It is sometime in the future, where a certain European city extends far underground, even secret, dark levels that have the key to the past. Ex-assassin Mihai has returned and is living with Kiri, who now runs a restaurant. Sword-wielding Naoto, Haine (white hair), a mysterious product of genetic engineering and his sometime partner Badou (eyepatch).
(Source: ANN)
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Comentários
kiriska
This short, four-episode OAV corresponds to the DOGS prelude, Stray dogs howling in the dark (I have no idea why MAL has it labeled as BULLETS&CARNAGE, because that's not what this is), but while it captures the sequence of events well enough, it fails to communicate the oddly charming harshness and raw energy of the manga. STORY - The story for the first volume of DOGS has always been a little loose and haphazard; each of the four sections focuses on a different character, and the lot of them are strung together almost forcibly as their individual stories don’t necessarily mesh meaningfully with the others aroundthem. The manga’s presentation did manage to find some kind of connecting thread between the four though, and each story also worked well enough as a standalone chapter. Unfortunately, while the OAV preserves the presentation order of the characters, each episode felt incredibly disjointed from the rest — actually, they felt disjointed in and of themselves as well, though I’m not exactly sure why that is.
Strangely enough, even at fifteen minutes a piece, the pacing in each episode isn’t noticeably rushed. It feels pretty scene-for-scene for the most part, but in the end, you really feel like you’re missing something. Was the story really so short and inconsequential? So… uninteresting? There is a lot of action — gunfights, swordfights, wild chases — and the action is highly entertaining and fun to watch, but the story beyond the action is sorely lacking.
Mihai is a retired assassin called back to his past, but the episode skips along too quickly for you to endear yourself to the character and the events that unfold are less emotional as a result. Badou collects information to sell and finds himself tangled up in a mob boss’s unfortunate business. As his section was always the most comedic of the bunch because of its sheer absurdity, the OAV counterpart didn’t suffer as much, but the humor did seem cheaper somehow in animated form. Naoto was raised with only hatred and revenge on her mind, but her narration in the anime flattened the story and I found it more difficult to sympathize. Lastly, Heine saves a genetically modified girl and confronts the haunting fringes of his own past in the process. Though his section is the one that explains the least, it’s also the one that’s most relevant to the on-going series. But Heine’s episode was surely the choppiest, and instead of exciting the viewer towards a continuing story, it seems to end on a note re-emphasizing its own precariousness.
Sure, DOGS’s strength never really lay in its amazingly thoughtful or unique story; indeed, the prelude does little more than introduce some characters’ pasts and other characters’ current lives, laying the groundwork for something bigger. But as I’m not left excited about the potential or possibility of more in this anime, DOGS has thus been reduced to a mindless hour of action with no beginning or end.
CHARACTER - Like the story, given the near-exactness of the presentation, I’m not quite sure why none of the characters have the charm they do in the manga, and I can’t say for sure whether my distaste is just because I was disappointed overall with this production. Perhaps the shortness of each episode has something to do with it after all — even if the sequence of events is the same, you watch through the episode faster than you would read through the chapters and you thus don’t have as much time to really care about the characters; you are less inclined to pause and rewatch the seconds of intriguing footage than you are to pause and reread a few interesting panels or pages. Mihai is an older man with a sad past. So what? Badou is a good-for-nothing with an amusing tobacco addiction. So what? Naoto is a young woman with a sad past. So what? Heine is a mysterious freak. So what?
Sure, all of these characters still have the potential to be interesting, just like their manga selves, but that potential is less obvious this time around, and I was easily bored.
ARTSTYLE & ANIMATION – Shirow Miwa’s art is gorgeous — his energetic character designs, incredible action sequences, and highly detailed environments are together the greatest strength of the manga; I can forgive the somewhat plain story and slowly-developing characters just because I can look at that art. As such, I spent many months worried about how all that style and detail would translate into animation. I wanted to be optimistic, but it seems that optimism was ill-placed after all. (Figures, right?)
