Inukami reminds and far surpasses a lot of other shows I've watched, e.g. Kanon (2006), Zero no T, ToraDora, Lovely Complex etc.
It consists of several genres, such as comedy, supernatural, slice of life, action, shounen, tragedy, romance etc., and does very well in all of them. There is not one genre that is dominant (if there is it would be comedy) and there aren't significant one-path arcs (unlike Princess Lover!, first 6 vs last 6 eps), except the ending episodes, which solved all of the mysteries covered earlier in the series.
Notably, in the supernatural genre, its skills development were pretty stagnant, as in the case of Wagaya Oinari-sama, but Inukami does not adopt a mainly slice-of-life approach, which Wagaya does.
Another supernatural genre show, Nurarihyon no Mago, is not bad too, except that its events usually take 2 to 3 episodes to resolve, thus resulting in low content, which is unlike Inukami,which has a lot of events that start and end within 1 ep.
Story:9
The story is undeniably constructed in a sense of enjoyment first, plot later. The first few episodes were mainly gag, but setting a clear direction for the show to follow: a show filled with perverts.
As the story continued on, there were tons of tear-jerking moments, hot-blooded action, tragedy etc. which in a way reminds me of Ai Kora manga.
The ending, lasting a few episodes, was not exactly fantastic as some parts seem too easily resolved and there was sort of a "cliffhanger" at the end. But what was fantastic was the studio's ability to incorporate humour even in the darkest scenes. Therefore, although there was a lot of tragedy, the viewer still can enjoy it at the end.
Art:8
The color used seemed to be pastel colors, I believe. Seeing that this is a 2003 show, I wouldn't mind the color too much. What surprised me was the animation. Sometimes the action is quite fluid, while sometimes the animation moved in frames. Most action scenes were fluid though, which was commendable.
The art was consistent (as in character designs and the background, and of course the elephants :D)
Sound:7
The sound part was a bit unsatisfactory though. I liked most OSTs, although a few of them sounded out-of-tune somehow.
The OP was nice, both music and animation, except that the music was kinda melancholic and the tune was repeated a few times. This is in contrast to a mostly "happy" show (meaning light atmosphere).
The ED on the other hand, was good both by animation and music (esp with a few quirky versions such as ep18's ed, which was about machos and sung by machos). However, the lyrics were a bit out compared to the content of the show, and I felt it should not have been used there.
Character:10
The character section was the ace of the show. Quirky frequently-aired characters numbering at least 20 played their roles well in making the show a huge success.
Keita and Youko's voices were very well done as they portrayed tons of emotions and scenes that ranged from a kids to a "more grown up" show (lol).
The huge number of cast was managed very well, and none of the characters seemed awkward in the show.
Enjoyment:9
This is a very subjective section, some of the viewers might not accept the large amounts of MANSERVICE (quoted from Archaeon) that is truly truly unique in this show.
Well some parts may be a little disgusting to certain people but I certainly enjoyed this show more than most other anime I've watched (Well, its chaotic comedy seems to lose to Macademi Wasshoi imo though).
Overall:10
This seems to be an underrated anime. Overall, THIS IS A SHOW NOT TO BE MISSED!!! Well, that is, unless you can't take the direction that this unique show took. To be honest, its tear-jerking parts could match that of Kanon 2006 (imo of course!!)
