Stuff of Ginga @therealgingastuff - Tumblr Blog

Watching the old dog anime originally I was set on watching tiger mask or at the very least reading it because I wanted some showa era bullshit to watch, however a spanner descended from the skies to obliterate my plans in one fell swoop since there were no available subtitles in japanese for it as far as I searched (which granted wasn't too much.) So, with a heavy heart, instead of watching showa era anime, I decided to try AGAIN. Like hell I would let a lack of subtitles for one show deter me from my niche content. So I looked up more old ancestral stuff and found this funny looking dog anime. All I know about it is that apparently dogs team up to beat up a bear or something. And that it's popular in finland for whatever reason which is a fun contrast to tiger mask, which is seemingly very popular in italy for some other reason. Old anime really did unite the world waow

So, I'll try to be corteous with the usage of the tag since I can only imagine like maybe 6 people who watched this show ages ago and kept it close to their heart for maybe a decade+ likely frequent it, and I ask that you forgive my lack of decorum with my analysis and impressions. I promise I will not utter perkele in return. I'll try to keep it to a single post and go episode by episode, writing down my thoughts as I watch and then a final comment on each. You can have this very hastily put together sloppy drawover of the funny frame that you surely adore as an offering of peace.

Spoiler free final review if you don't want to read the rest:

After a few episodes it becomes a very funny show that feels as thought it had been written by going "wouldn't it be so fucking cool if..." but it is also oddly brutal at every step of the way. The show's focus shifts from a human raising his dog to the dog's life at one point and dogs are able to talk with one another from then onwards. Be mindful though of, by today's standards, less accessible value systems from the era this was released within because it is rife with them. I'd recommend it if you want a dog adventures shounen with lots of blood that's actually an army drama that's ACTUALLY about a coming of age story, but really is mostly just very funny and has cool action scenes. Japanese difficulty wise, it's a bit rough at times. I'd go n3-n2 leaning closer to n2 but it's not impossible by any means, it's just written very much like a drama and has a billion cultural references alongside army jargon and maybe even as high as random n1 grammar points at times. I enjoyed it a lot despite the bits I struggled through.

I'll add a small CW here there's lots and lots of blood and death in the show which I've written about below.

First impressions

These dogs are ugly as hell. That's not to say I dislike the artstyle, it reminds me a lot of the feeling I get from nintendo 64 games for whatever reason. It's weird and grunged up and a little misshapen despite being fully readable. This one seems more like a stylistic choice than a hardware limitation though. Why do the dogs have like... pseudo pectorals... Apparently one of them is called weed which I find highly amusing. little japanese akita dog my dear why are you cannabis.

EP 1

This opening theme is amazing oh my god. Very funny that they're making this bear as the final boss, it appears very hyped up as evil and foreboding with the glowing red eyes and inexplicable temples and colored lightbeams behind. Oh those backgrounds are lovely, I really like the animation for the dogs' movements in this opening.

Huh hang on what age rating is this. Maybe they were a little relaxed back then with the blood but wow. Blowing out a whole eye out with a rifle? Surprising. INSANELY abrupt cut from a bear falling down the abyss to the narrator dumping exposition, amazing lmao This kid with the orange jacket has some insane proportions. He looks like an adult that you shrunk down in the microwave. Oh I guess they're doing tiger dogs now. HOW OLD IS THIS KID??? "You have a huge ass but you know nothing" ??? HELLO??? DID I MISSREAD THIS LINE???

Good lord man do not throw a puppy in the air They genuinely have bears brawling people to death here. Clinging onto the side of trees raking them with their claws to jump someone. Maybe bears in showa era japan were just built different god damn. This kid genuinely lifts up this puppy who is less than a day old to announce his father's death to him like it understands him. He seriously DOES NOT give a shit about the other two siblings lmao This show has the shell of a kid's shonen but I think I would've been severely traumatized if I watched this at an early age, this is insane. WHAT DO YOU MEAN the guy cuts part of his leg to forcefeed his dog. This was shonen jump manga originally??? My god the standards they had in the 1980s were something else Baby gin is such a fat little creature I love him already. Nary a week of age and he's already coming up with mischievous plans in the middle of the snowstorm. What an incredibly brutal show lol. AND IT'S BARELY EPISODE 1?? I won't lie, I don't do great with animal harm, but this seems cartoonish and batshit crazy enough to where I can probably tank it just fine I find it funny how the preview calls it a "Men's drama" lol nothing more manly than watching dogs thugging it out Overall thoughts: VERY MUCH not what I expected from the show. This feels like, at most, a younger teen's anime. It's very interesting to see the difference in sensitivities from back in the mid 80s and now but the blood, maiming and death in episode 1 alone already feels like a lot lmao

EP 2

this little dog is so fucking traumatized what a funny image

I do not like how cute they are making the puppies I have no trust that they will survive this show God its hilarious just how foreboding and menacing they're making this fuckass bear considering it's just. A seemingly slightly bigger than usual bear with a red coat. Granted I do not know much about hunting but surely one singular animal cannot have this much infamy. Looking it up it does seem that bear attacks are something quite serious in the Akita prefecture, but to this extent...? I guess I just find it surprising that it'd be something so commonplace for the region that it birthed a manga surrounding it.

This just in: grown ass man beefs with month old puppy THE OTHERS DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING BRO CMON Oh wow he's really pulling the "don't cry if I hit you with this stick or you're not a real man" move on a toddler

I understand this was the 80s we're talking about here but damn, they're laying the abuse on real thick huh. Not even the kid is safe from it. I'm glad they're depicting it as wrong at least...? YOU'RE DRAGGING THE FUCKING PUPPY AROUND WITH A ROPE ROUND ITS NECK??? Actually I'm not too sure on how to feel about it for this episode. Of course, Gin's future is set in stone as being pretty bleak due to suffering from protagonist syndrome, but repeatedly hitting him, starving him, putting him in freezing water and posing it as challenges to overcome at such a young age is... rough. I suppose these "tiger stripes" are meant to show he's much tougher and resilient than dogs normally at this stage but it's sad to see still. THROWING HIM INTO A FUCKING RIVER BROTHER WHAT This just in: grown ass dog beefs with month old puppy (???) good grief EVERYONE has it out for this toddler what the hell

why are they framing this as gin's loss what. If I took up hands to a 36 year old heavyweight boxer at age 5 I don't believe I would've had a chance either, kind of a disingenuous way to frame it. Ending theme is almost unfitting with how calm it is in comparison to the actual content. Overall thoughts: Man I don't know this one was just kind of sad. To think the implication is that Riki also underwent similar conditions in his youth and even then still decided to not eat his owner's flesh and give his life to protect both him and his own newborn son he barely got a chance to look at, not to mention the ones that came before him. It wasn't graphic at all but to show a dog getting its skull crushed is insane. Not too fond of the human characters in this one so far. They're putting these animals through the wringer legitimately. Calling the show a "men's drama" and the might makes right mentality shown in this episode does not bode well so far but I'll see where it goes.

