Dog Days

Dog Days was one of those series that pleasantly surprised me. At first I thought the series wouldn't get anywhere, but it sure proved me wrong. As the weeks passed by, the series just kept getting better, and it just goes to show that first impressions aren't everything.

Dog Days starts off like a number of fantasy series, with our protagonist getting summoned to another world to assist with a war that is currently going on. Although the word “war” makes it sound like something big is going on, a war is more like a game with a protective barrier to prevent anyone ... from getting seriously harmed. However as the series goes on a catastrophe begins to develop and the characters are forced to stop it.

When the series first started, it looked like it wouldn’t actually have a plot because the series was all happy, cheerful and Flonyard (the name of the alternate world)seemed like a perfect world. However one plot twist would change all that and gave the series a foundation to build a plot on. The plot twist itself was also unforeseeable because it completely changed the mood from happy and cheerful to something more serious and dark . It just goes to show you that things aren’t always what they seem. The plot itself is pretty simple, doesn’t over complicate things and is pretty easy to follow. The story is also paced well too as it doesn’t try to squeeze it’s plot into 2 episodes like some series, and because of this the plot actually has time to develop. However I think that there could have been a little bit more added to the story if they had they introduced the plot a bit earlier, but nonetheless the story is pretty solid.Dog Days also excels in an area where I’ve seen a number of series fail, the ending . Not only is it really emotional and heartwarming but it also gives hope for a possible second season. Despite getting off to a slow start, for a 13 episode series the story is really well developed and well paced. Not masterpiece work but the story definitely exceeded my expectations for this series.

The animation was beautiful, the vibrant colors really added to the happy and cheerful mood that the series had initially. Also during battles the visual effects used to animate the magic are visually appealing too. The fights themselves are well done too.

The opening really fit the anime because of the heroic feel it had to it. The ending sounded more sweet and had a really catchy rhythm. All the voice actors matched the character they were playing. The insert songs in the anime were pretty good too. All around a pretty solid job on sound.

With the exception of the protagonist and the minor characters from earth, all the other characters are half animal. However they still look like humans, they just have animal features like ears and tail which make them look cute.

I’ve noticed that a number of recent series have these weak and useless protagonists that really don’t do much, but this is not the case in Dog Days. The protagonist Cinque/Shinku Izumi is called the hero for good reason, he’s always ready to fight and plays a significant role in many of the battles. For a human he has incredible strength and speed and looks like he can be on Ninja Warrior (search it on youtube if you don't know what it is). He’s also able to handle the other character’s emotions really well being able to cheer them up when they are down and really is a nice and likeable character.

The main female Millhoire F. Biscotti is a gentle, soft spoken and well mannered princess but she does have some unique qualities that seperates her from most typical princesses. During the middle of the series and toward the end she did fight the demon with Cinque/Shinku showing that she can fight and defend herself. Also as an added bonus, she can sing and songs she sings are always nice to hear and on top of that being half dog makes her and a lot of the other characters pretty cute.

A lot of other characters also play a role in the story instead of just being pushed to the side. Ricotta helping with her artillery support and trying to get Cinque/Shinku home, Éclair assisting Cinque/Shinku in battle and also
Leonmitchelli who’s secretly trying to prevent the catastrophe.

To be honest when Dog Days first started, I thought it was fun to watch but kind of stupid. However as the plot slowly revealed itself, my desire to watch Dog Days also increased. The random comedy at times was also hilarious and overall was an enjoyable watch.

Dog Days started out slow but once it got going it never looked back. The plot that was presented may be simple but it’s well paced and well developed and definitely worth the watch.

On a personal note, I had quite high hopes for this show. With a good amount of successful anime stemming from being original anime series, Dog Days, having that element, combined with having an excellent seiyuu cast and being animated and directed by the staff from the animation studio Seven Arcs, seemed highly promising to deliver a successful show. However for the most part they did not.

Story and Setting

Dog Days is a 13 episode original series which revolves around a boy called Cinque or Shinku who is transported into a medieval fantasy land called Flonyard as a hero of the country Biscotti, to fight ... against the nation of Gallette. From this premise, it was possible for the show to develop into something complex, but the setting of the show, being light-hearted in a manner suiting children, nullified most prospects of there being any serious conflicts or development from the get-go. As viewers will soon discover in Episode 1, war between nations is almost perfectly safe, with inhabitants either turning into animal fluff-balls or having their clothes blown off, a somewhat hilarious foil to the seriousness of actual warfare. However, this is not to say that Dog Days is a show completely suited to children. Seven Arcs being Seven Arcs, there are traces of fanservice here and there and a darkish twist when the 'villain' emerges.

The story, being set in a medieval war-like setting gives way to the strength of the series, that is the action scenes. Most of the fighting and action scenes were nicely choreographed with bows, swords, staves, shurikens and even magical artillery as weaponry. There was much flashiness, especially from the character's special Seal Cannon moves which are comparable to the much loved beamspam from the Nanoha series. The action was also quite prevalent throughout the series with several episodes being fully devoted to fights between the characters. Despite the action, I have criticisms of how certain fights were completely skipped and looking back now, I felt the series could've been improved if they choose to extend the fights instead of focusing on minor show elements such as fanservice.

The overall plot though is unfortunately very shallow and unimaginative and is something I have to be very critical of. There are perhaps only two major important points in the story, one which is resolved in the time span of one episode and the other is full of glaring plot holes and unlikely coincidences.

This brings me to the pacing of the series. Dog Days can either drag out one conflict or story element for several episodes, or resolve another story element in a single episode. This I found was quite detrimental to the series and marked a serious flaw in the storyboard and directing of the series overall.

My final opinion on the story is that I'm quite disappointed with it. It had potential to become something interesting and complex, but Seven Arcs decided to pull off the same twist too many times. Attempting to garner sympathy for the 'villain'.

Characters

Character designers these days are attempting to add more and more different elements to the characters and their outfits and designs and for the most part they are quite successful. Dog Days also follows in this fashion, creating a very large cast of different unique and mostly flavourful characters with their own quirks, features and personality.

Each major character who participates in combat (that is to say the great majority of them) possesses their own unique Seal, which is displayed as an emblem when they perform special attacks. Each character also fights in a unique style which is separate from the other characters using a large variety of weapons from bows, magical artillery, giant axes to even anchors. The characters also all have separate personalities, despite some being archetypical, it was strange yet pleasant that Seven Arcs managed to juggle all the different natures of the characters together.

For example, our male hero, Cinque, fights with his divine staff/sword (and no it's not Raising Heart) Paladion with incredible acrobatic, athletic manoeuvres and with his multiple Seal Cannon techniques such as summoning a divine jetboard or playing with flaming sticks. It's actually quite refreshing to have a male protagonist like Cinque who doesn't get beat upon or is a hesitant sissy when the action comes and for actually making a likeable male protagonist in the sea of boring males protagonists out there, Seven Arcs deserve some credit.

My only criticism is with such a large cast of characters, it's nearly impossible to give all of them the screen time that fans would desire. The character Godwin Dorure, who is voiced by Norio Wakamoto, is one example of a character I would've liked to have witnessed more. I felt other important characters such as Yukikaze and the Countess d’Arquien also needed more screen time.

My final opinion on the characters is that I'm pleased with depth of uniqueness most characters possess in things such as personality, fighting style and appearance. With such a large cast of characters, viewers will probably find a character they'll like to cheer for, although this brings me back to my criticism of the amount of screen time characters get.

Art, Animation and Music

The art and animation for Dog Days isn't a strength but nor is it a weakness. There are a few pluses for the show, notably the fighting and the art for the seal cannons and their emblems. They are very flashy and pretty to look at, and the design for the Emblems have quite a bit of depth to them. One of the more average aspects of art for the show was the rather uninspiring backgrounds. With the potential of the fantasy setting, Seven Arcs could've been considerably more creative then the very average backgrounds of floating islands, blue skies and clouds and lush green battlefields which is used quite a bit throughout the series. A minus for the show in the art and animation department was the crudely drawn faces of the grunt soldiers which features throughout almost all the episodes and in one of the later episodes, a singing scene which the animation really goes downhill.

