Dog Signal Episode 18 Review - The Mangaka's Deaf Dog
After three weeks of emotional punches to the gut, this episode delivers another emotional one, but in a more light-hearted tone. This episode was so great. I was surprised that the client of the day managed to solve his issue on his own without consulting the trainers earlier. Despite that, it was a very compelling story of discovery.
Haruyuki is a struggling manga artist who moved to Tokyo to achieve his dreams. His first serialized story got cancelled after a while and he has been struggling to put out something new for a while now. His editor always tells him his stories lack emotions, which is shown from how withdrawn he is. His only companion is Chataro, his Shiba Inu who is the cutest thing ever with his dopey smile that can brighten anyone’s day. Haruyuki’s story is about how pets can change people and bring out the best in them; this is definitely shown when Haruyuki realizes that Chataro has become deaf and they both discover new things about each other and themselves as they both try to deal with this sudden change in lifestyle.
I love that Haruyuki imagines speech bubbles as if he’s thinking about what Chataro could be saying to him. It’s definitely showing the creative side in him—the hidden talent that is waiting to be discovered by himself. His main issue is that he’s socially awkward, so he’s not good with understanding emotions. Chataro is full of emotions and energy, which is why Haruyuki is so dedicated to his dog; I love the fact that he found his dog as a stray and he just followed him home one day. Chataro definitely just saw him and claimed him as his human. Later in the episode, the speech bubbles disappear because he is troubled over Chataro’s loss of hearing; not only that, he also notices the change in Chataro’s mood as he stopped smiling since his hearing loss.
Haruyuki is one of those rare dog owners in this show where he’s very kind and patient. He doesn’t try to force Chataro to do things he’s uncomfortable with and tries his absolute best to communicate with him in other ways, eventually resorting to hand gestures and lip movement. Even when his dog bit him due to being startled, he doesn’t give up on him. I know for a fact that some dog owners would be super dramatic over the change in their dogs, but Haruyuki blames himself for troubling him and tries to imagine what his dog is feeling over his sudden silent world. The change manages to help bring him out of his shell as he learns the importances of emotions and manages to get serialized!
I think the most impressive thing about Haruyuki is that he doesn’t go to Proud Dog at first, but only went towards the end. He first met Miyu when he and Yuko were out on a walk with Tiara. When he saw Chataro, who doesn’t like being around other humans and dogs, Miyu gave his business card to Haruyuki, who then finds it in his pocket towards the end of the episode. I do like that even though he technically fixed his issue, he still went because he wants to know more about what he can do for Chataro. Seeing Niwa be impressed was a first! Though, I’m sure Haruyuki still need some consulting over Chataro’s minor issues like his habit of waiting for food and barking at other dogs, but that will most likely be done off-screen.
I’m always amazed by the choice of guest voice actors for this show. This episode has Miyu Irino and Junichi Suwabe as Haruyuki and Chataro’s speaking voice. If you’re a long time anime fan, you know these two are big names. I was legit shocked to hear that they casted these two. Miyu Irino did an excellent job with the reserved, gloomy side of Haruyuki and the loud, confident side in the second half. Since Miyu is voiced by Kensho Ono, seeing their characters interact felt like a Seraph of the End (where they played the leads) and A Silent Voice (where Irino played the MC and Ono played the best friend with green curly hair) reunion! Heck, the scene at Proud Dog with Niwa, Miyu and Haruyuki is basically just a Seraph of the End reunion as Niwa’s voice actor Suzumura voiced Crowley. Most of all, I did NOT expect Suwabe to be voicing the DOG. The way he used a cuter voice to voice him got my heart all fluttery. I wouldn’t mind watching an entire anime with Suwabe voicing all the dogs. I love it when voice actors play a totally unexpected character.
What do you mean there are only two episodes left? What do you mean Dog Signal is going to end in two weeks? It’s going to be hard to part ways with this anime. It’s easily a hidden gem and a potential all-time favorite. The list of my absolute favorite animes doesn’t usually have much changes, but Dog Signal, a very underrated and obscure anime, could easily make a change in that list. What are your thoughts on this episode of Dog Signal?
