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Shirakiin Ririchiyo... and her dog.

Ririchiyo Shirakiin, scion of an influential family, has an issue — she has No Social Skills. She resolves to get rid of this by moving out and living on her own in the "Maison de Ayakashi" (or Ayakashi Hall), a mansion housing Uneven Hybrids who pass a very strict examination, each resident coming with his/her own Secret Service (SS) agent, also an Uneven Hybrid. Ririchiyo refused to have an SS accompany her, but eventually finds out that her assigned SS—Soushi Miketsukami—was a fox spirit she helped as a child. Now, whether she likes it or not, she has to start living with the protective Soushi and her fellow tenants and their SS Agents.

Inu × Boku SS (妖狐×僕SS, Inu Boku Secret Service, Dog and I Secret Service) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Cocoa Fujiwara, which ran in Gangan Joker from 2009 to 2014. It was adapted into a 2012 anime television series by David Production with its music composed by Kotaro Nakagawa, which covered approximately the first 3 volumes of the manga. The anime has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks for streaming on Crunchyroll.com, and home video release in North America.

The forum thread can be found here.

Note: All examples that are found after the end of the anime and in the manga only should be spoiler-tagged.


This series provides examples of:

  • A-Cup Angst: Played with. Ririchiyo normally doesn't seem to care about her petite physique, but she does feel an inadequacy upon meeting Maid #1.
    • Nobara in her reincarnated form after the 23 year timeskip.
  • Affectionate Nickname: Zange has one for each of the main characters.
  • Age-Gap Romance:
    • Ririchiyo and Soushi, with an age difference of seven years.
    • After the Time Skip, there's Watanuki and Karuta who are now 13 and 20, respectively, as a result of getting reincarnated at different points in time.
  • Alas, Poor Yorick: In Chapter 18, a heartbroken Ririchiyo holds Soushi's decapitated head after Inugami kills him.
  • Alphabet Song: "Sweets Parade", which is sung by Kana Hanazawa, does a variation of this with the Japanese hiragana alphabet. Each line of the chorus starts with a recitation of the next line of the alphabet (e.g., a i u e o, ka ki ku ke ko etc.), but recontextualises those syllables into actual words, creating (rather silly and sometimes nonsensical) sentences. This is, of course, pretty much impossible to translate faithfully into English.
    Ai, ue, okashi, shita / Kaki kuu kke? Konna ni mo (Love, up, sweets, down / Wanna eat a persimmon? There's plenty to go around.)
  • Always Save the Girl: Soushi cares more about Ririchiyo than anything else.
  • An Ice Person: Nobara.
  • Arc Words: "Time is a burden, that's what I believe."
  • Asian Fox Spirit: Soushi is a fox spirit that Ririchiyo helped as a child.
  • Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The genetic atavists (in the loose sense of "genetic") are close in Power Level to their supernatural ancestors that their family members respect and fear them. Theoretically they can do anything they want as long as they are on their clan grounds...theoretically.
  • Babies Ever After: At the end of the manga, Zange has a vision of the atavists living in a very happy future in which Ririchiyo and Soushi are going to get married and have a son. Watanuki and Carta are also going to have a baby.
  • Badass Crew: All of the residents, clients and SS alike, are this, which is made especially apparent every time anyone's in danger and everyone else steps in to help.
  • Battle Butler: The whole SS crew apparently, especially Soushi.
  • Battle Couple: Soushi and Ririchiyo.
  • Beach Episode: Chapter 25 is about the main cast going to the beach for a short vacation.
  • The Beautiful Elite: All of the main residents and their SS are not only gorgeous but also apparently filthy rich.
  • Berserk Button: Harming Ririchiyo in any way will earn you a one-way ticket to Hell courtesy of Soushi.
    • Watanuki's is being called "cute."
  • Beta Couple: Carta and Watanuki.
  • Better Partner Assertion: Reincarnated Soushi tries to convince Ririchiyo that he's the "better" version of Soushi because he's still "pure" in contrast to the previous Soushi who used dirty methods to obtain his freedom, so he doesn't understand why she wouldn't want him as her lover. However, Ririchiyo can't let go of her love for the previous Soushi.
