Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou

A dog as a protagonist?! Is what my reaction was when I first saw Inu to Hasami. And it made me think of how would the story revolve around that dog. So I tried watching it.


I've never watched a series where an animal gets the main stage, so this will be the first one.


So the story revolves around Harumi Kazuhito, a bookworm. He's a die hard fan of Akiyama Shinobu's books. One day he got into a cafe which was about to be robbed by a guy who didn't make any sense later in the story. The robber took out his gun and pointed it ... at the bartender. After seeing Kazuhito and another customer across Kazuhito's table, he told them to stand up. Kazuhito willingly follows what the robber said. While the girl across him didn't even flinch. The robber points his gun at the girl, ready to shoot. Kazuhito then interfered, and got shot in the head. Which resulted in him dying(duuh?). He's desire to read Akiyama's books didn't let him die, instead, he came back to life. Only its in a body of a dog. And that's where his story starts. Well, there were quite a few cliche things to watch out in into it, but fear not! Since its bearable and not that deep too. I think its because they wanted to stick on the comedy part more. No deep meaning, just your average comical series.

It seems that every character in inu to hasami has serious mental problems, well I don't mean it in a bad way, since they were quite funny most of the time. And if you're looking for a cute dog, you definitely have to watch this. I mean, how often do you find a series which a cute miniature dachshund always hangs around. As if it that wasn't cute.

Both opening and ending theme were upbeat, complimenting on how comical the story is.

I believe that inu to hasami is a good series in its own way, but I don't think it'll be bigger than what it has achieved by now. And it'll make me very happy to know if they decide to make another season. Since the amount of detail in the first one wasn't that good. So a lot of question will pop right into your head after watching it. But this series is a good watch, a comical series which doesn't have any deep story into it. Doesn't make you think how the plot will develop into. Just your average comedy series. Sometimes you don't need complicated whatso-shitty-complicated plot to be a fair series. There's not much to point out on Inu to Hasami so I'll end my BS here.

(Overall Score : 8)

Dear Japan:

It seems almost every season, there’s one of those shows from your country that plays on fetishes or a rather bizarre sequence in the anime world. This time, it involves a girl and its….dog. Then, it decides for some odd reason to add the concept of scissors to the mix because we know it’s one of the dangerous gadgets suitable for “punishment”. As for the punishment itself, the receiving end is none other than our dog of the series, Kazuhito Harumi.

Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyo (also known as Dogs & Scissors) is an animated series based off the light novel of the same ... name written by Shunsuke Sarai. For a series about books though, this show sure likes to play around its other angles. So now begins the story of a dog and its master. (one sadistic if I might even add)

The show’s delivery essentially begins with its accurate delivery and promise. In fact, there’s a feeling of seriousness in the beginning. Our main male protagonist Kazuhito (a bookworm) is eager to read books and novels. As a fan of Shinobu Akiyama's works, he is determined to get the inside scoop of those words written in those text. But then one faithful day, the unthinkable happened. To be honest, if you thought your day was bad, Kazuhito’s day couldn’t get any worse because of what happens next. He becomes something he never thought he’d be and hence begins this strange tale.

As mentioned before, the show takes itself seriously at first. The scene involving Kazuhito and his fate is depicted as brutal and violent with even blood added in the mix. The aftermath however turns out to be much more humorous when we find out that the woman Kazuhito gets acquainted with adapts a sadistic nature to her personality. Dressed in black clad clothing and armed with a deadly pair of scissors, Kirhime Natsuno is a woman that delivers the punishment to our not-so-lucky protagonist. Because of the punishment he receives, the show itself leans towards borderline animal abuse at many stances. Although it seems to be humorous at many cases, the series itself becomes intolerable after many of those repetitive moments. It doesn’t help by the fact that the dog also both intentionally and unintellionally provoke Kirihime at many occasion that results in those punishments.

As far as the plot goes, the series sticks with its premise at first. In fact, it takes its turns early on to finding out the culprit responding for Kazuhito’s fate but more importantly to stick with its original plot. However, the series later on becomes a cluster of absurd comedy that makes little sense or no progression to the story at all.

The story itself also consists of many characters although the majority of the cast consists of female characters of different nature. There’s a masochist, an idol, a maid, and even a yandere. These characters all connects to the tale of the sadist and the dog in some way although mostly depicted as complete nonsense. For instance, the idol (aka the Shining Girl) of the series known as Maxi Akizuki plays little role besides trying to take the spotlight while mostly failing to do so. Then, there’s even a yandere character that clashes against Kirihime in almost borderline incest moments. Other characters later on in the series also presents absurd comedy in different nature related to the concept of competitions.

The relationship between Kazuhito and Kirihime is one of the more dynamic aspects of the series. Almost every episode focuses on them although the development between the duo is quite sour and sometimes way out of line. For the most part, Kirihime abuses Kazuhito at almost any time when she feels something doesn’t go according to her way or when the latter says something that shouldn’t of been said. However, if we look carefully, there’s also cases where Kirihime does treasure Kazuhito and vice versa. Even more so, Kirihime seems to get jealous at times for the dog and acts on those frustrations to carry out her punishments. As for Kazuhito himself, there’s a lot of humor revolving around his character with his new life as the dog. He doesn’t go out to hunt or guard the house but instead still follows on his goals to read books. Even as a dog, his determination seems to become avid as ever.

