Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. In order to be a manga artist, you have to be weird and I mean that in a good way. When you look at some of the most popular manga in the world, you’ll notice that a lot of them have weird stories that at first glance shouldn’t work. But the artists and/or writers of these stories executed them in a way that was entertaining to read that everybody fell in love with them. It’s proof that even the weirdest of ideas can be a big hit and nobody embodies this more than Hiroya Oku. Best known for his work on Gantz, Oku is a man I can only describe as weird but at the same time someone who knows what he’s doing. His stories are weird and don’t do a good job explaining why the weirdness is happening, but at the same time they’re action-packed and entertaining to read just like today’s anime, Inuyashiki. With comic book movies being a box office hit and with the completion of Gantz, Oku decided he wanted a stab at writing a superhero manga. The manga ran from 2014-2017 lasting only 3 ½ years and having 10 volumes. While the series didn’t sell that many copies it did receive rather positive reviews from fans and critics. Apparently, Japan’s movie industry liked it as the series was turned into a live action movie at the end of 2017 and would go on to be turned into an anime only a few months after the series ended by MAPPA (Terror in Resonance). This was an anime that many considered one of the best from 2017 and unfortunately, I never got a chance to watch it, but I’m finally gonna see if it was really all that good. Get ready to see strange stuff, this is Inuyashiki.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening is “My Hero” by Man With a Mission. Already off to good start. This song is just awesome to listen to. Not once did I skip this opening when I watched the anime. It’s easily one of their best songs in my opinion. I also like how they do a good job blending the English and Japanese lyrics together. The drums and guitar in this opening go hard and it does a good job showing the split personalities of our hero and antagonist in the anime.
The ending is “Ai wo Oshiete Kureta Kimi e” by Qaijff. Not a very memorable song in my opinion, but it is very beautiful to listen to. The voice, the piano, the violin this is a beautiful song that I honestly feel bad that I forgot about it.
Episodes 1-5
The anime starts with our main character Ichiro voiced by Fumiyo Kohinata and his family moving out of their apartment into a small house with his kids not liking this one bit (spoiled brats). We see that despite having the looks of an 80-year-old man, Ichiro is in fact 58 years old (the years have not been kind to him) and doesn’t have the respect and love of his family. In fact, the only one that seems to show genuine love for him is a dog that he rescued named Hanako (proving once again why dogs are better than cats). Ichiro lives a mundane life as does his family. The wife works part time at a grocery store, the daughter is your typical teenager who wants to be a manga artist, and the son gets bullied at school. One day at a checkup, Ichiro receives the news that he has stomach cancer and only has about 3 months to live. He tries to tell his family but they ignore his calls and even when he tries to tell them in person he just can’t find the guts to say anything. When he goes to walk his dog he goes to cry in a field where a teenage boy shows up out of nowhere (how did you not hear him?) and they both get into a hit and run with an alien ship (https://youtu.be/u2Yu7D2uaoE). The aliens repair the two turning them into cyborgs complete with space weapon technology (scene here: https://youtu.be/iqziRJ4qqho, can’t help but wonder if this took place after Gantz or if this is the prequel to Gantz). The next morning, Ichiro wakes up feeling fine and his body is in good condition as he has good eyesight and the cancer is gone. Ichiro soon discovers his cyborg body (giving us a cool and rather disturbing scene. Scene here: https://youtu.be/hbxUjBhW88w). Worried about the other boy, he goes back out at night to the same spot to search for him where he sees a bunch of kids shooting fireworks at a homeless man (the fuck is wrong with these kids, they’re a bunch of homicidal maniacs). At first Ichiro ignores this not believing he’s human now, but he can’t abandon someone in trouble and goes to protect the homeless man. The kids beat him up with baseball bats (seriously, what kind of homicidal maniacs are you?) and then prepare to do the same thing to the homeless man until Ichiro’s body activates and unleashes a laser like attack that scares the kids away. His body manages to record a video of the kids attacking, uses facial recognition to discover their identities, and then plays the video all over the city for everyone to see so that they can get arrested (scene here: https://youtu.be/PCBRU6eN7z8, for the best. Those kids got issues). Ichiro rejoices at the fact that he saved a person’s life as this confirms that he’s still human (and a hero. With one of the weirdest origin stories ever).