It’s a given that much of Miwa’s careful detail will have to be sacrificed in animation, but DOGS was a much lower budget production that I would have imagined. For almost all long to mid-range shots, characters are drawn in a lazy, oddly elongated manner; their facial expressions are a joke. Most action scenes move along too quickly for this to be noticeable, but as soon as it slows down, it gets embarrassing. Close-ups are crisper, but really don’t fare that much better, especially for Heine and Badou, who appear strangely generic and without any of the attitude found in their manga counterparts. For them, animators really don’t seem to have bothered too much in capturing Miwa’s style and only replicated the most basic aspects of his character designs. Mihai and Naoto are less of a dramatic departure, but that may be because both designs are less unique to begin with.
Thankfully, many of the backgrounds are actually pretty all right. The cityscapes are still vast and grungy, and many shots are still taken from all sorts of interesting angles. Still, they’re not amazing by any stretch.
MUSIC - The little opening theme, if you can call it that, is endearing at first — a little reminiscent of the jazz tunes of Cowboy Bebop or Baccano!, which would be appropriate enough with all the action in DOGS. But considering the rather serious and depressing themes of three out of four stories, the upbeat and cheerful melody quickly feels inappropriate. The rest of the soundtrack for the series is incredibly negligible. Many scenes are simply silent with most of the music accumulating in the action sequences, but there’s nothing really memorable.
VOICE ACTING – The OAV uses the same cast as the drama CDs, which I thoroughly enjoyed. A few fans have criticized the use of “brand name” voice actors like Akira Ishida and Takahiro Sakurai but I think both do a fantastic job as Badou and Heine respectively. They give some much needed emotion to the characters when the animation fails utterly, and both depart significantly from their previous voices so even though I’ve heard Ishida and Sakurai’s voices many times before, hearing them here doesn’t invoke thoughts of their other roles. I also really like Akio Ohtsuka as Mihai; though the actual acting isn’t nearly as impressive as the former two, the voice suits the character very well. Naoto I find to be the least impressive, but that could be a mixture of my indifference towards the character and the generic narration she gave for most of her episode. Also, I think it’s worth noting Toshihiko Seki as Bishop, the blind priest, who has some hilariously delivered one-liners.
OVERALL - The DOGS OAV has been a huge disappointment for me, though in retrospect, I’m not sure why I had such high expectations. Still, aside from the poor technical aspects (mostly terrible animation and lackluster music), most of this anime’s drawbacks are uniquely difficult to pinpoint. The story and characters are almost exactly as they were in the manga, so why do they feel so different? For the first time, I theorize that DOGS might just work better as a comic and the anime only serves to overemphasize the weaknesses that were already present in the source. Though the same events are covered, the anime does feel strangely rushed, the most important consequence of which is that you don’t feel very attached to the characters. It isn’t as intimate, and without that connection to the characters, much of the interest and potential is lost — unfortunate, as the potential is what I found most appealing about the DOGS manga… along with the art. That Miwa’s art was bastardized as much as it was undoubtedly adds a bit of bitterness on my part.
So if you’re a fan of the manga, you’ll likely be disappointed. If you’re not, you’ll likely be indifferent — enjoy the action scenes for what they’re worth and then forget about it because it wasn’t actually that interesting.
Masserati_
"Fuck up. Gentlemen" First of all, let me point out I am a huge fan of the Dogs manga, originally I never intended to watch the OVA's because I had heard that they were a very disappointing adaptation of the manga. I decided to give them a watch because of the more recent chapters of Dogs: Bullets and Carnage that I had been reading and wondered how it would be if it was actually animated, so it was with some trepidation that I watched the OVA's. Secondly, this is not an adaptation of Bullets and Carnage, so anyone coming here expecting to see that will just haveto do with watching the original manga play out being animated.
Thirdly, it's very disappointing.
Dogs doesn't seem to work as an anime, I can't describe why it doesn't work, it just doesn't. If you want to understand what I'm getting at go and read the manga then watch the OVA's, you'll soon realise what I mean.
Now I'll be honest, Dogs story was never one of its biggest strengths, however in the manga it was enjoyable, it was entertaining, and at times it was downright funny. But the manga's storyline doesn't translate well onto the screen and it becomes all too obvious what the weaknesses with the storyline were. If there's one thing that's frustrating about Bullets and Carnage, it's that it tries to present the storylines for each character as separate entities, without really taking notice of the character interactions, as such the story feels more disjointed and broken up than the sort of one shot chapters that actually spawned it.
Another issue is that some of the humour is lost, this is more prevalent in Badou's chapter than anyone else's, his most memorable scenes in the manga are again, a victim of not translating well and his episode in the anime (in my opinion anyway) suffers more than anyone else's in the story.
The art in Dogs was always the selling point of the manga, it looked gorgeous, and the action scenes were very intense, in the anime though, the quality has dropped considerably. The character models by Kumi Ishii do at least resemble the characters in the manga but most of the time they look awkward, especially Heine and Nill who both seem to have undergone a massive change from the manga, and it doesn't suit them, in fact, most of the character designs in the anime don't suit the characters. I will cede though that at least they look good in colour.
The biggest disappointment about the art though is the action. I wondered how David production would be able to pull off the amazing action scenes in the manga, and to be quite honest, they can't, maybe that's a sign of their inexperience (they've only done 5 anime after all) but I digress; the action doesn't look good in the anime, and I mean that it doesn't look good, the manga had a way of making the action look good thanks to its outstanding panelling, the anime naturally doesn't resort to this and it suffers tremendously because of it, the gunfights are boring, the chase scenes are boring, the standoffs are boring, in fact when it's not busy being boring it's looking bad thanks to the character models. Don't go into this anime expecting to see the amazing art in the manga, you won't get it.
Before I cover the voice acting I should address the music, and really, there's nothing worth addressing, the score is instantly forgettable being some sort of weird jazz/techno hybrid which tries to create a noir feeling similar to something seen in Darker than BLACK but fails. The music won't be getting any awards anytime soon so here's the next question.
How about the voice acting?
Well, my instant reactions to the voice acting where mixed, especially Heine's voice, Takahiro Sakurai makes Heine sound older than he actually is in the manga, his voice is too deep for me to believe him as a convincing Heine and made the character less of the cool cat that he is in the manga. Shizuka Itou and Akio Ootsuka manage to make passable performances as Naoto and Mihai, but the honour of best voice actor in this little disappointment of an anime goes to Akira Ishida.
Yes Katsura fans, Ishida manages to be extremely impressive as Badou, you can literally feel that Ishida is putting his heart and soul into this performance as he embraces Badou's (very unique) personality wonderfully. Ishida needs to play crazy roles like this more often, rather than go with the weird (and annoying) bishonen that is Break Xerxes, and the creepy emo that is Gaara, I mean it when I say that Ishida is the best thing about the voice cast, his acting managed to save the sound aspect from a much lower score.
The characters are nowhere near as impressive as they were in the manga, Mihai and Naoto were never going to win any awards to begin with, it was always Badou and Heine that stole the show for me but they suffer in the anime, it's hard to describe, again it's something that you have to read the manga to understand what I'm getting at but they're nowhere near as cool as they were in the manga.
Now, I'll be honest, I made a lot of comparisons between the manga and the anime here, I admit that the anime should be judged on its own merits but it's very hard to do a review of the Dogs anime without doing comparisons to the manga in a lot of places, it's not a terrible anime by any stretch of the imagination but it is very, very disappointing. It's also worth mentioning that the anime can't pull a stand alone move either, as there are so many indications of the producers wanting to do a Bullets and Carnage anime as well.
Maybe Dogs was never meant to work as an anime.
What do you know, I think I solved my own problem there.
Okita-chan
In my personal opinion, one of the best seinen anime ever. Though a short one, each of the 4 OVAs presents each of the main characters fully enough. Stories twist with each other, so that even in the episode about Mihai we meet Badou, who in his personal episode calls Haine, and then, for a few second, Naoto appears before we can learn her story. As for the plot. You spend just an hour (and it never goes to waste) to watch all OVAs, but yet it may seem to you that there is much, much more. Of course, the story continues in manga, and thefourth episode, Haine's story, has an open end. Yet each of the stories is finished in it's own way, and though consequences come, they become the beginnings of new stories - just the way the life flows and takes us from one episode to another.
Of course, disadvantages are inevitable. One of the main is the art. Compared to manga, OVA loses in the way it is drawn. And the sound sometimes goes strange, noises may become louder than character's voice in the time when it is not needed.
But all that doesn't matter, when you learn the stories of each one you see, when you laugh at Badou's failures or compassiate to Mihai's past mistakes, so the stories take you in, and the outstanding characters of this anime make you forget about everything around you...until it ends, after just an hour, leaving you to starve for more.
GeneralCox
I haven’t read either of the manga series for this, so this review is purely from the 4 episodes OVA point of view. Warning contains minor story spoilers Story (6/10) The four 15 minute episodes which make up this OVA don’t have a common plot or story between them , more to say the OVA’s seem like they are introducing the main characters for a longer anime or OVA series which is yet to come. In saying that the stories do seem to be in chronological order, in the same city and it is set sometime in the future. The other main characters are also sometimes involvedwith the introductions to the other episodes main characters. The episodes break down as thus;
Episode 1 – Introduction to Mihai – This shows Mihai’s return to the unnamed city for the first time after being fired from the mafia he was working for 20 years previously. Through this he has to deal with many elements of his past which he left there, including his former protégé.
Episode 2 – Introduction to Badou – The episode is a change of pace from the first episode, the first episode having been gritty and emotional, this is a rather humorous romp through Badou’s character. Badou is an information gatherer, but when he mucks up his abseiling whilst gathering information he ends up getting more information than he can handle. This is probably the weakest of the four stories and I just don’t feel it fits in, especially when he seems to have been given a character shield, although this is offset by the humorous nature of the episode, compared to the other episodes darker and more realistic settings, this can’t help but feel out of place.
Episode 3 – Introduction to Naoto - This reverts back to the more gritty atmosphere of the first episode, and shows Naoto being taken in by a skilled knife as a child user after her parents are murdered by a skilled knife user. Themes of revenge and confused feelings run through this episode, as well as introducing some very interesting characters – this is probably the best episode of the OVA series.
Episode 4 – Introduction to Haine – We are brought into the Haine arc knowing a little about him from what was said at the end of the previous episodes and also with him having been contacted by Badou already. Haine has a few special abilities which make him a slightly different proposition from the rest of the characters shown in the OVA, the story revolves round him taking pity on a genetically engineered girl and trying to save her. Haine is probably the character with most room for expansion out of the main characters set so it’ll be interesting to if they make a longer series how it will turn out.
Art (6/10)
The artwork is the industry standard for the current production run of animated series and looks like many of its contemporise – the characters are well animated and the backgrounds are all suitably drawn. There is no animation that stands out as being different or excellently drawn, but this goes along with its gritty and somewhat humorous attitude to the series, it works out well.
Sound (7/10)
Hard to fault the sound either the series is well produced and has good voice acting/lip sync (a real annoyance when its slightly off) , the music pieces played through the anime are to a good standard are occur at locations where they add emotion or tension to the scene. As the series is 15 minutes long, there is no OP per se, but the ED is rather nifty and a good listen.
Characters (8/10)
This seems to be the main point behind the OVA, the introduction to the unique blend of characters which make up the show, with each of the main characters getting their own episode to ‘introduce’ themselves. The mix of characters seem like they complement each other well Mihai being somewhat older than the rest, but his experience on top of his still top drawer abilities make him something of a legend in the city. Compared to Badou – who is definitely the comic relief, but also can show a serious side when out of tobacco, this contrasts nicely and any moments can be brought to a comic conclusion through his actions.
The most interesting characters were Naoto and Heine – both have some pretty big issues but watching them in the episodes you can already tell that there is something rather special waiting round the corner when they are on screen.
Enjoyment (8/10)
This is a very enjoyable series to watch, at just 15 minutes, you can whizz through the entire set in an hour as I did. The episodes actually seem longer than 15 minutes, so much happens in each one, and on more than one occasion I was checking to see they weren’t going to miss out the action scenes, which they didn’t. The only problem I had whilst watching it was knowing that this is as far as I was going to get in watching these chatacers, that there wasn’t anything to watch after I’d finished the OVAs.
Overall (7/10)
I would highly recommend this series of OVAs to anyone – but I would warn them that due to the unfinished feel of the series they may want to pick up the manga instead or wait till further series are announced. If this does become the precursor to a longer series this should mean the anime goes straight into the action without the need for introducing everyone.
I for one am going to pick up the manga and read it, because I can’t wait for the next series to be announced
GumGumSaiyan
If you're looking for a short, quick, little series about guns, killing, and aren't looking for a long dragged out story, thi is the anime you've been looking for. The series spans 4, 15min episodes, just long enough to get the point across, and not leave you w/ an anime hangover (you know, that feeling of, good when will this end, my head hurts). Each episode tells the tale of a sigle character, and explores thier past and thier problem at hand. however, each character is unique, and brings something new to the table, making each episode a different experience from the last. The animation was alright,however it did lack some when the gun fights were going on (like the bad guys not shooting back and just standing in fear while holding guns). But other than that everything looked pretty solid.
I cant tell you much about the story, other than it was fast paced and funny at certain parts (i loved ep2).
Tho its not the best OVA in the world, its worth checking out.
Joony
Dogs: Bullets & Carnage is a 4-episode OVA adopted from the DOGS Manga. This is a bite-sized series; at 15 minutes per episode, an hour is all that you need to spare. Even though the episodes are short, all the ingredients necessary in a good, conventional story are incorporated. Each of the episodes focus on individuals' story and their imminent dilemma. - A lot happens in the 15 minutes; action-filled, emotional and energetic scenes are sufficiently delivered. Though you may think that this may cause a content overload, the story lines do not have that crammed, sloppy, or hastened feel to it, as theOVA is extremely well-paced.
But, upon completion, most people will agree that they felt as though something was missing... I believe this is so because 1. a single 15-minute episode is not long enough to thoroughly depict all that much, and, 2. the OVA corresponds to the introductory chapters in the Manga. (So it is expected to be more of a preface on the characters and their background.) With that said, hopefully, a full anime series or a sequel will be made; it has considerable potential to be a great series.
Since each episode is just an overture to each of the characters and their main plot, the OVA itself doesn't include much substance. The interesting part was the connection that was made amongst all the characters (they make guest appearances in the each others' episodes), although, unfortunately, this net wasn't made purposeful. It would've been amusing to see where they could have gone with this idea. The character development, incorporation of the narrative and an intertwining network of the plots would be compelling to see play out.
Overall, the technicalities of the OVA are moderate. Personally, the one exception is the characters. I like how they have exclusive personalities, traits, and appearances. They each have their own element that makes them and their episode distinct from the rest. As for the drawbacks, I would have to say that the main flaws lie in the art and sound. Nothing particularly stood out, as the illustrations and music were mediocre. There were actually some details that were rather disappointing, such as the fighting scenes. Not only were they a bit redundant, hundreds of bullets were dodged effortlessly, which made the gun fights very unrealistic. The sound delay when bullets were fired is also a shortcoming.
As a stand-alone series, Dogs: Bullets & Carnage feels incomplete. Overall, it was more or less satisfactory, but not outstanding. The color, action, and movement may add definition to the experience for those that will read the Manga, but not substantially much else. I have found out that a handful of people enjoys these concise-type anime, without the prolonged story line or drawn-out scenarios. If this is you, then you will definitely fancy this succinct, action-packed anime. But, to everybody else, I would recommend it those that will follow-up with (or is already reading) the Manga!
Moe_
Meh, I read the manga for only a bit (actually, when I stopped reading the manga, it was also the point where the anime stopped). Art: I must say I was very disappointed. Repeated action scenes, mediocre gun fights, time delay on gun shots, but the character illustrations are ok, the background scenes were only very mediocre. All in all, for an "action" and supposedly "dark" anime, it just doesn't give that feeling. It gives it a normal setting, nothing interesting. There were also very corny action scenes. If your a pro hitman or killer, how do you miss 15 shots when the target is standingstill. Also when it shows Heine "jumping around", I laughed at the slow movement. I can't say much more about the art, but in short, I was disappointed.