What I feel is an underrated, or rather unmentioned aspect of Dog Days is the music. The battle music is slightly similar to music I've heard from games, such as Megaman, especially the music from battles which is to say they're of good quality. The music in general feels appropriate for the scenes they're accompanying and adds to the atmosphere.

Overall, there's nothing super flashy to mention about the art of the show aside from the special moves. The animation was average in most parts aside from large dips towards the end of the series. The music is a praiseworthy aspect which accompanies the progression of the scenes well.

Conclusion

In the end, Dog Days shapes itself to be a a bit mediocre at best. There's nothing inspiring or largely original with its story or background and the only real strength it has are the characters (which is the case for a lot of shows nowadays), the action (which it decided to skip out a lot of) and the music. For action fans, Dog Days may intrigue you with a decent amount of action. For fantasy fans, Dog Days is likely nothing new and there's probably better shows to watch out there. Enjoyment-wise, Dog Days proved to be a mildly entertaining light-hearted series with the action and a few comedic scenes here and there and gets an enjoyment score of 7.5. However from a critical perspective, Dog Days fares worse with a score of 7.

Riddle me this; a boy has been summoned to a faraway land full of animal-human hybrids and has become the centerpiece of an on-going war between the kingdom of dogs and the kingdom of cats. This boy is thirteen, small in stature, incredibly gifted athletically, and always believes in the right way, as opposed to the wrong way; the way of evil and immoral purposes. Typically, boys like this are somewhat hard to come by, as thirteen year old boys are usually at the point of transition between childhood and puberty, in which case, their minds begin to wonder, about everything. So, to point out ... the fact that this boy, who was transported to a world predominantly controlled by colorful-haired, big eyed women, is so pure of heart, it's safe to say that there shouldn't be any issues with his likability, as we all enjoy the good guy. Except not everyone does, but that doesn't stop Dog Days from making it the message to be learned from its content.

It wouldn't be very rare to find someone who has imagined leaving their current reality and partaking in a world where mundane tasks and the perils of responsibility don't matter. Whether they choose to escape their current dimension for purposes of necessity or pleasure, worlds such as the one portrayed in Dog Days are typical starting points for those looking for an image of peace and tranquility. This being said, the main character, Cinque, doesn't ask to be saved from his less than stellar lifestyle, he simply follows through on his curiosity and steps into a portal to another land. Unfortunately for him, he has no way back. That doesn't stop him from having a good time, however, as he's introduced to the colorful... colors of the new world and the inhabitants that make it up. Before long, he's deemed a hero by his summoner, the princess of the dog kingdom, Millhiore, and is rushed into battle with nothing but a ring on his hand. This is certainly not a very subtle introduction.

The world in which Cinque arrives in is a bit of a sight to behold. While two kingdoms are at war, it's not the kind of war that one would probably imagine. These two kingdoms are actually on good terms. The princesses (because kings and queens aren't cute enough to hold a position in this world) are childhood friends, and hold each other as dearly as I do with my own pets. These "wars" that their kingdoms' people partake in are simply a giant game. There is no evil intent, there is no killing, no injuries, no marauding. Every purpose of these wars is to make sure that their kingdoms' citizens are all entertained equally. I suppose one could infer that if partaking in war was the most enjoyable thing in this world, some might want to partake in an actual war. Just for fun. The issue with this becomes simple: there is no suspense. If the princess is captured, what of it? They won't do anything to her because this is all just a big game. If your entire army is wiped out, oh well. Those who had fallen in battle are allowed to come back after a certain time limit. It ruins any sense of dread within the plot, and ultimately kills most of the entertainment value for those expecting an enthralling action anime.

The cast of Dog Days is as wide of an array of characters as I've ever seen. We have the hero, Cinque, with his pure intentions and heart of a true warrior. We have the princess of the dog kingdom, Millhiore, and the princess of the cat kingdom, Leo, both of whom are very beautifully designed. We also have a captain of the knight faction in the dog kingdom, Eclair, who is fourteen years old. Let me just reiterate; a fourteen year old girl is the captain of the knight faction in the dog kingdom army. We also have Rico, who looks as if she just came out of her mother's womb and is already smarter than everyone else on the planet. There are many other characters that could be highlighted, but, overall, they don't hold as much importance to the role of the anime as the characters already listed. And with an anime that spans thirteen episodes, it isn't hard to imagine that each character gets a healthy dose of negligence. All except for Cinque, because he's the hero, of course.

Speaking of which, Cinque is as unlikable a character as I've ever seen from a (implied) harem. His constant obsession with meeting everyone's standards and his one for all attitude is enough to cause an uproar among the minds of those waiting for a more original character. He's optimistic, he's everything any person would want in a hero, but what hurts him the most is that he simply doesn't act his age. This boy is thirteen. Why is he so willing to go along with everything that is entrusted to him? Wouldn't someone as young as him think, maybe, the fact that he cannot return to his own world would be somewhat of a hindrance to his mindset as a person who enjoyed their former life? Not to mention, the minute skin shows (and it shows a lot), he's the first to turn away with no desire to look back. Thirteen years old.

Other important characters include the two princesses, Millhiore and Leo; Eclair, and Rico. Millhiore is the standard love interest for the main character and a not-really-original-anymore archetype for the not-so damsel in distress. Leo is among the first victims of this series' desire to show some developed chests, and her personality is the equivalent of a dedicated older sister towards Millhiore, somewhat like the relationship between a dog and its owner, except she's a cat. Eclair is among Cinque's (implied) harem and boasts the most adorable tsundere act throughout this entire anime. Rico, as mentioned before, has the body of a baby and has the intelligence of Einstein. She is solely responsible for finding out how to return Cinque back to his own world. That doesn't stop Dog Days from showing her naked, but that's unimportant to her character. By the way, every character mentioned in this paragraph gets naked at some point during the anime. You're welcome.

Where Dog Days shines brightest is in its character design. Every single female character in this entire series is incredibly attractive. All of them. Whether their designs range from sexy to adorable, they all have the same sort of aura about them that makes them pleasurable to the eyes of the audience. And not just that, but the creatures (which, randomly, aren't human hybrids) that reside within the world of Dog Days are also laced with creativity from beak to claw. Unfortunately, a single drawback from this is that it may come across as completely disgusting. A kingdom full of rainbows and fuzzy animals and colorful characters and big-eyed freaks and chibi balls of what once were normal cat and/or dog-human hybrids; it's all a little much. Perhaps this kind of animation and character design would be completely lost on the color blind. Regardless, if being dazzling was a profession, Dog Days would be its CEO.

What Dog Days does best, in my eyes, is being committed to its audience. Because of this, I simply couldn't enjoy it. There are multiple signs of fan service prevalent throughout this entire anime. Characters with colorful hairstyles and big eyes, and the fact that their combined with basic domestic animals. Sexual fan service. A majority of the characters are female and attractive, with impressive figures. The main character, excluding his can-do, pure attitude, has no personality. War within this series is a game, so no one gets hurt and everyone is happy. And when conflict finally does arise, it's taken care of in a flash, with no explanations of where it came from in the first place. Characters that appear youthful are actually well over a hundred years old. The fact that men don't hold any importance outside of the main character. Combine these points with a plethora of cliches (if what was listed wasn't cliche enough) and you have the world Dog Days hopes to embody. Nothing but fun and fantasies, through and through.

While Dog Days isn't anything extraordinary on the surface, the possibilities that are thrown away along with most of the male characters are a troubling thought, and leaves me with a feeling of regret. The series tries its very best to sugarcoat the series and squeeze every possible cliche it can in order to appease its audience, but underneath it all, it's basically a rehashed fantasy/adventure story that lets itself get far too out of hand. If only heroes existed in the world of literature, so stories like this could be given a fair chance to flourish with multi-dimensional characters and an effort to create instability within the fun world that Dog Days creates.

