Inu X Boku Secret Service: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Inu X Boku Secret Service: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

A proficient AV presentation can't save Ririchiyo from a so-so series...

Slow, sing-songy, and somehow both frustratingly withdrawn and overly expositional, Inu X Boku isn't immediately appealing, or really all that interesting. Based on the Cocoa Fujiwara manga of the same name, it trots out familiar anime tropes, offers standard-fare characters, unfurls monotonous relationships, adds a dash of awkward sexuality (complete with uncomfortably long and leering pans of its at-times half-naked sixteen-year-old heroine), and, at least early on, fails to create a world worth exploring. It's also wildly uneven, with light, stilted comedy and contrived Chibi outbursts, and doesn't do a whole lot to set itself apart. It gets better as it meanders along, thankfully, but only enough to make the last six episodes or so a refreshing breeze compared to the cumbersome slog that is the first seven. Is Inu X Boku ever rise to the heights of similar series? Not even remotely, and it's in that disappointing limbo that most anime fans will realize how little is actually happening and how little connection they have to Ririchiyo, Soushi or anyone else on the Ayakashi Kan grounds.

Inu X Boku Secret Service: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Like the series' animation, Inu X Boku's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation isn't all that remarkable. The image is a touch soft, colors are largely subdued when powers aren't being charged and monsters aren't being channeled, and minor artifacting and banding isn't entirely uncommon. However, most "issues" fans encounter trace back to the source and, by and large, each episode looks precisely as was intended. David Production's passive aggressive palette is at least sure of itself, with bold splashes of blue, purple and pink punctuating the otherwise overcast hues of the series, and contrast is consistent, albeit a bit underwhelming with less than perfect black levels. Detail is also quite good, insofar as the animators' line art and backgrounds are reasonably refined and well resolved. Visually, the episodes tend to impress the most when spirit powers kick into high gear, and the presentation follows suit, although strictly from a subjective standpoint. Objectively, the technical encode is sound from start to finish. Anyone who falls for Inu X Boku will be pleased with its high definition treatment.

Inu X Boku Secret Service: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Two lossless audio options are available, both of which are more than up to the task at hand: a Japanese-language DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix (with forced English subtitles) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 English dub. The English voice cast is decent, and seem right at home with the series' tone and sugary, ice cream sprinkled laughs, but the Japanese track and original cast was my personal favorite, even though both options offer a comparable sonic experience. Dialogue is clean and clear, without any prioritization problems to speak of, and effects are bright and playful. The series' music is often a second class citizen, though, and the soundscape rarely feels as full and fierce as it could, especially during action sequences, summonings and brandishings of spirit powers. Still, there isn't a lot to complain about aside from the lack of LFE support and rear speaker activity, and the DTS-HD MA tracks do well by Inu X Boku's Japanese and English sound designs.

Inu X Boku Secret Service: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Inu X Boku doesn't include many special features. Fans get clean opening & closing animations (HD, 3 minutes) and a collection of high definition Sentai Filmworks trailers for Bodacious Space Pirates, Kids on the Slope, Dusk Maiden of Amnesia and Colorful: The Movie.

Inu X Boku Secret Service: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If Inu X Boku had more going for it other than anime convention and clichés, it might be worth pursuing. As is, though, it's a series desperately in need of a hook; something more than its airy comedy, here-then-there storytelling and paper-thin characters are able to provide. Sentai Filmworks' Blu-ray release is more rewarding, with solid video and lossless audio, and only its anemic supplemental package is a letdown. Anime completists may find something worth falling in love with in Inu X Boku, but there are stronger, funnier and more absorbing series on the market that do more with less.