Sound: This was also a point where I didn't like it at all. You know how sometimes you read the manga, and you imagine a voice for the characters? I do that a lot ,and I must say a lot of the characters didn't fit my prediction of voicing. It might be selfish or just my opinion, but I believe that Naoto, Badou could have had better voice actors. Heine was average, I guess it suits him, although they need that evil sound. Naoto sounds too soft, and doesn't sound like a character seeking revenge or living a life of revenge. Badou just sounds too foolish and when he starts going on a rampage, his voice just doesn't click. There was no opening and ending (expected) and no background music. Time delay on bullet shots. Like after a bullet is shot, it takes 2-3 seconds to make contact with something. This was a bad part in the anime.
Characters: I actually enjoyed each of their character traits. A chain smoker machine gunner, an experimental human that is cool and and emits a bad side, a girl training with the person she wants to kill (although this type of character has become more common now), and a old pro hitman that emits humor and seriousness. The drawings also suit them. Nothing more to say about the characters except that I liked it a lot because it is unique, fresh, and memorable.
Story: I must say, they packed in a lot in 4 episodes. Two episodes contain a character background story, and the other two are character type stories (but you kind of get a little bit of Heine's background story). What I liked is how they connected the characters together. Nao as a paper delivery girl, Badou on the bus and meeting with Mihai, Heine partnered up with Badou, the list goes on. They connect it well for a character part OVA. Only thing I didn't like was that it was really predictable. Every action and movement, I can guess what's gonna happen next. Maybe because the art is slow?
Enjoyment: I enjoyed it actually, seeing the characters and the ending of the OVA. It really captivates the audience (me anyways). The Naoto and Heine episodes really contain a moment on finding who the characters in the ending were. I enjoyed it while it lasted I guess. However, too many factors bring this down: cliche moments, predictability, bad action scenes, lacking sound, delay in sound, the list goes on for a bit. Although in my point of view, this OVA deserves a 3, just keeping with the manga, the great characters and some of the things they did with the story, made me give it a final score of 4.
TL;DR It gets a 4, I enjoyed watching it, but it could of been a darker anime, better action packed, less corny scenes, and maybe make it a little faster pace?
Daffodils
(First of all I would like to warn you that I'm French, so forgive me for my bad English ;) ) After having seen many fanart about this anime/manga, I decided to give it a try... The story isn't bad, and lays somewhere between the classical mafia story and something more «supernatural». Surprisingly, even if the OAVs are short, the characters are well built, being caricature (not in the wrong way) whenever the story allows it, and serious other way. A plus : the charadesign isreally good, and the animation fluent. However, that was not the thing that stroke me most while I was watching. As abig fan of Tarantino's movies, I couldn't help drawing a paralel between some of his films and DOGs : in both (or at least some ofHis movies) characters have separated stories, but in the end they happen to know each other...
But I'm not totally convinced by the anime, because this latter pointis not specific to the anime, it is also true for the manga. And by staying to close to the manga, the anime doesn't bring anything more but colour and movement...
Saffy
Okay, this was recommended to me by a friend, but I haven't read the manga like he did, so this is just my opinion based solely on this OVA. :) Story I...tried to understand it. It gives you glimpses, possibly, of the main plotline, but each of the four eps don't really pick up from the previous one. It's more like overlapping parts of stories told by 4 or 5 main characters, each with their facet of intrigue. It's main purpose is probably to make you want to read the manga and find out more. ^^ Art Animation was smooth, and I liked each of the characters' uniquedesigns. It's semi-realistic; be prepared for orange hair. XD Blood, thankfully, didn't look like it was MS-Painted on.
Sound
Again, not much to say here; this was an OVA, so no opening to critique. ='( Voice actors are nice, nothing sticks out (neither bad nor good).
Character
Extremely...different characters. Heh. They have so many quirks, you're like, isn't there anyone who's normal except for that girl in episode 2? ;) I mean, human experiments, smokers, avengersbutnotreally, galore.
