Dog & Scissors(犬とハサミは使いよう,Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyō), also known by the abbreviation InuHasa(犬ハサ), is Japaneselight novel series written by Shunsuke Sarai and illustrated by Tetsuhiro Nabeshima.
Dog & Scissors centers around Kazuhito Harumi, a high school boy who is obsessed with reading books. One day, while reading in a cafe, he is shot and killed when he attempts to protect a random stranger. As he is determined to read his favorite author's unreleased last work, he gets a second chance and is reincarnated as a dachshund dog. As a dog he is adopted by Kirihime Natsuno, the very person he tried to save, as well as the only person who can understand him in his new form. Kazuhito then discovers that she is not only his favorite novelist, but also a sadist who enjoys terrorizing him with scissors.
Characters
Kazuhito Harumi(春海 和人,Harumi Kazuhito)
Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese); Blake Shepard (English)A high school bookworm who loves reading books and novels. He is also an avid fan of Shinobu Akiyama's works. He lived away from his parents and sister so that he could be within walking distance of his favorite bookstore. He was killed during the robbery in the cafe while protecting a customer. Regretting being unable to read Akiyama's latest novel and the desire to live, he was resurrected as a dachshund much to his surprise. He's known as Kuro by the neighbourhood in this form.
Kirihime Natsuno(夏野 霧姫,Natsuno Kirihime)
Voiced by: Marina Inoue (Japanese); Jessica Calvello (English)A beautiful, yet sadistic scissor-wielding novelist who adopted Kazuhito from a pet store. She writes novels and goes by her pen name as Shinobu Akiyama, whom Kazuhito greatly admires. She is one of those who can hear Kazuhito's thoughts. She harbors feelings for Kazuhito and is easily jealous whenever he's known to be close to another girl. Natsuno is also too conscious regarding her small breasts and is also known to comically find ways to enlarge them and anyone who makes some remark about it usually becomes a victim of her anger. She uses a pair of extremely hard scissors that she has owned since childhood known as Hasajiro and is quite proficient with them, along with her great physical prowess make her a tough fighter.
Madoka Harumi(春海 円香,Harumi Madoka)
Voiced by: Kana Asumi (Japanese); Juliet Simmons (English)Madoka is Kazuhito's little sister who calls him "Kazu-nii." She likes making curry, but is a really bad cook to the point her food is always censored. She's known to use a high-technological Knife that can transform into a dual-bladed chainsaw and also a cannon. She is in love with her brother and would often ask for help with dating other boys to try to make him jealous, but to no avail due to Kazuhito's nonchalant attitude towards life. Following Kazuhito's death, Madoka went mad with grief and began to search for any scrap of evidence that her brother was still alive in some way. She at first, correctly, believes that Kazuhito in his dog form is her brother, but is convinced otherwise by Kirihime after a heated fight. Though she now believes that Kazuhito's dog form isn't her brother, she still calls him "Kazu-nii."
Suzuna Hiiragi(柊 鈴菜,Hiiragi Suzuna)
Voiced by: Shizuka Itō (Japanese); Joanne Bonasso (English)Kirihime's editor who works at the company which publishes Kirihime's works. She is rather unstable, hyperactive and masochistic to the point of wanting to be abused by Kirihime. She may also be an otaku due how Suzuna likes acting out and quoting certain anime phrases. She also understands Harumi's thoughts.
Hami Ōsawa(大澤 映見,Ōsawa Hami)
Voiced by: Ai Kakuma (Japanese); Luci Christian (English)A daughter of a famous author and an extremely apologetic and shy girl, who tends to be very insecure about herself and that she may bother others, to the point she will apologize numerous times and claiming she's better dead. She was a schoolmate of Kazuhito and the two met when he read an unfinished script of a novel she was writing, instead of ditching it as she expected, Kazuhito encouraged her to write more and that he would be the first reader of her novel and the two became close friends. After Kazuhito's death she accurately distinguishes him on his dog form due to his mannerisms and knowing where the script was hidden, although she can't listen to his thoughts she can more or less understand what he tries to say. In order to boost her confidence due to believing herself to have won awards due to his father's intervention, she challenged Natsuno to a writing contest and used several techniques, such as hypnosis and suggestion to hinder her, but was still defeated and told by Natsuno that her father made no intervention and her awards were in fact, earned by her own hard work. Following this she befriended Natsuno, calling her senpai."
Maxi Akizuki(秋月 マキシ,Akizuki Makishi)
Voiced by: Yū Serizawa (Japanese); Brittney Karbowski (English)A popular young idol and also a famous writer on the level of Natsuno. She frequently appears on the story along her servants, trying to take the spotlight, but is comically taken away by her men due to busy schedule. She has a dislike for Natsuno and is hinted to have an equal dislike towards dogs.
Sachi Moribe(森部 佐茅,Moribe Sachi)
Voiced by: Chiwa Saito (Japanese); Carli Mosier (English)A strange red-haired maid dressed in red who serves Himehagi Momiji with great devotion. She has a habit of dancing and singing alone on a park chants for her mistress and becomes incredibly embarrassed towards any witness, to the point she will attack the victim viciously (usually Kazuhito). In combat she uses her broom which hides a long blade, resembling a Naginata and is durable enough to compete with Natsuno's Hasajiro. Although the two clash with certain recurrence, their battle is always interrupted.
Toji Nakahara(中原 冬至,Nakahara Tōji)
Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama (Japanese); John Gremillion (English)A rampant criminal and the man responsible for causing Kazuhito's death. He also becomes an avid reader of Natsuno's book after he began squatting in Kazuhito's apartment and even fights using moves inspired by her characters using the thick books of the Seven Deadly sins series as weapons and protection. He's confronted by Natsuno and left hanging from a bridge after a battle. When Natsuno encourages Kazuhito to take revenge, he spares him instead and he is promptly arrested.
Print
Dog & Scissors began as a light novel series written by Shunsuke Sarai, with illustrations by Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. Enterbrain published 14 volumes from February 28, 2011 to January 30, 2015 under their Famitsu Bunko imprint; 10 comprise the main story, while the other four are short story collections.
A manga adaptation, illustrated by Kamon Ōniwa, was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Shōnen Ace between the July 2012 and May 2014 issues. Four tankōbon volumes were released between January 26, 2013 and April 26, 2014. The English version of the manga adaptation is available on BookWalker.
Anime
A 12-episode anime adaptation directed by Yukio Takahashi and produced by Gonzo premiered on AT-X on July 1, 2013,. The series had been acquired for online streaming in North America by Crunchyroll in addition to being licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks. The series uses two pieces of theme music. The opening theme is "Wan Wan Wan Wan N_1!!" (わんわんわんわんN_1!!) by Inu Musume Club consisting of Marina Inoue, Kana Asumi, Shizuka Itou, Ai Kakuma and Yū Serizawa, while the ending theme is "Lemonade Scandal" (レモネイドスキャンダル) by Yū Serizawa.