In episode 2 we meet the main antagonist of our series Hiro voiced by Nijiro Murakami, a high school boy who likes One Piece and his friend is a big fan of Gantz (way to advertise your work and the work of others Oku). Just like Ichiro he too became a weaponized cyborg, but unlike Ichiro who verifies his existence by saving people, Hiro takes a different approach (one with a more sadistic edge). For Hiro the way he verifies his existence is by killing people in order to feel empathy for them and his actions. The problem is he makes it very clear that he can’t feel empathy for people he’s not related to (i.e friends and family). He also seems to have a better understanding of his powers such as being able to kill people by just holding out his finger like a gun and going bang (so long space cowboy). Changing channels in the electronic store to show porn (Corbin: Well there’s a power I wish I had), and causing a traffic accident in the middle of the city (scene here: https://youtu.be/BlWjrjdGlSc). Near the end of the episode Hiro invades the home of a family and completely massacres them one by one in the hopes of feeling empathy for them in order to feel alive (scene here: https://youtu.be/Mi7IDppqnos). Ichiro hears the daughter’s cry for help and goes to save her but he’s too late (next time fly instead of drive). He does however come face to face with Hiro and gets shot in the face. As Hiro leaves the house feeling good, Ichiro gets back up shocking Hiro.
Episode 3 picks up where episode 2 left off with Ichiro getting back up to confront Hiro only for Hiro to fly away (look at him, running like a bitch). Throughout the episode we focus on the activities of our two main characters. For Ichiro we see him continue to save people. The first one being a businessman who stands up to a couple of thugs (scene here: https://youtu.be/gMcpMZm3X30), the second one is saving some people from a burning house where he learns to fly by singing the original Astro Boy song (scene here: https://youtu.be/9b9TZKkaflk, okay I get it now. This is all a war between Astro Boy and One Piece fans. Tell me you don’t see it?), and the third (and most heartfelt one) is saving a cat that got hit by a car (scene here: https://youtu.be/JqCE4gtLWvE) and then going to the hospital to save the terminally ill patients (my God he’s a saint). In Hiro’s side of the story he takes it easy by getting his friend Naoyuki to go back to school after being bullied. Hiro humiliates one of the bullies in the middle of class (I actually applaud him for this. In order for a bully to stop you need to humiliate them in front of everyone and let them know that they ain’t shit) and then killing four of them later on. We see that Hiro can add money at will to his account and if he really wanted could launch a missile to destroy China. At the end Naoyuki has enough and decides to stop being friends with Hiro as he can’t bring himself to be friends with a sociopath (scene here: https://youtu.be/ouujQtfa79k). Hiro does not take this well and goes to kill a family (see? This is why you don’t have friends).
We start episode 4 on easily one of the oddest cold openings I’ve seen. A yakuza named Samejima walks into a sauna (Good Lord, you are tall for a Japanese man) after a woman ODs in his bed and he forces one of the men in there to suck him off for being rude (I know I said this before but Oku you are a strange STRANGE man). After this, we focus on a young lady named Fumino who lives with her boyfriend Satoru. The two get engaged to each other, but Fumino catches the eye of Samejima who abducts and drugs her so he can rape her. Luckily, Fumino is able to escape Samejima’s grasp and return to Satoru (scene here: https://youtu.be/3fJYmfX_CK0. Oh yeah, don’t go to the police first and tell them what happened to you). Samejima and his men burst into their apartment to take Fumino away, but Satoru stands up to him and tries to buy him off with 10 million (that is like chump change to a yakuza). Samejima says no and starts to choke out Satoru before Ichiro comes in to fight them off. He does a good job until he takes multiple headshots to the head and passes out. He wakes up the next morning (damn he just no-sell a fatal gunshot) where he sees Satoru is dead, but he’s able to revive him (live, damn you! Live). Ichiro goes to save Fumino by invading the yakuza compound and knocking the hell out of Samejima (I swear the guy spins 3 times in midair). Ichiro then gets hit with a barrage of bullets which knocks him unconscious, but his body goes into auto mode and goes rampage attack on all the yakuza. When Ichiro regains consciousness, he sees that all the yakuza are still alive, but they’re crippled for life (a fate worse than death). Ichiro finds Fumino, returns her back to normal, and reunites her with Satoru to end the episode on a happy note (scene here: https://youtu.be/4roI4xb0YzA).