UPDATED UP TO EP 3

We rarely see Medieval Fantasy Anime. I mean, the only prominate one out there is Zero no Tsukaima. I love anything Fantasy related so naturally Dog days would be at the top of my list for the plan to watch anime for the Spring 2011 season and naturally being a fantasy anime it would be compaired to Zero No Tsukaima. But are they really the same? At first, my answer was No but now up to Three Episodes, things are different.
The thing is this anime can't decide what it is. It wants to be an anime with some ripped ideas with ... a sort of cool athletic/fighting competition (just don't call it a war, more will be explained later). But, on the other hand it wants to be a light-ecchi Rip-off of Zero No Tsukaima, having a bath encounter scene and a grope/tsun scene. But enough of this, On to the Review!

Plot 7/10
The basic plot is here for fantasy anime. The protagonist gets sucked into a different world of fantasy and has to deal with what happens and also becomes some sort of savior or hero of a kingdom and falls in love with a noble. Dog days is no different here. But now it is here that it gets...well...stupid. In the fantasy world of Dog days dog/human hybrids of the kingdom of Biscotti and cat/human hybrids of the king of Gellato..*ahem* Galette are fighting for territory, with the cats on the offense. But here, this war isn't actually a war. It is basically an obsticle course/athletics competition...ok...That is one of the dumbest things ever. Sure, while the cat vs dog thing in a fantasy land is cool the athletics conpetition as a civilized war is just stupid. Basically the anime turns the idea of war and makes it so lighthearted that it is a game that is magically broad casted across kingdoms (yes, this world has some advanced stuff like Binoculars or microphones, probably not electricity based and uses magic but still). I went through the definition of war and the 'war' in this anime is not a war and it shouldn't be called a war. Sure, there are swords and weapons but they do nothing as they seem to make the warriors go *poof* and they turn into their chibi version of their base animal. Oh yeah, there are no horses, the people here ride on chocobos, or some relative of them. Oh yeah, *SPOILERS*...

The Princess gets Kidnapped...surprised?

Characters 7/10

Updated:

Shinku: This is the main protagonist. Unlike Saito from ZnT, Shinku is pretty bad-ass to start out with, he can Jump high, run fast and is damn good with a staff. Sure, he follows the usual male protagonist in harem animes but he is turning out well and has good morals

Millhoire: Still, even though Millhoire is supposed to be the main female in this anime, she doesn't really have that much background. The only thing we actually know about her is that she can sing (which we haven't even heard yet). She acts more like a supporting character in the first two episodes, just watching the "war" (I still use this term lightly) and commenting. The third episode she gets in an embarrassing situation and gets kidnapped. Oh well, so much for character development.

Eclair: Seemly a perfect name for a character that lives in a kingdom named after a cookie (For those who don't know, an Eclair is a type of Pastry, very delicious also). Eclair is our stereotypical Small-Breasted, In-very-humiliating-situations Tsundere of the anime, not as much as any character Kugimiya has done but a Tsundere still. I hate this character and like her at the same time. For one, I hate her for one reason. She calls Shinku an idiot for not knowing that like the princess is an idol and the monetary system and stuff about the world Shinku is in at the moment. I'm pretty sure it is said about ten times in-front of her that he is from a different world, doesn't she have the brains to know that things are different on different worlds? It is very annoying, very annoying. What makes her likable? Well she gets into all the humiliating situations, might as well like the fanservice character.

Art 8/10.
It is a fantasy anime so there is some good art showing a fantasy world. Midieval Kingdoms, Floating rocks, great landscapes. Nothing special but still good art.

Sound 8/10

No problems with the sound. The OP and ED are ok, they can grow with enough listens. What really surprises me is the fact that some pretty high class Seriyuus are on this anime (Nana mizuki for example) so that is a + on my book.

Enjoyment 7/10

While this anime looks fun and is fun, I sort of lost some enjoyment from the stupid idea of trivializing war and making it a simple athletic/ obstacle competition (Sora no otoshimono: Forte's Snow war EP was more like a war than this series). The Fighting animation is very good and the visuals are good.

Overral: 8/10

Overral this anime gets an 8. Actually it should be a 7 but I am being leniant due to the lack of medieval fantasy anime's out there. I didn'tt expect to really, really love this anime but it has gotten better in the later two episodes

(Note: Lots of people seem to rate 7 as average or bad in their rating systems when in fact 7 means it is good. 5-6 is average not 7)

Dog Days is not Zero no Tsukaima. I say this because I've seen a lot of people saying that they are alike, and to me, Dog Days pales greatly in comparison to Zero no Tsukaima. I am writing this review because I honestly don't like the idea of people going into Dog Days thinking that they will definitely get the same experience they did when they went into watching Zero no Tsukaima. Some may, others like myself won't.

Story: 3

Both Dog Days and Zero no Tsukaima are built on using a cliché storyline. Actually, this kind of cliché story line is one of the more popular ... ones when people write fanfiction, the “girl falls into another universe.” Actually, this cliché is used in a lot of Anime, like Fushigi Yugi and Inuyasha being a few examples. The difference here is, the story involves a guy.

This said, it needs to be said that using clichés when one writes any story is not the bad thing, is is how that cliché is used. To me, Zero no Tsukaima used this particular cliché well and built upon it well, while Dog Days fell flat. This review is not going to detail why Zero no Tsukaima happened to work, but it will detail why Dog Days fell flat in comparison.

I think one of the biggest problems with Dog Days is, that unlike Zero no Tsukaima, the entire plot line was overly predictable. I knew where the Anime was going to go from the very beginning. And I don't just mean how the major plot points would progress, but a lot of the minor ones, not to mention character development. It was overly basic.

There is also the fact that the story line for Dog Days is overly sappy. Nobody, for a good part of the Anime gets hurt because there is special magic to prevent such things from happening. The entire series was overly perfect with the characters everyday life. No one really struggled to get anything, even when the big bad finally got introduced. Everyone got their happy ending easily pretty much. Not so with Zero no Tsukaima.

This isn't to say that this kind of storyline doesn't have its place though. I think though, you kind of have to be expecting the storyline to be overly simplistic when you go into something like this, which is one of the reasons I am writing my review, so people who want to enjoy Dog Days while they watch it will in fact enjoy it, that... and so people don't go in with any misconceptions.

Art: 6

The thing that makes Dog Days stand out is the art work and animation involved. The animation is detailed and the characters are cute. In these ways, it can stand up to the other Anime in the Fantasy genre, as its elements are on that level. But there is actually another genre that this show encompassed that the animation fell short.

That was the action sequences. As I watched the actions between the characters and their movements, there were a bit far to many scenes where they did a particular kind of movement and the scale of the person doing the movement seemed awkward and out of scale at times. There were three or four times while watching the show that I had to pause.

The two shows also use what I call “panty humor”. With Zero no Tsukaima, I didn't feel overwhelmed until the second season. It might be said that the “panty humor” kind of fit and was even used well, but not the best I've seen. However, with Dog Days, it felt like the humor was thrown in there for fan service and nothing more.

There were a few other things that bothered me with the animation. One of which was the fact that... and people need to be warned about this... when I first went in, I had a hard time telling the dog people and the cat people apart unless I saw their tales. I mean, some of the dog people had floppy ears, but others had pointed ears. There was no facial traits that really set them as being cat or dog except on a select few.

The other thing that bothered me was the fact the scenes where the princess has her concerts. (Yes... she has concerts.) I know that one of the newer trends in Anime is to have special pop star music sessions. I may be wrong, but there is likely a program to do these kinds of scenes, and I think Dog Days is one of the ones to implement this program, which has a rather three dimensional look to it.

I've seen other Anime, like Angel Beats use such a generator well, with their band scenes, but to me... the band scenes were horrible. The three dimensional graphics looked cheesy in comparison to others I have seen, not to mention... if I didn't know it was the princess, I wouldn't be able to recognize them as being the same character. Aka, the facial features, unlike others I've seen did not match well.

Sound: 5

Nothing really stood out to me sound wise. Not even the Princess concert songs. I guess one might say I found it to be bland, but then... sound tends to not be my strong point unless it is something that stands out as very good, or very bad. Or... the show is so bad the sound is the only redeeming quality, which is not the case for Dog Days.

Character: 3

Part of the charm of the characters when it comes to Zero no Tsukaima was the fact that they can be panned as parody characters for the Harry Potter series. (Not only was Zero no Tsukaima created over five years after HP started, that was how I got into the series, someone made the comparison to HP.) However, that aside, the characters in the show have their own charm and they grow throughout the series.

With Dog Days, this isn't the case. Actually, the main male character in the show is a major Gary Stu and there were the typical attempts to hide this fact from the audience. And no, it isn't because he fell into another world. The main male character from Zero no Tsukaima fell into another world too, but he didn't start off as a very strong character.

In contrast, Cinque is the very picture of unbelievable strength. I guess the best place to start is the fact that he participates at the age of twelve in a major sports competition. I guess a way that you can describe it is, it is kind of the Olympics, but more like the shows Wipe Out and American Gladiator. You know, those kind of shows where ADULT athletes have struggled to get through the obstacles, yet a twelve to thirteen year old, would in fact wouldn't be allowed in such a competition due to age restrictions seems to far out pass them.

And if that isn't enough to prove it, he does the inhumanly impossible feet of jumping from a height of over twenty feet roughly and landing without injury. In would be one thing, if this was a show like Ranma ½ or Yu Yu Hakashu where more then one human character has strength aplenty and actually shows up and isn't the mentor, but he's the only one.

This wouldn't be such a problem if the show didn't try to pander him with faults that failed with every turn the show made. For example, in the very second episode, he is called an idiot for something that is obviously an accident on his part, not to mention the fact that he accidentally cuts off the cloths of a female. (When he is supposed to be this amazing athlete and technically, it shouldn't have been possible.) Later on, you find that he is very smart.

The other way is they try panning him as a failure and he mopes about the fact he let his family down because he came in second place in the contest I was talking about a few paragraphs too. He lost, get this, to his mentor and ANOTHER family member. How can it be letting his family down when BOTH first and second place were filled by family members?

As for the other characters, they really don't stand out. They are like cut out, cardboard stereotypes. I didn't feel any character growth in the entire series. It was honestly hard to find a character that I liked because of this. I think the closest I came was liking the cat prince, but I think that has to do with the fact that I thought he was cute, not because his character actually stood out to me.

Enjoyment: 6

Despite being a flawed show, it was enjoyable to watch, but I think I was enjoying it more because I felt it was one of those shows that was so bad, it was good. Some people, simply won't like it because it won't hold their attention. Others will like it simply because it is mind numbing. I may watch a second season of this, but it isn't likely that I'll be re-watching the Anime.

Overall: 4.6 (5)

This show is something that people should give a shot at, even if it is just once because it is that kind of show that watching once is worth it. It isn't going to be for everyone, for some it will be to mundane, but for others, it will be something that they need.

UPDATED through episode 6 now (was ep 3)
I've seen a wide sampling of fantasy anime, and there's a feeling you get when a series has that "something special" to it, and I most assuredly feel like Dog Days has that something that sets it above and apart from the many other anime in the genre.

They don't waste time bringing the protagonist into the new fantasy setting from his everyday life. Setting up the protagonist as a rather self assured, athletic and likable foreign exchange student, and then immediately transitioning to the new fast paced fantasy setting.

Dog Days follows a tried and true fantasy plot; ... the protagonist is faced with two "warring" factions, and helps to turn the tide for the faction he was brought in to aide. There is some exciting acrobatics and magic thrown in for some exciting action.

There are some unique, childish almost methods for waging war on neighboring countries, but rather than find it boring, I found it to be wonderfully refreshing. However don't be mislead by this, as there are some nicely placed portions of fan service.

Dog Days may not be breaking the mold for fantasy anime, but it has a self aware humor that has had me enjoying every second of it so far. I'll be greatly looking forward to seeing how the rest of this season turns out!

Edit: Okay now that I'm halfway through the series, I'm going to have to adjust my score down a point to 9 overall. For a 12 episode season anime, to still be dealing with effectively an extension of the first conflict all the way to episode 5, is a bit of disappointment.
That said, I still have high hopes for the rest of this season, and based on the conclusion of ep 6, there are intimations of some deeper, and more consequential plot points to come!

This is something worth watching this season, the graphics are good, the story is not cliche like most anime stories are, but this has it's own flavour. Enjoyment for all, themain character reminds you of the Monkey King.

Ok, I've just completed this 13 episode anime, at first, I've would have thought to be boring, but this is one very unique action, fantasy thing were there's no blood and gore, so how do I rate this:

Story: Good 7.

The action fantasy genre of this anime really did deliver as as what it's intended for which is to be enjoyed both but kids and adults alike, but I think it's info should also state other genres like, magic, martial arts and supernatural, since a lot of it were also present ....Harem? Hummmm, I don't think so, co'z the muchacho (the male lead, Cinque) has only ... confess to one chiquita (Millhiore, the female lead). Though, the plot maybe a simple cliche of good kingdom being invaded but evil kingdom, it is a bit diffident since both parties seems to do it in friendly terms were nobody get's killed, and everybody get's to go home after a fun in battle which kinda looks like a scene fro the reality show "Wipe-Out" except here opposing teams uses real medieval weaponry. anyway the bottom line is that things have a happy ending like those in a fairy tale thing.

Art: Mediocre 5.

Not much to comment around here.

Sound: Mediocre 5.

And same thing here.

Character: Good 7.

Ok, so the Italian/ Latin/ Sicilian names of the characters are unique, not gonna comment on that. I really like the voice actors who played the characters mentioned in this anime they really match the roles of the character, for one Horie Yui and if I'm not mistaken she did the same voice from another anime which features a half human half dog thing as well, but unlike this one, the character there has an aggressive attitude. But I do have a comment for the muchacho Cinque, I don't know the authors knowledge of parkour, but I think he should have use that terminology instead of Athletics, because what the muchacho did in the anime does resembles like parkour and the even that the muchacho did participated also has some resemblance from the reality show "Wipe-Out" (have I've mentioned that already?).

Enjoyment: Good 7.

Well, the last 4 episodes of the anime does bring about a surprise, one may have thought that there will be blood and gore, the moment they encountered an evil deity, but as it turn out, a happy ending for that foxy thing which has it coming. I can't deny that there were some fanservice along the way, but these can just be brushed aside, besides, sooner or later a kid is gonna grow up and see an external human body in the nude. But, as for the last episode, for me it's kinda cheesy.


Overall: Good 7.

Overall, this is one anime that really does deliver a PG rating into it.

I'm absolute furry trash



_______________
Really though, this show is a wholly example of why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Episode 1 is incredibly light and shallow, but the show blossoms into something much better by the end. All the characters are likeable and have their motives, so when conflict erupts, you can't just point to one side and go "those are the bad guys clearly in the wrong". Art is cutesy if not revolutionary, and all of the girls are best girl (except for the humans, they're lame) The show takes a war-game type approach, and paved the way for great shows like ... Mondaiji-tachi and No Game No Life, so that's cool I guess. If you too like touching fluffy tail I recommend this show.

Our adventuring days are coming to a close as the season finale approaches. Oh Dog Days, to quote Eclair, “I have no confidence that I’ll remember you.” With that in mind, let me quickly give my final thoughts while I do still remember.

There’s not much to say about the actual final episode. If you’ve watched the entire series, it’s all pretty clear what will happen at the end. Some personal back story and my final thoughts.

The reason I even watched this is my love of the fantasy genre. If it’s got swords and magic (specifically RPG like elements) I’ll give a shot. I have to ... assume that the traditional ‘western’ high-fantasy fiction (think LoTR), isn’t as popular in Japan as they have their own set of myths and fantasy-tales, which are pretty defined it their own right. But that’s left this anime fan wanting.

With that in mind, I’ll watch any fantasy themed anime, so watching Dog Days was an easy choice. The show overall had some good things going for it. At times the action was ok and of course the characters were cute. But for me, the overwhelming characteristics of the show were its blandness and lack of identity.

More than anything else the show really needed some personality. After all the time spent introducing the characters (way too many for a 13 episode series), and showing the little wars/athletic events they finally reveal the plot. That’s right, there are about 5 1/2 episodes of set up time. During which, I was constantly complaining about it and was wishing for something to happen.

