Her Majesty’s Dog 1 by Mick Takeuchi: B+

From the back cover:
Amane’s not like other girls. With her ice queen demeanor and naiveté, she’s become quite the misfit on campus. Even more unusual is her relationship with fellow transfer student Hyoue Inugami, the hottest guy in school. But the truth is that Amane is a powerful psychic and Hyoue is her guardian demon-dog, whose powers are fueled by her kiss! And when Amane lets her “dog” off his leash, no vengeful spirit is safe!

Review:
I’ve been hoarding this series since Go! Comi first started releasing it, and since the last volume is finally coming out this month, it seemed the time to get reading. I’ve not read much by Go! Comi before, so I never noticed that they state “absolutely no artwork or dialogue has been censored” on their credits page. Interesting.

The story of Her Majesty’s Dog is pretty good so far. I like Amane, who is mostly reserved and competent. Somehow, her lapses in knowledge, due to her isolated upbringing in a country village, don’t look like ditziness coming from her unsmiling face. Hyoue is okay, too, though he spazzes out a little too often for my taste, and the antagonistic relationship he has with Amane’s cousin (who wants her to return to the village) doesn’t really interest me, either.

Amane’s power is the ability to use names to exert control, and I like how that’s portrayed in the scenes where she has to use it. The first couple of chapters are my favorite, where Amane and Hyoue deal with a ghost of a student in the gym storage room (lots of manga I’ve been reading lately have involved gym storage rooms, it seems) and then a vengeful dog spirit. The chapter about the dog is actually kind of dark and features a beheaded canine. I like, too, that Amane gets her first real friend and uses her powers to aid said friend, even compelling Hyoue to help out, as well.

The other three chapters aren’t as good, really. There’s the one where the cousin shows up, one with a boy who has a crush on Amane, and one where Amane gets mad at Hyoue and tries to deal with some spirits on her own. The mangaka’s notes talk about how surprised she was at the series’ popularity and even that it had been collected into a tankoubon. At some point, I assume she will realize it will have an extended run and a longer plot will arise. I’m looking forward to seeing how the series develops.