Inu X Boku SS Review
Warning: The following review may contain spoilers. If you wish not to know some events in the story, or simply don't wish to find out what happens in the series, please leave the page, since I don't want to damage a watching experience for you.
With that said, thank you, and onto the review:
This show seemed to be one that would appeal to me. The animation looks really good, the characters sound funny and interesting, plus the story. Who wouldn't want a hot bodyguard if you're a teenage girl? That's like somewhat EVERY paranormal YA book ever. Just kidding.
After delaying on this show for the past few years, I received an inter-library loan of this from the same friend who recommended it to me, deciding that now was the perfect time to watch this show, I gave it a chance.
And boy, I didn't regret it. This show is SUPER CUTE!
All of the main characters each have something special, each episode had a lot of funny moments, and this was so enjoyable to relax with before I go to sleep.
Though, the story isn't as good as other shows in this particular genre, I still found a lot to like about it, and I know that it's just getting started.
Because after this, a interesting storyline in the manga begins. Second season perhaps?
Let me tell you about the story:
Story
Ayakashikan looks like an ordinary boarding house on the outside, but if you look more closely, you'll notice some thing fairly odd. The residents who all live in this high security building are descendants of demons, and they are each guarded by there own Secret Service bodyguard. Some are nearly similar in personality, but others are polar opposites.
Ririchiyo Shirakin, a half-human and half-oni from the Shirakin family, moves to the Ayakashikan for some peace and quiet. But she doesn't expect to meet her Secret Service agent, Soshi Miketsukami. Soshi is incredibly devoted to Ririchiyo, and claims to have known her his entire life.
Oh, isn't that love- Wait, WHAT?!
Don't worry about this though. It gets explained later on.
Ririchiyo is at first hesitant to accept Soshi because she feels as if she's not worth protecting. You known due to the fact that she comes from a rich family, and is bullied due to her status and her personality. During a break-in at the Ayakashikan, we find out that all of the Ayakashikan members (not Ririchiyo until later) can transform into spirits of their monster elements. Such as a Yuki-onna, or a Gashadokuro. At the end of the first episode, Ririchiyo agrees to let Soshi become her bodyguard.
Along the way, character development, a "fiance" appears from Ririchiyo's past, the feelings between out two mains start to spread, and so does the slice-of-life comedic elements.
Wait, SLICE-OF-LIFE?
For people looking for a more story-balanced show, you're going to be disappointed. This show has a ton of random episodes. All of them actually have great comedy and are enjoyable to watch, although some may find them tedious since there's not enough story, and just mainly comedy. At least there is some story mixed in with these episodes, which is always a plus. Not counting the OVA of course.
My main problem is the slice of life aspects thrown in, but they do provide great comedy. As well as the characters, but more on that later.
There's also this plot twist that is super predictable. When they were young, it is confirmed that Ririchiyo and her "fiancee" Kagero exchanged letters back and forth. However, as Soshi was Kagero's bodyguard back in the day during his past, he was asked to write the letters to her since Kagero isn't the world's best hand writer. The good news is that this explains the whole "I've known you my whole life" that Soshi was telling Ririchiyo. However, the bad side of things was that I guessed this twist after my friend told me that Kagero actually didn't write the letters.
Well then, who's the first person you think of?
Soshi, of course.
Yeah, that kind of bugs me. But beyond that, it's still a great story. It has mysterious intrigue, and the show can balance comedy and some back-stories well.
Speaking of backstories, let's meet some of the characters:
Characters
For the characters today, I can't forget to talk about our two main leads. Since I really like both of them, and they make the show complete the way it is. I will also talk about two other characters, one male and one female, that had a lot of impact in the comedy, and that I couldn't help but love.
Let's start off with Ririchiyo:
Ririchiyo is a half human, half oni, 15 year old girl who moved to the Ayakashikan to be alone. She lives in Room 4. The reason why she yearns to be independent and worries about not being able to communicate to people probably. This is due to the fact that she was bullied at a young age, and that she is very cold when interacting with people, complete with a scoff before she starts majority of her sentences. So basically, she's a tsun-tsun.
When she meets Soshi, things start to change. She first is put off by his willingness to her, but finds in time that she is falling in love. She gets weird feelings, blushes a bit, and even has irregular heartbeats. OH MY GOD! IT'S LOVE! This is helped even more once she finds out that Soshi was the person who sent and wrote the letters under Kagero's name. At the end of Episode 12, she confesses her love to him in a park, and that first kiss. SO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!! AUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyways, Ririchiyo is a great character. She has a lot of moments where she denies doing some things in the past, dismissing them as "practicing her handwriting" or "getting an allergic reaction." Her feelings to Soshi aren't insta-love (THANK GOD!), and it's really relatable. Someone who shuts herself in all her life, and doesn't really have many friends. She's a great main character, and sometimes I wish I could see more of these characters in other series.
