Inukami!

I just had to write a review for Inukami!

Let me just start by saying that this is one hell of an anime any way you look at it. I'm certain my judgement of its flaws are clouded by how much fun I had wa tching it, but what can I say. It was a joyride. The whole layput of the anime is a bit weird so I will split my review into 2 halfs and judge them semiholistically rather than going over character, story, art, and all that crap.


The first bit is full of carefree standalone or 2 part episodes that really just feature the ... main 2 characters and focuses on the ecchi and comedy aspect. I remember laughing a decent amount. I myself have been super desensitized to fan service/ecchi, but there seems to be very little in this anime makes a bit of sense since its from 2006. Overall the first bit is carefree and easy to watch. You can watch it at your own pace as well.


Then we get to last 3rd/quarter which is an absolute treat. It starts ramping up a bit midway through and you sort of think that it is going to start to take itself too seriously and fall on its face, but it does the opposite. This anime will 100% make you say "gawd dayyum this shit just got real!" But the 0 to 1000 that happens is absolutely exhilerating. Every aspect of the anime amps up to the max from the story to the character developement, the animation and music, the romance, the action, and even the comedy. The final episode is really well done as well which is a rarity for me. I am so used to being dissapointed or longing for more but I think that InuKami really wrapped itself up nicely. The transition from the first half to the second was a little odd but idk it really worked for me.


Overall this anime of course had its problems and was quite a bit of a mess, however it was always incredibly enjoyable. If it was refined it would have been a classic, but I can respect the artistic chaos the producers went with as it gives it a lot of uniquness that will make it unforgettable. Absolutely loved this show.

Inukami! is a difficult anime for me to write about. On one hand I really loved many aspects of it but on the other there were things I absolutely hated. This show is not for everyone. It features some pretty crude, perverted, and offensive humor but most of the time you can’t help but laugh anyway.

Story wise Inukami isn’t all that special. It is much better towards the latter half of the show and really did a lot to save the series for me. The main problem and the reason I overall don’t rate this show that high is because ... of some of the humor. Don’t get me wrong this show is at its best VERY funny. But a lot of the jokes, mostly in the first half of the series are over used, cruel, and start getting unfunny in a hurry. It wears you down and you find yourself asking is this how someone who claims to love someone treat them? Fortunately they move on from these jokes eventually and get on with the plot and different jokes.

What Inukami! does right is the characters. They are funny, well drawn and acted and are the strength of the show. There are a lot of them, and usually I would say this would be a weakness but because of the way the humor is delivered and the differences in them I couldn’t help but love them all. The two leads Yuuko and Keita will have you laughing and caring about them. However their relationship doesn’t ever really develop the way you would like. Just when they seem to have reached a new level we find ourselves back to the way things were before. They both can show great love and affection for each other at times but then tremendous cruelty five minutes later. The supporting characters embody all the various fetishes you find in harem anime but they are all get fairly well developed, particularly Nadeshiko and Hakee. In addition a number of guest characters appear during the course of the show that are hilarious such as the monks and jail perverts.

Really great music is featured as well, particular from Yuuko voice actress Yui Horie. Her performance and that of Keita's Jun Fukuyama are the highlights of the cast as they really brought out their characters. The animation was a bit inconsistent, I didn’t care for some of the character designs and some of the colors were a bit boring, but there are many great magical battles and smooth action scenes.

Inukami!, in the end, is a mixed bag. There is no doubt the show is at its best hilarious, but at its worst I just wanted to drop it all together. There is also a lot of good action that fans of shounen will enjoy this. There is a lot to love about it but the mean spirited and too often repetitive humor limited my overall enjoyment.

While Inukami! introduces some interesting ideas, they are overshadowed by subpar pacing, a weak story-line, and an excessive number of characters. The series suffers from an overwhelming cast—aside from the main duo, more than 10 characters attempt to be developed without much success. What exacerbates the issue is that some of these characters play crucial roles in the anime's conclusion, yet they receive minimal screen time, drastically reducing the conclusion's appeal. The majority of the series lacks a cohesive overarching narrative until the final episodes, where an abrupt attempt is made to craft a dramatic conclusion. Character designs exhibit a mix of successes and failures, ... with evident attention given to the Inukami, but other characters appearing as mere afterthoughts. Animation quality is passable and sometimes colorful, but overall, Inukami! fails to warrant serious consideration for viewing.