Inukami!

Inukami!
	File:Inukamiaction.jpg Inkukami!
Genre	Shōnen, Fantasy, Comedy, Romance
Manga
Written by	Mamizu Arisawa
Published by	Dengeki Bunko
Manga
Written by	Mamizu Arisawa (story) ; Mari Matsuzawa (art)
Published by	MediaWorks
Anime
Directed by	Keizou Kusakawa
Studio	Seven Arcs
Anime
Inumimi the Movie
Directed by	Keizou Kusakawa
Studio	Seven Arcs

Inukami! (いぬかみっ!) is a Japanese light novel series by Mamizu Arisawa originally serialized in Dengeki hp about the dog goddess Yōko and her master Keita Kawahira and their fighting against various troublesome spirits. It has been adapted into a manga by artist Mari Matsuzawa and into an anime by Seven Arcs. Several more inukamis besides Yōko also play an important role in various episodes, most notably the inukamis of Kaoru Kawahira.

In the anime, Yōko is voiced by the popular voice actress Yui Horie, who also sings the opening theme song.

Name

The word "inukami" (いぬかみ) appears to be a corruption of the word "inugami" (いぬがみ), a type of Japanese spirit that literally means "dog god". The only difference between the two words is the lack of a dakuten in "inukami". It is unknown if this is to differentiate the show's inukami from typicial inugami, to allow for a pun (inukami can also mean "dog hair" with different kanji), or for other reasons. A possible reason is that traditional inugami are considered dangerous spirits, more likely to cause harm than help, and are sometimes used to invoke deadly curses.

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Characters

Yōko (ようこ) (voiced by Yui Horie): Yōko is the female lead of the show. She has two main abilities. The first is jaen (likely 蛇炎, meaning "serpent blaze"), where she shoots a coiling strand of fire out of her fingertips. There is also dai-jaen (likely 大蛇炎, "mega serpent blaze"), which is just a larger, more powerful variation. The second ability is shukichi, an ability which allows her to teleport objects. Strangely enough, although she is generally fearless in the face of evil spirits, she is terrified of normal dogs. Later on in the series, it is revealed that Yōko is not an Inukami by birth, but rather a kitsune and the daughter of the legendary Dai Yōko. During an escape from Hake she met the child Keita, who was with her for three days and shared his chocolate cake with her, which became one of her favorite things. Due to this incident, she wanted to become Keita's Inukami.

Elemental: Fire

Keita Kawahira (川平啓太) (voiced by Jun Fukuyama): Keita is the male lead of the show. He was considered a failure by his family due to his attitude towards their ancient duty to vanquish evil, treating it like a parttime job, and his initial inability to find an Inukami to bond with. Even though Yōko becomes his inukami and is fully interested in him, he has a bad habit of flirting with other girls; it is later revealed that Keita is mortified by the thought that, if he should develop a relationship with Yōko, he might become the father of a litter of puppies, rather than of a human baby. He is frequently punished for his transgressions by Yōko, to whom he had to promise that he would be loyal to her, that he would be hers and that he would be her toy, to do with whatever she wanted, before she would contract with him. He wears a dog's collar as a symbol of this pact - an item he originally intended as his 'vow gift' to Yōko. Yōko has frequently landed him in jail by teleporting him into a public place without his clothes, causing him to be mistaken for a streaker and arrested for indecent exposure. Due to this, he has been named Ra-ou (Naked King) by the city's perverts (male and female alike).

Keita possesses considerable athletic skills, can make frog-shaped talismans up to around the size of his fist from rubber which he can use to make ranged attacks and is a practitioner of xingyiquan. However, a shinigami named 'Sea of Violence' commented his martial arts skill lack style. Despite his many flaws, Keita has considerable redeeming qualities; he is determined, usually fearless and loyal to his friends and to people under his protection.

Keita's grandmother is the head of the Kawahira family. She has contracted a male Inukami named Hake.

Elemental: Fire

Shirou Karina: Karina is a police official who frequently calls on Keita and Yōko for help with cases that have a spirit, monster or magical event at its core. He has stated that he is collecting the 'devil's toys' created by an ancient wizard named Sekidousai. He has more than once gotten Keita off the hook when the latter is once again arrested for indecent exposure after angering Yōko. Karina wields an enchanted weapon he calls Angel Blade in combat. One of its signature attacks is the Holy Crush. It is later revealed that Sekidousai is his ancestor; the two men look very much alike, except for their different hair colours. Their characters are very different as well; where Karina is a morally upstanding person, Sekidousai is a pervert.

Tomekichi: Tomekichi is 'the traveling cat', a two-tailed nekomata (a feline spirit-being capable of walking upright and speech, said to grow to about the size of a dog) who is traveling around to search for missing statues. The kindly feline is doing so in honor of a priest who once took care of it, even though the priest is now presumably deceased. Even though his main duty is to search for missing statues, he is also seen taking various jobs, such as being a referee for a medium's tournament. Tomekichi apparently holds considerable esteem among his own people; on one occasion, he lead several other felines in the performing of a barrier spell-chant, which was cast in his name.