Enjoyment
These eps were short (seriously, only 13 minutes or something) and interesting. If you're not sure about jumping into the manga, try this demo edition first. :)
catalysst
Be warned: this review contains /spoilers/, as well as many references to the manga counterpart. (While the anime is rated 5, I'd rate its manga counterpart a 7. Given that this review combines both the anime and the manga rather solidly, I'm foregoing writing a separate review of the manga.) The DOGS Bullets and Carnage manga/four episode OVA are a prequel to the ongoing series DOGS. The manga contains six chapters, and the aforementioned anime contains four episodes. Each episode/chapter revolves around a particular character. The first chapter, “Weepy Old Killer”, introduces Mihai Mihaerrof, a former assassin/hitman who must confront someone from his past, specifically the sonof a mob boss whom he had tutored. This boy, Ian, killed Mihai’s lover, Milena (who, notably, was a prostitute). The chapter reaches its high during the final argument between Mihai and Ian. The first episode of the anime adapts this chapter very well, sticking with everything to the letter. As far as I can remember, there were no additions or subtractions based on the manga. Everything was followed very well. The second chapter, “Gun Smoker”, introduces Badou Nails, a chain smoker and a freelance journalist/photographer. I believe he also sells information for money, making him an informant, although I might be mixing up my animanga a bit. Badou takes a rather convicting photograph of a mob boss, causing him to become a wanted man by the rest of the mob. He is saved by Mihai and later on singlehandedly defeats the mob boss’s army simply because he lacks nicotine. (Take Badou’s cigarettes away and you die.) The anime adaption handled this very well.
Chapters three and four, Blade Maiden Part One and its Sequel, centres on Fuyumine Naoto, a sword-wielding young woman who seeks revenge for her parents. As a young girl, an assassin murdered her mother and father, and branded her with an X marking on her chest. She was saved by an elder swordsman who she begins to consider her father. Later on, she finds out that she was named after the assassin who killed her parents – “Naoto”. The anime combines these two chapters into one episode, episode three, entitled “Blade Maiden”. The adaptation of Naoto’s story is done quite well, just as the other episodes were. In the last two chapters of the manga, five and six, entitled Stray Dogs Howling in the Dark Part One and its Sequel, the main character is Haine Rammsteiner, an albino man who was experimented on and genetically altered. He rescues a fourteen year old girl with wings from two men who would have forced her to become a prostitute. The head of the brothel hears of this and sends men to kidnap her. The anime also compounds this into one episode, the fourth and last one. There is one small alteration in the way they kidnap the girl (whose name, we find out later, is Nill), but this is so minor it can go unmentioned.
The setting is obviously post-apocalyptic. Genetic manipulation, violence, crime, and other cruel things have become rather common and almost an aspect of everyday life. All the characters (Naoto, Mihai, Badou, and Haine) are antiheroes, a refreshing change from the stereotypical goodie-two-shoes that tend to dominate the protagonist role. In fact, many of the characters (even “good” ones) were involved in crime, violence, and underground groups at some point in their lives. From what I remember, Nill is really the only truly “good” character, and is the only woman/girl Haine is not afraid of. (He has gynophobia.) The animanga is more mature than most others, in the range of Wolf’s Rain, mostly because of the genre, “seinen”, for men, which WR is also a part of. There are many German influences, particularly in characters’ names, and this is even more prominent in DOGS.
The animation overall is a tad choppy in some places, but otherwise good. The adaptation is very well-done – I was quite pleased with the way they followed the manga. The only thing I’ll really nitpick at is the fact that Nill has a seiyuu, when she is mute – but perhaps it had to be done. Said seiyuu is reduced to making affirmative noises when Nill is being spoken to, or gasping in shock/horror at the appropriate times. I can’t help but wonder how the episode would be affected if she had no seiyuu at all.
The animanga, as stated before, is a prequel to the manga DOGS – the art changes slightly in the sequel (primarily a lack of screentones), but is otherwise very much the same. It is important to mention that the OVA/manga has no real ending, as it is merely a prologue to an ongoing series. Therefore, if you’re looking for a short, one-volume manga with a solid ending, this is not an anime or manga you can turn to. If, however, you intend to delve deeper into the world of DOGS and learn how all the characters are connected, feel free to watch or read DOGS Bullets and Carnage.