When something did finally happen (Leo’s prophetic stargazing), it felt out-of-place. The show definitely did need some sort of conflict beyond its “athletic” events, but I thought the original plot they came up with wasn’t the best. Or even very good. Ok, it was pretty bad.

The characters were fine, it not completely standard. The only character I thought was better developed was Princess Leonmitchelli who had a more complex situation to deal with. The hero Shinku himself was pretty lame. I was on a harem-style anime kick a couple of years back and Shinku reminded me of all the empty-headed guys featured in many of those. I wouldn’t have been surprised if, during some duel Shinku got his face cut open only to reveal a robotic skeleton underneath. The ShinkuMatic-2000, if you will.

They could have easily slipped a love story into the show, or even easier a love triangle. But any feelings the characters may have, especially the blank-eyed Shinku, are pretty much ignored. They tried to sprinkle some in towards the end, but it doesn’t feel very natural. This “not feeling very natural” can be applied to much of the series, from the fan service to the magical powers some of the characters wield. Not very natural and completely predictable.

Every character reacts exactly how you think they will, in every situation, all the time. But oh man, were they cute or what? Ricotta’s Harry Potterish outfit was my personal favorite. The voice acting was fine, although with so many characters, some of who get very little screen time, no one gets to really shine (with maybe the exception of Eclair who I liked). The opening song was fun and I’ll admit it, I always timed the ending so I could yell, “Scarlet Knight!’ along with the singer. You did too, right?

I guess it was what it was. It seemed to want to capitalize on anthropomorphic cuties more than anything else and if that’s your cup of tea I would tell you to check this out. Otherwise I couldn’t in good conscience, not even to a fellow fantasy fan, ever recommend Dog Days.

[Thoughts about final episode removed due to spoilerish tendencies: go to http://moemonster.com/2011/06/26/dog-days-episode-13-finale/ for full unedited review]

Dog Days doesn’t really have any element to call it unique or special. Still, as my expectations were low, it still managed to be one very entertaining series. Sure there’s nothing of quality to call it above average, but it’s one of those anime that one doesn’t need to feel ashamed to watch. In other words, this Zero no Tsukaima clone is not to be ignored by those who loved..Well..Zero no Tsukaima.

To simply call it a clone would be somewhat of a false statement. True, the premise is highly similar to Zero, but the difference entirely lies in execution. The difference between the two is ... that Dog Days doesn’t suffer from a bad direction. As a matter of fact, the direction is quite excellent. Of course I’m not talking about the actual story that is nothing more than your average shounen story, but the story itself unfolds in a smooth way through its 13 episodes. And while the anime might be at fault with its obvious fan services and its predictable plot, it was actually used in moderate manners. However, being this an original anime production, it’s somewhat sad that the writer didn’t try to give something different, but instead decided to remain in the same old circle of what’s already been done. This, to the eyes of many, is probably the weakest point of dog days and certainly the one that makes it impossible to reach a quality standard. Another point is how silly this show seems in the first episode. For it to be a good aspect or bad one, entirely depends on the viewer. Right in the first moments, Dog Days makes complete fun of war to a point that it is completely useless. Gladly, it doesn’t stay in the comedy zone for all of the show and the drama is flowed perfectly later on and doesn’t feel out of place or forced. Presumably, Dog Days is one of these shows that stays in the same zone. While it’s not actually a bad thing, it’s not a good thing either. Either way, there’s at least a generally likeable cast to support the show.

Not without its flaws, the cast of Dog Days is as generic as the word itself and this is not surprising at all. However, it is actually unexpected that the development for these generic characters was actually well done or far better than I thought it would be. Not in a way that it would amaze the viewer, but in the way that they would find it coherent. Of course, it is mostly the case of a good direction, but the characters traits, which obviously fall in all the shounen archetypes, compliment the story very well. As for the hero of the story, who is literally called “Hero” in the anime, he doesn’t show much arrogance and actually has somewhat of character’s depth. For the rest of the cast, they are mostly here to fill the missing spots and to support the actual story. Other than the relation between the Hero and the Princess, the others are just for creating yet another harem.

The production value for Dog Days is actually not good. There’s an obvious lack of shadings, the backgrounds are most of the time vast fields with a blue sky and the character design seems to be rushed more than anything else, but it doesn’t stop it from having good animation. Truly, some of the fighting scenes are actually well made and fluid. While it is not a masterpiece of animation, it’s still above the standards of many popular fighting anime (I’m looking at you Naruto).

The anime opens with your typical Japanese pop song, but somehow I never got into it. To me, the opening song never really went too well with the anime. In other words, it’s just another intro worth to skip. The same can be told for the ending. The voice actors, while not giving something extraordinary, are well into it and give an actual good performance. The score for the anime is actually quite forgettable. In other words, there’s nothing to say about the music in Dog Days other than it is very generic.

To burn the last rope, it is not surprising that Dog Days is yet another average anime with nothing special or worth remembering, but on the other, it is a charming series that I actually recommend for anyone who loves simple stuff. I have to admit, that this anime gladly entertained me and it might as well be one of the big surprise this season.

War, war never changes. Dog days however shows us that war does not have to be gruesome and depressing, instead it's turned into an animated version of Takeshi's Castle/WipeOut with animal people! Dog Days is one of those animes that carries little to no substance but is at the same time extremely enjoyable and fun.


Story: 7/10

Dog Days suffers the same problem most "moe"animes have nowadays, namely the lack of plot. The plot in Dog Days is there but one has to look very carefully in order to find it the first 8 episodes. The plot itself does feel a little out of place in a ... happy-go-lucky world of cat/dog/bunny/etc people but is believable nonetheless.

Art: 8/10

The background art in Dog Days is outstanding, and the anime loves to show it to you by zooming out and showing you the beautiful nature of Flonyard. Sadly the character art is rather mediocre, but is still pleasurable to look at.


Sound: 9/10

The soundtrack is pleasurable to the ears and consist of some nice tracks, both the OP and the ED are catchy and fit in nicely with the atmosphere the anime wants to portray.


Character: 8/10

Although the characters in Dog Days fill the common "moe"niches of 2011's standards, the characters are beautifully portrayed by an all star VA cast, Dog Days tries to divert from the aforementioned niches but plays it safe by not straying too far from them. Character development is rather scarce which could've filled a few episodes but sadly did not. There is a romance subplot which plods along in a rather slow pace and suddenly goes into overdrive in the last ten minutes.


Overall: 9/10

Dog Days is a must-see for fans of the genre and for people who like light-hearted anime. Dog Days has it's flaws but is in the end a nice anime worthy of having a look at

summary:

+ a great OST and OP/ED
+ lovable characters
+ Great Voice Actor line-up
+ beautiful background art
- thin plot
- side characters are rather flat personality wise
- Character art not really outstanding for 2011 standards



Want to comment?Do you have constructive criticism? Please leave a message on my profile!

COUGHCOUGHCOUGHthisisawelldonezeronotsukaimaCOUGHCOUGHCOUGH.

So this is one of the series that combines almost all the cliches into one anime, but, it does it well. Or something like that.

Story: 7

So we have our tipical "chosen-one" plot, when somebody somewhere in the world gets sucked into another dimension for good. In most series, the chosen one acts like a complete retard, asking everytime what to do. But this anime breaks completely this tradition, and the chosen one practically DESERVES to be the chosen one.
In the other dimension, two kingdoms-or-whatever-they-are are in a "war", and the -apparently- good kingdom needs more attack power, and is forced to summon a person from ... other dimension that helps.
This kingdom, Biscotti, ends up summoning Izumi Cinque, a 13 year old boy with great talent in what sports and athletics means.
Izumi, when summoned, acts like all the chosen ones should do. He agrees to help with the kingdom with his abilities, and doesn't forget that he came from The Earth. Basically, his primary goal is to help, and go back to the Earth.
Story goes on and on.

Speaking about other things, there is a giant plot twist in the middle (that I am not going to tell you) that gets twisted by the plot itself (you know, a twisted plot-twist), but well.

Fact: The battles are a reality show. (Monitored by television, but not like a war, more like American Gladiator)
Fanservice fact: It appears that everytime an important person loses a battle, HER (only her) clothes explode.


Art: 8

The drawing and the animation here is very well done, but not nothing outstanding though.


Sound: 8

The OST is very good, the tracks are well composed and well placed in the anime. But there is a very little lack in the voice acting, where 1/6 of the time the actitude of the voice and the flacial expression of the character doesn't match very well. But nothing very huge though.


Character: 7

Like I said at the beginning of this review, this anime is filled with cliches, and the characters are a cliche party.

(I will list only the important or must-review characters lol.)

Izumi Cinque: Main protagonist. The chosen one, that deserves to be the chosen one. A talented boy that gets sucked into another dimension. In my opinion, this guy was the best character in the whole series, because he doesn't act like a retard when sucked. (Sorry, I just can't say another word, get used to it.)

Millhiore "Millhi" Firianno Biscotti: 14 year old princess of Biscotti. The sucker. She sucked Izumi. Also, she's an idol. Our typical female protagonist that cares for the hero and acts like a sister for him. She's good.

Leonmitchelli "Leo" Galette des Rois: The princess of Galette, as well as one of the most giant tsundere there is, I am not going to tell you why, she just is. (You know, japanese really likes russian people with french names living in an english house)

Ricotta "Rico" Elmar: Lollipop lollipop, oh loli loli loli. She's the mad scientist in the series. Great character though. (loli fanservice ahead, she loses a battle.)

Eclair Martinozzi: You know everytime the male protagonist introduces himself, inmediately the wild Tsundere appears. Well, it's her. (Nothing new here, our typical tsundere we all know).

Brioche d'Arquien: The samurai girl. Energic and fast, like a samurai would be de gozaru.

Godwin Dorure: AAAANDERSEEEENNNN

Vert Far Breton: So, this is a war between dogs and cats. WOULD YOU PRODUCERS TELL ME WHY THERE IS A BUNNY HERE?!

Gaul Galette Des Rois: The brother of Leo, and a cat version of InuYasha, say, NekoYasha.

Yukikaze Panettone: Another samurai de gozaru.

Amelita Trompette: Secretary. And a musical instrument.

Noir Vinocacao: A SMILING REY AYANAMI. PERIOD.


Enjoyment: 7

I really liked this series... in its second half. The first is somewhat lazy, but I personally believe that it was that way to make the ambience for what is going to happen (zomg spoiler).


Overall: 7

Why I liked it: If you haven't put attention in all this review, the protagonist is not a dumbass.

This is a good series that you can watch if you don't have anything else to do in a day. I am not saying that is bad, simply it is not really great, and it is not bad, but I simply rather watching other series than this. Well, it's up to you. You decide. Go.


(English is not my native language, sorry for all the mistakes.)

Dog Days my first review this anime has some potiential the first anime to release in Spring and overall i loved it in any way

Overalls: This anime gives me a hyped i though it was gonna suck but i was wrong i like and hopefully the anime improves to its fans and the series if this is going well. Dog Days is like a mix of Final Fantasy and a new way of a different story its really amazing how this show can do many characters have some awesome times and place and explains about the show which i was highly impressed the battles ... in the anime is like a battle stage in a Dynasty Warriors game or a scene of Final Fantasy but involving not killing or murder its really intresting and quite good for the anime.

I just completed Dog Days less than 24 hours ago, so I'll post a quick review of the show for now.

STORY:
It has been four years since the disappointment that was Mahou Shoujo StrikerS, and I can see that the writers from Seven Arcs really learnt their lesson from it. Initially I thought Dog Days would be like another StrikerS, having only one complicated story arc and such. But no. Instead, the writers decided to give Dog Days a different approach by having many mini story arcs.

And what do the audience benefit from this? A show with a simple plot line and excellent pacing. ... I wasn't confused by the story in Dog Days as I was in StrikerS. I don't need to shut down my laptop and cool down to think over what the characters were talking about in the last episodes I watched. Instead, Dog Days kept me constantly interested for the next story arc and I was able to finish the series in just a few hours, never leaving my seat throughout.

Though simple, the story was really original. Fantasy shows like this tend to give the people impressions that it would involve giant quests and violence which would lead to a bloody conclusion. But no. A unique aspect of Dog Days is that there isn't much bloodshed involved and wars fought by countries were just part of a sport to improve the relationship between countries. There isn't a lot of giant quests involved either. Probably the only one I could think of is Leo's quest to prevent Millhiore's death.

So you have mini story-arcs, an original plot, sprinkled with some fanservice on top, and you get Dog Days, a show with a nice story that really surprised me.

ART:
What more can I say? The character designs are the standard (awesome) fare you get from Seven Arcs. Just think of the characters in Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, add in some dog ears, a waggy tail and an epic emblem.

Moving on to the animation part, though some of the scenes were really off, the rest were quite decent.

SOUND:
A bit disappointed, I must say. Except for the OP (sung by Nana Mizuki of Fate Testarossa fame) and ED (sung by Yui Horie) which I loved a lot, there isn't much of the soundtrack that is memorable.

On the other hand, Dog Days features a godlike all-star cast which of course includes Nana Mizuki, Yui Horie, Ayana Taketatsu (voice of Azusa Nakano, my favorite character from K-ON), Kana Hanazawa (Tachibana Kanade), Yoko Hikasa (Mio Akiyama), Daisuke Ono (with his awesome gay voice), and most important of all, NORIO WAKAMOTO. I demand more of Godwin's sexy voice! I dare say that Dog Days had the best voice acting cast out of all anime series in 2011.

CHARACTER:
Again like StrikerS, Dog Days suffered from the problem of having too many characters. But unlike StrikerS, the characters in Dog Days all had enough screentime and were developed well. Everyone also had a unique personality that keeps the interaction among the characters interesting. This is another reason why I believe that the writers from StrikerS had really learnt their lesson from 4 years back. Yay for Godwin, my favorite character.

OVERALL:
I don't know why there's so much hate for Dog Days in MAL, I believe that it's an underrated anime that should really develop into a big franchise like Lyrical Nanoha. Glad to hear that it's getting a second season, and I certainly hope that the season 2 would have an epic storyline as in Nanoha A's.

(This has been adapted from my reddit thread)

What's interesting about any medium designed for entertainment is its ability to figuratively transport us to another world. Television, books, and anime all have this capability; we watch the drama unfold, read the words, and enjoy the antics, so much so that we feel as if we are somehow placed in this newfound creation. At times, we are also presented with the literal form instead of the figurative. That is, the story involves leaving an old world to be brought to a new one. Dog Days Season One is such a "tail," (I had to!) but is almost ... nothing more.

STORY

The story begins with Shinku, a middle school boy who is seemingly summoned to the distant land of Flognarde to fight as the country of Biscotti's "hero" to help them win their battles.

...And that's it.

Joking aside, the meat of Dog Days literally does not go past this point. The focus is on the battles; showing off the characters fighting one another, the commentating of powerful moves, and the misplaced fan-service throughout it. Interspersed are idol concerts, loose drama, and minor world-building, but they are in no way the most prominent portion of the show.

Something that Dog Days suffers from is what I deem "School Days Syndrome," where the entire conflict could potentially be solved by uttering a single line. Or, at the minimum, politely detailing the current situation in order to avoid any missteps along the way. Instead, the overall goal of the antagonist, while done with good intentions, is ultimately so roundabout and silly that it borders stupidity. The resolution brings about perhaps the most interesting aspect of this new universe, but it isn't explored this time or into much detail afterwards. This isn't so much a fault, since it more than likely will play out in later seasons, but the rest of what was presented does not compare to its scope.

It's important to note the (all being women) fan-service brought up earlier, for what it is is highly unnecessary. It serves no overall purpose, feeling misplaced due to the nature of the show.

Finally, the ending. It is perhaps the most convenient plot device I've ever witnessed from a show to date. Words cannot describe how perfectly the stars align to grant such a happy-go-lucky conclusion. Now, I'm not averse to jubilant endings, as long as they are done right. However, with absolutely no pretext or reasoning, the way it all goes down happens. Sure, the point of the show isn't to be overly dramatic, sad, or melancholy, but it would have been nice if Dog Days could have at least tried to make the realization/answer to the problem relevant.

