Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou Episode 1: Every Dog Has His Day [First Impression]

“This is a story about books. Of writing or dying. A story of reading or dying.”

Synopsis: One day, the young man Harumi Kazuhito is suddenly killed during a robbery. However, through sheer tenacity, the bookworm is resurrected as a dachshund dog. With red eyes and silver scissors in her hand, Natsuno Kirihime, a dark haired sadist clad in completely in black appears before him. Moreover, she understands him as a dog and is his favorite author, Akiyama Shinobu herself…

Chris’ First Impression:

 Okay then. My first show this anime season… InuHasa eh? What drew me to it exactly? The premise? Maybe, I mean, a sadistic author torturing a defenseless dog would entice anybody right? Or not… Was it the artwork? Nope. The PV’s? Nah, firstly I could never find one with subtitles and the videos themselves consisted of Harumi running away from Kirihime. I guess you could say I wanted to try something different… What was my impression, you ask? Why don’t you read on and find out…? No, seriously, read on.

 Firstly, let’s talk about the premise. It’s not even remotely interesting. Whoa! Hold on! I’m not saying the episode was bad, I’m simply stating the obvious, the synopsis above doesn’t exactly get the heart racing, y’know? I went into episode 1 with an open mind and an open heart… and then Kazuhito, a book lover like myself, was shot in the head with a shotgun… oh! And did I forget that he then turned into a dog? Yeah… Honestly, I find episode 1 to be rather interesting (plot wise), it doesn’t delve too deep into detail (one of the down sides, if I may) and it doesn’t exactly make me excited for the next episode, but, what it does do is introduce us to our main characters and their quirks… and it’s done pretty well. Due to the fact that no plot was really established in this episode I’ll definitely be reviewing next weeks episode in an attempt to see whether or not InuHasa is worth my time… And so far, it looks promising…

 Kazuhito Harumi. A semi-interesting character if there ever was one. He loves books and it’s as simple as that. No frills, no baggage, just books. He’s not the kinda of character that sparks an immediate interest, I mean, the only significant thing he did all episode was die… and that made me sad. Not because his self-sacrifice was so sad (even though it was, of course), but because Kirihime just freaking sat there whilst the poor kid fought for his life!… and failed. It’s too early for me to be able to tell whether I like him or not, so far I’m only certain that he loves books and that he may have an inner monologue to keep me interested in his character… you know, like Kyon from ‘The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya’s’ inner monologue or Hachiman’s from ‘Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru’. Although… I guess you could say that everything Kazuhito will ever say will be an inner monologue considering the fact that he can no longer actually talk… Then again, let’s be honest, if this show was based around a talking dog it might be too stupid for me too handle… then again (again), the fact that she can read his mind is also ridiculous…

 Kirihime Natsuno. Author extraordinaire and sadist… oh and she’s also flat chested  (not that I have a problem with meager sized chests… but let’s not talk about my preferences here…). I like her. What, I hear you cry out? How come you like her after a single episode and not Kazuhito?! Well… it’s simple really. She has a personality. He lacks one. She’s quirky, she’s cute (and I use the word loosely due to her tsundere nature) and best of all she’s an author… Sorry, bringing my preferences into the mix again. I’m guessing the reason she left Kazuhito to die was because she was ‘on a roll’ with her novel and didn’t want to stop writing… which is actually a pretty poor reason for ignoring a kid who’s about to take a bullet for you… that’s her only downside (and it’s actually a pretty big one) and I guess it’s her reason for being so nice to the martyr Kazuhito… he died so that ‘Lust’ could be written! I’m excited to see how her character develops and, more importantly, how the relationship between Kazuhtio and herself develops… although I don’t want any bestiality… ain’t nobody got time for that…

The comedy in InuHasa isn’t too bad either! Now it’s in no way the next ‘Hataraku Maou-sama!’ and don’t expect to be creasing with laughter… expect to have an amused smile on your face with the occasional burst of laughter coming out… yes. I don’t mind that it’s not laugh out loud funny either, in fact, I don’t tend to laugh at comedic shows even when they’re being comedic… it’s a ‘laughing on the inside’ kinda thing, y’know?

 To conclude, my interest has been piqued and I’m ready to invest fully into this series… that is, if a plot is established by episode 3… if not then there’s no point in watching it, haha. Kazuhito listed several women when he died? Does he know them all already? Was it a premonition? Will he form a harem? Will he ever stop criticizing Kirhime’s chest size? Will Kirihime ever finish ‘Lust’? Why did Kirihime leave Kazuhito to die? Will Kazuhito ever be able to read again (since he has no thumbs)?! So many questions… eleven episodes to answer them in… oh boy!

 I have a feeling that this is going to turn into a murder mystery type show where poor ol’ Kazuhito is going to be forced to spy on weird people, in weird places, in weird scenario’s, all for the sake of finding out who killed him and why they killed him… and that interests me. Honestly though, I’m more interested in watching the relationship (and I don’t mean a romantic one, purely platonic) between our two protagonists and how it develops. She left Kazuhito to die. How will he handle that? For a show listed as a ‘supernatural comedy’, I’m really not sure how they’re going to deal with that issue… unless they gloss over it…

Possibility of Blogging(?): Sure! But I’m giving it three episodes just too make sure…

 I’ll blog about it if the plot is good. If it’s not grabbing my attention by episode 3 then f*** it.  A show like this needs two things, comedy and a half decent plot, both of which must compliment each other harmoniously.  Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou offers an intersting premise and introduces it’s characters in the expected manner. Only time will tell if Kazuhtio is completely baseless… oh! And only time will tell if ‘Lust’ is ever completed…

Conclusion:

+ Interesting female lead

+ Comedic

+ Better than expected

– Unless a plot arises it will become boring very quickly

– Male lead is somewhat uninteresting

Episode 2 Preview: