My Life as Inukai-san’s Dog (Season One)
He woke up cold and confused but then his high school crush picked him up and took him home. It wasn’t until she got undressed and started to wash him that he realised he had been turned into a dog!
My Life as Inukai-san’s Dog (Season One)
What did you watch?
I know that some people get annoyed at the shorter anime episodes, but I quite enjoy how you can get through an entire story in a much quicker time frame. I also like to see how they go about utilising the time they have. Sometimes, you can get a much tighter story without all the fluff. Of course, sometimes, you’re left wishing they had made them full episodes but that is usually because you’re enjoying it that much. So, when I saw that My Life as Inukai-san’s Dog was one of those shows, I decided to jump in. I had already added it to my list based on the title image alone, so this was an easy decision. Well, did it pay off? Let’s find out!
What happened?
He woke up cold and confused. It was raining and he had no idea where he was or who he was. But then, he saw a familiar face – his high school crush. She spoke to him and then picked him off the ground. He didn’t understand what was going on, but he was just pleased that she had noticed him. She took him back to her house where her mother met them at the door. A bath was ready for them… Hang on, what? Karen took him into the bathroom and began to undress. He was still confused, but she seemed to be smiling at him.
Then, she picked him up again and placed him in her lap so that she could wash him. That was when he saw himself in the mirror and realised he was a dog. How did that happen and why had Karen found him? What was he going to do and how could he stop staring at her naked body? After the bath, she took him to her room and asked him to do some tricks. He could understand her, but if he did them would that mean he truly was a dog? He sat and her face lit up. He’d not seen her like this before so he continued to play along.
What did you think?
There were moments when I wasn’t sure I was going to finish this series, but then there were other moments where I was laughing so hard I woke my dog up. This series really is a peculiar beast in that it was fairly clever to use someone turned into a dog to provide all the crazy camera angles that ecchi anime is famous for and it has a reason to do so. However, it was generally the actions of the humans that seemed to make things weird. Firstly, Karen was way too affectionate with her dog and then there was Usagi who seemed to be competing for who could be the weirdest. Thankfully, it was a short series with twelve-minute episodes so you can quickly breeze through it. Just don’t expect any sort of resolution!
What was your favourite moment?
There was one episode that really made me laugh and that was when Karen and Usagi had a contest to see who owned the dog. They both sat on the ground and spread their legs. The winner was the one that Pochita (the dog) went to. As if that wasn’t absurd enough, Usagi put a dog bone in her panties to try to win. It worked too, which was odd considering Pochita is really a human and shouldn’t necessarily be swayed by something like that other than sheer curiosity. Luckily, Mike noticed and declared Karen to be the winner. It was just so completely ridiculous I couldn’t stop laughing.
What was your least favourite moment?
I’m not a huge fan of the ending, however, there was one moment earlier that really pulled me out of the story. Pochita was going to Mike’s house with Karen and wanted to create a distraction so he could go to his old house next door. He ordered a parcel using Karen’s phone, arranging for it to be delivered while they would be there. My biggest problem with this is that if he could do that, he could have sent a message to anyone detailing what had happened to him. The fact that he didn’t left me annoyed because there really wasn’t any need for him to arrange a parcel delivery. There is any number of ways he could have slipped away that wouldn’t disrupt the story so much.
Who was your favourite character?
At first, I was sure that Usagi was going to be my favourite character, but as time went on, it turned out to be Mike. She may have been afraid of dogs and prone to knocking herself out, but she was the only one that didn’t have a bizarre fetish that involved Pochita. She was also the only one that seemed to care about anyone but themselves, other than Pochita, but then his decision to remain a dog still infuriates me so he can’t win.
Who was your least favourite character?
It has to be Karen. So many episodes were focused on pointing out that she was having some trouble getting over the death of her first dog, also called Pochita, and as a result, was cut off and distant from her classmates. Mike told Pochita about how she’s been trying to get her to open up for ages but nothing was working until he came into her life. So, now Pochita is being guilted into staying a dog. I find that completely unacceptable. At least, it left it open that he could turn back to a dog whenever he decided he was ready.
Would you like some more?
I don’t think I would want any more of this story, but I think it did have some interesting ideas. Had Pochita been someone more like Rudeus from Mushoku Tensei it could have been genuinely hilarious as he got into all sorts of mischief. I think it would have been better to have the dog leading the action such as running off with someone’s clothes or walking in on them when they were doing something inappropriate rather than the humans being inappropriate with the dog. Anyone that’s had a dog knows that they will get into all sorts of mischief, especially a puppy.
What have you learnt?
As always, there are no bad ideas. It just comes down to the execution and the audience. There will no doubt be some people out there that loved this series and that’s great. It’s important to remember that you can’t please everyone and focusing on a particular niche can find you the perfect audience. It’s better to have a smaller number of people that absolutely love your story that a large number that likes it. Now, I’m not going to be targeting this particular niche anytime soon, but the same principles apply. Find the niche that resonates with you and go for it.
Other posts in the series
- Season One
- Extras
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