Kick-Ass Female Characters in Manga: Hanabusa Seki

[gommyommy]

Hanabusa Seki might be a minor character in Nabari No Ou, but she is one of my sentimental favorites. First of all, she’s forty years old (just two years younger than me) and she knits (just like me!

 

Hanabusa is one of the few characters in the story who has nothing to do with the hidden (nabari) ninja world. She accepts people at face value, and with a sweet smile, tries to get them to do right by each other. Quick with a hug and an offering of food, she’s the closest thing to a mother figure that poor, sad Yoite might ever see.

 

Just to catch you up: She’s the live-in girlfriend of Tobari Durandal Kumohira, one of the ninja leaders. Tobari has had his ass kicked by enemy ninja Yoite, and is scared to death of him.

 

Here’s when I fell in love with Hanabusa [spoiler alert]:

When Hanabusa finds Yoite collapsed in front of their house, she does the sensible thing and invites him in to their home and shows him all the kindness one would show a guest. Tobari freaks out seeing Hanabusa offer his enemy food and call him by the polite name “Yoite-kun.” What seems at first like her naïve kindness turns out to be prophetic, as we slowly learn Yoite is more in need of sympathy and respect than Tobari.

 

In a story where the some of the good guys turn out to be not so good and some of the bad guys turn out to be not so bad, it is great to have a character like Hanabusa to light the path of sense and sensibility.