As noted by its absurd comedy genre, this show doesn’t loosen that style any bit at all. The comedy of this show is ridiculous, as in ridiculously bad. Kirihime’s scissors is just one primary example as a weapon that’s out of this world with inhuman capabilities. Kirihime herself often acts like the boss but she shows insecurity of herself especially in regards to her female body structure. This gag is made fun of nearly every episode because of her small breast size. (assumingly A-Cup). It doesn’t stop there though because her physical nature is made fun of that result in undesired consequences for Kazuhito. This repetitive running gag feels almost like an endless loop at many occasions with the misunderstandings. Later on, a yandere type character also enters the story that formulates a triangle which spells out even more misunderstandings. There’s case of fan services from here and there although it doesn’t fall into the ecchi category. What it does fall under though is the seemingly endless and repetitive gags ranging from masochism to sadism to dog abuse.

There’s some action as well but it’s mostly carried out in a comical fashion. The way the characters move and fight makes it clear at first but the transformations and execution is painful to watch. It tries to follow its themes involving the seven deadly sins as well but most of this is downplayed as nothing more than a textbook of mistakes. At one point, I question myself why I watch this show. Perhaps it might be the small chance of a decent mystery as briefly shown in the beginning of the show but this later wavers down with nothing more than nonsense once again.

Artwork wise, the term generic is what comes to my mind at first glance. Even the dog is portrayed as being generic with its design. He doesn’t look dangerous at all but instead of someone of frail nature. On the other hand, Kirihime’s design does look a tad noticeable with her black clad outfit. Her scarlet eyes and long black hair gives her a more dangerous look. On other hand though, idol characters, maids, and yanderes are designed in this show exactly what you might expect.

The music aspect of this show is almost a joke like the show itself. The OP song "Wan Wan Wan Wan N_1!!" by Inu Musume Club is portrayed as comedy and does its job as such with its sequences. In the song, we see characters dancing while doing animal movements complete with some flashy outfits. The dog though? He’s there in the background usually suffering the abuse. The ED song doesn’t do any better either with bits of fan service and a similar style of its comedy genre. The OST is also hardly noticeable although we do see some of the more dramatic moments carried out in a serious fashion. Finally, I didn’t feel like any of the VA portrayed their roles in an outstanding way. The only noticable voice though might be the voice of Kazuhito when he was once human. If we notice carefully, we never get to see his true face. In other words, the voice of his character when he was human gives off a sense of realism in this ridiculous comedy of nonsense.

For a comedy series, this show sure likes to play around with the genre; a bit too much perhaps. At many points, it feels like if you’re watching not just a parody but a series crafted out of nonsense. By nonsense, I mean nonsense as in making no sense at all while defying the laws of a decent story. The story itself also had a strong promise at first but breaks itself apart with its random gags and repetitiveness. In short, this show is one of those anime series where it tries to be “so bad, it’s good”. However, it just ends up with the first part as in ‘bad’. I know my expectations might be a bit high but being bad sometimes should have its limits.

Sincerely, a disappointed viewer.

Do you understand what is comedy? Do you really value it? I am very sure you don't, not until you watch Dogs and Scissors. It is a series that will make you appreciate jokes, more than ever, because its pathetic, dreadful, and fan-service accompanied "comedic" plot will make you appreciate the math joke that you thought was stupid.

The plot is simple..you can read the summary anywhere, so I am not going to detail that. But yes, this is an extreme story of books..where you either write or die..you read or die. That was the opening sentence of the anime. Quite interesting right? Yeah, ... I wish it was like that. Not until you episode 2, when you will suddenly realize the deep, thoughtful ways of this anime, thoughtful ways of putting fan-service. This anime is a collection of "weird" otaku fetish: sadistic tsundere, extremely attached younger sister, voluptuous masochist, and most importantly, a complete harem of girls. Not to mention the "flat-chest" jokes, "those" dialogues....and whatever a loner otaku dreams to see.

At first it begins decently, guy loves books, he dies, and gets reincarnated as a dog to become the pet of his favorite author. And then starts the non-stop loop of "flat-chested" jokes, sadistic scissor scenes, younger sister pleading "Kazu-nii", girls appearing to satisfy harems and ends with hot-spring bath and beach scene near the ending of the anime. This anime, without a doubt, will satisfy if you're into "these" things.

Characters are simple. Protagonist is a straight-man (or dog) of the series, who gives commentary to every line spoken. He loves book more than anything. He is mostly in his dog form. The female lead (the scissor) is a 20 year old sadistic, flat-chested (where the jokes come from), tsundere and best-selling author, who although highly intelligent, limits her insults to "perverted dog" "ero dog" "idiot" and "mongrel"....yes, very intelligent insults she uses.

Side characters include overly-attached imouto; a bookstore girl the protagonist loves;her younger sister who likes to "play" with the protagonist; a voluptuous and masochistic book editor; a maid who is overly attached to her mistress; a "shining" idol who is ed by overly attached men in black; and the girl who is always apologizing...and for comic relief afro guy, muscle men and whatever the anime industry needs to create comedy.

Sound tracks are average. Opening song, you know those songs where the singer changes pitches as she sings..with hyperactive attitude? Ending is rather decent, after first ten seconds. And overall, very decent, low-average music.

Art. Average 2013 art. Animation is decent, the fight scenes are alright. It' just nothing to look forward to. And it's sad how every character must have colorful eyes and hair, certain types of figure and stereotypical appearance.

Overall, I began this anime because of how frequently it was recommended. This anime was made TO satisfy the audience, especially the guy stuck in his room 24/7. There are plot holes everywhere, non-sense characters and low average art and animation. It just takes pathetic on different level. I didn't enjoy it.

Recommended only if you're interested in "those" matters I mentioned, or just want to watch every anime of the season. Otherwise, just save your time on something better. Seriously, I cried realizing the depth anime reached these days.