  • Big Eater: Carta. Her supernatural lineage is gashadokuro, or giant skeleton many times bigger than a human, created from the gathering of bones of people who died of starvation. No wonder she's always hungry.
  • Big Fancy House: We see the Shirakiin residence at the start of episode 3, a fancy traditional Japanese home. In addition, all the half demon families are implied to be inexplicably wealthy.
  • Big "NO!": Ririchiyo makes one when she realizes that she accidentally sent the wrong letter to Soushi and pretty much just confessed her feelings for him.
  • Bishie Sparkle: Soushi, every time he's talking about how much he adores Ririchiyo...and half of them are black.
  • Bland-Name Product: One of Carta's many snacks (seen in episode 8) is a box of Picky Sticks.
  • Blatant Lies: Yeah Ririchiyo, you definitely wrote that long letter of apology to Soushi just to practice your penmanship.
  • Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Nobara, Ririchiyo, and Carta. Soushi, Kagerou, and Zange are the male version.
  • Bodyguard Crush: Soushi has one on Ririchiyo. It's the reason he wanted to be herbody guard in the first place.
  • Bodyguarding a Badass: Soushi's a better fighter certainly, but Ririchiyo is NOT a slouch in combat and is definitely capable of defending herself if need be.
    • 23 years later, Zange ends up being Kagerou's SS, but as far as we have seen, Kagerou is much more competent in a fight than Zange, especially since Kagerou's lineage and powers inherently make him better suited to battle.
  • Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Zange and Watanuki. Soushi and Ririchiyo sometimes end up in this as well, especially when Soushi is going off on a stalker-ish tangent.
  • Born-Again Immortality: Atavists are reborn within their bloodlines after their deaths. Zange has the theory this is due to youkai being immortal; since atavists have human blood mixed in, they have an immortal existence through reincarnation instead.
  • Bratty Half-Pint:
    • Ririchiyo seems like one at first, but it is soon revealed that she actually feels really guilty about her behavior and wants to change.
    • Watanuki is another example, being the shortest of the male cast and easily irritated.
  • Break the Cutie: Happens to Carta.
  • Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Watanuki and Carta.
  • Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The Secret Service people are all odd in some way or another note . Zange in particular takes this literally by actually wearing a set bunny ears.
  • Bullet Catch: Soushi, in the first episode, though not without (minor) consequences.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: Ririchiyo with her feelings for her SS, even though it's painfully obvious that Soushi likes her back a lot.
  • Cape Swish: Kagerou uses his cape as scene transitions in Episode 5, and it is hilarious.
  • Captive Date: Kagerou pulls this off with Ririchiyo twice in the anime, though both are Played for Laughs.
  • Cast Full of Pretty Boys: Basically all the main male cast are Bishōnen to a degree.
  • Catch a Falling Star: In Chapter 5/Episode 6, Ririchiyo and Watanuki are thrown out of a window by a Nure-Onna. Carta transforms into her Gashadokuro form to catch them midair.
  • Childhood Friend Romance: Carta and Watanuki.
  • Childhood Friends: Most of the atavists had known each other since childhood.
    • Zange, Kagerou, Watanuki, and Soushi.
    • Carta with Watanuki.
    • Ririchiyo with Renshou.
  • Christmas Episode: The fifth interlude chapter takes places in Christmas.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Carta.
  • Cock Fight: Between Soushi and Kagerou, over Ririchiyo.
  • Cool Sword: Soushi has a katana in his youkai form. Kagerou has a big sword when transformed as well.
  • Crazy-Prepared: Ririchiyo when shopping for her first cell phone. Apparently she does the same for everything she buys.
  • Crossdresser: Maid #2.
  • Credits Jukebox: Each episode gets its own ending theme.
  • Cursed with Awesome: All of the characters, really.
  • Cute Monster Girl: All of them. Carta zig-zags this: she's adorable in her human form, but in her demon form...not so much.
