Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou – 04
What, is this a horror show?
Without being too critical, this episode of InuHasa was alright, I suppose. Last time the curtains were raised on the so-called “slasher incidents”. And while we’ve yet to reach some sort of conclusion, there have been quite a few… interesting developments.
Yandere Imouto
Forever and ever and ever and ever…
I know I said last time that it would be nice if there were more to Madoka than just an “onii-chan rabu rabu” chara, but I certainly wasn’t expecting this. I suppose it’s not so hard to see how a little sister obsessed with her brother might get the crazies when said brother dies, but Madoka being yandere totally caught me off guard. And honestly, this wasn’t quite the kind of character development I was hoping for from her. I’m not one of those people who has a thing for yanderes, but regardless Madoka gets no sympathy from me. Even among yanderes she’s particularly unremarkable, just as she was only a stereotypical brocon sister previously. These tropes are very well-used, and while I have stated many times before that shows don’t necessarily have to be original, having even something remotely interesting goes a long way to keeping us watching. Maybe you can use some of these rather standard tropes in a very engaging manner or something. You know, like Yahari aka Oregairu aka SNAFU managed to do. That’s the picture of an unoriginal show done right. But I’m simply not getting the same vibes from InuHasa. Returning to Madoka as an example, the “big reveal” that she’s gone batshit insane only elicited a “heh” reaction from me. The moment her eyes started getting that yandere blankness, my eyes couldn’t help from rolling. I get the feeling we’re supposed to feel sorry for the girl, but InuHasa has given us barely anything to sympathize with. There’s just no investment in her character. A few brief flashbacks of her waking up her favorite onii-chan is clearly not enough.
Slasher Mystery
Is this guy even trying to blend in?
I can’t spend my whole post being negative about the show though; it would just be a hate post and thus completely unnecessary. So let’s instead focus on what InuHasa does manage to do right. And it’s the same as what I’ve said last time: the mystery element is what’s pulling InuHasa through. The first mystery, being the hunt for Kazuhito’s murderer, was resolved easily enough. That one was executed fairly well as a showcase of Kazuhito and Kirihime’s characters, as well as the power of the latter’s writing (though I still find the bit about her books reforming the bad guy silly). Now we have our second mystery of a guy who goes around assaulting people who own Kirihime’s books. This episode sets Madoka up as the culprit, but it’s done so conspicuously that she obviously can’t be the true culprit. There’s no way Madoka could have been running from Kirihime and also fawning over Kazuhito in his room. No matter how much of a ninja she may be (I can’t believe she got up to Kirihime’s room from outside the building), she can’t possibly be in two places at once. Now, there is a bit of a potential discrepancy between the timing of these two matters, but for now I’m going to assume they happened at the same time. Also important to consider is she should only be focused on Kazuhito. She may have cut up and burned his Kirihime books out of jealousy and anger, but I see no reason for her to go after other, unrelated people. How she figured out Kazuhito’s identity as a dog, and moreover Kirihime’s true identity, is still unexplained, but that’s probably coming next week. At the moment though, my personal theory for the former is she doesn’t really know Kazuhito is residing in the dog. She would have probably taken anyone who fell for the “trap” as her beloved older brother, knowing how unstable she is.
We likely have the conclusion of this mystery waiting for us next time, and I can only hope that InuHasa has more in store for us afterwards. But I suppose it’s also possible that the show might instead take some time to expand upon some of the other characters we have yet to be fully acquainted with. There’s the mysterious third author of the famous trio whom we’ve not yet seen, although we’ve met her maid. And the bookstore sisters have only played a supporting role so far, so we might get to see an episode that focuses on them. I also believe there’s a childhood friend or classmate in store for us, which might set off alarms in the unoriginal department yet again. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it (if ever). Oh, but we certainly don’t need any more Maxi. Please no more shining. It’s just painful.
About Sumairii
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Kirihime calling Madoka her sister-in-law. Since when did she and Kazuhito get married? I don’t recall there being a wedding last episode.
I’m impressed with how well Kirihime deduced the reasoning behind Madoka’s actions and how plausible the theories are. She can do well if she ever becomes a detective. I wish there was more depth to Madoka other than just being a girl with a brother complex.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
They haven’t been married yet, but last episode Kirihime had a brief deredere moment with Kazuhito (after dealing with the murderer) where she somehow gets the idea that they’re gonna have kids. We’ll see how that works out for her…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I said on twitter that I figured out what it is about this show that I like: It’s a call back to those 80’s mystery TV shows! With the misfit cast, or the complementary pieces, or the people stuck together through whatever circumstances. Stuff like The Fall Guy, Riptide, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Moonlighting, Remington Steele, even The Rockford Files. Even sillier ones like The Greatest American Hero or Hardcastle and McCormick. It’s an anime written by Stephen J Cannell!
And no, those weren’t great shows, but they were entertaining at the time, and this show is a lot like them.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 102 comments
InuHasa horror O__O