So in episode 5 Naoyuki decides he has to stop Hiro, but he knows he’s no match for him. Naoyuki hears stories about people miraculously healing in the hospital and comes to the conclusion that there has to be another person like Hiro out there (one who’s not going around and killing people). Naoyuki fakes being in danger to get Ichiro’s attention and Ichiro flies to his house where Naoyuki tells him everything about Hiro (he’s a fan of One Piece) and how he wants to help him. During their talk we actually see that Ichiro isn’t sure if he’s human anymore given what’s happened to his body, but Naoyuki assures him he’s more human than anyone and is in fact a hero. After this, Naoyuki tries to help Ichiro learn how to better use his powers. In Hiro’s side of the episode he surprisingly turns over a new leaf. He actually gets confessed to by a girl named Shion in his class. We learn more about his family such as how his parents are divorced and his dad remarried. Despite this Hiro does seem to have a good relationship with his dad and stepsiblings. Hiro lives with his mom in a rather poor apartment and he finds out she has cancer and he cries (the Tin Man has a heart after all). He uses his powers to remove the cancer and then uses that power to put money into his account so that they can move to an upscale apartment. He even says to himself that he’s done killing as he doesn’t want to burden his mom or disappoint her. Just when it seems like everything is going well, the police show up and arrest Hiro (so is this about the murders or the money?).
Episodes 6-11
Episode 6 starts with Hiro escaping the police where he was under arrest for the murders (you got nothing coppers. Nothing). He gets found by Shion who takes him back to her place where she lives with her grandma as she doesn’t believe he committed the murders (Shion you are harboring a fugitive, don’t do this). Things only get worse for Hiro as the media harasses his family and his mom commits suicide as a means to atone for her son’s actions. This sends Hiro over the edge. He kills a few reporters harassing his dad (scene here: https://youtu.be/_Sgzdritq-I) and then in a rather satisfying scene, he tracks down the troll who leaked his home address online and kills the fat fuck (scene here: https://youtu.be/LoPazjYuMMI). He doesn’t stop there, he goes on to kill the other trolls who were talking smack about his mom and there’s a wide range of them from students to NEETs to businessmen to just common everyday people who think that they can get away with anything online by hiding behind a fake user name (scene here: https://youtu.be/zXdIDsBNBCE?t=399. I’m not on Hiro’s side, but this was satisfying to watch).
In episode 7 Hiro reveals the truth to Shion and flies her above the city where he says he’s going to kill everyone, but Shion begs him not to do it and to just live at home with her and her grandma because she loves him (https://youtu.be/lxFxRXCG73M?t=5). Actually, this works on Hiro as he decides to save as many lives as he’s killed and live with Shion and her grandma (scene here: https://youtu.be/DnYWdyEUqqg). Hiro begins saving lives with Shion by his side (Ichiro, he’s stealing your schtick) and all seems well (scene here: https://youtu.be/CiLWiQZWm-U). Sadly, the good times can never last forever as the SWAT team has found out where he’s hiding and they’re coming for him.
In the opening moments of episode 8 the SWAT team shoot Shion and her grandma (why would you shoot them!? They weren’t even resisting) and then pelt Hiro with bullets which have little effect on him. He manages to escape and heals up Shion and her grandma before running off into the night (scene here: https://youtu.be/3lq6gukzbhE, this is gonna cost us). After that, we focus on Mari the daughter of Ichiro who has dreams of being a manga artist (well she’s got plenty of material with her dad around). On her way home from school she sees her dad with Naoyuki and follows them all the way to the hospital where she pieces together that her dad is the one who’s been saving people and he’s a cyborg (what are you waiting for, start writing a manga off this shit). In the second half of the episode we focus on Hiro who goes on a rampage by killing an entire police force (scene here: https://youtu.be/Z-wPQGmRu3E). Once he’s outside the SWAT team is there waiting for him. He gets sniped from a rooftop and then gets shot to hell by the SWAT team (don’t stop until you see blood. Even then still keep firing). The barrage of bullets knocks him out (Jesus, it’s like getting five stars in GTA) and his body goes into auto mode and kills the SWAT team. When he does regain consciousness he walks away saying that this is far from over (scene here: https://youtu.be/JSaY600Qihw).
Destruction begins in episode 9 as Hiro declares war on Japan by going on a shooting spree in Shibuya killing people left and right. Naoyuki figures out how Hiro is killing people via smartphone (thank you captain obvious) and has Ichiro hijack the airwaves so he can warn everyone to ditch their smartphones (that’s like a death sentence for millennials and Gen Z), but not even that’s enough to stop Hiro’s killing spree. After killing 100 people (points to one guy for playing dead) he vows to kill 1000 more tomorrow (scene here: https://youtu.be/VGw8MOCocNo). Hiro then starts the next day by crashing an airplane into the city (oh~ that touches close to home).