_hall0_
Ok first things first. I did not know there was a Manga nor did I read this Manga. My review is therefore only based on this anime OVA. How did I get to his anime if I never heard from the manga before? Recommendations. I do like Black Lagoon and Jormungand and this anime shows both shows in the recommendations, so I thought I give it a shot. Based on the picture and the intro I thought this anime is about a group of 3-4 people doing, you know, action stuff. Like in Black Lagoon. Well it isn't, or maybe it is in the manga but notin this 4 episodes.
Every episode of this 4 episodes tells a short story about one of the characters. Don't expect big story split up in 4 parts. The characters seem to be connected a bit. They know each other or are "friends".
Since the episodes are so short there is very little room for some back story or character development. This is making it confusing. You don't rly know why something is happening or wtf is even happening. You are just left with a big "Okay....".
It all feels very unfinished. Therefore I can't rate this OVA high. Maybe it is something for the fans of the manga, but for people who just want something for in between i can not recommend this.
Ubusika
This is fundamentally a panel-by-panel, frame-by-frame remake of the manga book Dogs: Stray Dogs Howling in the Dark, which is part 0 of the manga series Dogs: Bullets and Carnage. Short version: Just read the manga. You don't have to read the whole series, just the one volume. The art is fierce, active, and evocative. And while each of the 4 short stories varies quality, they weave together into a powerful whole. As I said, these OVAs are frame by frame from the manga. Some of the drawings are literally the exact drawings from the manga. Except the art/animation quality of the OVAs is very poor, andit just retells the story literally, with none of the power or heart of the originals. There are truly scary, violent people in these stories and on screen they just kind of stand around looking pasty and silly.
Quick summary of my ratings:
Story - 8 The stories from the mangas are pretty good. They weave together interestingly. But I would have rated this much lower if I hadn't read the manga first. They feel very lackluster in this adaptation, while the originals are defined by their ferocity.
Art - 5 The art is basic at best, nothing like the incredible detail of the manga. The characters all suffer from those poofy, featureless pale faces that certain animation styles have. And the use of color and background is absolutely, mind-numbingly dull.
Sound - 4 Nothing special. Gunplay is HUGE in this series, and some of the gun effects are downright bizarre. Someone can be going at it with a machine gun in both hands and it just kind sounds like a woodpecker 6 blocks away.
Characters - 8 I absolutely fell in love with these characters through the manga. Each one is very distinct (some tragic, some comic). But again, the animation style and voice acting really takes away their edge.
Enjoyment - 6 This is a 6 only because I had read the manga. Going in blind it would have been a 3 or 4.
Overall - 3 I repeat: Please for the love of all things read Stray Dogs Howling in the Night before you watch this. It's available all over, and it only takes an hour or two. There's really no point in watching this unless you've read the manga (and even then, since it's so painfully literal in its interpretation, its not very rewarding). I can't even say that if you dislike reading, or manga, you should watch it anyway to enjoy the stories. They are done such a disservice that you might as well not bother at all.
XxWolfy98xX
My thoughts about this anime is that it's badass, weird, funny and mixed with different stuff, it's really fun to watch interesting but bad side its very short and there's no second season, also it doesn't go that much its basically a quick fast paste story unlike others where in here it's just one episode for each character and it summarize the whole thing. I'd say who ever wanted to explore more of this anime most likely there'll be no second season, so Manga is probably is the best gateway. Yah overall sometimes to make a great anime doesn't mean that it always gotta be longsometimes short ones can make a difference, welp I guess to each their own, so I'd say this one is pretty good.
niktrick
Rewatching this OVA in 2025 really made me reminisce and go back to the manga and read it again. This short OVA covers the prelude part of the series - vol 0, Stray Dogs Howling in the Dark. It's main focus is getting us to know the main characters and set the tone and plot that is to transpire. The plot was good at setting up the stage and its players, but not much could be addressed as this is an introductory to the plot and characters. The soundtrack was ok, and the art style is cool. The setting is interesting and the characters are unique. There could'vebeen a pretty cool show if the manga were to be an anime, here's to hoping that we might see an adaptation in the future.