  • Dead Person Impersonation: Reincarnation!Soushi tries to emulate the previous Soushi to please reincarnation!Ririchiyo because he knows about their past relationship.
  • Delicious Distraction: Carta perks up whenever anyone mentions food.
  • Design Student's Orgasm: The opening.
  • Despair Event Horizon: All of the characters go through this when Carta gets attacked. Later, the same perpetrator targets all of them, which ultimately culminates in all but Renshou's deaths before the timeskip.
  • Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: In episode 3, a girl has one of the endings, "Rakuen no Photograph", as her cellphone ringtone.
  • Died in Your Arms Tonight: Soushi dies in Ririchiyo's arms.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Soushi mentions that he would've had to "get rid of" Ririchiyo's classmates if they had any physical evidence of Ririchiyo, Carta, and Watanuki's youkai forms.
  • The Ditz: Maid #1. Often reined in by Maid #2, who usually ends up being her Minder.
  • "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Except Episode 1, which played the opening, succeeding episodes end with a theme song befitting the focus character:
    Episode 1: "Nirvana" by MUCC
    Episode 2: "Rakuen no Photograph (Paradise of Photographs)" by Soushi/Yūichi Nakamura
    Episode 3: "Kimi wa (You are)" by Ririchiyo/Rina Hidaka
    Episode 4: "one way" by Zange/Mamoru Miyano (with cameos by Banri/Takuya Eguchi)
    Episode 5: "SM Hantei Forum (S&M Judgment Forum)" by Kagerou/Tomokazu Sugita
    Episode 6: "sweets parade" by Karuta/Kana Hanazawa
    Episode 7: "Taiyou to Tsuki (Sun and Moon)", by Nobara/Yōko Hikasa and Renshou/Yoshimasa Hosoya
  • Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Watanuki hates Soushi because he once called him "cute."
  • Driven to Suicide: Played for Laughs. When Ririchiyo says she doesn't need protection, Soushi produces a katana from Hammerspace and implores her to kill him saying his life has no meaning if he's not guarding her. She responds to this by throwing the katana aside and yelling, "Value yourself more!"
  • Empty Piles of Clothing: Used with Carta when she transforms in Episode 1.
  • Empty Shell: Soushi broke free from his family by acting like the perfect puppet, and thus failed to develop his own sense of self. He finally began to change after meeting Ririchiyo.
  • Everyone Can See It: Ririchiyo and Soushi's relationship.
  • Eyes Always Shut: Natsume Zange. When he does open his eyes, it's almost always because his Seer-like abilities have revealed something to him.
  • Fanservice: The first episode has Ririchiyo performing a lot of fan service.
    • One of the more well-known aspects of the series is that it provides fanservice for both genders, having lots of boob and panty shots, while also providing a male cast that's crammed with sharp-dressed pretty boys that are prone to emotion or laying out subtext.
  • Fantastic Racism: Made apparent by Soushi's backstory, on grounds of superstition and fear. Also applies to Ririchiyo to a certain extent, as while she was superficially treated like royalty, a distance was laid out between her and the rest of her family.
  • First Time in the Sun: Soushi was trapped by his family since birth but managed to escape by manipulating the more powerful women around him. Learning their lesson, the Miketsukami house placed even more restrictions on his reincarnation. Ririchiyo, by asking Kagerou's mom to save Soushi when he was reborn, let him see the sun again.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • In Episode 1, there is a Running Gag where Ririchiyo complaining about Soushi's canine loyalty is underlined by him sprouting a furry tail and pointy ears. When a burglar appears at the end of the episode, Soushi releases his kyuubi-kitsune legacy, sprouting the same ears and nine tails.
    • Ririchiyo notices how Soushi always gets what he wants by sweet-talking others. Guess how he rose to position of power...
    • The series begins with a seemingly throwaway monologue saying that "time is a burden". As of chapter 19, and understanding what happened, this ends up having a much darker meaning.
  • Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Pretty much everyone.
  • Freudian Trio: The girls: Carta, Ririchiyo, and Nobara.
