Kazuhito Harumi is a high school boy who is obsessed with reading books, especially those by Shinobu Akiyama. One day, he is killed in the middle of a robbery and resurrected as a dachshund dog. In his new form, the helpless Kazuhito now belongs to said novelist, whose real name is Kirihime Natsuno, and who uses scissors to abuse him.
Dog & Scissors (Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyō), is Japanese light novel series written by Shunsuke Sarai and illustrated by Tetsuhiro Nabeshima, which was published under the Famitsu Bunko label from 2011 to 2015 for 14 volumes. An anime adaptation aired in the summer of 2013.
Viewers can legally view the anime on Crunchyroll
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Tropes:
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: Kirihime's scissors can cut through a rocket-propelled grenade. It also cut the cage Kazuhito was in at the pet store after the owner initially refused to sell him to her.
- The Ace: Kazuhito says that other than her cooking, Madoka was one, with a lot of friends, good grades and athleticism, and popular at school. He contrasts her with himself, as an unworthy brother who only read books by comparison.
- Action Girl: Kirihime and Madoka both seem to be one. Sachi is implied to be one as well.
- A-Cup Angst: The main reason why Kazuhito is tortured because he keeps snarking at Kirihime's chest. Though seeing younger girls with larger breasts also makes her very uncomfortable, such as Hami in the hot springs during episode 8.
- A Day in the Limelight: Episode 6 has Kazuhito spend a lot of time with Yayoi, who's worried her family's bookstore may be going under and tries to save it.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Kirihime, most of the time.
- Always in Class One: Kazuhito was in class 2-A.
- Anti-Climax: One occurs in episode 11. Another epic writing contest is going to take place, this time between Maxi and Kirihime. Unfortunately before they even start, one of her henchmen grabs her and takes her back to her latest gig. Sachi also comments she needs to continue shopping. Kazuhito is rather disappointed by this, as he was hoping to see another battle between authors.
- Apologizes a Lot: Hami is a textbook example of this. She even goes so far as to apologize for existing.
- A Truce While We Gawk: Kirihime and Sachi's battle in episode 11 is interrupted by Maxi arriving in a helicopter, who then challenges the former to a writing contest.
- Badass Longcoat: Kirihime has one.
- Battle Aura: Kirihime's is red. Maxi's is light blue.
- Berserk Button:
- Kirihime is usually vicious but only two things will bring on the full force of her wrath: talking about how flat-chested she is and putting Kazuhito in danger.
- Madoka really doesn't like being called "sister" by anyone other than Kazuhito. So when Kirihime decides to do it, it just makes her angry.
- BFG: Madoka's weapon can also turn into one of these.
- Black Comedy: Kazuhito's brutal murder aside, the series likes to let Kirihime constantly threaten to cut up Kazuhito in his dog form.
- Blue with Shock: Kazuhito in episode 11 when forced to eat Madoka's curry.
- Bookworm: Kazuhito.
- Boom, Headshot!: How Kazuhito dies.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: The staff at the hot springs suffer this, and all of them attack Kirihime in episode 8. After defeating them, they are unable to remember anything that happened during that incident. Episode 10 reveals Hami had a subliminal message in her book which subconsciously told them to attack Kirihime.
- Break the Cutie: Happens to Madoka in episode 5, after Kirihime scolds her for destroying books which her brother would have frowned on.
- But I Read a Book About It: Kazuhito's killer manages to weaponize Kirihime's fictional fighting styles.
- Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit": Madoka Harumi's "knife" is a giant, sword-like, monstrosity that can turn into a chainsaw, and a cannon.
- Calling Your Attacks: Hami does this when she utilizes various "attacks" on Kirihime during their writing contest in episode 10.
- Casting Gag:
- Jessica Calvello plays a character who torments and commits animal abuse to a dog. Does that sound familar?
- This will not be the only time Juliet Simmons voices a younger sister character who harbors less-than-platonic feelings for her brother.
- Catchphrase: Maxi's "Shining!"
- Chainsaw Good: Madoka's "Tuna Eater" weapon turns into one in episode 5.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Kirihime has Implausible Fencing Powers that allows her to cut through steel. She does so using the dull sides of a pair of scissors.
- Celibate Hero: Kazuhito does seem to be aware of Kirihime's affections, but for reasons he's stated before among the most obvious one, he plays stupid and goes for pissing her off instead.
- Cliffhanger: Episode 4 ends on one, with Madoka bursting into Kirihime's apartment, and grabbing Kazuhito right before the ending credits.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Kirihime and Madoka for Kazuhito, oh boy.
- Clothing Damage: Sachi uses her blade to do this to Maxi's bodyguards, who end up in their underwear.
- Conservation of Ninjutsu: Whenever Kirihime is facing off against one opponent, she usually has some difficulty defeating them before finally coming out on top. However, when she's attacked by large groups of people in episodes 8-10, she defeats them all without much trouble.
- Contrived Coincidence: In episode 8, other than Madoka, who was invited to the hot springs by Kirihime, quite a few other characters coincidentally show up there as well, such as Sakura and Hami during a class trip, and Suzuna for her masochist group's yearly meeting. By the time she also encounters Maxi and then Sachi, Kirihime lampshades this trope, wondering why she keeps running into everyone she knows there.
- Cute and Psycho : Kirihime counts as this, but Madoka fits this to a T after Kazuhito dies.
- Cuteness Proximity: Yayoi tends to lunge and cuddle Kazuhito any time she sees him nearby.
- Dancing Theme: Some is done in the opening.
- Defeat Means Friendship:
- Madoka quickly befriends Kirihime after the two fight for a while in episode 5.
- Hami quickly becomes Kirihime's understudy after losing to her in the writing contest.
- Delaying Action: Kazuhito does this for Kirihime in episode 8, buying her some time by distracting the brainwashed staff attacking her until she could sharpen her scissors.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Sachi the maid. In episode 7, Kazuhito watches her as she sings and monologues in a remote section of a park. After she finishes, he sneezes, and she realizes someone watched her. She then concludes that killing him is the appropriate course of action for her embarrassment.
- Don't Try This at Home: In episode 9, Kirihime throws Kazuhito utilizing a "dog cannon" attack. Shortly after being airborne, the screen pauses while Kazuhito briefly explains what the attack is, and suggests people don't use ordinary dogs for this attack.
- The Eeyore: Hami ridicules herself so much that it bothers several of the characters.
- The Empath: Kirihume is very in tune with how people act and feel regarding a particular situation. For example, she was able to correctly deduce Madoka's reasoning for her Yandere sequence.
- Expressive Hair: The tiny bit of hair on Kazuhito's head moves quite a bit.
- Expy: An intelligent and beautiful yet incredibly tsundere dark-haired girl, voiced by Marina Inoue, with a nasty personality and a penchant for verbally (and sometimes physically) abusing those closest to her including the boy she likes. Totally not Yozora from Haganai.
- The Faceless: Kazuhito's human face is never fully shown in his flashbacks. Likewise, the demon judges in episode 11 only ever appear as Sinister Silhouettes.
- Flash Back: Used regularly throughout to show Kazuhito interacting with various characters while he was still human, such as his sister Madoka.
- Freudian Excuse: In episode 4, Kazuhito and Kirihime discuss who the slasher attacking people recently could be. Kirihime theorizes that it's his sister Madoka, who views Shinobu Akiyama negatively, causing the death of her brother since her books were the main reason he wouldn't leave Tokyo. She then goes on a rampage to destroy her books in retaliation with a twisted delusion that it will somehow bring him back.
- Geeky Turn-On: When Kazuhito watches Kirihime read a book.
- Girl with Psycho Weapon: All over the place. Kirihime, Madoka, and Sachi.
- Gone Horribly Right: Suzuna gets Kirihime drunk to make her act nicer and it works.
- Green Rooming: Many of the characters are introduced or seen very briefly in the early episodes, such as Sachi buying items from a store. They don't have much importance in the plot until later episodes, and once they're crucial, then they start interacting with Kazuhito and Kirihime.
