouth. He wears black and yellow headphones to conceal his fox ears. His typical attire consists of a yellow undershirt, white tie, black suit jacket and black shorts. He also wears white socks paired with black sock suspenders and brown shoes. After the battle with Yui he starts wearing a red glove on his right hand due to an injury he couldn’t heal.

In his true form Nobimaru remains looking youthful, though somewhat more mature. However, he is noticeably taller. He’s able to conceal his kitsune features, which is why his headphones rest around his neck. He wears a cropped white leopard print fur coat over his other clothes. Instead of shorts, he now wears black suit pants. He also occasionally wears sunglasses.

When fully transformed into a kitsune he has yellow eyes, dark brown fur with gray accents and a tail made of flames.

Nobimaru transforms into his kitsune form
## Personality

Nobimaru presents himself as friendly and polite, using his cute looks to his advantage in order to appear more trustworthy. His childlike appearance may lead others to underestimate him, but beneath the innocent surface he is manipulative and is often looking to use others. He is also seen to cooperate with the main characters more than he's seen to be directly antagonistic, usually being antagonistic in indirect ways like by planning out Inari's orders to the Special Investigation Unit. His elusive personality and moral compass makes his true intentions hard to discern due to him being covert about his past and life outside of work.

His ruthless side is most often seen during battle. He shows little to no concern for violence or bloodshed and in fact views such situations as rather exciting and fun. Nobimaru is confident and reliable in combat. He’s able to remain levelheaded and improvise in tense situations.

As Inari’s loyal subordinate, Nobimaru naturally holds her in high regard and respectfully refers to her as “Lady Inari”. Despite the niceties, he views her in an intensely negative light—upon his first meeting with Kabane he abruptly reveals that he hates her.  Nobimaru is also occasionally shown to get a little carried away; his typical bright expression turns dark and he proceeds to talk about Inari in a hostile and bitter manner. He quickly catches himself, though, and playfully pretends like “the slip of the tongue” didn’t happen.

Despite Nobimaru’s antagonism towards Inari, he’s willing to work for her. He reveals to Inugami that he's using his status as a mere stepping-stone to accomplish his own selfish goals, even if it means cooperating with someone he hates. His disloyalty is especially apparent in the way he behaves behind her back, as he’s amiable towards the members of the Inugami Detective Office, even letting them in on Inari’s plans and willing to cooperate with them. Nobimaru also goes as far as to deceit Inari and disobey her instructions, often out of compassion for others. He does as he pleases, which results in being able to protect someone, such as Kon.  If Inari was aware of this, Nobimaru would be considered a traitor and most definitely disposed of.

## Powers & Abilities

* **Replication**: Nobimaru is able to replicate himself, producing many copies of himself to confuse the enemy.
* **Transformation**: Nobimaru can change his form from a child to an adult.
* **Illusions**: Nobimaru is able to "erase" memories by showing the subject an illusion which makes them think it was a dream. Although the memory gets erased, the feelings stay intact.
* **Flames**:
	+ **"Flower Kindling"** (花火種,, *Hanahidane*?): Nobimaru's signature move. Nobimaru plants seeds of a flame at the points he touches with his fingers, detonating them by making them sprout, which he does by snapping his fingers. This ability leaves little marks on the body which are similar to burns.

## Relationships

### Yoko Inari

Nobimaru's boss. He dislikes her and resents her ways of operation, but acts loyal in front of her. When asked for the reason why he even follows her in the first place, Nobimaru claims that the reason is “exceedingly self-serving”.  As for what this reason is, is currently unknown.

### Umetaro Matsutake

Nobimaru's subordinate. He had suffered a hefty monetary loss due to gambling and fell into debt. Nobimaru paid it off, sealing his fate of working at the Special Investigation Unit and holding the fact that Umetaro now owes him over his head. Despite forcing Umetaro to act as his personal minion, Nobimaru considers him reliable and trusts him with certain tasks.

### Kabane Kusaka

Seeing how far Kabane is willing to go for his friends, Nobimaru desperately wants Kabane to add him to his "friend list". Given Nobimaru's nature, he most likely wants to take advantage of Kabane's good-heartedness and abilities. Despite not exactly being friends, they're on good terms and seem to rely on each other.

## Appearances

**Manga Appearances**
*Chapters in order of appearance*

Introduction Arc

* Chapter 10 - Existence

Shiki Arc

* Chapter 11 - The Spider's Thread
* Chapter 12 - Madness
* Chapter 13 - Dearest Wish
* Chapter 14 - The Golden Thread

Intermission Arc

* Chapter 16 - Kabane's Long Day

Akira Arc

* Chapter 18 - The Stone That Brings Death
* Chapter 19 - Flaming Corpse
* Chapter 20 - Alone
* Chapter 21 - Operation Everybody Gets Along

Shikoku Arc

* Chapter 22 - Now, Yashima
* Chapter 26 - Most Important
* Chapter 27 - Ambition

Shimane-Amagafuchi Arc

* Chapter 30 - Counterattack (cameo)
* Chapter 32 - On The Move (cameo)
* Chapter 33 - Gambler (cameo)
* Chapter 34 - Meet Up

Ogreham Factory Arc

* Chapter 35 - Stupid
* Chapter 41 - Important Person
* Chapter 42 - The Rose and the Sun
* Chapter 43 - Strength

Gourd Training Arc

* Chapter 44 - Boss' Wrath
* Chapter 47 - Friends
* Chapter 48 - Shining Maple Leaves
* Chapter 49 - Awakening
* Chapter 51 - Back at Yashima
* Chapter 52 - Breaking Into
* Chapter 53 - Chapter 53
* Chapter 54 - Vessel

**Anime Appearances**
*Episodes in order of appearance*

Introduction Arc

* Episode 5 - Intrusion (cameo)
* Episode 6 - Awakening

Shiki Arc

* Episode 7 - Home
* Episode 8 - Truth

Akira Arc

* Episode 11 - Memories
* Episode 12 - Kemono Incidents

## Etymology

* Nobimaru's given name is comprised of the kanji for "**fire**" (火, *homura*) and "**circle**" (丸, *maru*).
* His surname contains the kanji for "**field**" (野, *no*) and "**minutes**" (分, *waki*).

## Trivia

* He wears an apron when he cooks, thinking that he's cute when he cooks with an apron on.
* He is not against being on full display.
* He likes soba.
* His preferred type is someone who would fall down to hell with him.
* He, alongside many kitsune, likes to eat kitsune udon.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `vol9`
*Kemono Jihen* Manga: Chapter 42.
*Kemono Jihen* Manga: Chapter 10 (p. 17).
*Kemono Jihen* Manga: Chapter 16 (p. 33).
*Kemono Jihen* Manga: Chapter 42 (p. 36-37).
*Kemono Jihen* Manga: Chapter 27.
*Kemono Jihen* Manga: Chapter 19.
*Kemono Jihen* Manga: Chapter 42.
*Kemono Jihen* Manga: Chapter 16.
*Kemono Jihen* Manga: Chapter 43 (p. 24-25).
*Kemono Jihen* Manga: Chapter 48.
*Kemono Jihen* Manga: Volume 5.
*Kemono Jihen* Manga: Volume 6.
*Kemono Jihen* Manga: Volume 10.
*Kemono Jihen* Manga: Chapter 47.