Customer Reviews

Her Majesty's Dog Vol. 1 (v. 1)

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Every school has a kid who is different. But that odd kid is more different than anyone can imagine in "Her Majesty's Dog," which takes your average boy-girl story and gives it a demon-dog twist. It's a creepy collection of stories, but with plenty of humor and romantic tension.

"Ice queen" Amane is always accompanied by her sexy boyfriend Hyoue. But none of her classmates realize that Amane is a powerful psychic, and Hyoue is not even human -- he's an ancient dog-demon, who has vowed to protect Amane, and who gets strength and nourishment by kissing her.

And a young woman named Takako finds this out the hard way, when the murderous ghost of a suicide attacks her. But Amane reveals that the ghost isn't who they think it is. A cursed dog spirit seeks revenge for the betrayal of its owner, a field trip turns nasty, and after a fight with Hyoue, Amane tries to deal with dangerous spirits all on her own.

But personal problems also come up when a new teacher -- Amane's cousin -- turns up to bring her back to their home village. Hyoue isn't about to let that happen, and in a rage, he agrees to a wager: for ten days, he won't use any of Amane's energy, which will prove that he's not just a "monster." But can he protect Amane without his usual strength?

Despite the kinky-looking cover, "Her Majesty's Dog" is pretty strictly a horror/romance story. And it's gotta be admitted that a lot of series are at their weakest at the very beginning, since the author has to introduce everything and get the audience interested. But Mick Takeuchi's story starts off with surprisingly smoothness; every story feels assured and solid, as if she had been writing these for ages.

Takeuchi is also a pretty solid artist; the artwork has all the manga staples like giant eyes, wild hair, pretty young men with fine bones, and funny little cartoons whenever somebody gets agitated. But she also has a truly enchanting sense for light, shadow and detail, and some of the pictures she drew -- such as Hyoue rescuing Amane in the ruined house -- are exquisite.

And Hyoue and Amane are good characters to play off each other: She's technologically inept, distant, cool, and at the same time very compassionate. Hyoue is no less compassionate, but he's fiery and a little goofy. Their relationship is kept platonic -- we can't have them dating immediately, without obstacles -- but the obvious adoration Hyoue has for his mistress is touching.

"Her Majesty's Dog" gets off to a good start in its first volume, with excellent artwork and likable characters. A solid start, and promising plenty of good horror and romance to come.

I didn't want to like Her Majesty's Dog....I realy, really didn't. But I can't help it. I like--no, I REALLY like it. At first I didn't want to read it because at the time of it's release I was SO into InuYasha, and one day I was casually flipping through shojo beat magazine and I saw an ad for Her Majesty's Dog. When I saw the cover , I was like "it's a shojo version of InuYasha! What a rip-off!". Then, when I was at Borders one day, I saw the book and, just to see what it was like, I took a look at it. I decided, when I read the back cover and had read the first few pages, that it was a total copy of InuYasha! The fact that Hyoue protects Amane like InuYasha protects Kagome was especially hard to enjoy, and Hyoue's personality was almost exactly like InuYahsa's (almost always angry, over-protective, easily jealous, etc.). Amane even looks like Kagome to some extent. But about a year after Her Majesty's Dog was first released, I had grown tired of InuYasha (it's just so long and the story never gets anywhere). I was once again at Borders and I decided to give this another try. And I am so glad that I did. Her Majesty's Dog may sound a bit weak form the outside, but once you've read it, you see that it is deep and very entertaining. Mick Takeuchi has beautiful artwork and her story is very good, actually. Now, when I look back, I hardly see any similairities at all between Her Majesty's Dog and InuYasha. So far, my favorite thing about the books are the relationships between the characters and the little omakes at the beginning of each volume (the ones where Amane is treating Hyoue like a dog: for example, in this volume she is in chibi form and telling him to stay in his dog house and Hyoue is glaring up at the sky. It is very very funny and cute). So, for anyone who is suspicious about trying Her Majesty's Dog, I ask you to give it a shot. It is much better than it appears.

Ok, I love these newer mangas now making it to the USA that have female leads with submissive but strong male partners. Reminds me of the knight-lady dynamic in romances. Yet these aren't overtly romantic and the lady in question is quite strong and capable if somewhat naive to begin with. Amane is a wonderful character trying to fit into a new school and a new life and Hyoue is her faithful everything until she starts making new friends. But I think these friends are going to make her stronger and that will only make her possession of Hyoue even better. I plan to keep reading to find out.