- He Knows Too Much: Sachi gets caught twice by Kazuhito while she is singing and dancing and tries to kill him because he's a witness.
- Heroic Bystander: Saves Kirihime from a robber and dies in the process.
- Hime Cut: Kirihime looks the part and even has a similar naming-convention with it but "chasing a dog with scissors" is about as far as one can go in the other direction of this trope's associated characterization.
- Hypocritical Heartwarming: Kirihime is protective over Kazuhito and saves him from people trying to hurt him, but she abuses him on a regular basis. When Sachi tries to kill him, she says "how dare you attack my dog".
- Idol Singer: Maxi
- Imagine Spot:
- Episode 8 has one with Kazuhito mistakenly assuming Kirihime is a lesbian when Madoka mentions only there being only one futon in their room at the hot springs. He imagines Kirihime forcing herself onto Madoka, and promptly gets beaten up for it afterwards.
- Episode 12 has one featuring Kazuhito and Kirihime's wedding and honeymoon.
- Improbable Weapon User:
- Kirihime's weapon is a pair of scissors she uses as a knife.
- Madoka's "knife," which is a Swiss-Army Weapon that's not a knife in the least.
- Sachi's broom doubles as a spear.
- Improbably Female Cast: Though there are some male characters that show up from time to time, they are generally one-off characters, or just really minor ones with only a few lines of dialogue. By comparison, almost every female character has some significance to the plot, and have much more screen time.
- It's All My Fault: Kirihime blames herself for Kazuhito getting killed in episode 2 after tracking down the man who murdered him. However, Kazuhito bears no grudge against the man after finding out he loves to read as well, and tells Kirihime to stop beating herself up over it.
- Japanese Ranguage: In one episode featuring an extended scene with Maxi in it, she has a US Liberty coin behind her. Unfortunately, it's misspelled as "Riberty".
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite her nasty personality, pleasing her readers is Kirihime's top priority. The other priority in her life is to protect Kazuhito from everybody but herself.
- Lampshade Hanging: Kazuhito calls Kirihime flat-chested in episode 12, and he remarks that this is about the time she usually starts cutting him.
- Large Ham: Maxi
- Lethal Chef: Madoka, who only knows how to makes curry and completely fails at it.
- When she tries again, she seems to have improved; since it actually smells good, he wants to try it, but runs away when he sees that the curry is bright blue. When he comes back home, the curry is rainbow colored and has a (blue) live frog in it. After Kazuhito tries it, he says he "saw the light at the end of the tunnel again." The next time, it looks like a volcano.
- Lightning Glare: Happens between Kirihime and Madoka in episode 11 when the latter insists on not calling the former "onee-san", or "big sister".
- Love Epiphany: Kirihime starts to develop feelings for Kazuhito in episode 2 after he helps her get over her guilt for him dying trying to protect her. She seems so lovestruck that it takes him repeatedly making fun of her flat chest to bring her back to her senses. Which then causes her to chase after him with her scissors.
- Love Makes You Crazy: Kazuhito's sister gets a little creepy in episode 4 when she mentions how they'll be together forever.
- The Men in Black: Maxi's henchmen all wear black suits and shades.
- Midseason Upgrade: Madoka gets "Tuna Eater: Type Zero" in episode 8. She uses it to save Kazuhito from some brainwashed staff at the hot springs.
- Mistaken for Gay: Kazuhito assumes Kirihime is this when Madoka mentions there only being one futon in their room at the hot springs in episode 8. He then has an Imagine Spot where Kirihime forces herself on Madoka, only to be beaten up by her for assuming it.
- Mood Whiplash:
- Kazuhito gets murdered right in the first episode. Then wacky hijinks ensue when he starts living with Kirihime as a dog, and she threatens to hurt him repeatedly, all of which is Played for Laughs.
- In episode 8, another fight seems to be brewing when Madoka insists on taking Kazuhito to her room, which Kirihime protests. They develop a Battle Aura, and seem ready to fight, when suddenly Kirihime gets a call, then suggests they go to the hot springs. Madoka agrees and the tension immediately defuses.