EP 3

RIVAL???? RIVAL??????? HE IS ONE MONTH OLD THIS IS A KID WHAT DO YOU MEAN RIVAL. HOW OLD IS JOHN did that man just die. That was oddly sudden and unceremonious.

waaa waaa this kindergartener is powerscaling me aieeee

do you not have multiple rifles in your hands why are you not shooting the main villain on sight. WHAT IS THIS AIM. WHAT. WHAT. HOW. TWENTY FIVE I COUNTED THEM TWENTY FIVE WHOLE SHOTS AND NOT A SINGLE ONE LANDED ON A MOSTLY STATIONARY TARGET. this bear isn't that smart man, he just fucked. bears fuck all the time. he is not building a castle to protect himself okay bears are dangerous yes but what is this, man lmao YOU'RE MISSING HIM AGAIN??? THIS BEAR HAS THE FATTEST HITBOX KNOWN TO MANKIND. Aim this bad is genuinely impressive. how many chasms can there be in one mountain range I'm not sure this rescue sequence is physically sound but it is quite sweet. Watching a puppy bleed over it is as depressing as ever but at least its for a reason this time. Still clinging onto the rope even as he passed out from pain seems prettWHAT DO YOU MEAN JOHN LOSES THIS ONE WHAT. HOW ARE YOU PUTTING THESE TWO IN A COMPETITION THAT'S NOT HOW THIS WORKS AT ALL Not too sure about gramps petting Gin after last episode but sure fine Overall thoughts: Kind of a strange episode. The rescue sequence was sweet but them missing every single bullet is just... suspension of disbelief only goes so far you CANNOT be this bad at aiming. I also still don't get why they're trying to make Gin vs John rivalry a thing, that is a fully grown ass dog picking a fight with a preschooler. The plot for this episode felt kind of artificial but I was impressed they actually just off actual adult humans on screen. Definitely this cannot be a kids' show this must be like 13+ or something.

EP 4

Yeah they keep going with gramps over here being like a loving owner now but like... I don't know. Episode 2's echos still kinda linger around in my brain and sour this character for me. I get it was for training but surely there were better ways to do it, right?

Okay so this guy hunts, has a trained hunting dog, is a doctor, and now is showing off his gains with a bow.

He may be the most competent so far but he is being painted a little like a villain for whatever reason. He hasn't done anything bad he's just a braggart I guess. oh good lord he's a bow glazer at heart as well. What a nightmare. Okay man I get it I got enough shots of his bulging biceps in bro you can stop now I get the message. Man... you were fine dude you could've been fine until you went with the trophy hunting a tiger in china. "人食い虎" yeah right for sure brother whatever you say, totally. Honestly Daisuke you should not be having a spotlight in the darkness revelation moment about bear-hunting gramps not being able to hunt bears anymore that man probably should've stopped years ago. He does seem like the Ahab of Akita though. Something about them just treating Gin like a normal ass dog after episode two really bothers me. wait is he trying to steal the fucking bow. lil guy practicing theft at less than 1 year old, most splendid oh my god a training montage with the opening music it's beautiful There is no way you got this much progress in a month and a half kid what the hell. WHERE'D YOU EVEN FIND WEIGHTS TO LIFT???

Oh that's cute, that's why the show's called "Silver fang: Silver Shooting star", they liken him to one as he runs Who do you think you are lil bro you got 1 (ONE) training montage in you cannot kill this bear This dog is multilingual and still picking fights with a kid. I like John but it's not a good look man it just isn't. Yeah sure those crows were being oddly ominous for no apparent reason but I'm not sure it warranted shooting it down like that. Oh we're doing the regret bit now? Wait huh. ??? wghat. Shit man fuck I guess that resolved itself quickly

This kid actually has the survival instincts of a languid dying foal Good cliffhanger! Surprisingly the dog vs bear action scenes are better than I imagined they would be. Seems like next chapter Gin gets his characteristic ミ scratch mark face scar

Overall thoughts: Alright episode, seems heavy on setup for future ones. They're really hyping up the doctor guy for whatever reason. Gramps will probably die soon and I expect them to do the whole legacy cycle theme / coming of age combo. On the topic of themes, I've been noticing that the bears have a lot of samurai imagery? At least, Akakabuto has the whole "temple" metaphor and his name literally being Red + A type of samurai helm. I've been feeling like they're building up this rivalry as some sort of war, if anything, rather than an animal kinda just living its life despite being an asshole and putting people in jeopardy. I wonder if they'll actually explore this in future episodes. (or idk maybe they'll just remain the foreboding freddy fazbears throughout the whole show only time will tell)

EP 5

A lot of shots in this anime are surprisingly good actually, very cinematic despite the crustiness present in animation of this era

lmao Gohei's voice appearing like if he were a ghost already. Yeah I'm still not sure about him, he's the kind of complicated character where you can tell they try to make you notice he plays a very important role in protecting the village but at the same time he's awful. The influence he has over Daisuke and all his dogs does, in a way, put them all in danger very often. I suppose it's a danger that's not entirely avoidable in order to keep the village safe, but the repercussions of which are probably harsh life lessons that follow you for a long time that probably aren't wholly 100% true or healthy. Oh damn that arrow went through the whole skull, that's some force. Bit surprised that it didn't pierce the brain, though? Or maybe it did just not lethally, it does seem like it went at an angle nice miss. I get that with a bow it's a bit more strength dependent but like 8-10 meters at a perfect angle with what seems like a compound bow (without the little wheels at the edges? It's not a recurve bow but it has the extra cables that cross over before the string so idk what else it can be) can't be that hard, right? 3 arrows doesn't seem like it'd do the job, I guess hitting the throat and nose dead on does do a lot of damage but unless you pierce like the medulla or spinal chord it'd probably still be a bleeding out kind of kill, wouldn't it?

HE IS TWELVE???? I don't think dogs can run so fast as to make afterimages but it's a fun visual. Wow the blood gushing out like a red light fountain is funny Okay so you killed their mother but you don't want to kill the kids? Sure, it's a good moment to reflect on the damages of this "war" you've been fighting but at the same time you're kind of already deep in the trenches so you might as well finish the job. This is definitely not the moment to be having second thoughts about your actions lil guy that was like way before setting foot on the mountain. Or when you killed the crow. Or when you were almost killed in combat with a wild bear. God damn that's a broken neck in a single hit. Brutal. Man I don't know I'm getting a ton of conflicting messages with the morals of this show so far. It's bad to abusively train Gin, but it got results so no harm done. It's fine to kill a grown bear, but not the cubs that specifically continue the lineage of the bear that has been terrorizing the village and has multiple confirmed kills. Yes, they were helpless cubs, but they're the ones you set out to kill initially. I get the impression that the purpose of this hunt is to curb the population of harmful animals, clearly Akakabuto's lineage isn't the only bear line in the mountains and I suppose they exhibit more aggressive traits, so why wouldn't you kill the kids? It's a moral quandary for the literal twelve year old and he's acting on short to no notice sure but you already have blood on your hands that you willingly set out to get yourself. maybe I am like john and Im just naturally predisposed to beefing with kids... well there goes the second one. Oh on a better second look I guess the bow does have the wheels they're just really small and inlaid with the limbs that's a bit too many dogs for a single pack isn't it

+1 on the physical abuse counter Opting to scold Daisuke makes sense but you are sort of giving him mixed signals here too. "A tigerstripe dog is born to be a hunter and Gin is able to do it at a very very young age since he shows aptitude, but you shouldn't be doing this and it's wrong." Not even an explanation that he's getting ahead of himself and putting himself in harm's way, just a "Do not do this ever again or you will get hit." The problem is explicitly framed as both taking the bow without permission was bad and "you are incompetent and cannot kill this" rather than "my guy what the FUCK are you doing you are literally twelve years old this isn't a problem that hinges on skill." This would only teach him to double down to prove them wrong out of spite. Framing scars as a reward is certainly a choice. I do think they look cool but ideally you should not have them. They keep specifically using 男 (man or male typically for humans) rather than something like 雄 (male typically for animals I guess more anatomical) to refer to the dogs and something about that rubs me the wrong way

Overall thoughts: Very much a thought provoking episode! Though, I'm not sure if for the best reasons...? This might be more my fault than the show's but I struggle to glean what the morals it presents even are. Why is it okay to be cruel to Gin as a kid but not to the bear cubs? Why is John painted out to be this ruthless merciless killer for it? You could play the sins of the father card as a counterargument here, but I'm not so certain it always applies on actual animals. Daisuke has already gotten hit square in the jaw twice by his supposed role models, which is rough. It is very interesting to me to see the generational values, even if I shouldn't apply a blanket statement with only one dog show from the 80s as a sample.