ANIMATION

The art style for the show is, more or less, generic. It has this "kid's show" vibe that it never loses. The characters stand out from the everyday villagers due to the way they are drawn; civilians are given severely less detail compared to their main cast counterparts.

Dog Days does one thing right: actual animation. While not astounding, the animation involved with many of the moves Shinku and the others perform is at least above average. The colors and easy-to-follow attacks are done nicely, making the duels and fights fun to watch.

The character designs themselves are nothing amazing. They mostly follow a "this person is this color" pattern, making it easier for the audience to remember people's names. There is some detail when it comes to the outfits, such as Milli's pink royal gown or Leo's lieutenant attire, but for the most part, the characters look quite boring. This also applies to the environments and battlefields the characters find themselves on.

CHARACTERS

Dog Days has characters, but just barely.

The most glaring issue lies with Shinku. It's not that he is a "Gary-Stu" so much as it is that he is just so plain. His voice, his actions, his demeanor; everything screams normal. It's almost off-putting how boring he generally is. He's never funny, charismatic, interesting, or passionate. The only thing he has going for him is being nice.

The Princess, Millefiori, suffers from the same illness. Outside of being a pop idol and royalty, her only saving grace is her extreme kindness and delicacy towards her people. Her role makes more sense given her position and how she goes about her everyday life.

Leo, the leader of Galette, and Eclair, leader of the Biscotti Knights, are a step in the right direction. Eclair is the classic "tsundere" type, but she is able to hold her own in battles and isn't afraid to do what is right. Leo could have been a great character. Her battle-hardened outer shell when fighting on the battlefield contrasted nicely with her playful and defenseless way of acting when around Millefiori. Even her actions were admirable and held good intentions. However, her overall lack of communication sparked the entirety of the season, making her seem less like an intelligent war captain and more like an emotionally charged buffoon.

Arguably the best characters from the show are actually the ones we know the least about, namely Yukikaze and Dalkian, the demon fighters. We are given slight insight into who they are and what their pasts entail, but not much more. Again, this type of development was almost inevitable given the show's focus, but I hope that the later seasons aim to incorporate the ideas these two presented further.

Given the amount of characters, there is absolutely no way that every single one can be thoroughly explored. And that's okay; sometimes a show doesn't need to have tons of exposition or inner-monologues to describe a character for us. But as it stands, Dog Days doesn't do a very good job of making one fall in love with the characters. Sure, all of the girls are cute, but they have been seen time and again, and have been done infinitely better elsewhere.

SOUND

There is not much to say about the OP besides how exceptionally generic it is. Okay vocals mixed with boring drum beats and pop-like tracks is not a good combination.

The ED is a minimal step up from the OP. It maintains the same boring tracks, but opts for a softer tone and therefore softer vocals that fit more with the anime itself.

The rest of the soundtrack is largely forgettable.

As for VA work, I would go so far as to say that Shinku's voice actually doesn't fit his character at all. It sounds as if he is five or seven years younger than he sounds. Every time he talked, it was rather monotonous and unappealing to hear.

ENJOYMENT

For the most part, this show doesn't try anything new. It's a show about dog-like creatures participating in fun little skirmishes, with flat characters, sub-par world building, and decent duels. No themes are explored, the drama itself is misguided, and the conclusion is a storybook ending.

Being a romance guy, the romance elements at play from multiple parties was the most fun to watch. I wouldn't call it a harem, but it is evident that multiple girls fall for Shinku, and seeing them interact with him, with the blushing, smiling, and tail wagging, was usually able to make me smile.

If one is looking for an okay show where you can just turn your brain off to watch a bunch of dog-like creatures fight with swords and offer a bit of fun along the way, then Dog Days fits the bill. Otherwise, there are much better anime out there to be had. Hopefully the second season can prove me wrong.

SUMMARY

Story: Terrible, "School Days Syndrome"

Animation: Fine, nice actual animation but art style is uninspired

Characters: Bad, flat, one-dimensional, and forgettable

Sound: Bad, OP and ED are way too generic, Shinku's VA does not fit

Enjoyment: Fine, dog-like creatures and romance work out okay

Final Score: 3/10

I think I'm going crazy.

Dog Days is, without a doubt, virtualy vapid. The main character is barely expanded upon from what we learn about him during the first few episodes, his motivation is lucid and those around him treat him like a piece of furniture for the most part. The entire show also seems to suffer from the same issues recent Final Fantasy games have suffered from, where it doesn't seem to understand who the main character is! The entire plot is circled around the main chracters love interest and the 'villan'. It's like in Final Fantasy 12, we all know Vaan isn't the hero, ... Ashe is. The animation is colourfull and fluid, yet nto very interesting and easily forgettable, all the music save for the opening is uninspired and yet...despite all of this...I like Dog Days.

I REALLY like Dog Days...

I think I'm ill.

I think I should, at first, explain why I watched Dog Days in the first place. If there's one thing I love, it's medieval themed anything. I'm probably one of the few people in the universe who can put up a defence for Zero No Tsukaima. Sadly, it seems to be an aspect that's lacking these days, and I was really happy to see something that not only looked interesting but also might be entertaining. When I found out it was by the same man who brought us Nanoha, one of my favourite series, I was pretty much hooked on the idea...but...

Allow me to explain both sides of the arguement, because if I don't I think I'll lose it completely. Let's begin, as always, with the plot:

We enter into Unnamed Magical World where two kingdoms are at war with eachother. The Kingdom of Biscotti and the Kingdom of Gallette. Now, wars in this world are a little different from the wars in ours. When you think of war, you think of guns, tanks, bombs that sort of thing. Or maybe swords, shields and medieval knights right? You'll find very little of that here. What does happen is this, a mysterious power source called Flonjar energy allows armies to fight to their hearts content without dying. Instead, when particular blows are struck, they turn into little fluff balls (although they do fight using swords, bows and other Medieval things, but you get the idea). Yes, these two kingdoms are populated entirely of Dog people and Cat people, FURRIES UNITE! Due to this, their battles are more like contests than actual 'battle'. They score points when enemies are defeated and both armies have to advance further than the other. Simple enough right? Except Biscotti is losing this war, and so their leader, the Princess Millhiore, decides to use magic to summon a Hero to help them out. As it turns out, this means dragging a human across dimentions to fight for them. In this case, it's a Junior Athletics champ called Cinque who just so happens to be pretty good with a Bo Staff. And that's just scratching the surface people, there's more to it. Unfortunately, I am unable to explain the rest to you without spoiling the rest of the series, so let's move on.

Strangely enough, Dog Days seems to suffer from Square Enix Syndrome: Being unable to decide on a main character. Despite first appearences, Cinque is not the main character. Although I'm sure many people can debate me on this point, allow me to remind you that Cinque gets absolutely no development whatsoever. This isn't that much of a problem, because he's not a bad character if you can stand him. No, the main character is Princess Millhiore. She the young, inexperienced leader of a nation that has to lead them into a war she didn't want and, as you'll discover, she doesn't even understand why it's being faught. To completely understand her development and her character though, we have to talk about Queen Leonmitchelli. Completely on the reverse end, Leon is the Queen of the enemy kingdom of Gallette. This wouldn't be a problem if it didn't turn out that both Leon and Milhi have been friends since they were little kids! Seeing the problem here? Leon herself is an interesting character, though she may appear sure of herself and maybe a little arrogant at first, her desire to protect her friend is apparent in the end and, through the plot, we learn of her real reason to declare war on her neighbouring kingdom. For what there is to talk about Cinque, I suppose I probably should. As a human who was magically wisked away from his home planet by a dog carrying a knife (no really), you'd think he be a little culture shocked right? Kinda like how Saito was in Zero no Tsukaima at first? Not in the slightest! In fact, once he's shown how it's actualy impossible to die in the war, he's a little excited to take part in it. You see, Cinque is a an expert gymnast and athelete, pretty good with a bo staff and eager to prove himself. The problem is that that's about all there is to him, he doesn't particularly advance from this point except the traditional main character route of protecting the romantic interest. His character isn't bad, I just feel like it could have been done more effectively. The rest of the character are, while not completely cookie cutter, are not really developed upon and serve really as litteral backup for the main characters. While good to have around, could be dropped and not much would, on the whole, be lost. With the possible exception of Eclair, the captain of the guard in Milhi's forces, who spends alot of time with Cinque either fighting by his side or argueing with him in wacky hijinks.

