Inukami!

Keita Kawahira is one of a family of Inukami users - a clan who makes contract with the titular dog spirits in order to protect the local populace from evil spirits, and deal with specific supernatural threats for a price. His cousin Kaoru already has 10, and the time has come for Keita to get one of his own. He finds himself partnered with Youko, a feisty type with an inclination to throw fireballs. With that setup, a series begins full of violence, cuteness, perversity, and dogs. Keita tries to get on the good side of Kaoru's Inukami while he's away, and Youko tries to keep him in line.

A fun series, if on the strange side at times. Compare with Akikan

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Tropes used in Inukami! include:

• Balloon Belly -- Tayune in the ending.
• Batman Gambit: One episode featured the inukami plotting to take advantage of Keita's perverted tendencies, sure their plan would work immediately. Except he showed restraint, foiling their plan.
• Battle Couple: Youko would like to be this with Keita, and from the perspective of EVERYONE ELSE they pretty much are.
• Bare Your Midriff -- Tayune
• Bokukko -- Tayune
• Beware the Nice Ones -- When Kaoru is hurt, Nadeshiko turns brutal, releasing the fury she's been holding back after she murdered an entire village long ago.
• Big Bad: Sekidousai, whose inventions form the basis of early plots and those Evil Plan drives the second half of the show.
  • Bigger Bad: At least until Jesei shows up.
• Big Damn Kiss: Keita kisses Youko in the climax, as they fly toward the Bigger Bad, undeniably returning the affection she's showed him the entire series.
• Bishonen -- Keita and Hake, as well as most other male characters who isn't macho men or Gonk.
• Blinding Bangs - Tensou
• Blond Guys Are Evil -- Sea of Violence and Sekidosai, somewhat.
• Blow You Away -- Kaoru's primary mode of attack.
• Bound and Gagged: Of the played for laughs variety. Keita wants to use a magic pot to gain a harem but Youko interupts him so he tapes her. She breaks free so he uses chains, she breaks free again, he uses more chains etc.
• Brought Down to Normal: Sekidousai and Dai Youko, because Jesei used up their power. Its unknown if this is permanent or if they're just exhausted.
• Bumbling Dad -- Dai Youko, Youko's father, is both Sealed Evil in a Can and the goofy dad type in one.
• Calling Your Attacks -- Keita has to call upon spirits to empower his carved rubber frogs. For Massive Damage!
• Censor Box -- The elephants, they're on parade. Usually right around the crotch area. Usually on Keita.
• Chain of Command -- You'd think it'd be on Youko, but it's Keita who wears the collar around his neck.
• Cheerful Child -- Tomohane
• Chekhov's Gunman: Remember the kappa that hung out in the background? he saves Keita in the climax.
• Chivalrous Pervert -- Keita, and those four Citizens of Darkness guys who he often share a jail cell with.
• Clingy Jealous Girl -- Youko
• Conservation of Ninjutsu: Sendan's group, even as a whole, is less powerful than Youko is by herself. Subverting the trope, they're even worse off when fighting individually.
• Combat Pragmatist -- Keita. From Kansas City Shuffle and Batman Gambit to hiding his explosive frogs in his clothing, there's little he won't do to win.
• Combination Attack -- Kaoru's Inukami can group up in threes (sometimes nine of them excluding Nadeshiko) to perform a powerful spell.
• Control Freak -- Sendan, being the pack's alpha.
• Cute Monster Girl: All female inukami. They look like normal girls except for their tails.
  • They can turn into actual dogs/wolves but it doesn't seem to help much
• Curb Stomp Battle: Yoko so out classes Sendan's group she looks like a bully, even though they attacked her.
• A Day in the Limelight -- Some episodes have Youko hardly appear at all.
• Defective Detective -- Shirou Karina, a detective with a lightsaber and a strong amount of personal determination. Frequently ends up in situations he'd rather not be in.
• Despair Event Horizon: Pushing people past this is the Bigger Bad's Evil Plan.
• Evil Is Hammy: All the villains love dramatic gestures and speaking in dynamic voices.
• Evil Is Petty: Jesei will go to any lengths to cause despair, from murder and and beatdowns to reading Yohko's diary aloud.
• Evil Plan: Sekidousai is the first villain to last more than two episodes and seeks to create a world where 'all desires are free' which involves nudity in public.
  • His plan is hijacked by Jesei who wants to provoke despair.
• Evil Tastes Good / Emotion Eater: Jesei who feeds on despair. He says nothing is more delicious than provoking despair. Naturally this means pushing people past the Despair Event Horizon.
• Evolving Credits -- The start of the ED changes to reflect wherever Keita and Youko are at the moment.
• Expy: A non-human girl with green hair falls in love with a preverted earth boy and punishes him for chasing other girls with her superpowers. Does this describe Youko or Lum?
• Fan Service / Fan Disservice -- It's often very hard to determine whether it's the former or the latter.
  • The latter much more than the former since that is where much of the show's humor comes from. The former is so few in comparison that one tends to forget that there's any Fan Service at all.