Hake: Hake is the Inukami of the head of the family who gives out most of the missions for the other members of the Kawahira family. He made a contract with the head of the family when she was near Keita's age on a Non-contract day (coincidently her birthday fifty years before the start of the series), out of boredom he claims, the item he was given are the decorative beads he wears.

Kaoru Kawahira: Kaoru is Keita's cousin. Contrary to Keita, Kaoru has a pack of 10 Inukami and he is generally well-thought of, being more restrained and respectable of demeanor, although he is no less kind at heart. All Kaoru's inukami care deeply for him and he seems to return the sentiment, although his connection with Nadeshiko is strongest of all and is probably romantic in nature. Like Keita, Kaoru is quite athletic and a powerful magic-user; his signature move is to command the wind to deliver destructive blasts with the medium of an orchestra conductor's baton. Kaoru has a dark secret which he has shared with no one other than Nadeshiko.

Elemental: Air

Kaoru's pack: Kaoru Kawahira has a pack of ten Inukami, to wit:

Nadeshiko (なでしこ) (voiced by Kaori Nazuka)

Nadeshiko is an Inukami from the same area as Yōko, who has contracted with Keita's cousin, Kaoru. In sharp contrast to all other Inukami on the show, she initially appears to be pacifistic and to regret the vanquishing of spirits and monsters. Her attitude and unwillingness to join in fights lead to her being temporarily expelled by her pack. Hake sends Nadeshiko to work with Keita as an example to Yōko, who has commented that Nadeshiko is the only one of Kaoru's pack of Inukami with any merit, but resents having her near her contractor, especially since Keita is clearly attracted to Nadeshiko. When the pack challenges Yōko so Nadeshiko might stay with Keita for good, they lose spectacularly and Nadeshiko ends up saving them, showing she has considerable courage and regaining the pack's appreciation by placing herself between Yōko and the pack alpha, Sendan. She constantly wears maid attire. It is worth noting that Nadeshiko sees Keita's positive qualities from the start and may once have considered contracting with him. She and Kaoru seem to share a special bond that causes some jealousy from her pack-mates at times. Nadeshiko's senses are apparently keener than those of the other Inukami and Yōko has said that Nadeshiko has an ability the rest of her pack lacks. It is later revealed that she is a brutally powerful warrior if roused.

Tomohane (ともはね) (voiced by Shizuka Hasegawa)

Tomohane is the youngest of the pack of Inukami that has contracted with Kaoru. She has the special ability to track the path of otherworldly entities and apparently has some skill with chemistry. As the youngest and weakest member of her pack, Tomohane fears that she will hold her allies back and so she tries harder. After an adventure involving Keita and a minor spirit-creature - a mujina - which she later adopted as a pet and named Maron, Tomohane was the second of Kaoru's Inukami to recognize Keita's good side.

Sendan (せんだん) (voiced by Yuki Matsuoka)

Sendan is the leader of Kaoru's pack of Inukami. She seems strict and demanding, but appears so because she seems to have the wellbeing of her contractor and master at heart at all times. Only perfect service is good enough for 'Kaoru-sama'. Sendan is the younger sister of Hake, the male Inukami that serves the head of the Kawahira family. Like her older brother, she always carries around a fan.

Igusa (いぐさ) (voiced by Yoko Honda)

Igusa is another member of the pack that serves Kaoru. She has green hair, which she wears in two braids and she wears spectacles. Igusa secretly writes shounen manga under a pseudonym and is extremely shy, causing her to be nervous when around Keita when he's in a perverted mood or when she perceives him to be.

Tayune (たゆね)

Tayyune is the sporty-looking, short-haired member of the pack that serves Kaoru. Tayyune is a physical person, quick to beat Keita when she feels he is being perverted towards her, quite loud and prideful. Oddly, she is apparently also deathly afraid of ghost stories and scary things. In combat, she sometimes wields a short staff as a blunt weapon.

Gokyouya

A grey-haired Inukami who near-constantly wears a white lab coat and may be the oldest of Kaoru's Inukami. Gokyouya is studying seriously to become a doctor at some point and is close friends with two other of Kaoru's Inukami. Before she became Kaoru's inukami, she was linked by contract to Keita's father, Souta; she still has warm feelings for him, which she has in part transferred to Keita, although she does not appear to have any romantic affections towards him.

Imari

Twins with Sayoka

Sayoka

Twins with Imari

Furano

Wears miko attire, have ability to predict the future.

Tensou

Her hair cover her eyes

Likes to draw some pictures

Citizens of the darkness: A group whose name was conceived by Kawarazaki. Basically, it consists of every person who is 'outside society' in some manner, usually because of some sexual or personal habit which is generally considered undesirable. They consist of such people as peeping toms, otaku, flashers and lingerie thieves. They consider Keita to be one of them, to his immense chagrin. Despite their personal quirks, the citizens of the darkness come to the aid of the 'citizens of the light' (just about anyone who isn't one of them) several times against Sekidousai. As Kawarazaki has said, without the world of light, there can be no world of darkness.

