Inu x Boku SS (manga, vol. 2) by Cocoa Fujiwara, translated by Melissa Tanaka

Inu x Boku SS is a fantasy romance series licensed by Yen Press.

Review:

Ririchiyo is surprised to realize that, despite her continued prickliness, she has become friends with Watanuki and Karuta. Closing the gap between herself and Soushi proves to be far more difficult, however. Whereas the other client-agent pairs tend to be more relaxed around each other, Soushi is always the perfect and servile bodyguard. Ririchiyo decides that having a cup of coffee with him, as friends rather than as client and bodyguard, might bring them closer, but her plans are ruined by the arrival of Kagerou, her fiance.

This is the volume in which the details of Soushi's past and his reasons for being so devoted to Ririchiyo are revealed. It happened a little sooner than I expected – the anime saved this revelation for the very end – but I still loved it. I loved this evidence that Soushi was at least as vulnerable and lonely as Ririchiyo, and seeing them grow closer via the letters they exchanged was sweet and kind of heartbreaking.

Inu x Boku SS (manga, vol. 1) by Cocoa Fujiwara, translated by Melissa Tanaka

Inu x Boku SS is a fantasy romance series licensed by Yen Press.

Review:

My first exposure to this series was through the anime, which, as far as I can tell, means I know what's going to happen in this manga through at least part of volume 3.

In this first volume, we meet Ririchiyo Shirakiin, the sensitive daughter of a wealthy family. The Shirakiin family is one of a select few families with an ayakashi (supernatural being) ancestor, and Ririchiyo is considered to be a “throwback,” a sort of reincarnation of the Shirakiin family's ayakashi ancestor. Although she has spent her life coddled and protected, she has also felt isolated. Anyone who ever spoke up for her or was nice to her only did so because of her position within the Shirakiin family, and so, as a defense mechanism, Ririchiyo began adopting a haughty and prickly demeanor.

Ririchiyo knows that her behavior makes it that much harder for her to make true friends, but she can't seem to stop herself. In an effort to change, she requests to leave the Shirakiin family home and is allowed to go as far as Maison de Ayakashi, an apartment building whose tenants come entirely from families with ayakashi ancestors. Each resident of Maison de Ayakashi is protected by a secret service agent (no explanation is given for why some throwbacks are secret service agents and why some are clients). Soushi, Ririchiyo's agent, is surprisingly devoted to her. No matter how prickly she is towards him, she can't seem to push him away, so he accompanies her as she gets to know her new home and those who live there.

Inu x Boku Secret Service, Complete Collection (anime TV series), via DVDs

I originally watched Inu x Boku Secret Service via Crunchyroll. I liked it enough to buy the DVD release when I spotted it in a Rightstuf sale. Since I've already written a post about this series, I'll be focusing more on the re-watch experience and how I felt about the DVD release. There will be no watch-alikes or read-alikes listed at the end of this post.

Story-wise, the criticisms in my first post still stand. I could have done without the fanservice featuring 15-year-old Ririchiyo. Also, there are a lot of problematic elements in this series. The romance between Ririchiyo and Soushi is something that only works on a fantasy level – in real life, the depth of Soushi's devotion would be disturbing. The guy has absolutely no emotional balance, even by the end – his entire life and being is focused on Ririchiyo.

Despite the series' problematic elements, I enjoyed it. In fact, I think I may have enjoyed it even more than I did during my first viewing. Rather than spending the whole time wondering if Soushi was a liar who was going to betray Ririchiyo at some point, I knew what sort of person he was right from the start. He really was that devoted to Ririchiyo, and he really did see himself as someone who was dirty and beneath her. Out of the whole cast, Soushi was probably the most interesting character, followed by Ririchiyo, but you can't understand quite how interesting he is until you've seen episode 11.

Inu x Boku Secret Service, Season 1 (anime TV series), via Crunchyroll

Inu x Boku Secret Service (aka Inu x Boku SS) mixes comedy, romance, and the supernatural with a bit of drama. It's 12 episodes long and is based on a manga series.

There are some slight spoilers in this post.

Synopsis:

In the world of this series, there are certain families which are partially descended from supernatural beings. In each of these families there is one member who is a "throwback" - the blood of their supernatural ancestor runs more strongly in them than anyone else, and they are essentially a reincarnation of that ancestor. Ririchiyo is a throwback and has spent her whole life well-cared for, but unloved. Her parents do not view her as their child, and her family as a whole takes care of her primarily because legend has it that throwbacks bring their families prosperity.

Ririchiyo's defense mechanism against all of this has been to act like a haughty, stuck-up princess. Her prickly behavior is designed to keep others from getting too close and potentially hurting her, and yet she hates herself for hurting those around her. When she reaches high school age, she decides to live on her own at Maison de Ayakashi. Outwardly, Maison de Ayakashi is a home for the super-rich, with each resident rating a personal bodyguard. In reality, all the residents, including their Secret Service bodyguards, are descended from supernatural beings.

Ririchiyo intends to keep to herself, but this become impossible almost immediately. Despite not requesting one, she finds herself with a super-loyal bodyguard named Soushi, who asks that she make him her dog. No matter what she says to him, he smiles and stays by her side. As the series progresses, Ririchiyo makes friends and finds herself wishing to become closer to Soushi. Unfortunately, between her prickly-ness and his overly-formal behavior, becoming closer is not an easy task. An arranged marriage and darkness in Soushi's past complicate things further.

Review:

This is a tough review to write. On the one hand, I liked this series, a lot more than I expected to. On the other hand, aspects of it made me feel icky.