  • It doesn't help that a lot of the fanservice appears to be directed to the girls... much to Keita's chagrin.
• Flash Step: Nadeshiko when she gets serious. Mach Punch too.
• For the Evulz -- Sea Of Violence claimed that he made contract with humans who want wealth at the price of him taking their (and their descendants') souls when they reach a certain age, just for the fun of it and he particularly enjoy curb stomping any of their attempts to stop him from taking their souls.
• Frying Pan of Doom: Youko uses one on Keita several times.
• Gondor Calls for Aid: When the main cast can't defeat a Humongous Mecha, Kawarazaki calls to the all the nocturnal preverts and lurkers of the city and they Zerg Rush the thing. Not quite The Cavalry because Keita still has to finish it off and defeat wasn't immiment. Among them are the Panty Thief Dr. Peeping Tom and the chief clerk. Really, almost every named character so far introduced are part of it.
  • They become a true cavalry latter.
• Grim Reaper: Shinigami appear to be a natural enemy for the Inukami
• Harem Genre -- In this case Keita the main character is not the one with the Harem. His much more talented cousin has a harem of dog girls. Doesn't stop Keita from trying to steal them.
  • Still played straight as they become more friendly with him over the course of the series. They still prefer Kaoru over him, of course, but there's a definite change of attitude.
• Immortal Immaturity - Youko is more than 300 years old, but still acts like a spoiled little girl. Her father Dai Youko is no better - Hake even says, after describing his terrifying powers: "He's just like a child. No, it's even worse because he's an adult."
  • Well Yohko's father did spoil her though the time frame implies she would've had to be alone for long enough that she shouldn't be so bratty especially since her time on the mountain with the Inukami was supposed to be a very miserable experience.
• Impossible Thief -- The panty stealer. Even through pants.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: Both Keita and Yohko, though only Yohko has a justification; she thinks her Big Badass Wolf form will scare Keita away.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl -- Furano tries to be one
• Innocent Innuendo: Frequently with Keita and Yohko.
  • Is That What They're Calling It Now?: Averted, believe it or not. During one of the above scenes Hake walks in and Keita replies that he's 'getting a flea off Yohko's tail'. He believes them, does what he came to do, and leaves.
• Iron Butt Monkey -- Keita, he can take most of Youko's abuse (though arguably he was asking for it), even shrug off a Dai Jaaen in the face.
  • Made of Iron: Not just the Dai Jaaen, but villains.
• Interspecies Romance -- "I don't want puppies for kids!" bemoans Keita during a Love Potion incident.
• Invisibility -- The Peeping Doctor's ability.
• I Was Quite a Looker -- The head of the family was quite a Plucky Girl back then.
• Karma Houdini: Yohko, see under Kick the Dog, Xanatos Speed Chess and Yandere
• Kick the Dog -- Keita has many of these moments. When he first meets Youko, he loudly fantasizes about how she would cook his meals, clean his house, and perform other services for him. Even later on, he constantly refers to her as only his "dog".
  • The cooking and cleaning and whatnot apparently is in the job description, but Youko's ego is too big.
  • Also Yohko, its stated Keita is the Black Sheep of the family because he couldn't get an Inukami. Turns out when Keita went out and was supposed to find an Inukami as part of the coming of age ceremony for his clan Yohko scared them all away so years later she could force a contract between the two while threatening to kill him. She also tends to be extremely selfish, abusive and Keita tends to suffer far more than her.
• Laughably Evil -- Many of the villains, but they are FAR from harmless.
• Living Emotional Crutch: Inukami, regardless of gender, appear to be emotionally dependent on their human partners.
  • Hake says he was depresed and bored of living before contracting Keita's grandmother and predicts he will be again once she dies.
  • Youko is super clingy to Keita and jealous of any other girl he shows interest in.
  • Sendan declares that her group's 'body and mind exist for Kaoru' and the rest of her group agree.
• Lovable Sex Maniac -- Keita.
• Man Behind the Man: Jesei was this to Sekidousai, though he's more of a Bigger Bad since they had completely seperate plans and the latter isn't even foreshadowed until an Info Dump in the third to last episode. However, the trope is fulfilled because the former hijacked the latter's plan.
• Meaningful Name -- "Youko" is the Japanese word for what westerners call Kitsune.
• Meido: Nadeshiko.
• Meganekko -- Igusa.
• Miko -- Furano
• Moe Anthropomorphism -- Dog girls in this case.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: Jesei died pre-series and that death started a plan that reached into the show's climax.
• Naked First Impression: Oh, and how! This is how one of his clients gets her first impression of Keita... and it does NOT help that the part that was staring her in the face was his "proud son". Admittedly, Youko was at fault for this...
• Necromancer -- Jasei
• Nice Hat -- Peeping Doctor
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Jesei to everyone. He outclasses the entire cast to the degree that he can Won't Work On Me their best shot. He keeps knocking them down to feed on their despair.
• Obake
• Older Than They Look -- Kei is 20 at the end of the second episode.
• Only Mostly Dead: Kaoru isn't dead; he's just floating around somewhere as an incorporal spirit. All that needs doing is finding his soul and plugging it back in his body.
