Himeno

"D-Don't you die, Aki. I want you to cry for me... When I... die..."

Himeno was a Public Safety Devil Hunter, working under Makima's special squad. She was partnered with Aki Hayakawa.

Appearance
Himeno was a beautiful young woman with a rather voluptuous build with short smooth dark hair. She wore an eyepatch over her right eye and she usually was seen wearing her suit with black tie.

In the past when she and Aki Hayakawa were assigned as partners through Kishibe, Himeno used to have longer hair that touched her shoulders and bandages over her right eye as well as a sling on her right arm (which she removed right after they began working together, but she still kept her hair to shoulder-length).

Personality
Himeno was shown to be a mature and experienced superior to the new recruits working under her. She generally carries herself with upbeat body language and was capable of staying calm under extremely stressful situations, such as the initial phase of her group's battle against the Eternity Devil. Himeno motivated Denji by offering him a french kiss, implying that she's at least somewhat perceptive of the people around her and was willing to take unorthodox approaches in order to ensure the best possible results from him.

Himeno was shown to be very efficient and blunt in her duty as a Devil Hunter. She responded to a small and seemingly insignificant Devil by almost immediately using her Ghost Devil to subdue it. She was shown to have a more stern side and little tolerance for behavior from new recruits that would endanger or harm her subordinates, as she swiftly took out Kobeni Higashiyama when the latter attempted to stab Denji.

Himeno was shown to be a rather caring and empathetic person. She cared for the well-being of her fellow Devil Hunters, as shown by her desire to not betray Denji during their first mission together. In a brief flashback scene, Himeno was shown to be very patient and tolerant to those that are suffering when a late partner's former girlfriend lashed out and slapped her out of grief.

However, despite this cheerful presentation, Himeno also held an extremely pessimistic worldview as a result of having witnessed multiple partners die suddenly in her line of work. This knowledge that Devil Hunters typically die as a result of their career combined with the teachings of her master eventually lead to her developing a nicotine addiction as a coping mechanism. Himeno even went as far as to pressure Aki Hayakawa into taking up smoking as a new recruit, citing the fact that Devil Hunters don't usually live long enough to suffer from the negative side effects of prolonged use of tobacco anyway.

Himeno had strongly internalized another old teaching of her master: that only Devil Hunters "who have a couple of screws loose" are ultimately successful, due to the general sense of unpredictability presented by their willingness to do unusual things to take down opponents.

Himeno cared deeply for Aki whom she trained as a new recruit and had a close personal bond with. In fact, Himeno considered the side effects of Aki using his sword bad enough that it would be worth sacrificing Denji to prevent. This puts into perspective how much she valued Aki's well-being.

Aki Hayakawa
Upon being assigned as partners, Himeno's feelings for Aki were just those between teammates at first and she simply didn't want him to die. However, after a long time working together, she began to gradually develop feelings for Aki and she states that she likes Aki simply because he is cool, and most of all, he is a normal person.

It was presumed that Himeno had kissed Aki back when he was a new recruit.

Devil Contract

 * Ghost Devil Contract: Himeno had the ability to use the power of the Ghost Devil; in exchange for sacrificing her right eye permanently to the devil, Himeno could summon and control the right arm of the Ghost Devil by making the desired motions with her own right arm, which the ghost will mimic. The hand is invisible and intangible. This arm was strong enough to gouge large wounds into the Eternity Devil's flesh. During the fight with Akane Sawatari, Himeno, in exchange for her whole body, fully summoned the Ghost Devil to attack and overwhelm her opponent.

Skillset

 * Hand-to-Hand Combat: Himeno was a skilled fighter, instantly incapacitating Kobeni Higashiyama after she had been disarmed.

Etymology

 * The name Himeno means "princess, young lady of noble birth" and "field, wilderness", possibly referencing her nature as both gentle and wild.

Trivia

 * Himeno's rankings in the Popularity Polls are as follows:
 * Himeno ranked 11th in the First Popularity Poll with 7,167 votes.
 * Himeno ranked 8th in the Second Popularity Poll with 27,612 votes.
 * Himeno's role in the original Chainsaw Man plotline was considerably different than what it actually turned out to be:
 * She was supposed to be Aki's sister and Denji's buddy (presumably instead of Power).
 * Fujimoto also says he thought she would live much longer in the story.
 * Himeno's character resembles Misato Katsuragi from the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise.
 * Both work for an organization that protects humans from otherworldly threats, ironically Misato's organization fights angels while Himeno's fights demons.
 * Both are alcoholics and smoke, though Himeno smokes more often while Misato drinks more often.
 * Both made sexual advances towards minors despite being adults.
 * Both sacrifice themselves to save the life of someone else with their bodies vanishing and only their clothes remaining.
 * Himeno shares a Japanese voice actor with Stocking Anarchy from Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt who coincidentally was a monster hunter (specifically a ghost hunter) who had some type of relationship with a ghost that are entities born from negative human emotions.
 * Stocking being a ghost hunter who had a romantic relationship with a ghost born from the emotional pain of lonely men who never found love, Himeno being a devil hunter who had a contractual relationship with the devil who represents the fear of ghosts.