Quick, pop quiz time! What do you get when you cross a masturbatory self-insert fantasy with supernatural elements, and throw in a Mary Sue-type character whose only flaw is she doesn’t know how to be a decent human being? That’s right, Twilight! Also, the latest Shoujo adaptation in Shounen clothing: Inu x Boku SS! How this fell under the latter category when the main character is an aloof, otherwise perfect teenage girl who has a handsome bishounen guardian (who sparkles!) at her beck and call, I will never know. What’s sad is judging from the first episode, I can begrudgingly admit that it has several key elements to pulling it off without being unbearably fanservice-y or preachy in the process.
But let’s take a step back and explain what this whole shebang is really about. Ririchiyo is the snippy daughter of a rich family who was bullied by all the mean schoolyard kids because her family was rich. I don’t know how “Haha, you’re rich!” translates to “Haha, sucks to be you!” but those are the cards we’ve been dealt. Because of this, she developed a bit of a complex where she greets anybody regardless of how nice they are to her with cold hostility. However, at the beginning of this series, she moves to a high-security apartment complex where she lives among a group of similar people who all have special bodyguards. I’m not going to give away the reason (yet) in order to prove my point that this could have been a great series if not for one glaring cliché that topples the whole thing.
I first went into this series expecting it to start with total clichéd garbage. Sure, my suspicions weren’t completely disproven (The bishie bodyguard with dichromatic eyes, Ririchiyo’s affluent background, the other apartment tenants being quirky with a capital “Oh fuck this”), but for the most part the first half was pleasantly surprising. Even Ririchiyo’s vaguely creepy bodyguard, Soushi, isn’t entirely detestable. The issue with Ririchiyo’s background is explored with sympathy without dwelling on it and it just generally takes a surprising turn for the pleasant as she warms up to Soushi. Of course I wasn’t expecting to call this my show of the year, but if it would continue like this I wouldn’t entirely mind watching it week to week. Unfortunately, this happened:
the second half confirmed my suspicions by revealing the supernatural twist in this tale: All the tenants of the high security apartment complex are part monster, Ririchiyo included. Zoinks! Of course it didn’t exactly come out of nowhere; there were plenty of hints dropped early on that this apartment complex wasn’t as normal as it would initially seem. However, the damage had been done. Suddenly, all my slightly good impressions vanished, leaving me feeling dejected and gently spooning gobs of cookie dough into my mouth. It was all I could do to stifle my disappointment.
If Inu x Boku decided to stick with the slice of life idea by just having Ririchiyo slowly adjust to her new life without any supernatural bullshit, I’d be a little more inclined to enjoy this. However, it’s unfortunate that it’s taken this route, shuffling in the well-trodden footsteps of similar series. As long as some overarching Shounen-esque plot isn’t introduced out of nowhere and it retains a sense of being about Ririchiyo slowly opening up, I won’t entirely discard the possibility of joy. As it stands though, it’s simply stale and not worth much of a look. Who knows if this will change later, I sure don’t have any idea, but no matter how you look at it this show doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.
I quite like supernatural shojo stuff. I don’t know why. Inu x Boku SS isn’t the greatest series on earth, and I don’t plan on getting too invested in it, but hey. :p
Hey, whatever works for you. I’m going to keep watching, mostly because there’s been nothing this season that I’ve wanted to outright drop yet.
I’ve used the TELT (Three Episode Litmus Test) for the past two seasons.
It’s generally a good rule, but I find that if I stick with it, I actually like the series a good portion of the time. If I try to stick with it and can’t even get to three, I see it as a rightful failure.
Indeed. I say I’m going to watch certain series on my season preview, but sometimes I never actually get around to it. I cherry-pick and then I prune anime series I’m watching. Yup, sorting out which anime you’re going to watch is a lot like gardening.
I don’t see what your problem is with the direction this series will go in, the big reason being is that I’ve read what’s translated of the manga so far and let me tell you… them being youkai doesn’t mean shit.
Rest assured, unless David Productions actually decides turns this into Nurarihyon (what are the chances lol), the rest of the story should be about Ririchiyo coming to terms with Soushi as she finds out who he really is, his reasons, as she changes herself, and all that shoujo jazz… and great comedy from the not-yet-introduced characters.
If I read the manga, I might be inclined to agree. But unless the premise interests me from the start, I never do so I can keep my impressions of the anime completely separate from those of the manga. As far as I can tell though, any show involved with youkai that isn’t Natsume or straight action is generally not encouraging.
Based on what’s been displayed here, I’m not all that excited for what lays in store.
If this is stale, can you name more shows of this kind? I’d be happy to check them out as I found the episode quite enjoyable. Love youkai too, which is probably a large factor.
Premise isn’t stale, I just didn’t think the youkai angle was necessary for every single character. Once that happened, a realization of “… Of course, why did I expect otherwise?” washed over me. If it makes sense, it was like watching an adaptation of bad self-insert fanfiction.
The thing is, Inu x Boku doesn’t do anything particularly bad, but I have a feeling it’ll move past that one thing that I sort of liked (Ririchiyo eventually getting past that hostile defense mechanism). If you haven’t seen it yet, the best comparison that I can make for that angle is Natsume Yuujinchou; except Natsume is more shy than hostile.
I think I’m in agreement with you.
I’m not sure yet if I can completely pin point all the reasons why the first episode failed me, but I just get this feeling that this series could have been so much better than what we got. The more I think about it, I’d say this series suffers simply because of its own story.
I’ll keep watching it too, and hopefully I’ll be able to find some of it enjoyable…
If what one of my previous comments said is true, it gets better. I don’t believe that at face value, since an anime adaptation isn’t inherently the same as the manga, but I’m hoping it proves my thoughts wrong. Not holding my breath, sadly.
So I should watch this.
Finally somebody understands the subtext behind my saying “not worth much of a look”. Seriously though, it’s not bad. Granted, nor is it good.
I like inu x boku very much. the few fights that take place are just a pretext for showing us how tough they are. If it wasn`t no monster, then the bodyguard would be totally useless. And then, no servant, no story. I just hope to see more than 12 episodes of anime.
Hopefully the fights are less anticlimactic than with the robber, otherwise the Secret Service agents are quite superfluous. Still, I am liking that it’s focusing on Ririchiyo trying to adjust a bit from her old self.