EP 6

pfffthahahaha why does gin look so different in this one he looks so funny I love him like this There's no way hunters genuinely have this much trouble hunting down a singular bear, right? Maybe a lot of my perspective on this show is lacking due to the fact that I'm just not well versed in hunting culture, it's not something that often happens around where I live, so something like killing a bear with a couple of men armed with rifles doesn't sound as insurmountable of a task as it's made out to be here. Tracking one would be the most difficult part, right? But once you found it you could feasibly pump it with lead considering these are honest to god rifles they're wielding. A bears tough hide and stocky musculature could tank a few bullets in the shoulders I guess but aiming for the lungs or head might feasibly drop it quick enough? Especially if there's a whole hunting squad for it.

They're seriously treating bears in this show like they're some sort of sapient hyper intelligent being. I keep retreading this thought because yeah bears are incredibly dangerous but it's funny just how much they build this up.

Very nonchalant about giving a kid an honest to god hunting bow through a test of strength Do all bears lose their eyes in this show? I get it's the clearest weakpoint in their body but lol

? that looks a bit like Gin's dad, brown akita with the scars along the back. No fucking way he survived that though, that shit was like a 100 meter fall and he was already gravely wounded

Overall thoughts: not that much for this one, felt like another setup episode. Of course Daisuke is rebelling and trying to prove them wrong. I wonder if this show'll toy around with the idea of bravery and how it toes the line with reckless self endangerment or just posit it as something righteous and justified. So far the only real consequence from Daisuke's actions has been Gin's scar, but that was considered a good thing so idk lmao. Gin's appearance in this episode was a lot different and kinda funny looking but I liked it more

EP 7

GIN SPEAKS NOW?? This seems like a substancial change to the formula almost halfway into the series

Oddly enraptured by a random group of wild mountain dogs, I suppose this episode will be a sort of turning point for Gin and present a sort of nature/nurture divide kinda ordeal

Gin has a huge chin in this episode for whatever reason and it's distracting me

AND JOHN COMES IN OUT OF LEFT FIELD BEEFING WITH A CHILD ONCE AGAIN LADIES AND GENTLEMEN HE DOES HIS SIGNATURE MOVE

I'm kinda liking the shift in focus to the dogs actually

Does that dog have like a bead necklace? How does a dog procure such a thing. Bhuddog. are these all like. purebred dogs out in the mountain. why's there a cocker spaniel in the middle of akita prefecture mountain

GOD the amount of still frames of Gin just staring off into the distance with his mouth agape like :O is taking me out. why does it happen so often lmao REAL MAN TEST. FOR REAL MAN DOGS. we only want REAL MAN dogs for our REAL MAN dog group. NO FAKE MAN DOG ALLOWED. haha okay yeah this episode is kinda letting on to the fact that this series is about to get a lot more over the top. A whole dog head flying out from off screen still bleeding out is crazy little dog you must jump over this chasm of surefire death otherwise you do not fit my standards of masculinity ((for dogs)) oh my god he actually rides the updraft hahaha. Really cool shots but very silly.

+1 to John's losing streak They're gonna continue using the real man rhetoric throughout the whole show and it's gonna be funny to me every single time because I cannot for the life of me begin to even try to take it seriously since this is now the heehoo funny talking dog show Smith's voice really did make me think he was female

DOG SEXISM‼️‼️‼️

For sure that has to be his dad but I have legitimately no idea how they could make up an explanation as to how Riki survived such a fall. IT IS his dad there's no way man what

Overall thoughts: gin you must create your own startup and become rich and find a mate to be a real man and also do this sick ass jump over the cliff gin and bring me a cold beer and also kill this bear with ur maws gin u gotta if u wanna be a real man gin. u gotta. cmon gin. bro. Seems like a turning point for the series, but this episode in particular was real funny. Next episode he'll probably run away from home and it'll be sad for a bit before ultimately Daisuke stops existing as a character I reckon. Fully a dog show now. Which so far I kinda prefer!

EP 8

I like how they're making up this thing of dogs wanting to compete to get to their boss's side before he finishes his signal, funny little ritual to make their mini society more lively however at the same time I cannot help but think of the whole alpha wolf sigma grindset thing when they make the dogs show deference in this weird army-like hierarchy system

ok this dog has forgotten his son I suppose

I mean it makes sense in an anime plotline but thinking about a brain with canonical brain damage fortifying a territory that is comparable to an ancient castle by recruiting allies through sparing their lives which in turn produces an army of wild dogs that live in a mountain under the tutelage of an amnesiac leader in barely a year is quite the concept

the great dog unification (NO STINKY GIRLS ALLOWED!!!! except for that one guys wife) of all japan in order to fight 1 (one) bear

having this huge sleepover with an entire dog army under the moonlight in a little mountain clearing is kind of an amazing activity actually

John is in the right here in calling them insane but also like. It is one bear, man. How many dogs do you need to throw to the bear before it dies realistically. You have literal pack tactics at play here and outnumber him in massive amounts. Realistically he can at most take on maybe 5-10 dogs at once before he can't shift his attention enough to avoid all of their attacks. just jump him

ohhh they're Toyotomi Hideroyi'ing his ass for certain Evil dobermann trope, you hate to see it.

ALL OF THEM? EACH AND EVERY ONE IS A RUNAWAY HUNTING DOG??? Man how many hunters are there around this place that cannot band together to take down ONE bear side tangent I checked the eng subs for this and I find it really funny how they use bitch for Cross which. Is correct yeah but the connotation that word has never lets me associate it with female dogs lmao "The only bitch accepted as male" is a crazy line to read. (jp lines still keep using man for it too lmao) then again these english subs aren't official I imagine going back on my word with the amount of dogs it takes to topple a bear shogunate, seems like he can easily shake off 6+, bear powerscaling continues.

Kind of sad to see a character using hunting dogs as meatshields. I'd have to look up more related to it but I wonder how hunting dogs have actually been treated through time, hopefully with some more compassion than this. It's fun to think about dogs having their own hierarchies and "jobs" and intricate relationships with one another, but for creatures with such short lives it always saddens me to see their time put towards personal gain. The series has had me thinking a bit about the way purpose is given to certain animals and how it'd affect their lives, particularly from ep 2 with the rough training Gin got. When you think about it, Gin was already presupposed to become a hunting dog the moment those tiger stripes were visible, following the legacy left to him of putting himself in harm's way to "protect the village from bears" I imagine. And really, by nature it seems like Gin's personality is more disposed towards that, considering he appears to be about to willingly leave the human he grew alongside with to join a group of wild hunting dogs. Of course, he doesn't get a choice, as a dog, but giving the characters humanlike cognition poses a few questions. I wonder, would Gin have been different had he not been trained to hunt bears? What difference really is there between him and his offscreen siblings aside from his now faded tiger stripes?

Sure John, oddly motivational speech about a little kid inspiring you, I thought you two kinda disliked each other to be honest but I'll take the scene as the moving one it's meant to be

He seems really torn up about the whole thing, surprisingly. Perhaps leaving the family you grew up with behind to further the cause you have found for yourself in life (which in turn ultimately is to protect them even if it means removing yourself from their life) isn't a decision you should make as quickly as that, and I'm sure Daisuke would be genuinely heartbroken about Gin just suddenly vanishing one night since he went in so far as to sleep in the same cot as the dogs waiting for him to return, but this might be where that coming of age theme comes in. I'm not sold on the "real man" thing, but at least by making this choice I can clearly see that Gin is growing as an individual. One I would describe as very foolhardy though because lil man what are you doing lmao "gin little dog who clearly cannot be my son you must recruit people for my dog army go forth"

Overall thoughts: Complicated ep, that's for sure. But it's likely the REAL start of the show now. Ultimately a decisive point for Gin as a character and his future growth. Maybe it's just me but it feels almost overly harsh on Daisuke in a sense, the very same dog that he helped raise and who saved his life just randomly disappears one day. I wonder if he'll keep showing up in the series? Will he also be reckless enough to continue trying to hunt bears by himself? Honestly POSSIBLE because every single character in this show is borderline self negligent lmao

EP 9

deploy the tactical gin akita airstrike Running for ten whole days without rest? Somewhat excessive

DOG HAZING RITUALS ‼️‼️‼️ wow dog army uprising

Not too sure the right strat against a wild hog charging at you in a straight line is to just wait there lil guy, that one's kind of on you

Really funny how hard they're going into the Tiger dogs in this anime.

Not sure you get the same message across when saying something that's roughly "I want to recruit you three as my subordinates" 1v3 against supposed super dogs isn't the most well thought modus operandi

HAHAHAHA NOOO NOT THE "Cross is a woman you should be fighting me!" NOOOOO 1980s japan dog sexism plotline...

Okay yeah they're using Gin's training as something good that happened. Not too sure about it but eh I gotta let go of it eventually.

Overall thoughts: Frankly kind of a nothing episode, a few character introductions and Gin's first foray into living with the wild dog pack.

EP 10

Kurotora is the new John of the series

deploy the tactical dobermann airstrike.

Yooo he's doing the classic villain move where he monologues out his entire plan to someone he's about to kill, sick. Oh gin definitely should've died there wow Not too much to say here honestly, seems like a pretty standard rising tensions episode HOLY SHIT THAT DOG GOT FUCKING PULVERIZED BY A BOULDER. oh that's gonna leave some damage on Ben. Honestly, this anime feels like it's a kid's shonen with the brutality and blood turned up to 11 for whatever reason, it's an insane contrast that they just keep rising every episode

I wonder how much of this story has been affected by actual wars. Off the top of my head I don't remember any major conflicts in Japan around those times, but I guess maybe the author could've been influenced by growing up in the post ww2 period.

Overall thoughts: Also somewhat of a nothing episode but seeing how they just turned a dog into red dust with a boulder was hilarious, they just atomized that background character like it was nothing and no one batted an eye. More interpersonal conflict within the platoons, that's about it. Odd to see Gin take his first real objective loss. I suppose the series will take on a more episodic structure now, going place to place recruiting dogs (and also losing more than they get tbh) All this to kill one bear.

EP 11

The music they pick for some of the recaps is so unfitting lmao they'll be showing ben getting his skull cracked and have the most "Please hold in line :)" theme in the background Tigerdogs currently getting powercrept by some robust mastiff

Okay how is gin like. summoning these shooting stars. they should not be this common and perfectly timed "BEN WHERE ARE YOU :(" "He's right underneath you." cut to his disfigured head sitting there peeking from under a rock with eyes full stark white. lmao man the bites in this anime are priceless, they just have the dogs hanging vertically while chomping down on a neck or nose. They seriously just have Gin tilting a few degrees in a circle fully vertically and somehow still talking, crazy. HE'S DOING TRICKS ON IT HOLY SHIT

I really like the dynamic of the equivalent of this random 10 year old throwing hands with full grown ass men and saving the lives of others. Yeah welcome to the gang, we have man, man, man, woman, man, man, man, little kid who kinda just wanted to tag along cuz, man, man, GOD THE ROCK JUST SLOWLY DRIFTING UPWARDS LIKE ITS NOTHING...

Oh this guy for sure has got to been brain damaged at least a bit by that rock, that or his spinal chord got fucking shattered into smithereens from the direct hit. Damn Moss really is asking for a test of strength from a man who just got buried under a ton of rocks. (real man things btw)

Nice move though. throws rocks on a guy > guy somehow survives despite all odds > ok whatever I'll challenge him to a fight > get shit kicked in in actual seconds > B-BY JOVE HOW COULD THIS BE > donate all troops this dog logic is getting more and more nonsensical to me the longer I watch it's so good

he ALWAYS looks like you just killed his entire family before his eyes I don't know how he manages to strike this look each and every time but I adore it what's with the randomly sentimental music as everyone calls this guy old

why does ben stick his tongue out and lick the side of his muzzle when laughing. little freak

REALLY WHAT IS THIS SONG LMAO "we're frieeeeendssss OOOOOO we're companiooonnnnsss OOOOOOO~" ????

I shouldn't be surprised they made a character piss himself but I guess I just don't know what to expect from this anime anymore, it's so wild, it goes anywhere it wants to damn EVERYONE wants to snap peepee boy's neck clean off here THEY'RE PUTTING CANNIBALISM IN THIS SHOW??? Jesus christ they really do not hold punches in dog show

Overall thoughts: super ninja stealth dogs with ninja moves. This one scores high in the comedy scale. I'm finally at the halfway point of the series (Really odd that there's only 21 episodes? usually they do 25 more or less. usually way more for old anime) and I have absolutely no clue where this is headed other than that bear is going down.

EP 12

Not sure you'd specifically want to recruit cannibals for your army...? There's some sort of conflict on interest there I'm pretty sure. I guess their cool SUGOI ninja moves win out over their dietary habits.

I mean it seems like a bit of a waste of time to bury some unknown dog considering you are dogs and I don't believe dogs tend to hold funerals but you have given me this visual of carrying the body by biting onto each limb and I find it hilarious so I won't talk shit Oh damn they're homeowner ninjas

Ah I see there's 2 dog tribes here. Ben will NEVER just talk normally and wait until the very last moment to reveal their mission objective for the day

"Ben PLEASE let me get out of this jail I have children Ben. WE'RE MEN, BEN. YOU GOTTA LET ME OUT OF THIS LITTLE CAGE WITH MY INJURED LEG BECAUSE WE ARE MEN, BEN. PLEASE."

NO WAY they have super moves with names. This show is amazing... Dogs don't actually just sit there with their mouth agape 24/7 right I'm not imagining this

Doesn't Gin have infinite lung capacity why not just keep swimming through it. Sure the current pushes you n all but this seems like a poor moment to drop your plot armor lil guy

hitting a joyous and mischievous little pose there gin

A WHOLE ARMY of like 70 troops folded to caltrops.

me when I have to scold my coward ass brother over not wanting to fight cannibals to the death in the name of honor and pride so I send him to the death pitfall trap to get impaled (how did dogs make that)

Oh they genuinely have Gin pulling midair combos on a guy falling. A lot has changed from ep 1 lmao

It's really funny how Ben is this self sacrificial and then in a random episode some dog will just get instakilled and nobody will bat an eye

Wait why would you use poison whose medicine grows specifically within the territory of your mortal enemy tribe. Like you do realize why this is counterintuitive right. This is more of a detriment to yourself if anything, one careless day and whoops someone's down for good. I guess you're banking on them not being knowledgeable about medicine?

