Notes on Inu x Boku SS - 01 [The Dog and I]
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To start with, this anime confused the hell out of me. Having no idea about the manga it is based from (dled and watched it last night just because my eyes were too tired from my Shakugan no Shana marathon), I can say that the first episode did not impress me that much. That is until around the 16th minute mark, when the heroine’s eyes glowed and (obviously) got my unconditional attention.
Plot Summary:
Shirakiin (the Japanese relatives of a Dovahkiin perhaps?) Ririchiyo just moved to Room 4 of Ayakashi Kan (Maison de Ayakashi). Ayakashi Kan is a special dwelling place for persons like Ririchiyo. Each of the tenants in Ayakashi Kan are accompanied by one agent from the secret service (hence, the “SS” in the title). The agent asigned to be with Ririchiyo is Miketsukami Soushi, who happens to be a person Ririchiyo rescues previously. The story revolves around Ririchiyo and Soushi’s relationship with one another as well as the stories of the other tenants in Ayakashi Kan.
Episode Summary:
Oh, Yamada!
The episode starts with the rantings of Ririchiyo about how she is living a farce. Due to constant bullying during her childhood days, she developed acting tough and strong as a defense mechanism. This causes other people to perceive her as arrogant and haughty but actually she is just lonely.
What bullying can do….
After this we get to meet Sorinozuka Renshou who apparently knows a great deal about Ririchiyo and appears to be a close friend of our heroine.
Haughty Ririchiyo
Renshou Sorinozuka
While arranging her things, Ririchiyo meets the heterochromic Miketsukami Soushi who happily assists her in organizing her things. Soushi is the assigned secret agent to accompany Ririchiyo.
The weird thing here is not the eyes, but where the hell do those petals come from?
At this point, I came to the (hasty) conclusion that this would be another romance anime story where boy meets girl and they battle the odds to be with each other which usually, ends happily. So far every jokes presented by this anime fell flat for me so I was rather silent while watching this one.
Let there be light!
Ririchiyo immediately finds out that Soushi (his heterchromia reminds me of Julio Cesar of Zero no Tsukaima) is devoted to her with him going so far as to ask Ririchiyo to call her a dog. And then we get the following scenes where we see just how truly Soushi is devoted to Ririchiyo.
Female fans immediately consulted google earth to find the location of Ayakashi Kan
Ririchiyo then makes it clear to Soushi (who sparkles every now and then, kind of like Edward Cullen but still Edward Cullen is gay) that she doens’t need the assistance of agents from the Secret Service. The two pictures above foreshadows what would happen if you refuse a somewhat rather obsessed person with his request to protect you.
Please dispose of me too, since I don’t know the meaning of implore, LOL
Ririchiyo tries to rid of Soushi but sadly Soushi is there to stay.
Or rather, they had to find someone that is so hard to refuse
The next day, Ririchiyo, who happens to wake up from an unpleasant dream, opens the door and (not surprisingly) finds Soushi who greets him with a pleasing smile and says several romantic lines from which I’m very sure that 90% of male viewers unconsciously cringed at (especially if you’re single).
Several other characters are introduced. We meet the pink-haired Roromiya Karuta, another secret agent who is assigned to the tenant of Room 2.
Secret Agents in this anime strangely reminds me of the turks from FF
There is also the blond Yukinokouji Nobara who, from the moment she laid her eyes on Ririchiyo, suddenly started sexually harrassing Ririchiyo.
Wutt!?!?!?!?!
Ririchiyo then dreams of her horrible past where she was bullied by other children because of her being a Shirakiin. Ririchiyo appears to hesitate to open up and get close with Soushi as well as others because she fears to be hurt again.
TRUE THAT.
While Ririchiyo ponders about this, a burglar manages to sneak in her room and points a gun at Ririchiyo’s face.
The (poor) burglar
When your victim suddenly says this, you know there’s something wrong
At this point, the anime unleashes hell and spits on the face of every viewer who thought what they were watching sucks. It appears that Ayakashi Kan is created to house half-monsters or the like (kinda like Rosario + Vampire but in a non-school setting).
The identity of the burglar is revealed! Captain Obvious!
Soushi arrives and saves Ririchiyo from being shot (though I doubt about the capacity of an ordinary gun to hurt a half-demon girl). Soushi is revealed to be a Kitsune or a fox spirit.
If I was Ririchiyo, I’d never refused having a bodyguard who looks like this
The other tenants also reveal their true nature with Nobara being a Yuki-onna…
Yeah, proper humans do have an ice sleet covering their hair
and Karuta being a Gashadokuro
What happened to the cute pink-haired loli girl? Me is sad… T_T
P.S. Renshou’s form is…
A cloth-demon!
The situation regarding the burglar was dealt with (though we never get to see the fate of the poor burglar). Soushi reveals that Ririchiyo save his life hence his loving devotion to Ririchiyo. It is also revealed that the tenants, along with the secret agents, are housed in Ayakashi Kan since their blood attracts pure-blooded monsters who are a threat to them.
Thus begins the story of Ririchiyo and her dog, the fox-spirit Soushi.
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The anime, depending on how it balances out the romance and action (I hope there is a lot), could go either way. I was bored since it was very cliched up until the 16th minute mark when the main characters reveal their supernatural nature. I’ll keep watching this and hopefully, I will not be disappointed.