  • From Bad to Worse: The story, which suddenly takes a bad turn in chapter 15, takes a sharp swerve in this direction in Chapter 18 of the manga.
  • Generation Xerox: All of the atavists are pretty much exactly the same in every way as their previous incarnation, with only a few minor differences. Soushi is notable for emulating himself so well that the others started speculating that he did have his memories, even though he actually didn't.
  • Genki Girl: Maid #1.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom: Ririchiyo and Soushi in the anime.
  • Go-Go Enslavement: Kagerou is really fond of this trope, as befitting his S&M obsession. He makes Carta wear a Slave Collar and French Maid Outfit when he visits in Episode 5, but she doesn't really mind, especially since he brought her food.
  • Hair-Contrast Duo: Most of the SS and client duos are this, but it's especially noticeable in Ririchiyo and Soushi, who's hair colors are basically stylized black and white respectively.
  • Hartman Hips: The art style exhibits these for all of the female characters. Ririchiyo is the most blatant example, but even Nobara has huge hips relative to her shoulders and waist.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Soushi.
  • He Will Not Cry, so I Cry for Him: When learning of Ririchiyo's desperate and perpetual loneliness, Soushi cries on her behalf, startling her.
  • Hidden Depths: All of the residents of Ayakashi Hall.
  • Hidden Heart of Gold: Zange likes to give people the impression of being a shady, suspicious character, but virtually all of his instances of meddling have turned out to have good intentions.
  • Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Watanuki had one, courtesy of Zange and Kagerou.
  • Hormone-Addled Teenager: Ririchiyo thinks that this is the reason why she has an "irregular heartbeat" when thinking about her bodyguard.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Soushi and Ririchiyo.
  • I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Soushi can be a bit... extreme in how much he wants to stay by Ririchiyo's side, but ultimately he's just happy to be able to serve and protect her.
    • Arguably, Zange is this way platonically towards all of the main characters. With his powers he's seen so much tragedy in both the past and future lives of himself and his friends that he wants to do all he can to orchestrate their happiness. But he doesn't pay even half as much attention to his own well being, unless it's to be sure that he isn't a burden on the others.
  • I Kiss Your Foot: Soushi to Ririchiyo in Episode 1. Also used later in Soushi's backstory as characterization with Kagerou commanding him to kiss his foot upon their first meeting. Soushi went to do it without hesitation but Kagerou didn't actually expect him to do it.
  • Impossibly Cool Clothes: Pretty much everyone has them, but especially the atavists, who get wardrobe upgrades in their demon forms.
  • Inferiority Superiority Complex: Ririchiyo has one.
  • Insane Troll Logic: Frequently how Kagerou classifies things.
    Kagerou: (hits his head on a window) Hm, that rather hurt. This glass is totally a sadist!
  • Instant Seduction: Any interaction between Soushi and a female usually involves this in some way.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: The relationship between Renshou and the others becomes this after everyone except him died and got reincarnated.
  • Interspecies Romance: All of the atavists are a result of this. Technically, any relationships involving the atavists, even amongst themselves, could be considered this as well; None of them have the blood of the same type of supernatural creature, not even Ririchiyo and Kagerou, who are descended from two different varieties of Oni.
  • I Owe You My Life: Reincarnated!Soushi certainly feels this way towards reincarnated!Ririchiyo, even going so far as to research the behavior and personality of past!Soushi, choosing to impersonate his past self as he felt that past!Soushi was the most important person to Ririchiyo.
  • Irrational Hatred: Watanuki's ire towards Soushi is revealed as this.
  • It Doesn't Mean Anything: Ririchiyo tries this excuse when she accidentally confesses to Soushi via letter, but immediately drops it when Soushi honestly believes her.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As the series goes on, Kagerou's more like this. He folds 1000 cranes for Carta by himself in an effort to help her return to normal in Chapter 17. And reincarnated Kagerou's the one who gave Ririchiyo a wake up call by telling her not to confuse the reincarnated Soushi with the past Soushi. He's actually kinda sweet, albeit in a rather... twisted way.
