Apart from the fast-paced action, the colorful personalities and captivating story lines, anime comics have produced some of the cutest and most awe-inspiring animated pets ever.
In fact, dogs in anime are among the most loved features of these comics. They have attracted many owners to this quirky but interesting style of animation. Here’s a list of some fan favorites and other less-known characters from across the comic universe.
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1. Black Hayate
Black Hayate is the furry companion of the tough-as-nails Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. Like his master, Black Hayate is well known for being disciplined and well-behaved, hanging on to his master’s every word and fulfilling her every wish. Including following a rigorous daily routine and timetable where he’s required to sit, shake paws, lie down and eat in succession.
Apart from that, Black Hayate is a fiercely loyal canine, and won’t hesitate to put himself in danger to protect his master, which is quite heart warming considering the fact that Riza often uses gunfire to train him. A very lovable canine indeed.
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2. Gin
Gin is a cute pup that’s known for his bravery in leading a pack of wild canine who challenge and win the battle against a large bear. He’s also one of the few canines to be the main protagonist on his own anime and it’s not hard to see why. He can hold his own by showing grit, resolve and character in the face of adversity.
3. Sadaharu
Sadaharu is a super adorable and fluffy pup, whose appearance betrays his true identity as a canine god who can actually transform. Sadaharu draws strength from strawberries and milk, which help him to grow bigger and stronger, much like Popeye does with his spinach.
One of his favorite past times is to bite off people’s heads and play rock paper scissors with his friend Hijikata.
4. Kazuhito Harumi
Kazuhito is a dachshund who started out as a human. As the story goes, he gave up his life in order to save a girl, before fulfilling his biggest wish in life, which was to complete his favorite book series. And so, he is reincarnated as a canine in order to fulfill that wish, and gains notoriety as a heroic protagonist in his own animation.
5. Akamaru
Akamaru is the super-cool ninja canine belonging to Kiba in the Naruto series. He’s well-known for his tracking abilities, and is able to track down his master’s enemies for extremely long distances.
Akamaru can also transform into his master’s doppelgänger to help him win battles.
The two have been known to merge and create a terrifying two-headed wolf beast, which often strikes fear into the hearts of the even the toughest opponents. Needless to say, Akamaru is quite a loyal dog, and a cute one too at that!
6. Ein
Ein is the highly intelligent “data canine” who’s been technologically enhanced to perform tasks like mentally manipulating other animals to do his crew’s bidding, hack websites and even play the game of shogi.
Although he can’t speak, he still plays a huge role in the Bebop series, using his distinctive barks to communicate, and has become a favorite among fans of the comic.
7. Menchi
Menchi was taken in from the streets by Excel, a character from a series of the same name who saw her as the ideal ’emergency food supply’. She’s much loved by fans for her ability to somehow predict when Excel is about to eat her, and successfully escapes his clutches a number of times.
Apart from her cleverness, Menchi brings in a major cuteness factor to the show, especially when she shows off her adorable singing (i.e. barking) skills, at the show’s closing theme song.
8. Friender
Friender is adopted by Casshern, a disturbed robot who suffers from an incurable disease which plagues the robot population in the series. As Cassher’s trusted companion, Friender is able to keep him from causing mayhem every time he experiences an episode of temporary destructive insanity. In this way, Friender plays a pivotal role in this dystopic manga.
9. Yatter-Wan
The massive crime-fighting Yatter-Wan is actually a prototype robot that’s designed and constructed in the shape of a dog.
He often joins his creator and owner Gan-chan and his girlfriend Ai-chan on their crime fighting adventures to combat evildoing and bust all types of villains.
Some of his features include having fire hoses on his back, police sirens and lights, as well as handy iron pellets that come from out of his nose. Basically, he’s a cool canine with superhero powers, and a great companion to his owner.
10. Pakkun
Another adorable pup from the Naruto series, Pakkun is the loyal and furry companion of Kakashi, an esteemed ninja. As a ninja pup, he has some interesting abilities, such as having a really deep voice, but his most popular feature is his impressively silky smooth hair.
His stylish appearance can be attributed to the fact that he uses the same Floral Green shampoo that Sakura uses on her sleek locks. We imagine that this must make him the most pleasant smelling pup in the whole series.
11. Iggy
Iggy is the cute, hair-chewing pup from the JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken anime series. He is a much loved feature on the show and is always on hand to help it’s protagonists in their various adventures and mishaps.
On his downtime, Iggy bizarrely enjoys farting on people’s faces or chewing on their hair, although he is quite easy to handle and train with a few bites of his favorite coffee-flavored chewing gum.
Conclusion
As you can see, the super cute and brave dogs in anime have so much to offer. From pulling off rare ninjutsu moves, to fighting crime, transforming into demi-dog gods and even smelling nice (gasp!). There is no limit to what these amazing pups can do, and one has to give credit to the imagination behind their creation.
Kinda makes you want to watch them over and over to discover what they’ll be up to next.