• Otaku -- Naoki Kawarazaki
• Our Liches Are Different -- Jasei, who is also a mummy
• Panty Thief -- Boss, but his master really cranks it Up to Eleven.
• Peek-a-Bangs -- Hake
• Pet the Dog - Fortunately for him, Keita has as many of these moments as his Kick the Dog ones. Such as leaping out a window to catch Igusa's book.
• Petting Zoo People
• A Plague on Both Your Houses -- The Bigger Bad told one to Kaoru after being outwitted and vanishing.
• Playing with Fire -- Jaaen! Youko's favorite attack.
• Poke the Poodle -- Youko during the fight with Kaoru's inukami, Tomohane was caught outside the shield they made and Youko put a finger on her forehead, but instead of attacking her, Youko (using magic) took off her panties instead.
• Princess Curls -- Sendan.
• Public Exposure -- Sekidosai is quite an exhibitionist (and unlike the others, he has a Mammoth censor instead of everyone else's elephants), he hates it when forced to put on underwear.
• Scary Shiny Glasses -- Kawarazaki and Chief Clerk. Sea of Violence as well.
• Sealed Evil in a Can -- Dai Youko, Sekidousai, Youko too.
• Short Anime Movie
• Silent Bob -- Tensou. She communicates with others via rapid, well done sketches.
• Single-Minded Twins -- Imari and Sayoka, two of Kaoru's Inukami.
• Sobriquet / Embarrassing Nickname: Keita is better known as 'King of Nudity' among the Citizens of Darkness than his own name, though he's horribly embarrassed by it
• Special Edition Title -- The ED's sudden change from a song about friendship between girls (featuring the Inukami ladies) to a song about friendship between manly men is surprising and hilarious.
• Stripperific - Keita in a rare male example although it's (almost) never by his choice.
• Stuff Blowing Up: Tiny little rubber frogs.
• Teleporters and Transporters -- Youko's Shukichi skill.
• Thanatos Gambit: Sea of Violence slips in one last 'screw you' before dying; a contagious bad luck curse activated by his death.
• Tsundere Yohko is very affectionate with Keita, when she's not teleporting him out of his clothes or fireballing him.
• The Reveal -- Wonder why Youko is afraid of dogs, even cute little puppies? It's because she's really a fox spirit, and dogs are foxes' natural/traditional enemies.
• The Nudifier -- Youko often removes Keita's clothes, and the first episode villain's ability which he only aimed at male targets .
• This Is a Drill -- Sekidousai's robot assistant, Xanthippe, has a drill in the groin area. Then it gets bigger...
• Token Mini-Moe -- Tomohane
• Too Kinky to Torture -- The Chief Clerk is quite a masochist.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Keita, its implied his failure at attracting an Inukami and subsequent Black Sheep status broke him
• Villainous Breakdown: When the constant beatdown fails to work and Keita inspires the group, Jesei loses focus, asks why he's losing, and his Soul Jar shatters.
• Voluntary Shapeshifter -- Most inukami can turn into Big Badass Wolf form when required.
• White-Haired Pretty Girl -- Gokyouya
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: Hake was bored until he met the head of the family and once she's gone he will be lonely.
• Why Did It Have to Be Dogs -- Youko is very scared of (normal) dogs, but strangely, she is fine with inukami in dog/wolf form.
  • Hake is also extremely afraid of fleas.
• Xanatos Gambit: Round 2 with Sea of Violence. Yohko set up a force field that cannot be broken so long as she is alive and used the ruse of a boxing match with Keita to lure him inside the ring. If Keita won, than great; bad guy's dead. If he lost, at least Sea of Violence would be trapped and unable to harm her client.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: Youhko played an impressive game when the Kawahira family tried to reseal her dad. when straight up sealing failed she told him she was living together with Keita and having sex every night. He mellowed into a happy future grandparent who'd like to keep the world in one piece for their sake. Thus She turns a possible End of the World as We Know It into a wedding for herself and Keita.
  • She probably also did it to force a relationship between herself and Keita. Yes, she is a Jerkass
• Yamato Nadeshiko: Nadeshiko. She's sweet, domestic, and even refered to as 'traditional japanese girl' by Keita. As per the trope, she has the inner iron to call him out on being an asshat and invoke Go Through Me when Yoko is about to kill Sendan
  • Hake counts as a male example.
• Yandere: Hake claims to be one: "I expel other inukami and own my master all on my own."
  • Yohko, being more effective and a Karma Houdini
• Yaoi Fangirl: Igusa and possibly Tensou.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Keita is disgusted by the genuine respect minor antagonists like underwear theif and Peeping Doctor show him and can't stand the title they refer to him with: King of Nudity. Although he IS just as perverted as they are, and did such an act in the episode, the title is actually Yohko's fault.
• Zerg Rush: How those Citizens of Darkness people brought down Xanthippe, and later Jasei's undead minions.
• Zettai Ryouiki: Yohko is a grade S on the occassion she wears them. Grade A, plus Twin Tails and her Tsundere attitude.