  • Kappa: Kawasumi Jyoutarou, the cook at Ayakashi Hall.
  • Kids Are Cruel: The kids at Ririchiyo's elementary and middle school bullied Ririchiyo because she was always receiving special treatment for being rich, causing her to put up a Jerkass facade.
  • Lack of Empathy: Soushi believed he had this throughout his childhood. It wasn't until Ririchiyo remarked that he "finally showed her something about himself" in their letter correspondence that he realized he could indeed be empathetic.
  • Loony Friends Improve Your Personality: For Ririchiyo. Staying at Ayakashi Hall has undoubtedly helped her deal with her suppressed problems.
  • Love Before First Sight: Soushi towards Ririchiyo. It's also implied that it happened on Ririchiyo's end as well, though she didn't realize it.
  • Love Bubbles: Appear whenever Watanuki sees Carta being cute.
  • Love Epiphany: Played with in the case of Ririchiyo. She does come to the conclusion she's attracted to Soushi after mulling over it for a bit, but dismisses it as her body being hormonal, and only later realizes that she's genuinely fallen in love with him.
  • Major Injury Underreaction: Soushi doesn't feel the bullet at all after he blocks it with his hand. When Ririchiyo directs his attention to it in worry, he simply extends his other hand to her, believing that she just didn't want to get her hand dirty with his blood.
  • Male Gaze
    • Subverted in episode 7; we get what would be a classic Male Gaze shot of Chino's cleavage, except the POV character is Yukinokouji.
    • Also completely played straight in virtually every episode with the girls, especially Ririchiyo.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Soushi got his way through life by stealthily exploiting other people, even his friends, which he's still all too willing to do even now. The only person he will not exploit is Ririchiyo.
  • Meaningful Name: All of the residents of Ayakashi Hall have last names reflective of their respective demon heritage. For example, both Ririchiyo and Kagerou have last names with the kanji for "oni" in it, Soushi's last name has the kanji for "fox god" in it, and Zange's has the kanji for "eye" in it.
    • It goes one step further for Mikoto Inugami, who's named after the inugami yokai that he's a descendant of.
  • Meet Cute: Ririchiyo first meets Soushi when she drops one of her moving boxes and he helps her pick it up. The exact same meeting happens for their reincarnations in Part II.
  • The Men in Black: Ayakashi Hall's Secret Service.
  • Mind Screw: The story turns into one with the whole reincarnation fiasco. It's hard to keep track of what has happened and what is happening.
  • Mood Whiplash: It starts off as a romantic comedy and gets progressively darker when Carta goes missing, culminating in the death of everyone except Renshou. Once everyone gets reincarnated, however, it tries to veer back into the romantic comedy genre as if nothing ever happened... until it's made clear that the horrific events from the past, and the question of how and why it happened, is still very much at the forefront of the characters' minds.
  • Morality Pet: Ririchiyo serves as one for Soushi, to some extent. He does care about other people, particularly if they're the other residents of Ayakashi Hall (more specifically, he's shown concern for both Zange and Kagerou multiple times), but he basically has no qualms about doing anything bad as long as it doesn't hurt Ririchiyo.
  • The Mourning After: Implied after Soushi dies.
  • Mugging the Monster: In the first episode, a human burglar breaks into the mansion and tries to take Ririchiyo hostage, demanding money. He finds he's bitten off more than he can chew when everybody, including Ririchiyo, reveals themselves to be supernatural beings.
  • Multiple Demographic Appeal: Technically, it's a Shounen manga. But considering the art style, liberal use of fanservice, attention paid to romance, and the numerous Bishies of both genders in the cast, it often looks more like a cross between a Seinen and a Shoujo work.
  • Nice Guy: Renshou. He has to be to put up with Ririchiyo's lip for so long.
  • Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!: Watanuki.
  • Nosebleed: Nobara gets one when Ririchiyo offers to let her slip a finger in her socks.