- Moral Guardian: Shuzan tries to be one when he explains why he was stalking Kirihime in episodes 8-10. He claims her books have had a bad influence on his daughter, Hami, whose book has some similarities to Kirihime's writing techniques and style. Shuzan absolutely hates Kirihime's books, hence why he considered her bad.
- Mundane Made Awesome: The writing contests, complete with secret techniques that rely on writing-centric Charles Atlas Superpower, as well as giant monuments..
- Naginatas Are Feminine: The Ninja Maid, Sachi, wields a broom with a naginata inside.
- Named Weapons: Kirihime's scissors are named Hasajiro and Madoka calls her chainsaw Tuna Eater. Sachi meanwhile calls her broom "Zapper of Corruption", which can also turn into a spear.
- Ninja Maid: Sachi carries a spear and knows how to fight.
- Oblivious to Love: Kazuhito is a shining example. Despite Natsuno's increasingly obvious feelings for him (breaking into tangents on such subjects as what people would think if she "had a dog as [her] first"), he never seems to get it. Applies equally well to his sister as well, he doesn't seem to realize that her affection for him goes a little beyond the norm.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Shortly after Kazuhito is thrown at some attackers in episode 9, he passes out. When he wakes up, Kirihime has already defeated the entire group in the time he was unconscious.
- Oh, Crap!: Kazuhito gets this whenever he says, or even thinks, something he knows will make Kirihime angry.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Kazuhito.
- Psychotic Love Triangle: Both Kirihime and Madoka have the hots for Kazuhito. Subverted, because Madoka calms down after Kirihime scolds and defeats her.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Kirihime gives one to Madoka in episode 5, scolding her for doing things her brother would never have approved of.
- Red Herring:
- Used twice in episode 5. The slasher attacking people isn't who Kazuhito and Kirihime suspect it is. They initially assume Madoka, but she says she never attacked anyone. Kazuhito then thinks it was Suzuna, and she plays up the part. At the end, Suzuna reveals she found the real slasher, and beat him up long before spreading rumors of attacks. She then says she did it to inspire Kirihime and get her out of her slump.
- The attacks from random strangers in episodes 8-10 aren't done by Shuzan, despite him stalking Kirihime for quite a while. He tries to take the blame for it anyway though. It was actually triggered by a subliminal message in a book written by Hami, his daughter.
- Reincarnated as a Non-Humanoid: Normally coming back as cute daschund owned by your favourite author would be rather nice after a violent death. Unfortunately Kirihime is a sadist so Kazuhito doesn't have a pampered pooch life.
- Revenge:
- In episode 2, Kirihime tracks down Kazuhito's murderer, and beats him up enough that he falls onto a railing above traffic. She then tells him to finish the man off by pushing him off the railing. Instead Kazuhito pulls the man back, stating that killing him wouldn't bring him back as a human, and would taint his motive for reading, after witnessing the murderer falling in love with reading her books as well. He also tells her to stop blaming herself for his death, as he died trying to protect her when the murderer was threatening to shoot her in the cafe.
- Kirihime theorizes this may be one reason why the slasher is targeting people who have Shinobu Akiyama books. She thinks Madoka feels those books are the reason why Kazuhito wouldn't leave Tokyo, and later ended up dying. It then broke Madoka and caused her to view Shinobu's books as the culprit, and starts to destroy said books in retaliation for her brother's death. However, this ends up being a Red Herring, as Madoka only cut up the books. Suzuna turns out to be the real culprit behind the slasher attacks, and used Madoka cutting up the books in her rumors.
- Running Gag: Someone just making fun of Kirihime's lack of a chest and Kirihime whipping her scissors out of her holster
- Maxi attempting to show off how brightly she shines and Kirihime ignoring her until her manager drags her off.
- Shapeshifter Weapon: Madoka's "food proccessing knife'', which is actually a super powered chainsaw and a rifle built-in one.
- Shout-Out:
- Kazuhito wonders if Kirihime is trying to be a super spy. A gun barrel then scrolls across the screen ala the ones in the beginning of James Bond films.