About six months ago I came across a display of manga books. Although I've never been a big comic book fan, I fell in love with the beautiful cover illustrations and began to browse through them. One manga in particular caught my attention, not just for the cover art but also for the book description. The story of a teen psychic and her guardian demon is a tale that sounds right up my alley. However, I just wasn't sure. After all I am a bit older than your usual manga fan. For months every time I would into a book store I headed to the manga section, pick it up and put it down again. Last weekend I finally decided to buy the first of the series. I'm so glad I did! Despite my confusion over the format (read back to front and, I think, in the opposite direction of American books) and the very short actual reading time spent on the book, I found it facinating. I loved the storylines about malevolent spirits, the innocent girl and her overprotective guardian. In fact, I not only read it once, I've re-read it four times already. I totally recommend it to anyone who enjoys horror/romance and the supernatural.

How can you not like this manga? I admit, the cover was the first thing that had attracted me-bondages maybe? After glancing at the artwork, I soon fell in love. Ayume and Hyoue are two very likeable characters, each filling in what the other person lacked. I always find myself looking for the next volume when I go to a bookstore. Amazing storyline, I would recommend it to everyone.

Her Majesty's Dog is a very good series. I picked this up (I admit) cos the cover looked good. Well, I made a excellent choice there! The manga is dark and kinda gory in book one. We meet Amane, *her majesty* and Hyone *her dog*. She controls him by her lifeforce and he is her guardian. He's also in love with her which is apparent to everyone but her! This is a great horror/romance high school drama. I advise anyone whos interested to buy it. It's definetly worth it. :)

Her Majesty's Dog Vol. 1 (v. 1)

Mick Takeuchi has proven herself to be quite a creative and talented manga artist. I'll be honest; a lot of anime series have turned out to be quite a disappointment from the get-go with the cliché needy, damsel in distress female lead and the "smart mouth", coming-to-the-rescue male lead, but Takeuchi really put a twist to her characters. The "Ice Queen" Amane plays the hero for the most part, a strong independent female, while Hyuoe, a dog demon, plays the submissive role. These reversed roles make a hilarious, sad, happy, twisted plot that you won't be able to resist once you've started to read. It's modern day setting in high school and the transition to a traditional Feudal Era Japan-like village also allows fans to get the best of both worlds. The plot has many parts which makes for an exciting read. It does not only focus on the relationship between Amane and Hyuoe, it also focuses on their history before meeting, and the development of both their powers and their uses. Of course, the genre of this manga is a Horror/Romance genre, but it's a relief to find a romance manga that doesn't solely base its entire plot on getting the characters together. Lastly, the artwork itself of the manga is beautiful. Many manga readers become fans of manga because of beautiful drawings and this manga delivers. Takeuchi makes her characters detailed and beautiful with the classic large eyes, nice figure, and wild hair. She also adds emotions to scene by being able to play with the light and dark contrast. All in all, this manga is a must read for any anime fans.

I love this story and the artist is great too. Perfect manga even good for younger ages that are just starting. I could sit and read this book over several times and never get bored with the story.

Just picked up this series and, FINALLY, a plot that doesn't revolve around "oh, they like each other, but doesn't know the other does/can't say they do" or "somebody discovered they have powers and now lets go on a lengthy training montage as they get better/their sword is better/grows up" or that ilk. Well, there is love. Hyoue likes Amane, but she doesn't know it (she's socially clueless, but not in that ditzy way that every anime seems to go for). But it's not the same thing.

Hyoue is an Inu Gami (dog demon) that feeds off Amane's lifeforce. Kind of like Chrono Crusade, but Hyoue needs the nourishment more often. This leads to all sorts of misunderstandings, as he insists on getting a kiss-transfer method (which ticks off Amane's cousin Hayate). I don't know if this sucks away her LIFE per se, or just her energy levels.

Either way, I was hooked. Some horror, but not over the top nasty.

The call her the Ice Queen, a Flirt, and a Freak who doesn't know how to use a cell phone and she's with the cutest guy in school who's actually her guardian demon dog. Amane is a manatsukai a person who can control spririts buy using their name. It's really good. Hyoue is an interesting character as a human. The story is great and I can't wait until the next book