Inu-Ou

After diving for an ancient sword in the waters where the battle of Dan-no-ura was fought and the Heike clan fell, Tomona loses both his sight and his father. Left with few options other than learning to play the biwa, Tomona gains enough skill to join a prestigious troupe of storytelling performers and takes the name "Tomoichi."

Soon after, Tomoichi meets a strange person who finds joy in terrorizing others with his deformed appearance, but is surprised when the sightless storyteller treats him as an equal. The pair become fast friends and begin performing together after the stranger—who chooses the name "Inu-Ou"—discovers that he is able to hear spirits telling forgotten tales of the Heike clan.

Tomoichi changes his name again to Tomoari and uses his music to promote Inu-Ou's underground dance performances, achieving incredible popularity among the masses. However, the brazen and unconventional style they develop challenges traditions that the shogunate values deeply. As the pair's fame continues to increase, they must contend with the forces of tradition that control the society around them.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Inu-Ou Main

Avu-chan Japanese

Tomona Main

Moriyama, Mirai Japanese

Tomona's Mother Supporting

Edamoto, Moe Japanese

Hino, Nariko Supporting

Matsuoka, Misato Japanese

Fujiwaka Supporting

Yoshinari, Shoutarou Japanese

Inu-Ou's Mother Supporting

Mori, Nanako Japanese

Taniichi Supporting

Gotou, Yukihiro Japanese

Inu-Ou's Father Supporting

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Tomona's Father Supporting

Matsushige, Yutaka Japanese

Teiichi Supporting

Yamamoto, Kensho Japanese

Yodo, Akiko Producer

Sakita, Kouhei Producer

Takeuchi, Fumie Producer

Yuasa, Masaaki Director

Reviews

Jul 17, 2025

sir_biggy

Recommended

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm... what to say, what to sayyyy, this show's good but that alone wouldn't be doing it justice now would it? So then, let's get right into it

Let's start with the animation, my favorite thing about this entire anime. The character designs were so unique each and every second was a pleasure to watch, how do I put this, everything seems so alive( I mean I know they're alive duhh,but..but.. yall get it) I even liked the rotoscope( not sure if it was) in some parts of the anime. Long story short,the anime is a solid 10

Moving on, the story,albeit very similar if not a ... clone or inspiration maybe of dororo minus all the violence, is pretty solid. Instead of killing demons to get his body back, he dances,yep he sings and dance, that inu-oh be putting Micheal Jackson to shame with those leg shuffle and whatnot. Tomona,the supporting was also doing his thing with the biwa, the two were so breathtaking and the end of this show really kicked me in the feels. Haaahhhh I loved the story,it gets a ten

Finally,the last thing I'd like to talk about which i never thought I'd be reviewing on an anime is the music, never thought this day would come where I'd be reviewing music of all things but here we are, anyway I wasn't a big fan of the music, I mean I did at first until it got repetitive in my opinion all the songs followed the same rhythm except the last song I guess plus the animation used in the earlier songs were reused so it just felt meh to me soooo, it gets a 6

With that said, if you want to watch a high school musical version of dororo then I highly suggest you watch this anime, it's immersive, animations stunning,characters are fun to watch, the downfall of the antagonist was hilarious, I mean what's not to love... the music yep the music ( only at the start though, the last song was pretty good). Overall the show gets a solid 8. Babai

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jul 1, 2025

Bensonas

Recommended

What a lovely suprise this was. To be clear upfront, this is not your typical anime film. Despite that, it's really rather brilliant.

Let's start at the animation. It is excellent. I'll clear this up straight away, it's a 10/10. One particular scene that stood out was before the final performance of the film, there is a moment when the camera is moving around the complex where all the people are talking about Inu-oh and it's incredible. It's not your standard anime style either which is incredibly refreshing. It gets everything right. Every single frame is perfect and exactly what it should be. The ... performance scenes also deserve a specific mention. There are incredibly captivating and quite moving at times. The animation alone is enough to keep you engaged through the film, it's that good that the music and story could be garbage and it still be a brilliant watch. Good think is though the story and music are well, they are....

Story, wow. It has a similar concept to Dororo, incredibly similar in fact except instead of having no limbs etc the body is completely disfigured of Inu-oh. This comparison for me mattered little to not at all. I don't know which story came first, I know Dororo was in the 60s and I can't find any date for Inu Oh (I did only spend 10 seconds and 2 Google searches mind) but really, it doesn't matter. The story is excellent. It is uplifting, inspiring and equally heartbreaking. I could literally watch it again straight away. I can't really say too much about the story, not because I have no words to say, just because I don't want to spoil it and it's very simple in premise so it wouldn't be hard to spoil it. Simple in premise is made be though, it is superb in it's presentation 10/10

Finally, the music. I'm annoyed. Really. Because, and this is going to seem VERY picky, but as you can see so far, we are tracking a perfect score and simply because I felt one single solitary piece of music went on a little too long, the music is getting a 9/10. I must say though, despite my insuriating critique here, it is excellent. One thing not mentioned in my story paragraph which I have in the animation one is it's uniqueness. Here I am mentioning it a second time in music. I don't think Ive watched an anime that has such a different tone musically compared to others. It's great, brilliant even. Sadly, despite it being so, you can have too much of a good thing and thus I am annoyed as this was so so close to a perfect 10/10.

Ultimately, this is one of the best anime films Ive ever seen. It's up there for me with Your Name and A Silent Voice. It's definitely a must watch. Bravo Inu-Oh

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Aug 21, 2022

beargolfer

Mixed Feelings

Just saw this in theaters, and I'm not sure if I can call this good or not. I won't make this horribly long, just sharing the vibes of it.

First off, I cannot overstate just how fantastic this film was from an artistic standpoint. Whenever there's a music number (that's right babey, this is a musical), I was absolutely entranced. Mirai Moriyama and Avu-chan absolutely killed it, their performances sucked me into this underdeveloped story more than they should have. Side note, I think it's hilarious that the professional dancer voices the singer character and vice versa? The animation and choreography had the messiness that Yuasa ... is known for, and it worked perfectly for the rock-inspired songs. I was a bit frustrated when scenes reused the same piece of animation four times in a row, but that's my only major gripe visually.

"Why is this a 6/10 then? " Well, you see, the story was barely there. I felt as if it needed more time to show us the main characters were friends, to show us how much time had passed outside of "this character's hair grew". Everything just went so fast and I walked out of the theater feeling empty, wishing that there were maybe 15 more minutes and maybe a different ending.

I would never call this film good, honestly, but it was a damn fun time and I don't regret seeing it. If you're not too hung up on a film having a loose/unsatisfying plot and just want to see some crazy Queen-esque songs with cool animation? Go for it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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	Poll: Inu-Ou Episode 1 Discussion DatRandomDude - Aug 19, 2022	30 replies	by MidnightStar5 »» Mar 30, 2:40 AM
	watching at 5am helps with immersing mydaddy - Jan 13, 2023	7 replies	by mydaddy »» Nov 24, 2024 11:57 AM
	Inu-Oh is finally available for streaming after a long wait! S0UVIK - Dec 21, 2022	3 replies	by TheFlyingOrange »» Apr 17, 2023 7:57 PM
	Inu-oh is nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Golden Globes! DatRandomDude - Dec 12, 2022	4 replies	by ZXEAN »» Jan 24, 2023 7:12 AM
	Where can i watch this Pink_Chipmunk - Aug 15, 2022	9 replies	by UltimateKai »» Dec 19, 2022 2:44 AM