- The name of the pet shop is Iggy and its logo looks a bit like Iggy from Jojos Bizarre Adventure.
- Madoka rattles off 13 different ways to refer to her brother when they meet again, all of them used by the characters from Sister Princess. Bonus: Even the non-sister Mami's An-chan.
- Shown Their Work: As a matter of principle, Kirihime researches for her books extremely thoroughly, and makes sure to be as accurate as possible. Somewhat bites her on the ass when it's shown her fictional martial arts styles are surprisingly effective, and Harumi's killer is able to weaponize them to great effect.
- Shrinking Violet: Hami tends to stay in the background as much as possible.
- Significant Anagram: "Huzimaki Hotaru" is an anagram of "Harumi Kazuhito", the protagonist's name. The pen name is used by Ami, as a way to honor Kazuhito's memory.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Kirihime falls for Harumi after he consoles her when it comes to her guilty feelings toward his Heroic Sacrifice.
- Subliminal Seduction: A major plot point in episodes 8-10:
- Kirihime keeps getting attacked by random strangers. When she defeats them, they have no recollection of what just happened. Hami reveals that she hid a subliminal message in her book to attack the long haired lady with scissors, and even uses mirrors to subconsciously cause Kirihime to attack herself.
- Kirihime uses this technique on Kazuhito at the end of episode 10 for comedic effect. After reading her latest work, his front paws start moving on their own towards her, despite his attempts to resist it.
- Survivor Guilt: Kirihime after Kazuhito technically died protecting her.
- Taught by Experience: His life with Kirihime has made Harumi extremely agile.
- Telepathy: How Kirihime and Kazuhito can communicate. Possibly because she's the reason he died in the first place. Subverted with Madoka, Kazuhito's sister, whom he thought could hear him but it only turns out that she's gone insane with grief and she can't hear him at all.
- Suzuna for some reason can also communicate with him this way.
- Tempting Fate: When Kazuhito runs into Sachi singing in the park in episode 11, he tries to quietly leave so as to avoid a repeat of her attacking him back in episode 7. Unfortunately he steps on a stick and breaks it...
- Theme Naming: All of the anime episodes have "dog" in the title somewhere, such as the first episode's "Every Dog has its day", and episode 2's "Strike while the Dog is hot".
- They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: Kirihime tries to get Madoka to start calling her one-san.
- They Died Because of You: Though Kazuhito is okay being a dog so long as he can read books, several of the other characters certainly blame Kirihime for his death, and attack her directly, or indirectly via subliminal messages.
- Too Kinky to Torture: Suzuna, to the point where she is horrified at Kirihime threatening to act nice to her. She's also part of a club called The Masochist's order and prays to the God of Masochism.
- Touched by Vorlons: Suzune's able to change Kirihime's clothes at lightning speeds because the God of Masochism empowers her.
- Tsundere: Kirihime is normally cool-headed, so she switches between giving him the cold shoulder and threatening to physically abuse him (and sometimes succeeding). Nevertheless, despite him being a dog, she really does seem to love him, and it's mostly seen in how flustered she gets when her feelings for him are brought up.
- Turn the Other Cheek: Kazuhito saves his killer because he loved books as much as he did.
- Unknown Rival: Kirihime usually ignores Maxi.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Kirihime seems completely oblivious to the criminal while she and Kazuhito are at the cafe. One has to wonder what happened there immediately after he is killed.
- What the Hell, Hero?: A minor one which is Played for Laughs in episode 8. Kirihime warns Kazuhito not to go peeping on her while she's in the hot springs. He complies, stating he'd rather be reading anyway. A few hours later, she's a little dizzy and is being helped back to her room. He asks her what's wrong, and she gets mad at him for not peeking at her and making her wait so long.
- We Want Our Jerk Back!: When Kirihime gets drunk in episode 12 and starts acting nice, Suzuna is horrified that she's not hurting her anymore and her M-gauge goes all the way down. Kazuhito is creeped out.
- Yandere: Played for Laughs with Kirihime and Madoka, Kazuhito's little sister…
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Kirihime tells Hami this after the writing contest in episode 10.