  • No Sense of Personal Space: Zange towards most people, but especially when it's Soushi.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: Kagerou frequently insists that he and Soushi are "the same", which Ririchiyo vehemently denies. In certain respects though, he's actually not completely wrong.
  • Obfuscating Disability: Zange always wears bandages over his right eye, but reveals in Chapter 18 that not only does he have two working eyes, he also has dozens of eyes all over his body that can let him see virtually anything.
  • Odd Friendship: Of all the SS Agent/client relationships, Carta's relationship with Kagerou seems to be the most impersonal. We rarely get to seem them interact and at times it seems like Carta allows herself to be dragged into whatever Kagerou wants for no other reason than that she's his SS Agent (and that he offers her food). In reality, they actually do have a good relationship and care quite a bit for each other, which becomes heartbreakingly clear when Kagerou turns up dead and Carta breaks down sobbing.
  • Official Couple: Soushi and Ririchiyo. The anime ends with the beginning of their relationship. Watanuki and Carta count too.
  • Oh, Crap!: Renshou and Zange have one when Nekozuki finds out about the hole they dug in public property for the time capsule. He just wanted to write a letter too.
  • Older and Wiser: Renshou after the timeskip.
  • One Head Taller: Taken to extremes with Ririchiyo and Soushi, but the height difference between genders is pretty blatant for all the characters (except for Watanuki, who isn't much taller than the girls).
  • One True Love: The manga makes this seem to be the case with Watanuki and Carta.
  • Parental Neglect: Due to having more demon blood than her sister, Ririchiyo was set aside as her family's lucky rabbit's foot and given next to no attention by her family save for some attendants who tend to everything but her emotional needs. She recalls the only time her father hit her: Ririchiyo complained that her parents were doting on her sister but paid her no mind, and saw that all of her father's feelings were for her sister. Couple this with the bullying she received in school and you've got her Freudian Excuse.
  • Past-Life Memories: Zange reveals early on that the atavists often remember figments of their past lives along with being carbon copies of their previous incarnation. It's implied that of all the atavists, Zange in particular, can look into and remember both his past and future selves memories due to his powers, though he admits their effectiveness is variable. This becomes a plot point in Part II where almost all of the main cast die and reincarnate. When they reunite, everyone but Ririchiyo, Soushi and Watanuki has recalled his or her past life memories.
  • Pen Pals: The romance between Ririchiyo and Soushi really began with them exchanging letters. Ririchiyo was forced to write letters to Kagerou as part of their Arranged Marriage. Since Soushi was Kagerou's servant at the time, Kagerou asked him to write to Ririchiyo in his stead because he was too embarrassed about his poor handwriting. Through her letters, Soushi became familiar with Ririchiyo's true honest self instead of her snobby Tsundere front. To be able to reply her properly, Soushi created a persona that represented an "ideal Kagerou", but it eventually became part of his own self. After years of letter correspondence, Soushi ended up falling in love with Ririchiyo and decided to become her SS agent to be close to her. Soushi intended to keep his identity as the true writer of the letters a secret, being afraid that Ririchiyo would be disappointed if she knew the truth. However, Ririchiyo reveals she always knew Kagerou wasn't the one writing to her. Once Kagerou himself lets her know everything, Ririchiyo reciprocates Soushi's feelings.
  • Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Carta and Watanuki, at least with eye colors.
  • Power Dyes Your Hair: Both Ririchiyo and Soushi have different hair colors in their youkai forms.
  • Power-Strain Blackout: Zange uses his power to find Carta in Chapter 16, but it takes a toll on his body and he collapses.
  • Precision F-Strike: A slightly jarring example occurs in the anime when the swearing blatantly escalates during one scene, particularly in the dub where instead of a censor beep like in the original, they decide to go with actual swear words. Granted, it's in character, but since most anime dubs avoid using the "F" word, it's quite a shock to hear Kagerou suddenly calling Soushi a "fucktard".
  • Prince Charmless: Kagerou's behavior is outrageously rude and maniacal and does nothing to endear himself to any of his friends sans Zange, and especially not his own fiance Ririchiyo.