Overall thoughts: the silliness in this show is ramping up and I'm looking forward to where it'll end up, it's great. I wonder what would even cause a tribe of dogs to resort to cannibalism though. I guess the food scarcity in the area they mentioned, with the lack of birds or tanuki. do dogs eat tanuki in japan what... I wonder if they'll have an initial misunderstanding with every single dog group they try to recruit

EP 13

man these ninja dogs like using some funny sounding grammar

It is hilarious to see the shots they put in of dogs with tears streaming down their faces as they run through the forest. you go man, break the laws of biology for your emotional moment

THAT DOG WIELDS A SICKLE??? okay bro three slashes to the throat I think you're just down Faceplanting into your own weapon and gouging your eye out is a pretty ironic outcome yo this 10 year old is fucking them up

JOHN??? are we not like genuine kilometers you ran from akita to mie that shit alone spans like 4 regions how the hell is this dog here.

poison that turns you into a dog zombie that bites whatever neck is nearest to you in the moment

Sweet but also really funny that Ben wants Gin to be his successor to leading the group. Yes I hand my spot to the barely young adult listen to him now that I have gone blind.

Talking about blindness wow that guy's eyeball injury scarred up quick huh. You'd think that after maybe a few hours at most it'd still be a gaping wound.

they do some sort of crocodile death roll every time they bite down on a neck

Man this belief that's ever present about just doing reckless self endangerment for the sake of arbitrarily proving yourself for something that was already proven is so odd to me. Ben has already told you time and time again, directly or otherwise, that he views you in high regard, so what's the point in undertaking an enemy that could kill you by yourself instead of actually just owning the tactical advantage

「すげえや！　どいつもコイツもすばらしい男たちだ」 does not sound like you would want it to sound john. while wetting ur lips no less brother, fiendish.

fatherhood jumpscare do not think back to the bear cub incident do not think about the second episode deep breaths deep breaths this is the first time they've posed the question of killing a bad person's offspring it has never happened before

oh well there goes cross. Starting to see a pattern in the deaths and injuries in this anime, either you fall down a bottomless pit or your SPECIFICALLY right eye gets gouged

I mean odd to blame the bigger group when it was that one random dog with the funny eyes who put your kid in explicit peril

YOOOOOOO

another crocodile deathroll haha

Okay well it's. you're really making me go through it man I don't know. This guy IS a cannibal, him being a father doesn't change that. Same way as Akakabuto is a killer, him being a father did not change that either. Is it sad the the puppy is licking his dad's nose as he lies down struggling to breathe from his injured neck? sure but cannibalism. you've already wiped out 90% of his pack at the very least, this is the same problem as that other episode. But like in the middle of a war you would not kill a soldier on the opposing faction's innocent children, right? "we have to avoid unnecessary killings" GIN WEREN'T YOU ABOUT TO KILL HIM JUST TO PROVE AN IRRELEVANT POINT

ok well that wasn't really the first time john lost. he did lose to a little baby man gin earlier in the show. that was very much a thing that happened despite how insane of an assertion that is. but it's a point the show itself made so going back on it is not my fault.

ANOTHER shooting star.

You were just defending this abandoned house literally some hours ago to the death and now you are willingly burning it down yourself man I mean fuck okay I guess everyone here makes decisions of this caliber at such breakneck speed.

what is. OKAY. Tricks random pack of dogs into attacking your rivals > set up an ambush to kill their leader > fail, lose an eye > decide oh shit we gotta attack NOW > fail, get most of your pack killed > FUCK I better hit the bricks and run > oh shit my child out of nowhere is being dangled over a precipice > what the fuck that random unrelated dog just took herself down with my son fuck this im going beast mode > go beast mode > get shit kicked in by a kid again > get life spared by said kid and now son is right there with me > JUST BOLT THE FUCK AWAY AND LEAVE HIM THERE CUZ. > oh fuck the treasury of the house my rivals kept safe is being turned into ashes, I better jump in and burn myself to a crisp because ???? > the remains of my cannibal dog pack JUMP IN AFTER ME AND DIE TOO

WHAT IS THIS SERIES OF EVENTS. WHAT IS THIS CHARACTER. WHAT. AM I INSANE HERE?????? okay

Overall thoughts: these dogs need therapy Did john abandon his owner with the bow flexing on screen? Does it matter that Ben is just permanently blinded now? are akame's eyes even red??? so many questions...

EP 14

Puppy goes to sea for the first time, cute

alright gin I get you're making ben your father figure since your actual dad hit his head too hard but crossing the 50+km divide between wakayama and tokushima is a bit ridiculoous

look at john here lmao

Oh wow they're showing off dogfighting rings and tosa dogs

...who is this fluffy circus dog again did I skip something what's his name and why did he just have that guy's baby in his mouth before.

"hm yes, surely I can fight off these 200 dogs alone" statements made by the utterly deranged (kurotora, who previously got his ass beat by a kid)

So much for each of the kai brothers being worth a hundred dogs in strength

Oh wow first Daisuke reference since ep 8 evil dobbie's back

what is this face man hahaha

I get the feeling that this show very much does still want to sell me on the friendship between these dogs but a lot of the time I keep thinking about what a strange friendship relation these dogs share. I think it's based more on repaying debts rather than aligned goals, a lot of them are putting their lives on the line just kind of because. That or some sort of respect? It's odd that there's apparently rumors about this specific platoon of dogs. It feels like such overkill for getting one singular bear downed, even to this point, that they'd go over internal wars and hundreds of kilometers just for it. Many of them are maimed, mashed into paste by rocks, Ben even lost his vision, and somehow Gin's dad managed to rally them all behind his cause? It's impressive to the point I question how it's even possible.

HE WASN'T BITING THE COLLAR THOUGH???? A BURST OF BLOOD GUSHED OUT?????? HOW IS GIN NOT DEAD AGAIN.

Has anyone actually called him Gin the shooting star to his face before. I don't recall. dog shadow clones woaw

"I'm not on your side yet kid" *laughs ominously* *eyes glint* "ok im gonna come with you though haha we're comrades now" ?? cool thanks bill

Overall thoughts: really just another episode dedicated towards showcasing Gin's growth, solid but I don't have much to note about it. Odd that Sniper's whole deal was resolved that quickly, I suppose they wanted to alude to Daisuke's influence in Gin's life being something that saved him but it felt a bit forced and odd and just... why lmao i guess author got tired of drawing the collar.

EP 15

BEHOLD. THE STRONGEST MAN THERE IS.

Did they really adorn their dogs in such attire back then lmao

God the amount of bloom they put in some shots feels like I got hit by a stun grenade. I wonder how they did it. This was back in the cel animation era, right? Maybe they had some sort of backlight when recording the frames and cut out the backgrounds so the light would bleed over?? either way it's a bit much but I like how it looks a lot.

It's curious to watch this knowing just how abhorrent dog fighting rings were. Apparently even to this day some persist over there despite implemented bans and other laws regarding it.

"Hm yes the best way to contact this seemingly world renowned strongest dog is to directly confront him in 1 to 1 combat" Gin you thickheaded little creature...

I wonder if Gin just stands there to take the hit for fun. Just sort of because. He's clearly shown he has hyper speed before so clearly he should be able to dodge world's most telegraphed straight line punch. I guess it wouldn't contradict his almost masochistic streak of just going into battle for the sake of it.

Oh actually I guess that's a pretty good reason for just tanking them. Kind of an insane train of thought but it works for the insane dog ring dog

CROSS IS PREGNANT AND SHE THREW HERSELF INTO THE WAVES???