Next is Soshi:
Soshi is Ririchiyo's Secret Service agent, and is 22 years old. But before some people freak out due to the age difference, keep in mind its not as outrageous as other things we've heard about. Plus, it's the same in Vampire Academy with Rose and Dimitri, with 7 years between them.
He is a descendant of the evil nine-tailed fox, which was Soshi's past life. His family kept him under house arrest when he was young. Their main concern was of his power, although Soshi was able to manipulate and seduce several women in order to gain his own freedom. Due to this, he had no traits for his own personality. After he was taken by by Kagero's mother, and made him her son's personal assistant, it all changed for him. It mainly has to due with the letters he wrote Ririchiyo.
And then fangirls, you know what to do:
Soshi is often very calm, polite, and doesn't seem to have a darker side to his personality, which he can show in small doses. He is gentle towards the people around him, but his main devotion is Ririchiyo. He blindly obeys her, as well as protects her, and you see why he is a very great love interest. *sighs*
He also has heterochromia in case anyone noticed. I can never spell that word right in my journal, at least for one of my made up characters. Spell check FTW!
*coughs* Back to the review.
I really liked Soshi. At times, he seemed to be a bit underdeveloped, and I would have liked to see a bit of his darker side more. And not the seducing stuff, mind you, from his past. At the end of Episode 4, he just says something a bit weird to himself that doesn't really get explained. I do like how he tries to be nice to everyone, as its awfully hard to do that sometimes. Mainly if you're in a bad mood.
When we find out his backstory, Soshi tells Ririchiyo that he wasn't honest with her about a lot of things. We, as the audience, get to see his past, but we find out the only real thing he lied about was the letters. Which is a bit disappointing, but hey, at least it wasn't as much as what he lead on. UP TOP!
Nobara's turn:
Nobara is a descendant of an Yuki-onna, a spirit related to ice and snow. She is very interested in both the topics of fashion and cute girls, and often sexually fantasizes about the latter. And she even comes equipped with a signature catchphrase.
MANIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACC!
Saying it exactly the way she does. *snorts*
She is the oldest female out of the bunch, and often acts as a motherly figure to both Ririchiyo and Soshi. As Rensho's Sercret Service agent, she doesn't really like him that much. Does she show kindness to him? A little, but not that much.
Nobara's memorable mainly for the show's comedy. It's sad that she doesn't get enough development, but still: MANIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACC!
Zange is last:
Zange is 22 years old, and is the Secret Service agent of Watanuki. He is also my favorite character from the anime, mainly because of his personality.
Zange is a half-human, half-demon that constantly wears a pair of black bunny ears on his head that react to his emotions, well at least in the OVA. His ancestor is a Hyakume, or known as the 100 eye monster that can see the past, and the future. Pretty much through-out the entire series, he is shown to be very cheerful 24 hours, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. He is very found of Soshi, and gives him the nickname Sou-tan. He hopes that everyone can get along, and is friends with almost everyone at the Ayakashikan, though he be a busybody at certain times.
I think you can see why I love Zange so much. He just reminds me of Grell to a extent that just makes me swoon. I do like how he has more to him rather than being mostly cheerful, but I find his happy carefree personality just fine enough for me.
Other characters include Ririchiyo's childhood friend, Ririchiyo's groom to be, a Gashadokuro who loves food, a tanuki demon who claims to be a delinquent multiple times but doesn't prove it, a bartender, his son, and three various maids with different personalities. One can change her size, another's a cross-dresser, and another looks as if his facial features were drawn on with marker.
So overall, it's not amazing animation, but it still is good. Minus a few off-models.
He is a descendant of the evil nine-tailed fox, which was Soshi's past life. His family kept him under house arrest when he was young. Their main concern was of his power, although Soshi was able to manipulate and seduce several women in order to gain his own freedom. Due to this, he had no traits for his own personality. After he was taken by by Kagero's mother, and made him her son's personal assistant, it all changed for him. It mainly has to due with the letters he wrote Ririchiyo.
And then fangirls, you know what to do:
Soshi is often very calm, polite, and doesn't seem to have a darker side to his personality, which he can show in small doses. He is gentle towards the people around him, but his main devotion is Ririchiyo. He blindly obeys her, as well as protects her, and you see why he is a very great love interest. *sighs*
He also has heterochromia in case anyone noticed. I can never spell that word right in my journal, at least for one of my made up characters. Spell check FTW!