  • Prolonged Prologue: At 4 volumes long, it may be the longest prologue in manga history—the anime didn't even get to cover the entire prologue!
  • Property of Love: Soushi happily calls Ririchiyo his owner.
  • Psycho Supporter: Soushi shows signs of this for Ririchiyo. He is astoundingly loyal to Ririchiyo but has no qualms about hurting others if they're in his way.
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Ayakashi Hall residents come in all shapes and sizes and have the kind of personalities that only work well with each other.
  • Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Ririchiyo.
  • Rebellious Spirit: Watanuki, who stubbornly insists that he's a "gangster" despite being a coddled rich kid with little to no experience with actual gangs.
  • Reincarnation Romance:
    • Ririchiyo and Soushi die because of Inugami's youkai raid at the end of Part I. They're reincarnated and meet again 23 years later. Soushi quickly falls in love with Ririchiyo again, but the problem is that she is still mourning the past Soushi.
    • While the relationship between the reincarnations of Watanuki and Carta isn't overtly romantic or sexual due to the age gap, they obviously have feelings for each other.
  • Relationship Reset Button: In the manga, a few chapters after the start of Soushi and Ririchiyo's relationship, everyone but Renshou ends up dead when they get attacked by a bunch of enemy demons. Luckily, they get better, but half of them don't remember their pasts. Ririchiyo and Soushi go back right to square one with their relationship.
  • Relationship Upgrade: The anime ends with Soushi and Ririchiyo beginning their happy relationship.
  • Reset Button: In chapter 36, the reincarnated selves of the main cast and Renshou send letters to the past to warn their past selves about Inugami. The story then goes back the point before the time skip right when they dig a hole for the time capsule, allowing things to start over and turn out differently.
  • Rich Bitch: Ririchiyo acts like one, but in actuality is more of a Shrinking Violet.
  • Running Gag: When Kagerou returns from his vacations' antics, he always gives Zange a whip (as part of S&M routine).
    Zange: Why do I always get a whip!?
  • Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The maids, though the guy is an okama.
  • Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Zange and Watanuki, respectively, though Watanuki isn't exactly what you'd call "manly."
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: All of the characters really, except Renshou, and sometimes Watanuki when he's trying too hard to be a "delinquint."
  • Shout-Out: Carta and Renshou try to draw Ohmu.
  • Sliding Scale of Beauty: Ririchiyo, Nobara, and Carta are often mentioned to be beautiful or cute by other characters, making them World Class Beauty. Their youkai forms push them into creepier territory however, especially Carta's.
  • Smart People Wear Glasses: Frequently used. Both Ririchiyo and Soushi are made out to be studiously inclined, and both wear them when they're not in a public or professional setting, usually while studying in the former's case or relaxing in the latter's.
    • Soushi, upon reincarnation, now wears them almost all the time except when in his youkai form.
  • Sole Survivor: Renshou Sorinozuka was the only person to survive the events that occurred 23 years ago, and the only person who has yet to reincarnate. In Chapter 19, we see an older Renshou, who's about 41 years old.
  • Something about a Rose: Roses appear in the background when Zange hits on Soushi in Episode 4.
  • Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Ririchiyo. She's actually the Trope Namer for the Anime Fan Speak term, since Nobara was the one who came up with the word "Tsunshun"—abrasive and then depressed—to describe her.
  • Spell My Name With An S: Riricho vs Ririchiyo.
    • The different spelling is mainly a confusion by fan scanlators between "ちょ" and "ちよ" while translating. It's confirmed in the anime, however, where her name is definitely pronounced as "Ririchiyo."
  • Stalker with a Crush: Ririchiyo frequently comments that Soushi's devotion is stalker-y. She's right. He even has a shrine dedicated to her in his apartment, covered in her photos, though it's Played for Laughs.
  • Super-Deformed: The characters are often drawn in chibi form, particularly for comedic moments.
  • Supernaturally Delicious and Nutritious: Implied—it's stated that the residents of Ayakashi Hall can't go outside at night for fear of being eaten by full-blooded youkai.