Kawarazaki

Kawarazaki is Keita's senior at school and a dedicated otaku. He pursues Yōko as he wants to use her as a model for a fanzine character, only makes the mistake of complimenting her tail for its plumpness, comparing it to a raccoon's. Apparently, Inukami admire thin tails. He is a cosplay maniac, who enjoys seeing both men and women of any age dressed in female clothing. Kawarazaki is the first to name and organize the citizens of the darkness in the battle against Sekidousai.

Boss

A large, muscular man who terms himself a 'lingerie artist', but is simply called an underwear thief by most other people. He is quite knowledgeable on various brands and manufacturers of underwear and has received special training so he can remain unobserved while he goes about his 'life's path'. The Boss has on several occasions annoyed Kaoru's inukami by (attempting to) steal their lingerie, but he has also been instrumental in the battle to destroy the robot Xanthippe. Whenever he is seen, the Boss wears trousers, boots ... and lingerie; generally a pair of panties on his head and a bra on his chest. He apparently forms a team with the Peeping Doctor and the Chief Clerk.

Peeping Doctor

A man dressed in a top hat and dinner suit, who apparently has developed his skills at hiding into the ability to become invisible. While most of the time he uses this power for peeping on women, Kaoru's Inukami among them, he occasionally he also uses it to help Keita during battles against Sekidousai. The Peeping Doctor claims that he never returns to any place where he has been spotted and affects gentlemanly airs despite his unpleasant hobby. He apparently forms a team with Boss and the Chief Clerk.

Chief Clerk

The third member of the team further consisting of the Boss and the Peeping Doctor, the Chief Clerk is a man who usually wears a three-piece suit and much resembles a bespectacled salaryman. The main physical difference between him and any other salaryman is that he constantly goes about tied up in bondage ropes. Another glaring difference is that most salarymen do not, generally speaking, go about begging to be punished; the Chief Clerk is a fervent masochist who constantly begs people to scold and/or punish him and managed to anger Yōko greatly by asking her to break him to her will.

Main antagonists:

Dai Yōko: Dai Yōko is, in the words of inukami Hake, "A great monster that manipulates the dark side, petrifies his opponents, specializes in fire based spells" - namely the Jaen and Dai Jaen techniques also used by Yōko, only much more powerful - "shakes the universe with a single leap and can do anything with his breath. He is strong and arrogant. When he feels irritated, he will destroy a whole mountain." Dai Yōko is an elder kitsune and also the father of Yōko, who he usually addresses as 'my dear daughter' or 'Kawaii (cute) Yōko'. While all the things Hake said about him are true, Dai Yōko is also a doting father, apparently incapable of being angry with his daughter, although she twice aided in sealing him to prevent him from doing damage. A bit of an embarrassing parent, Dai Yōko upon his eventual escape from the seal originally placed on him by the founding patriarch of the Kawahira family, revealed he has been keeping a picture diary of every moment in his daughter's life, no matter how private. While he is initially dead-set against his daughter being together with Keita, he comes to change his mind, mainly because he is tricked into believing their relationship had already caused Yōko to become pregnant. In past times, Dai Yōko apparently defeated the evil wizard Sekidousai in single combat.

Elemental: Fire

Sekidousai (赤道際): Sekidousai is a wizard of terrible power, who has managed to live well over 400 years. Of late, he has been forced to go into hiding inside a painting he made when he lost his powers, but he has already made plans to revive himself. Sekidousai is the ancestor of Shirou Karina, who bears a striking resemblance to him. The main external difference is that Sekidousai has a different hairstyle and white-blond hair. The characters of the two men are diametrically opposed; where Karina is a defender of justice and an agent of the law, Sekidousai's main desire is to create a world without restrictions, where all can live according to their very darkest desires. In addition, Sekidousai is a voluntary exhibitionist ... During his long life, Sekidousai created several powerful items. 1) The book which caused the rising of the 'demon' in the first episode of Inukami, which can apparently also reflect attacks made against its bearer. 2) The mechanical rooster Socrates, which can change clothing to match the strongest desires of a person in its vicinity. 3) A robot oddly named Xanthippe, whose main weapon is a drill, set in its groin. 4) The Daisakkai, which appears to be a kind of magical computer that initially serves to govern the world inside Sekidousai's painting refuge. Later, it manages Sekidousai's stolen energies.

Anime episodes

Note: Being updated by Low Lines, at current, changes I have made are also found at the Anime News Network, which is already referenced in this article. I will try and get more info as I find it. Also not all information is not 100% (or I am not totally sure of it yet), but I am at least trying to get a list of the episodes running first.

Screenshot	Title	Original air date	#

Gallery

Inukami! novel 1

Inukami! novel 1
Inukami! manga 1

Inukami! manga 1
Inukami! character collection CD.

Inukami! character collection CD.

Cover of an issue of Dengeki Comic Gao! featuring Inukami!

Trivia

All Inukami fly via wings on their backs. However, they are only visible in the light of a full moon as seen in Episode 6.

External links

Template:Languageicon Official Site
Template:Languageicon TV Tokyo Site
Template:Languageicon Inukami! ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
Template:Languageicon Inukami fan forum