I mean girl you cannot keep acting all blushy and surprised about revealing it let's be honest this is a 1980s anime it was bound to happen

Is it really this easy to convince people to do your bidding if you throw yourself at them with borderline suicidal intent

Starting to see more parallels between armymen leaving their family to further a cause and the dogs leaving their owners

HAHAHA THE DRAMATIC FACE TURN WITH TEARS ROLLING DOWN HIS FACE oh my god splendid

Overall thoughts: I'm starting to get a solid idea of what the message of the show is and my interpretation isn't. optimistic. but I do very much still enjoy this series as an experience, it's fascinating to watch each episode and see a difference in values. Like listening to some random guy you met at a gas station at 3 am because you're in ruins and wanted a hot pocket and now you're there getting his entire life story and you're just nodding along going wow uh huh yeah damn that's crazy because it is kinda crazy in truth. and there's dogs and hype moments and aura.

EP 16

Moss's gang gets trapped in a hole, meanwhile Ben regains his vision and immediately tries to get brain damage by bashing repeatedly against steel bars

About Ben, what the hell is his relation with his owner? He's hundreds of kilometers away from his home which is somewhere in Kansai(?) to go to akita prefecture to fight bears because...??? All the way saving the tiger trio, freeing akame, and then just randomly visiting back for a vet checkup? It's odd to me that every dog's owner just sort of lets them go. They cry a few tears and then they just go. How odd.

YOOO SAUSAGE DOG

I like this other villain dog that looks like it has heavy metal rock fan makeup on it's sick

Another instance of dogs willingly offering up their lives for an almost inane reason.

There's so many shots like this one but I'm a sucker for them all

god lmao everyone screaming their lungs out tears STREAMING down their face cheerleading the guy currently getting his ass beat

+1 for the eyeball loss counter

Ominous bear faction waiting for the perfect moment the thunder would strike to make them look so much more badass while they throw a corpse into the fight pit

Why is Gin so attached to this one he didn't even meet him did he? Well other than the army comradery of course.

Seems a bit unrealistic that the enemy would be so impossibly moved by valiance as to just join the army they were previously opposing and planning on killing by starvation and heat stroke. How are they climbing this cliffside also, shouldn't it be harder now that it's wet by rain? Seems almost easier now if anything lol

These are some good visuals for the attacks on the bears

Okay sure you can make the guy who double double quadruple crossed people into a martyr but I'm still not entirely sold on this turn of events.

RAINBOW OF FRIENDSHIP AND ALLYSHIP!!!!

Overall thoughts: An episode with cool moments that ultimately hinge on selling Terry's death as a sacrifice to rouse the opposing army's side to join forces with the protagonists, but I'm not satisfied with how it was done. Great visually though, it's clear that they're going through the rising action at present. this anime HATES people with unharmed eyes!!! The average eyeball count per character in this anime must be like 1.2

EP 17

Approaching the final 5 episodes now!

Hokkaido arc CANCELLED

Good lord I'm getting lost between location names and dog names and territorial strategy exposition hekp me

how is that coming out of your eye, man. gross. how did you even manage to do this. you are like one those little lizard freakazoids that creep people out with this.

Is this guy's brain exposed or something? Something about his head looks wrong

Laughing my ass off at this dog travel montage of every single dog in the country conglomerating in akita asap. MOBILIZE ALL TROOPS, MARITIME ROUTE WITHOUT A VESSEL!!!

God everyone's getting worried about this RANDOM DOG CHAIN just all running in the same direction this is magnificent

"Every father wants a son to follow in his footsteps" oh my goddd dudeeeeeee. At least it's a moving scene where they talk about children growing up too fast but OH MY GODD MANNN

what is this fuckass move gin is imagining with his dad what lol ??? doing strange pirouettes with papa

I still find it curious that they use historical names for places, like Ouu instead of Touhoku. Maybe it's some nuance I'm missing idk.

What a strange way of meeting another army but okay lol, total troops doubled, hokkaido arc fastforwarded. 1600 dogs is a lot for 1 bear wow

They really try to make Riki seem like a badass but in the grand scheme of things we haven't really seen why his mere presence managed to rally together thousands of dogs under his banner. He's just some amnesiac dad with great combat skills, the most I remember about him is just him being self sacrificial for the sake of both Gin and his owner. Is he meant to be infinitely charismatic

WHY are they all crying at his sight wtf lmao

Weren't scars being painted as spoils of war why are they something to bring you to tears now

ehhh I'm not too sure about posing it as a leader shedding tears over sending his oh so valiant warriors to certain death is a cry of compassion. I mean I guess but it feels odd to call it that.

Overall thoughts: Really cool setpieces in this one with payoffs to earlier chapters but... This is still absolutely overkill for a single bear it's so ridiculous lmao And posing it as a leader being compassionate over the orders he gave just strikes me as weird? I guess I'm not too well acquainted with the workings of war but I always thought as most war leaders as a lot more detached emotionally than that. I guess this one's meant to be like... The ultra idyllic perfect father figure monolithical role model that is incapable of doing any wrong which yeah alright but the whole plan as a whole has always struck me as odd from the first moment it was proposed. Ben's a dad now also I guess which wow death flag uh oh

EP 18

"dad- i mean boss what if we go through the back door instead of the front door for our invasion" "You are so right my soldier I was just thinking the exact same thing" was this meant to be like. not an obvious option...?

good heavens mine they're breaking out the dog warfare diagrams this cannot be

SIXTEEN teams of dogs in total bro hahaha this is so much

THEY DID THE THING they did the thing where a character's children are just mini versions of themselves perfectly yoooooo literally 2 mini bens 1 mini cross. sick

oh ben for sure is gonna disregard those orders and get himself killed in the name of honor when in reality he should've listened and lived to see his children grow up

YOU SWIM THROUGH AN OCEAN TO FIND GIN TO GET HIM HOME SAFE AND YOU TELL YOUR HUSBAND "NAH FUCK IT MAN DW BOUT OUR KIDS I GOT IT FROM HERE 👌👌👌" ??? GIRL WHAT.

"IM GONNA GO BE A MAN, CROSS" "A man should not cry" ???? ??? ?? this fucking show man lmaooo these goddamn lines

Don't worry smith, at least you get matching scars with Riki's for your attack

Ben's eyeball license has expired yet again. oh hey they reused those cell animations from another episode where he hit something and fell down, I remember cuz I tried to tell if those two triangular pebbles that broke off were his teeth or not. Anyways this should probably be the perfect warning to get him to turn tail and not throw away his life

BROTHER YOU HAVE A WIFE. YOU HAVE CHILDREN. WHAT DO YOU MEAN "BOSS MUST NOT DIE ALONE" YOU WANT YOUR LAST MOMENTS TO BE WITH HIM???

Sniper is so cartoonishly evil I actually find him fun. He's got such a short sighted goal too which is so unjustifiable that it turns into something funny.

Well off goes ben, that surely could not have ever been avoided had orders been followed.

nice hyena redemption arc but HE THROWS HIMSELF DOWN THERE TOO??? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GONNA DO HE'S RED PASTE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RAVINE ALREADY BRO

oh yeah dogs have ninja supermoves in this show, I forgot

"Heh... leave it to me... I'll just go for the eyes... pft... its nothin'..." -words said by someone about to get absolutely demolished in the blink of an eye

oh would you look at that i blinked

If only you could hear how hard I laughed.

how big is this bear to be able to stomp 6 dogs at once. I thought bear paws were like maybe the size of two human heads at most.

Overall thoughts: The dog meat grinder begins. Ben's (alleged because so far pitfalls have had a 0/3 kill count) death was very dumb and entirely preventable. I wonder if japanese bears are really this coked up in real life.

EP 19

The final trio of episodes!

I guess they're just getting Benizakura's death out of the way quick huh. Putting it as the title of the episode is a fun choice.

