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After watching Inukami The Movie, I’m convinced there is no anime quite as “special” as Inukami. No other anime (at least, of the one’s I’ve watched or heard of) has ever made such prevalent use of elephants (and in such a unique way), no other anime has so much manservice instead of fanservice, and no other anime has made me laugh so hard.

Inukami! The Movie certainly does the anime series justice.

The movie opens with Karina dead, Keita missing, and a pervert extermination force roaming the city beating up and imprisoning random perverts. All hope lies in Keita, as he is the only one who can ... solve the mystery of Karina’s death and the sudden assaults on perverts.

On the outlook the plot seems cliché and perhaps uninteresting. But Inukami never really cared about plot. Character and sheer randomness are what carry this movie to awesomeness.

The Inukami girls are a lot cuter and more moe than in the anime series (especially Youko). I also have to admit, The Movie made Keita look quite cool; his fight scene with the exterminators towards the beginning of the movie was pretty sweet. Of course, The Movie also has Keita acting “cool” at the most random times. Even when he’s naked, he still puts on a hero face, voice, and pose.

Indeed, the randomness sprinkled throughout The Movie makes it so much more enjoyable. A few examples:
-3D Elephants (instead of the 2D ones of the regular anime).
-Karina has a Mona Lisa cover instead of an elephant cover.
-Engrish title screen.
-The priest who presided over Karina’s funeral is imprisoned by the pervert extermination force.
-Keita telling Youko that he’ll turn her into a pervert.
-A million Karina clones.
-A million Karin clones combining to form a mecha Karina.
-Karina and Keita hugging each other naked.

There are also quite a few references to popular anime; Furano thinks Karina died since she wrote his name in her Death Note, and one pervert cosplays as Nanoha. My favorite by far was of Sailor Moon, when the masochist from the regular anime series “magical girl transforms” into having bondage ropes tied around him. Best yet, when the exterminators beat him up, he screams “Ah, this feels so good!!!”

And of course, Inukami! The Movie would not be complete without manservice. Instead of obligatory boob shots, The Movie gives you a long shot of Keita’s elephant-censored butt. (On a side note, there is an actual fanservice-y scene in the beginning when Keita and the Inukami have an underwear party.)

In short…
Pros
-3D ELEPHANTS
-On the surface Inukami The Movie has a formulaic story, but Inukami really makes fun of it and manages to make it uniquely its own.
-And even if the story is cliché, it’s well knit. Keita uses the frog statue he wins at the beginning of the movie to defeat the mecha Karina at the end of the movie.
-Girls have a moe upgrade from the regular anime. (And the animation on a whole is a lot better than the anime’s)
-Several parodies—Death Note, Haruhi Suzmiya, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, Sailor Moon, and Power Rangers, to name a few.
-Many random, laugh-out-loud moments.
-The Movie brings back the soundtrack of the anime and a couple of new, catchy songs.
-A pretty decent remix of the anime series’ ED.

Cons
-As I said, a formulaic story.
-I can only give Enjoyment a 10. The Movie deserves an 11.
-Definitely NOT for those who prefer serious anime.

Bottom Line
In the words of one of my good friends, “Inukami the Movie is best described as simply..Fuxing funny. You'll cry with laughter...and then you'll run out in your cul de sac butt-nekkid because to do so is now heroic.” And indeed, from the humongous 3D elephant on the title screen, to Keita and Karina’s romantic…err gar…elephant hug, Inukami! The Movie had me choking up with tears of laughter from beginning to end. If you watched the regular anime series, this is a movie you can’t miss!

Ugh. Talk about an anime that started off so well and quickly deteriorated into a disappointment. The first episode of Kannazuki no Miko impressed me so much—the animation quality, the seemingly likeable characters, the potential for romance, even the mecha battles. I really thought this would be a yuri that I would actually enjoy. But as the series progressed, I soon realized that the romance was mushy and the story and characters were as generic as can be.

The story is, or at least started off, cliché. An ancient evil (called the Orochi) revives and the fate of the world rests in the hands of two ... high school girls, Himeko and Chikane, who must become the Solar Priestess and the Lunar Priestess, respectively. Turns out, however, that one of the Orochi, Souma, is in love with Himeko and chooses to fight against the rest of the Orochi. Chikane, at the same time, decides to go yuri on Himeko.

In fact, the romance in KnM is pretty much a battle between het and yuri, as Himeko doesn’t know whether to choose Souma or Chikane. Chikane gets Himeko in the end, but either way, the romance was mushy at best, if not downright corny. Souma’s catchphrase seems to be “I’ll protect you!” and Chikane says to Himeko at one point, “Your smile….your smile is my sun.”

Needless to say, as a yuri, KnM offers a fair amount of fanservice, with plenty of shower scenes and girls stripping (though such scenes lessen towards the end of the series). There’s also a yuri rape scene. Of course, nothing is actually shown; it’s all left up to your creative imaginations.

The Orochi fight using mechas, and I actually didn’t mind the mecha action, though I did get tired of Souma using the same attack over and over again. The Orochi themselves are diverse and have dark pasts (and thus have a reason to be evil), but they’re all based on anime stereotypes—a catgirl, a pop idol, a mangaka, and a juvenile delinquent, to name a few. Though I liked some of them, I also found them to be unoriginal.

Which brings me to my next point. The characters are generic. There’s the main character’s best friend, who does nothing other than comfort said main character. There are three jealous girls who relentlessly bully the main character. There’s the caring older brother, who just happens to be a bishie. These types of characters can be found in just about any other common anime. Even the lead characters are uninspired. Chikane and Souma are over-idealized, perfect characters. Souma seemingly has no problem at all dispatching the other Orochi. It doesn’t matter that he’s second to the lowest ranked Orochi; he’s a good guy, so he can’t possibly lose. Himeko herself is a weak, even annoying, lead. She always needs protection; she never can do anything herself. And worse yet, she doesn’t have any character development. In the beginning she depends on Chikane for support, and in the end she still needs her.

The soundtrack is standard, never really standing out except for the overly dramatic opera music during battles (which annoyed me) and the theme that plays throughout the series (which I liked). The OP and ED are sung by Kotoko, which will please you Kotoko fans, but overall are decent but not particularly memorable.

Animation is perhaps the series’ strongest point. I loved the sharp, detailed character designs, and the girls certainly make for nice eye candy. The backgrounds are average, however.


In short…
Pros
-A nice epilogue.
-Decent mecha action.
-Impressive animation.
-Ayako Kawasumi voices Himemiya Chikane.
-If you like to laugh at corniness, here’s a classic exchange between Himeko and Chikane:
(Chikane starts crying)
Himeko: I’ll be your handkerchief.
Chikane: How nice. A handkerchief made of the sun.

Cons
-The final three episodes are difficult to get through, largely due to the two girls spewing soppy proclamations of love to each other.
-Annoying or overly-idealized main characters.
-Minimal to no character development.
-Clichéd story.
-Melodramatic romance.
-Average soundtrack.

Bottom Line
Well, if you’re a hardcore yuri fan, then you’ll want to add this to your list as soon as possible. Otherwise, I think that, if not for the soppy romance and weak leads, there’s some untapped potential here for quite an entertaining series.