Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou

I binged this in one day and it was probably the easiest binges I've ever had, simply for the content alone.

I can see where somebody would hate this and I also can see why people would be on the fence about this. What I am sure of is that there are not enough people that like it at an 8/10 like I did.

I think the best part of this is the fact that it is so random and chaotic. There is the baseline between her and the dog that carries things, but all of the stuff that happens outside of them is completely random and ... it changes from episode to episode. I think the last episode was GOLD.

Follow the nonsense while remembering which character is which by name only or even just association with their primary location, like working at a particular bookstore, is all you need to know. Normally this style of show is one that I would drop. For some reason I really engaged with this on a different level and I'm very glad that I took a chance on it.

I honestly don't have many complaints, but the one that does bother me more than anything is the VA for the dog. I think it could have been portrayed in a similar fashion with a different tone, something that might have fit the dog a little bit better, but for that to be the only detractor for me, I'd say that's pretty good.

Definitely slapping a recommend on this.

This comedy doesn't pay homage to other shows, but rather borrows countless random characters and plot elements, then mixes them all together without even trying to form a cohesive story. I think the more you try to explain this show, the less sense it makes. There are some rather humorous scenes and dialogue so at least there's that.

If you can enjoy a ridiculous show without trying to understand it, then it's worth at least the '3 episode test'. Just keep in mind that the rest of the show is more of the same. Don't expect any character or plot ... development and you won't be disappointed.

I was really hoping this would be something that would click with me, but just like the last time I tried to watch it when it was new in 2013, it just doesn't.

The female-on-male violence felt like animal abuse at first until I realized that you are meant to insert as the dog. So the dog is us submissives, metaphorically. That's fine, but this anime just doesn't work. It's described as a "nonsense comedy mystery" and it does try to be those things, but it's not good at any of them. The nonsense is not particularly interesting, it's not really funny, and it's mystery is ... just a series of vignettes in the shape of a mystery that are progressively less focused than the one the preceded it- finding the killer from the restaurant, finding the slasher / who is targeting Akiyama Shinobu, and and that's it.

Kirihime herself is exactly my type, but mentally she's immature compared a similar looking adult beauty like Sakurako from Beautiful Bones or Yuuko the witch from xxxHolic. Hell, I feel more M energy listening to Yuuko talking normally to Watanuki that I do from most of this anime's "punishment" scenes, most of which involve the dog being shaved in a flash or off camera, or maybe running from a thrown blade. Not much to be excited about at all, unless you want to be stabbed. Most of the punishments are for calling Kirihime flat, which is as stale as they get as an excuse for violence. I can overlook this, but when an anime fails to excite me, grating cliches like this become tiring. 1/3 of all Slayers OVA dialogue is Lina Inverse's supposed lack of bust, yet Slayers anime are so good on the whole it doesn't get grating, while here it does, with "flat-chest" seeming to come out of MC's mouth every 5 seconds. All of the characters are basically gimmicks, who never deviate far from their stock dialogue- Maxi-sama is always shining, Hami is always threatening to kill herself with a fountain pen- at least Suzuna has varied dialogue for her one-note masochism, a gimmick that somehow makes her feel even more obsessed with pain and humiliation than Darkness from Konosuba - Darkness at least knows how to draw limits. That said, Suzuna was probably the next best character after Kirihime, since the Mistress / Slave play is at least the most gratifying S/M-themed content in this anime.

It's hard to care about anything when the characters are just so flat; the character artwork is pretty nice, eg. the killer maid; so it's a shame the anime is just kinda painful and cringey. Eg. the recurring joke characters, from which humor is supposed to derive from their appearance I guess - afro man, the cat-girl landlady, the muscle bros- "lol so random, amirite?") For example, that third author, that maid's mistress: ok, let's just keep cameo-ing this girl none of the characters have met in person and we the audience know nothing about. Am I supposed to care about this girl?

I do wonder if watching this at a different time of day or in a different state of mind would have changed anything. It's possible the dub might have at least given me better mileage and I might have squeezed more enjoyment from this anime if Kirihime's lines went straight to my brain instead being mediated through text. But I think this is a result of me being disappointed that I couldn't like an anime that is offering a dominant waifu. But, bear in mind, one dominant waifu, two if you can count a yandere imouto- while Princess Resurrection, to its credit at least, has three dominant waifus.

If you want to see an anime that involves a relationship between a dog and his mistress that's less painful, see Kennel Tokorozawa, which was self-aware enough to have hired a prominent comedian in the role of the dog. And at least Kennel Tokorozawa had the decency to be a 45 minute OVA. As for dominant waifus, there are better anime out there for that.