They really reused the frames of the dogs getting stepped on but mirrored lmaooo

A THIRD TIME??? IN THE SAME EPISODE???

That branch definitely should've pierced the spinal chord through the throat I feel.

oh there it goes. You should not be getting that close to a presumed corpse without verifying it's dead though

Okay well unifying the troops does probably work but that's sort of going against your supreme leader commander highest in position number 1 man most valiant and honorable and smart Riki so I'm not too sure about that move Gin

Not too great a gambler.

did he. did he just start irradiating light. did gramps teach you this secret technique riki huh Oh hey 3 fingers down, sick. Thrown against a tree right onto your injured back. It's a wonder this dog doesn't have some sort of nervous system permanent damage.

riki my man PLEASE you have GOT to stop falling in whatever crevace you find my guy

burying him with trees is unbelievable lmaooo I wonder how sapient these bears are in comparison to the dogs, they clearly have their own strategies. Having a perfect akakabuto double is so insanely convenient what a funny asspull

...I don't think that's what brain damage does to your body. NO WAYYY THEY HID THE BEARS UNDERGROUND HAHAHA

Odd that Gin is going inside a random house, he usually doesn't stop fighting something until it's dead or he's knocked out.

Oh yeah Ben's alive but... How did you manage to get here. Didn't you fall off a cliff.

That's how Benizakura dies? Damn. Hey at least the claws through the skull look very cinematic.

Ah well I guess you can tank a little bit of your skull getting cleaved by claws.

I don't see how you'd get your leg stuck like that in the rope but at least this one is one of the self sacrifices in this show that make most sense.

Do not swim so close to the bear actively flailing his arms around little guy what the fuck are you doing you are INCHES away

The dialogue's real funny here since they're actually just shaking their heads around from side to side a bit and just imagining their dialogue to each other. Well that sounds more sad than funny actually but still.

where are those petals coming from lmao BLOOD??? THAT'S NOT HOW BLOOD

Trying his best to look cool even in death damn.

Overall thoughts: Good episode! This self sacrifice I can understand. He was already gravely wounded and it was a good chance to take one of the greater challenges in the Akakabuto gauntlet. The blood flower on the surface of the water was INSANE seriously what a crazy way to signal his death but also at least it was very theatrical. The renaissance painting painting he got jojo style of everyone crying while his visage is reflected off in the distance was also hilarious. Riki however wtf is he doing trying to go on a solo mission ambush. The dogs have like 3 different plans and they're not focusing on any one of them. truly fuck it we ball

EP 20

It's snowing now for some reason? I guess it had to look cooler when blood spills, fair enough. Cross girl you cannot act this destitude when you were the one who explicitly told him to go. honey sweetheart darling this was a thought you think twice before being all dejected about it later

Wasn't Ben meant to be blind right about now

800 LEFT WHAT. YOU LOST HALF YOUR ENTIRE ARMY ALREADY???? THIS MORTALITY RATE IS SOME BULLSHIT YOU GUYS SUCK ASS AT WARFARE LOCK IN

+1 on the eyeball damage but this one seems like it just straight up flew off from that bear's crushed skull

Does that bear have spikes along its back?? okay holy shit he just split that other bear's head open like a goddamn coconut and drank the blood that spewed out

at some point these arent bears anymore these are raid bosses

these dogs really do like to throw themselves at any possible threat that stands before them like it's their treat to enjoy. One would think that after seeing not one but two groups of dogs unable to break through the bear's hide they'd maybe imagine that it's not so easy.

You gotta have some ROTTEN luck to have a killer bear board your ship in the middle of the ocean.

+1 certain death scenario avoided by gin through luck

bear to bear communication. doesnt ur mouth dry by having it open at all times how much drool u got brother

oh there goes harpoon bear. guess it's a bear powerscaling showcase to show just how powerful red bear is

YOOO +1 PISS COUNTER actually what happened to hyena even where tf is sniper. did I miss a scene how did Ben even...

you. you fix Riki's amnesia by just... bopping him over the head MORE? sure fuck it anything goes, let's see how he dies to save gin now.

These dogs are so dumb oh my god lmao they're so fun to watch. Yes you're so right everyone fight the enemy with the territorial advantage that just 1hko'd the biggest threat you could not even scratch.

ultra super hyper speed Riki to the rescu- THROUGH THE BEARS THROAT WHAT. CLEAN OFF????

Damn these bear takedown sequences are pretty enjoyable actually

Overall thoughts: this anime is so goddamn nonsensical but damn if it ain't cool at least.

EP 21

Sick title card for the finale.

Immediately we start with Ben, yet again, throwing himself almost suicidally at the enemy. Some things just never change.

+2 eyes gone from some dog who just got deleted by falling rocks

"That's your father" and sickle dog's stolen child is just there too lmao

WHAT are these two even doing holy shit. Lightspeed father and son.

Oh Akatora's dead for sure but getting the other eye out of the way is a great way to go out at the very least. however that is also +2 eyes injured

I've seen the same dalmatian background character die like 20 times throughout this show already lol

wonder who'll get the last hit in, likely Gin but I think it'd be more cinematic if Daisuke pulled another stupid bullshit move and climbed the mountain alone AGAIN to finish him with an arrow

YOOO Riki's drifting midair. I have no clue whatsoever how this could ever be a good move nor how this could be some sort of dormant attack that lays latent within a bear hunting dog's blood but it's cool

Gramp's got the final hit in it seems. This bear functioned more on sheer spite and contempt than actual biology.

800 dogs died for this btw if not more, they had a 50%+ troop mortality rate.

HE'S STILL NOT DEAD HE HAS MORE BLOOD OUTSIDE HIS BODY THAN OTHERWISE HOW

there goes gramps

there goes riki

OH WAIT WHAT he behead him just like that? honestly wouldn't be surprised anymore if headless bear starts wrecking havoc back up either

God what a move it is to go "you spineless cowards didn't even fucking TRY to kill these bears you have NO courage. These dogs are more manly than you."

"No! We're not even gonna try with riki!!! Men die with hype moments and aura under their belt, Daisuke."

DAISUKE AND GIN DON'T EVEN REUNITE??? Sucks but oh well.

A satisfactory ending! I've got problems with it but it's definitely a good conclusion.

Overall thoughts: Pretty good conclusion, big bad bear is finally dead and everyone who tossed away their life because it was heehoo silly fun got avenged. Riki passes away, of course, on behalf of being a protagonist's dad. Surprised Ben didn't bit the dust! I was also really surprised that Akakabuto's whole 3 dog generation rampage was just. 6 and a half years of age. I really thought it'd be a lot more, frankly. It felt a little abrupt, truth be told, but there weren't too many loose ends. Onto what I have to say about the show as a whole.

FINAL REVIEW & CONCLUSION:

Listen. I'll level with you. As a REAL MAN, and knowing you reading right now are also a REAL MAN too regardless of circumstance, I think that REAL MEN are easily able to surmise what my REAL MAN opinion is on this rhetoric used throughout this REAL MAN dog REAL MAN anime from what I've written. This is a 1980s anime, 40 years have passed since this released, and of course values shift throughout time. I can't seriously begin touting holier than thou drivel at the army drama dog show, assuming you're a fan of this show and read all the way down here, which I am very grateful for, you already knew this'd be part of it.

