Inukami! – 05

Summary:
Keita is in tears because Nadeshiko is leaving after her short stay. Before she goes, she asks Keita why he didn’t go to help Youko last time. His reason is simply because Youko’s note to Nadeshiko said that it wasn’t necessary to tell him and because he didn’t want to intrude on a fight between Inukami. Meanwhile, Hake explains to Kaoru’s Inukami why Youko chose Keita. Several months ago, Keita was brought in front of his grandmother so he could finally get an Inukami. It seems that when he was younger, he participated in a test, but found no Inukami. His grandmother explains that the Inukami’s true nature is to crush evil and spread the truth, but Keita could care less because he’s too excited about finally getting one. He’s directed to an old temple on a mountain where he discovers a beautiful female Inukami. Keita asks for her name, but she’s surprised that he doesn’t remember it. After she says that her name is Youko, Keita introduces himself as her master. The first thing they have to do is to exchange vows, and Keita hands her a necklace with a frog attached that acts both as proof of their contract and also as the charm that will allow her to get past the mountain’s barrier. With this now in her possession, Youko starts to torture Keita with her magical powers. But since she wants to go outside and play, she’ll let him be her master. Youko starts listing off demands, like visiting Tokyo Tower and eating chocolate cake, getting Keita really angry. He tries to teach her some manners with his powers, but they’re no match for her magic. She ends up blowing up the temple and escaping the mountain.
Hake and Keita’s grandmother find the ruins and a burned Keita. Hake thinks that Youko probably went to town, so Keita vows to go find her. To aid him, Hake gives Keita a basket with Youko’s weakness inside. Keita’s grandmother also warns him about how he’s without power if he’s away from his Inukami. The evil spirits start gathering around, all going after him. While Hake holds them off, Keita makes his escape to go find Youko. He follows her path of destruction and chases her to the top of a building. Keita gives her one more chance to be loyal to him. Youko responds by dumping sewage on his head, leaving him no choice but to use the special item Hake gave him. Youko, however, steals his backpack before he can use it. She opens the backpack and finds a dog inside – her weakness. Keita torments her for a bit until she starts crying. He finally puts the dog away, but that doesn’t stop her tears. Keita apologizes and thanks Youko for being his Inukami. She responds with her own apologizes for being selfish. The two are suddenly surrounded by evil spirits and Youko’s attitude changes. She decides to take advantage of the situation and get her revenge. Since Keita would be dead in this situation without her, Youko wants him to vow to become her thing. He has no choice but to agree, and she seals the contract with a dog collar around his neck. She’s quick to burn all the evil spirits, but her own strength has been drained too much to put out the flames afterwards. Keita decides to carry her close enough to the nearby water tower so that she can use her remaining magic to take the water and douse the flames. The two accepted each other and started bonding.
Back in the present, Nadeshiko talks to Youko as she’s going home. She notices that Youko is bandaged up from her fight with Sendan’s group. Keita had been apparently waiting at home, ready with first aid to treat her wounds. She’s quite happy with him, but that quickly changes when she finds out that he’s hiding more ero DVDs, so she blows up his apartment.

Well this episode finally explains why Keita has that dog collar around his neck. His relationship with Youko can’t really be described as Master and Servant or Servant and Master since it’s more of an equal thing. Actually, the two kinda remind me of a young couple at the end of the flashback, and then they remind me of an old married couple back in the present. And Youko proves several times over that she can go from lovable to evil very quickly.
The most interesting part of the episode was probably Youko’s repeated assertions that Keita should know who she is. It seems to imply that they met a long time ago, but he forgot her or something happened that changed his memory.
Next week, a Tomohane episode.