  • Superpowerful Genetics: All of the atavists have inherited the powers of their youkai ancestors.
  • Surreal Theme Tune: Both the opening and endings to the anime are pretty strange.
    • The opening is an abstract version of how Ririchiyo and Soushi first came into contact, though this is something only manga readers would understand. They wrote letters to each other, with Soushi pretending to be Ririchiyo's fiance, Kagerou.
    • The first ending showcases Soushi's obsession with Ririchiyo by having him be constantly surrounded by her photos, and even recording himself like this in public.
    • The second ending has Ririchiyo wandering a grayscale landscape all alone (probably symbolic of her loneliness) until she sees a brightly colored sakura tree, which is representative of Soushi.
  • Taking Advantage of Generosity: Soushi. It was the only way for him to break out of his Gilded Cage of a home, and even as an adult, he pounces on favors to get the most he possibly can out of them.
  • Taking the Bullet: Ririchiyo does this for Soushi in chapter 34. Luckily, it isn't fatal.
  • Team Mom:
    • Nobara for the girls, albeit a perverted one.
    • Zange plays this for the younger residents after the timeskip, with Renshou acting as his counterpart Team Dad
  • Technician Versus Performer: Soushi is the technician while Kagerou is the performer, at least in terms of personality.
  • The Three Faces of Eve: The 3 main female characters exhibit traits that place them in these categories: Carta is the innocent and sweet young girl, Ririchiyo is the mentally older and sensible one, and Nobara is the mature and sexy adult of the trio.
  • Time Skip: Chapter 18 ends with a 23-year time skip, where everyone but Renshou has died and reincarnated.
  • Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Watanuki and Carta's youkai forms. He's a plush toy sized tanuki and she's a giant skeleton who stands at at least two stories tall.
  • Token Lesbian: Nobara, though she's later implied to be bi.
  • Transformation Sequence: Both Ririchiyo and Soushi get one when changing into their youkai forms.
  • True Companions: Everyone living in Ayakashi Hall, but especially the core eight characters. This becomes obvious in chapter 16 when everyone bands together in support of Carta after she gets trapped in her skeleton form.
  • Tsundere: Ririchiyo, bordering on Sugar-and-Ice Personality.
  • 12-Episode Anime: The manga got an anime adaptation with a total of twelve episodes (plus an OVA).
  • Undying Loyalty: Soushi for Ririchiyo.
  • Uneven Hybrid: The residents of Ayakashi Hall are all descended from some kind of youkai. They're called "atavists" because the attributes and powers of the youkai blood reappear only in them among their otherwise human families.
  • The Un-Favourite: Ririchiyo is an interesting case of this. Due to her strong youkai blood, she had been treated as a treasure back at home, while her sister was largely ignored. To compensate, her parents showered her younger sister with love while rejecting Ririchiyo, believing that she didn't need them anyway.
  • Vapor Wear: Ririchiyo is always braless under her dress shirt when alone in her apartment.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Watanuki and Zange.
  • Wham Episode: Chapter 18 is one big shock after another. Kuroe declares that the atavists that have gone berserk because of Inugami's curse (Carta among them) will be treated as monsters and killed. Soushi is cursed by Inugami too and tries to commit suicide, but Ririchiyo arrives to stop him. Ririchiyo tries to fight Inugami to get rid of the curse, but Soushi creates a clone to act as a human shield for her. Soushi's clone is beheaded by Inugami and Soushi takes the damage too, so he dies in front of Ririchiyo. The end of the chapter jumps to 23 years later when the reincarnation of Ririchiyo moves to Ayakashi Hall and meets Soushi's reincarnation in the same way they met in their past lives.
  • With Friends Like These...: Watanuki doesn't need enemies when he has Zange, Kagerou, and Soushi around to torture him.
  • You Are Not Alone: Soushi to Ririchiyo, and vice versa.
  • Youkai: All of the main characters are descended from some kind of youkai, and have various abilities because of it.


Alternative Title(s): Inu X Boku SS

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