Episode 10 gives us the fight we’ve all been waiting for, Ichiro vs Hiro (hero vs villain, old vs young, two machines enter one machine leaves. Place your bets). After Ichiro lands all the planes safely in the water, Mari calls him and tells him that she’s stuck in a building where one of the planes crashed. Just before Ichiro can fly off to save her, Hiro appears and they fight all throughout the episode (granted the CGI may not be all that great this is still pretty epic). They fight all throughout the city and manage to knock each other out so their bodies go into auto mode and continue to fight where Ichiro gains the upper hand by ripping off a piece of Hiro’s head and then disarming him (literally). Once Hiro is defeated (scene here: https://youtu.be/hgLNmzBS9-I), Ichiro flies off to save Mari but he arrives too late as she appears to be dead. Thankfully, Ichiro is able to revive her and flies her to safety. He goes back in to save everyone else and then goes around the city saving the injured (it’s downright inspiring). As for Hiro, he lands unconscious in the streets where 2 ladies find him.
In the final episode Ichiro returns home to show his family his mechanical body (bet that’s going to do wonders in the bedroom) and tries to leave as he doesn’t believe he’s the Ichiro that they know but his wife asks him if he remembers their honeymoon and he does proving that he’s the same Ichiro they know and love (even more now that he’s a machine). We see Hiro go to visit Naoyuki not to kill him (I think he’s incapable of that now) but just to read some manga like old times (yes, manga will unite the world). Naoyuki not believing this situation calls up Ichiro for help and when he arrives Hiro is gone. After that, Ichiro just spends time with his family and has a good time with them until Trump goes on TV and announce that a meteorite will hit the planet in 3 days and he encourages everyone to use these last days wisely (scene here: https://youtu.be/LJZEWsGaToc. This is so accurate it’s not even funny). With the meteorite set to hit Earth everybody spends their last moments praying, crying, or doing whatever they want (like streaking in the train. I feel like people do that anyway). On the night of the second day Ichiro decides to go and stop the meteorite (where was this mindset 2 days ago?). He flies up to the meteorite and tries to destroy it but has no luck. Hiro shows up saying he’s going to self-destruct to change the trajectory of the meteorite. Ichiro detonates Hiro and he self-destructs, but it wasn’t enough to change the meteorites course so Ichiro self-destructs as well to save the world. The series ends with the son standing up to his bullies (because that was a thing of focus in this anime) and Mari winning an award for the manga she submitted to Shonen Jump (scene here: https://youtu.be/yUmWrh4cALo).
Final Thoughts
While Inyuashiki’s story is nothing new or innovative it’s what they do with their characters and their different perspectives that makes this series interesting and worth your time. Ichiro isn’t your standard hero. He’s old, slow, not good looking, and has a bizarre origin story but at the same time he exemplifies the qualities of what a hero should be and do. Every time he uses his powers all he’s thinking about is saving people in some way or helping them. His acts are so inspiring that it’s enough to move you to tears. His sacrifice at the in hits hard as he was able to achieve everything he’s ever wanted only to give his life in order to protect what he loves. Hiro is the exact opposite but at the same time he’s one of the most compelling villains I’ve ever seen. You would think a guy like Hiro would be the hero of this series but instead he’s the villain. He’s not afraid to kill but at the same time he still has the mind of a teenager who enjoys reading manga, loves his mom, and has feelings for a classmate who was there for him when nobody else was. Just like he’s capable of so many horrendous acts he’s capable of feeling and doing amazing acts as well. It would have been so easy to paint him as just a villain, but they make him compelling and show us why he does what he does, what he thinks, and how he feels making him a 3-dimensional character whose actions you don’t approve of but at same time can’t bring yourself to hate and abandon him like your average villain.
The animation is alright and even though the CGI can look off putting at times there are times when it does shine like Ichiro’s mechanical body is blended in nicely with the 2D animation and the action scenes are fun and action-packed. While there’s not as many as you would have hoped for, they are satisfying to watch. The soundtrack isn’t really all that memorable. Aside from the opening the rest of the music is forgetful. A major downfall with this anime is that we don’t learn that much about the other characters or their relationship with the main characters. We get a little bit of that in the final episode, but I wish that they would have shown more of that in the earlier episodes. However, the biggest problem with this anime is that we never get an explanation to stuff. Who were those aliens that made Ichiro and Hiro machines, why were they passing through Earth, how are Ichiro and Hiro able to revive people, and how do their bodies work? This is just a snippet of questions the anime leaves unanswered and it presents the major problem with all of Oku’s work, he shows cool stuff but doesn’t explain how it works or why it’s there.
Final Score
The final score for Inuyashiki is a 7/10. It’s definitely an underrated anime that deserves to be watched and one I regret not putting on my top 11 list of 2017 along with many other anime looking back. While you may have a lot of unanswered questions at the end, take comfort in the joy that it’s going to be a fun experience to watch. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.