Inu X Boku SS – 10

[HorribleSubs] Inu X Boku Secret Service - 10 [720p].mkv_snapshot_06.07_[2012.03.15_17.47.57] [HorribleSubs] Inu X Boku Secret Service - 10 [720p].mkv_snapshot_13.05_[2012.03.15_17.55.07] [HorribleSubs] Inu X Boku Secret Service - 10 [720p].mkv_snapshot_19.11_[2012.03.15_18.01.13]

Wow, that sure got serious all of a sudden.

While there were lots of hints that some sort of major disclosure about Soushi was coming from Kage, the abrupt change in tone for this week’s episode was still a bit jarring.  The big hint, of course, was when Kage said that Nine-tails was an “S” pretending to be an “M”, but then Kage did what he usually does – disappeared in a lot of noise and ceremony, and the subject was more or less forgotten for a few weeks.  Kage seems to be the engine that drives the plot for this series, and since he’s been only an occasional character in the anime, there’s only occasionally been much of a plot.

While Kage never seems to do much more than prance around making silly statements about sadism and masochism, he brings an air of threat with him that this serious otherwise lacks – it’s very clear how he puts all of the other characters (aside from Zange, of course) of their ease, and makes them edgy.  I’m not sure I like it, but it’s an undeniable fact.  There’s the matter of him being Ririchiyo’s fiancée too, and he spent a whole lot of this episode leading Karuta around by a collar and chain and generally making Watanuki feel defeated.  The upshot of all this is the “something important” he has to discuss with Ririchiyo, but never quite gets around to actually discussing.

While the confrontation between Soushi and Kage was certainly tense, as verbal swordsmanship (“I’ve been on my knees many times in your service”) gave way to the literal kind, I thought the most interesting moment of the ep was when Ririchiyo surprised Soushi in his room at 10:30 PM, dressed in civilian clothes and glasses, and he behaved quite menacingly towards her.  It was especially unsettling to see him accuse her of being “quite good at unintentionally sending men the wrong signals”.  That was an ugly statement and an ugly moment – though I’m not convinced he’s wrong when he suggests she might actually like Kage.

I’ve bemoaned how boring Soushi’s obsequious behavior is so I have no complaints to see him show some teeth, but let the record show I never complained about the plotless, random and silly nature of the show generally – so this tonal change isn’t a huge hit with me.  It’s probably necessary though, as we’ve gone through ten episodes with nothing really happening, and it looks certain that when Soushi is forced to reveal his ugly secrets to Ririchiyo, it’ll be a game-changer.  I haven’t decided yet if Kage is actually evil or just a relatively harmless pervert, but it’s obvious that there’s a lot of water under the bridge between he and Soushi, and some of it smells pretty foul.

[HorribleSubs] Inu X Boku Secret Service - 10 [720p].mkv_snapshot_10.11_[2012.03.15_17.52.01] [HorribleSubs] Inu X Boku Secret Service - 10 [720p].mkv_snapshot_12.34_[2012.03.15_17.54.36] [HorribleSubs] Inu X Boku Secret Service - 10 [720p].mkv_snapshot_13.12_[2012.03.15_17.55.14]
[HorribleSubs] Inu X Boku Secret Service - 10 [720p].mkv_snapshot_14.08_[2012.03.15_17.56.10] [HorribleSubs] Inu X Boku Secret Service - 10 [720p].mkv_snapshot_14.16_[2012.03.15_17.56.18] [HorribleSubs] Inu X Boku Secret Service - 10 [720p].mkv_snapshot_18.15_[2012.03.15_18.00.17]
[HorribleSubs] Inu X Boku Secret Service - 10 [720p].mkv_snapshot_18.59_[2012.03.15_18.01.01] [HorribleSubs] Inu X Boku Secret Service - 10 [720p].mkv_snapshot_22.02_[2012.03.15_18.04.04] [HorribleSubs] Inu X Boku Secret Service - 10 [720p].mkv_snapshot_23.28_[2012.03.15_18.05.31]
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9 comments

  1. d

    thanks you¡¡

  2. I

    I've been wondering this for a while now but what exactly is the demograph of this show:
    Its got lolis, boobs, moe, bishies, homos and S & M characters. With little in the way of plot of themes or anything really, who is the anime trying to impress.

    I also think this show is at its best when all the characters in the apartment come together and do something simple but fun.

  3. I've wondered who the target demo for this is, too, and seen it speculated on by several others. I honestly don't know if anyone knows – perhaps it's that rare manga that doesn't fall in any genre whatsoever.

  4. K

    Considering how things never really end up being as bad as they seem on this series (or that's how it seems to me anyway), I'll make a guess about what I think his "secret" is.

    I'm just guessing that Miketsukami was the one writing back to Ririchiyo while he was in Kagerou's service. For what reason, I couldn't say though. It just seems like it would fit.

    To be honest though, I am glad that there's at least a little bit of genuine conflict between the two now, even if it's easily resolved next episode.

  5. L

    I like your idea… if he really were writing instead of Kagerou, it would explain him being a liar and how he knew all about her before they met.

  6. R

    I assumed that is what it was based on the previews.

    He was the servant then wasn't he? It would be simple enough for him to be ordered to "write the letters back to my fiancee, I can't be bothered to write a letter every single day."

  7. S

    Well, it's finally getting to the chapter I was most hoping to see in the anime. It seems the overall anime series has been a very slow following of the manga adaption. What this episode covered was only in chapter 7 of the manga. I was hoping this would have been covered back in episode 5 or 6, but most of what the anime covered was non-manga material or mixed up chapters from the manga.

    Though the next episode looks like it'll definitely cover what I was most looking forward to in the manga. I guess that will set up the finale.

    I wonder if there will be a season 2.

  8. K

    Indeed, not just the plot, but the whole show lights up with Sugita's scene stealing antics. (Not that I'm complaining about the Ririchiyo's cute attempts to express her feelings all this time)

    I do wonder if Soushi is actually coerced by circumstances unknown to us in playing suddenly the bad guy towards Ririchiyo, as more often than not, this is usually the main reason most shoujo manga ikemen male-leads suddenly behave like jackasses.

  9. A

    Peking Duck!

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