*coughs* Back to the review.
I really liked Soshi. At times, he seemed to be a bit underdeveloped, and I would have liked to see a bit of his darker side more. And not the seducing stuff, mind you, from his past. At the end of Episode 4, he just says something a bit weird to himself that doesn't really get explained. I do like how he tries to be nice to everyone, as its awfully hard to do that sometimes. Mainly if you're in a bad mood.
When we find out his backstory, Soshi tells Ririchiyo that he wasn't honest with her about a lot of things. We, as the audience, get to see his past, but we find out the only real thing he lied about was the letters. Which is a bit disappointing, but hey, at least it wasn't as much as what he lead on. UP TOP!
Nobara's turn:
Nobara is a descendant of an Yuki-onna, a spirit related to ice and snow. She is very interested in both the topics of fashion and cute girls, and often sexually fantasizes about the latter. And she even comes equipped with a signature catchphrase.
MANIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACC!
Saying it exactly the way she does. *snorts*
She is the oldest female out of the bunch, and often acts as a motherly figure to both Ririchiyo and Soshi. As Rensho's Sercret Service agent, she doesn't really like him that much. Does she show kindness to him? A little, but not that much.
Nobara's memorable mainly for the show's comedy. It's sad that she doesn't get enough development, but still: MANIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACC!
Zange is last:
Zange is 22 years old, and is the Secret Service agent of Watanuki. He is also my favorite character from the anime, mainly because of his personality.
Zange is a half-human, half-demon that constantly wears a pair of black bunny ears on his head that react to his emotions, well at least in the OVA. His ancestor is a Hyakume, or known as the 100 eye monster that can see the past, and the future. Pretty much through-out the entire series, he is shown to be very cheerful 24 hours, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. He is very found of Soshi, and gives him the nickname Sou-tan. He hopes that everyone can get along, and is friends with almost everyone at the Ayakashikan, though he be a busybody at certain times.
I think you can see why I love Zange so much. He just reminds me of Grell to a extent that just makes me swoon. I do like how he has more to him rather than being mostly cheerful, but I find his happy carefree personality just fine enough for me.
Other characters include Ririchiyo's childhood friend, Ririchiyo's groom to be, a Gashadokuro who loves food, a tanuki demon who claims to be a delinquent multiple times but doesn't prove it, a bartender, his son, and three various maids with different personalities. One can change her size, another's a cross-dresser, and another looks as if his facial features were drawn on with marker.
Animation
The animation for this series was done by David Production, most known for Ben-To, Hyperdemension Neptunia: The Animation, and the reboot of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
Overall, the animation for this series is pretty solid. I wouldn't call it stunning, but it does have its moments where it shines. Mainly to do with the creative backgrounds in the show's opening. I'm sorry, but these are stunning. Take a look:
These are all very cool, and they caught my eye right when they appeared.So overall, it's not amazing animation, but it still is good. Minus a few off-models.
Sound
The score for this series was composed by Kotaro Nakagawa, most known for his flawless pieces on Code Geass, Hayate the Combat Butler, and Devil Survivor 2: The Animation.
Kotaro Nakagawa once again brings a memorable score into the mix, though its not as memorable as Code Geass. There is some great soft piano pieces, along with some funky stuff. It's not all orchestral, but it still leaves a great impact, especially the fading music gag.
Overall, the original Japanese is very good for this show. A lot of the voice actors do well for their roles, and Mamoru Miyano (voice of Zange) made me swoon. I haven't watched a lot from the English dub, but the voices sound good too. Even if Shelley Callene-Black is typecast for the millionth time, but I can't complain because of that. My friend pretty much hates the dub, and says that there are some really bad mouth flaps, such as lines not fitting them, but I should see for myself first.
Highlights in the original Japanese are Rina Hidaka, Yuichi Nakamura, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Yoko Hikasa, Kana Hanazawa, Takuya Eguchi, Mamoru Miyano, Emi Shinohara, and Minami Tsunda.
Verdict
At first glance, this show may seem to not have a lot of substance. But with each passing episode, more interesting characters, and good back-stories that we get to, this show is very special in its own right. Even though the "twist" of the letters is obvious, and some characters aren't focused on as much, the show still manages to impress.
I recommend this show to people who need some swoon, who want a interesting tale, or are just out of options for a good supernatural anime.
Score: 9/10
Positives:
Great set-up.
Interesting characters.
Good animation.
Nice score.
Back-stories are intriguing.
Negatives:
"Twist" in Ririchiyo's back-story is painfully obvious.
Some characters not as equally developed.