Shizuka Dōmeki

Shizuka Dômeki (百目鬼 静) is a fictional character in the Clamp manga, and anime, xxxHolic. The manga is currently ongoing and the anime series started 6 April 2006. In the anime he is voiced by Kazuya Nakai.

Character
Shizuka Dômeki (also spelled as Doumeki) is Watanuki's classmate and considered a rival by Watanuki. He is part of the school's kyudo club and often participates (and tops) school competitions. Also because of his cool and calm composure he is very popular with the girls. He lives in a shrine owned by his late grandfather, a priest in which during his childhood told him a lot of stories about folklore and shinto practices. However, despite his heritage, Doumeki has a nearly null ability of seeing ghosts or spirits, though he can still exorcise them. He does seem to be able to feel spiritual "pressure" and have a vague sense of their presence. One spirit he did see was the Lady in the Park that Watanuki often visited. Doumeki also collects stamps (only cited in the xxxHolic movie) and has a pure or refreshing scent as noted by the Ame-Warashi. Doumeki cannot enter Yuuko's Store, the explanation why is later revealed on volume 8. His technique of exorcising spirits is by shooting them with an invisible arrow made of pure energy, as first revealed in volume 2. Originally Domeki could not see the spirits/ghosts that Watanuki see like that of the udon shop owner and the Ghost Girl who haunted a scary home. But after he shared both his blood and half his eye with Watanuki he was able to eventually see and experience what Watanuki goes through.

Personality
Dômeki's personality is a total opposite of Watanuki's. He has a cool, calm and often sarcastic demeanor. He barely speaks unless explaining folklore or asking Watanuki for impossible bento lunches (such as asking for food that is out of season or hard to find). He also has a deadpan sense of humor that is often dark and somewhat fatalistic. Much to the annoyance of Watanuki he seems pop up everywhere, especially when Watanuki gets a chance to be with Himawari. He often replies in a one word phrase like "Um" or "Oh". He is also very observant, and even though he does not show it he seems to be very protective of Watanuki, such as in Volume 5 where he stood for hours in the rain to make sure Watanuki was safe and in Volume 6 during the incident with the spirit in the park. Volume 9 of the manga through Dômeki's dream we find out he looks like his late grandfather Haruka. His grandfather also knows more about Dômeki's past, and bears an uncanny resemblance to his grandson (though Watanuki points out that Haruka smiles much more).

Relationship with Watanuki


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 schoolbuilding 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 Chaper 131: Kohane's "Mother" tried to hit Watanuki after she saw Kohane speaking and drinking tea with them|2. 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 suppposedly 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.

Trivia

 * The kanji of Doumeki's given name ("静") means "quiet or calm" and is likely meant to reflect his character. In conversation the word is often used in a command that literally means "be quiet" (shizuka ni), something often said to Watanuki. Likewise, the kanji of his family name are individually read as "numerous" "eye" and "ghost or spirit" likely referring to the role of members of his family as exorcists as well as his ability to protect Watanuki from harm, as well as a possible inside reference to the incident whent the spider took his eye.
 * In volume 9 when Watanuki first saw Domeki's grandfather Haruka, his style of exorcising spirits was also shooting a bow and arrow.
 * Archery is occasionally used in Shinto ceremonies; Dômeki happens to live in a Shinto shrine and his grandfather was a Shinto priest. The concept of exorcising spirits with a bow and arrows is not uncommon in pop culture in Japan; this idea appears in Rumiko Takahashi's Inuyasha, where two of the female leads (Kagome Higurashi and Kikyo) both employ arrows channeling their own spiritual power to cleanse and eliminate enemies.
 * As a child Domeki was feeble (or supposedly feeble). His grandfather made him wear a girl's kimono; Yuuko states that such an action followed an old Japanese custom to make a frail young boy grow to be strong.

Shizuka Dōmeki