My interpretation on the show's themes are pretty direct. War romanticism, what it means to "be a man", companionship and strife, self sacrifice for a greater cause to attain self actualization, and the whole treating women as something to be protected thing. I don't necessarily think a lot of the ideas presented are wholly bad. Protecting others is good! When necessary. Devoting yourself to something is good! When you're not putting yourself neatly tied up with a pretty bow at death's doorstep. Rising to the ocassion when it demands it is commendable and honorable, doing something dangerous that saves lives is great, I imagine most can agree on this. But a lot of what is present in this show is downright insane. There were so many times where worthless belligerencies took from both sides in almost every conflict present within this story. So much of the bloodshed could've been avoided if characters did not act based on ego and actually thought things through.

Undeniably, Ginga Nagareboshi Gin is a story that alludes to war and the role men in particular play within it, and, most importantly, how giving up your life for it is something noble and heroic that should be celebrated. You can tell I'm opposed to this principle in particular by how many times I was baffled by the deaths in this show. Characters just kill themselves all the time! It feels like almost all relationships in this show are entirely conditional on how much you can endanger yourself. Dogs throw themselves into a house set on fire because their leader foolishly jumped in, another sits on a train track ready to die to prove to another that he's a "real man", countless times other characters jump into attacks and accomplish next to nothing by doing it. Everyone gets injured time and time again and they don't learn their lesson. And this isn't exclusive to the dogs! Daisuke goes to the mountain and gets Gin hurt, and as a result he's told NOT that his action was reckless and he could have genuinely died there, but rather something along the lines that he's just not good enough to take the bear down. There's physical abuse in the show, both to Gin and Daisuke, by the people who supposedly care for them. There's so many lessons given throughout the show that just left me reeling at how this could have possibly been what the moral attempted to be. Obviously, the show's main draw is the action and the dogs forming groups and fighting, which is very much entertaining, but the reasoning surrounding it I felt a bit lacking.

I think the part that bothered me most is one that's present even in the opening. Gin, from the very getgo, already has his fate set in stone. He's a bear hunting dog, so he will hunt bears. To me, Gin is an oddly complicated character despite how thickheaded and straight minded he is. It's very clear that Gin is one of the most heroic characters, one of the most caring, and one that despite being the youngest somehow ends up with the most braincells. Really, his life fucking sucks. He was born to be put in harms way, he was abused as a puppy, his dad's disappears in front of him, he abandons his owner and family which he grew up with, his dad forgets all about him and then he joins a war. At such a young age too! This is the story of a child indoctrinated into becoming soldier that is constantly being forced to prove himself to others, time and time and time again. All under the guise of bravery and courage, which sure, I'll grant you that, but man... it's really just depressing. Maybe it's just me, though. I get I'm looking too deep into the dog show but I can't help it! It's sad that Gin's life is inevitably changed because the humans around him are somehow too incompetent to kill a bear. (of course, i assume the bear represents a threat larger than yourself and those you know that is ever looming in the back of your mind and tough as nails to kill rather than just a normal bear.)

A story is not without conflict, however, which is why even if I disagree with a lot of the fundamental messages at face value, I can call this anime very entertaining. I loved seeing Gin's development, despite it being mired in a lot of [Hey if you don't literally kill yourself for this cause you are lesser as a living being.] Seeing what insane stuff the dogs got up to in each chapter enraptured my attention, and despite how unnecessary they were too, seeing how characters died was interesting as well. I enjoyed the show a lot because it made me reflect on a lot of values I myself hold in the present day, the one that clashes most with the show being that becoming another chunk of meat for the warfare meatgrinder is, at the very least, kind of disagreeable. Or the bear cub dilemma from the earlier episodes. It also pissed me off in a lot of other ways but it was an interesting pissing off! And I got many laughs from it too, it's a wholeheartedly hilarious show once you get past the "to gin this was a cruel and unavoidable fate" bits.

Despite my initial comment on the dogs' appearance, I'm actually quite fond of the art. The backgrounds are lovely, and the animation, even when it shows certain constraints, was really nice for a cast that is made up mostly of animals. The music was cheesy too but enjoyable as well. The overall packaging as a whole is very solid.

I definitely loved the siege at the end despite how over the top it was to have both bears and dogs resort to unorthodox warfare tactics, it was very theatrical. Most action scenes in general were a highlight even when they did those funny dog crocodile death rolls or flashy special moves. My favorite characters were the Kai brothers, though I couldn't really tell you why? This anime has a huge cast, and even if most don't get to do too much, they didn't exactly blend into one another, and manage to each be mostly distinct and recognisable... but for the life of me I could not tell you what won me over for those three lol. A lot of the show in general is based on very cool moments, which I cannot deny aren't impressive either. I just wish I could've connected more with the story, perhaps. I wasn't angry at the mismatch in values, but seeing how the dog army is painted as good comrades that care about each other and then the very next second everyone starts putting up obstacles in the way of their mutual respect was a bit sad. Gin definitely showcased feeling like doing something that could have killed him was necessary just to earn someone's respect multiple times throughout the show.

If you watched this show and loved it dearly I can only hope that you take care of yourself and value your life. You really do not have to risk it on something stupid for you to be a valuable person. Again, of course, this is just a dog show. I can only assume most watched it for the dogs and the action scenes rather than the life lessons about giving up your life for a cause and internalized them so deeply that they began swimming to Tokushima to recruit strong men. But I worried a bit because I find that that's such a sad lesson to live your life through!

Again, to conclude, they're interesting ideas to reflect upon. I could probably go on for a lot longer, but I'll cut it here because it's mostly unnecessary, and if you watched this anime, I'm more than certain your mind is probably made up on them already. And if not, then maybe you're in time for a nostalgic rewatch, wouldn't that be fun?

I'd much prefer to stick to the themes I found more agreeable, and judge it based on those. That bravery is valuable, caring for others and forming unexpected bonds is formidable and that you grow through facing the unknown and learning. Because at it's core I feel like GNG wants to be a series with a lot of heart and show that you can fight for what you believe in.

For the japanese learning side of things, it appears I got roughly 120 new words in! I wasn't as thorough as I should have been, maybe, but I can't blame myself because MAN they put in some fuckass vocab in there. I don't know when I'll start reading shit where I consistently need to know each title for the platoon hierarchy, or the archaisms for the historic war drama they put in, or the fucked up grammar points you find from time to time to spice up the writing.

If I had to pick a singular word I learned from this one as my favorite, I'd probably go with 闘志 (will to fight), which is very emblematic of the show.

Very much an anime I enjoyed, weird as it was. Cool dogs!

MAYBE I JUST GOT TOO ATTACHED TO THE DOGS OKAY. OKAY?! YOU GOT ME NOW AND SO WHAT. WHAT IF I DIDN'T WANT GIN TO BE INJURED AND BLEED EVERY EPISODE. WHAT IF WATCHING THE DOGS GET HURT MADE ME A LITTLE SAD AM I TOO WOKE AM I SIMPLY TAKEN MY THE PUTRID FETID CLAWS OF LE WOKISMÉ DOES IT CLASP ME BY THE NECK AND FORCE MY HAND IS THAT IT??? HUH??? IS IT SO BAD I DIDN'T WANT GIN TO BE ABUSED AS A BABY AND THAT HIS SIBLINGS HADN'T BEEN SENT TO THE FUCKING SHADOW REALM OF RELEVANCY AND IS IT SO BAD THAT I WANTED MAYBE LIKE ONE MORE FEMALE CHARACTER WHO WASN'T REDUCED TO BEING CHILDBIRTH FODDER AND THAT GIN AND DAISUKE REUNITED AGAIN AT THE END DO I DESERVE PUBLIC EXECUTION AT THE TOWN SQUARE IF SO GOD HELP ME I WILL EMPLOY THE LESSON THIS FUCKASS LOOKING DOG TAUGHT ME AND START SPINNING

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