Dog Days is a concept created by the same man who brought us Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, and oh boy does it show. The magic they use in this show reminds me alot of Nanoha, just the general feel of it and how it's executed. I half expect the symbols on the back of peoples hands that they use for magic to start talking. Animation wise, Dog Days gets a 'good' at best to 'passable' at worst. While the art quality drops on occasion and the side characters suffer from Generic Face Disease, it's not unpleasent to look at 80% of the time. It's quite possible to say that the opening has the best animation, which is sad because quite alot of the action scenes in Dog Days could have used it's quality.

Sound wise, Dog Days gets a pass. The intro, once again in the style of Nanoha, Dog Days has it's opening sung by Nana Mizuki who always does a good job, if her singing style is your sort of thing. The opening song, Scarlet Knight, while not her best song proves that even when Nana Mizuki isn't amazing, she's still pretty good. Otherwise, the show has no particularly memorable songs. They're not bad, but not particularly memorable either, at least nothing you'll be bobbing your head to for any time to come. The dialogue is passable at times, verging on pretty damn good with the always awesome performances from Norio Wakamoto (Emperor Charles Zi Britannia, Code Geass) and Tetsuya Kakihara (Simon, Gurren Lagann) who voice General Godwin and Leon's brother Gaul respectively. And if you're a fan of her voice work, Nana Mizuki also voices one of the side characters, Ricotta Elmar. The rest of the voice actors/actresses do a good job aswell, I'm just naming some of the more interesting performances.

Where the series falls down majorly however, it's the execusion of the story. It's lazy, predictable and, as previously stated, deluding itself into pretending Cinque has anything to do with it at all. It's sad to say, but Seven Arcs seriously dropped the ball on this one plot wise. The ending is sloppy, which is where most of this issue lies. The main conflicting villan is defeated within a single episode, and the series stretches out for another 3 episodes that could have been used to boost the story and bump up this shows score.

Dog Days did quite a few things right, but the rest are wrong in such a big way it may be hard to enjoy for some. It's enjoyable for the most part, yes, but parts of it will rub the wrong way. If you liked Nanoha at all, I recomend giving Dog Days a watch. If you like medieval themes anime, I'd give it a go. If you like developed characters and an interesting narative, Dog Days might be worth avoiding. I half feel like the series wasn't done justice, being an original work it's able to do it's own thing without having to adhere to an already established plot and having to cater to a legion of fans who will pick apart every flaw with it. The issue, is that it makes you feel like it would be a whole lot better if they'd had more time to develop everything properly, establish the world a bit more and develop Cinque a bit more, we could have had a series that you would really want to continue. As it stands though, I don't see Dog Days continueing past this series. Perhaps a manga would be nice to see, but considering the original creator is still working on Nanoha Force and Nanoha Vivid, I don't see it happening in the forseeable future. Up untill the last 3 episodes, I'd pretty much set my heart on a score of 8/10, but seeing how it seems to have crash landed I'm bumping it down to a 7/10, and that's only because I found it enjoyable. I know someone who lumps this on the same level as Rio: Rainbow Gate, which is actualy kind of depressing when you think about it.

Final Score: 7/10

Dog Days is a 1-cour anime about the beautiful and fun-filled world of Fronyaldo, where the land is green and islands float in the sky. The people living there closely resemble that of a human except that they have big ears and fluffy tails similar to that found on other mammals such as dogs, cats, lions, etc. Anyways, the setting is similar to that of Medieval Europe where fortresses or castles are found everywhere and soldiers fought with weapons like bows, spears, swords, and magic.

The show primarily focus on a human male known as Izumi Cinque (or Shinku), who was incidentally dragged into an alternate ... world he never knew of after being summoned by the Princess of the Biscotti Kingdom, Princess Millhiore Biscotti, to be a hero and help them turn the tide of war against the nation of Galette. Initially, Cinque is in doubt whether he can really do anything, but after seeing how the battles are actuality fought by hero-like characters serving in the frontlines of large army formations and goes head on against an opposing force in a sports-like manner with silly physical challenges and obstacle courses serving as the main battle terrain, in addition to that, no one actually dies or gets serious injuries from the battle since the land is protected by some kind of spell that prevents those things from happening; Cinque accepted the Princess’s offer to become a Hero.

Each episode is filled with fantasy and magical themes that feels lighthearted and fun to watch. Most of the episodes are dedicated to the interactions of the Hero Cinque to the people of Fronyaldo as they try to unravel the mystery behind the constant wars fought by the kingdoms of Biscotti and Galette. Along the way the Hero will meet several people, as well as encounter events and battles that will contribute greatly to plot development. The pacing is good as each episode is provided with the right amount of details and excitement to keeping the viewers interested and looking forward for the next episode. The ending offers a good conclusion but still contains a lot of materials that can be used in case a new season is decided.

For a series that never really tried to be serious and focuses more on the lighter and fun-filled side of storytelling, the animation of Dog Days really works. One of the challenges in animating alternates worlds is that it has to have at least some unique features that isn’t found from Earth for the viewers to explore, in the case of the land of Fronyaldo, the series achieves that with the floating islands found everywhere, magical creatures roaming the lands, and the people which generally looks still like humans but with the inclusion of big ears and tails found in many mammal animals. The surrounding towns and fortresses look similar to those found in Medieval Europe. As for the technology found in Dog Days, it’s a nice mixture of magic, medieval, and modern technology which is a nice touch. For the environment itself; it looks detailed enough, neat looking, and the color tones fit the overall theme of the story. The character designs are likeable and cute, however outside the main and supporting cast all the other people presenting the town folks and soldiers are all generic looking having almost the exact same face and features, so I guess that one of the downturn of having to create such a huge cast of extras. The fights scenes and magic spells looks really pleasing to the eyes especially when a large number of soldiers are knockout in battle, they transformed into animal furballs which increases the fun factor of the show. Also worth mentioning are the large battlegrounds which the series achieves showcasing a very lively surrounding that is filled with hundreds of soldiers, the effect that there really was a war going on. In general, the production values are good except for several occasions that character designs looks distorted and out of proportion. Usually I’m not bothered by it, but when it involves very important scenes (e.g. concert scene of Millhiore in ep.11) and the characters almost looks like an entirely different characters, I tend to get disturbed by that.

Sound effects used in Dog Days are generally good, the battle sounds are nice to listen especially the summoning of magical spells and the sounds produced with its used, worth mentioning is the sound effect by the transformation of the soldiers into animal furballs and the expression “nyaah” as the indication they are defeated, it is quite hilarious to hear. As for the soundtracks, it did a fairly good job in conveying the moments but nothing really special. The Opening and ending songs also feels well fitted for the overall theme of the series but it is something that I could skip all together when watching. Voice acting is where the series really shines; it’s an all star cast featuring the voices of several well known seiyuus that are too many I’m not gonna try listing them in this review. The voices really fit the personalities of the characters they are portraying and listening to them exchange conversations with one another is really very pleasant and enjoyable to listen.

Dog Days have a fairly large number of characters, not included are the extras from the magic academy, the imperial staff, the soldiers, the commentators, and the townsfolk from both the Biscotti and the Galette Kingdom, it is easy to see the amount of effort poured into the production. However, this paved way to less development or little background of the characters which could be ignored all together because the series has made a very good job in blending such a huge cast and make a likeable and believable world. As for the characters themselves, Izumi Cinque, has done a very good job as the main character of the series, his personality as a male lead is not annoying in fact likeable, more importantly he did well acting as the “Hero” that ended the dispute between the two Kingdoms. Princess Millhiore is also a very likeable character, she may be innocent and pure at heart, but her determination is unquestionable. The other Princess, Leonmitchelli of the Kingdom of Galette likewise is also likeable, she may have deceive an entire kingdom to play a war due to personal reasons, but more importantly she admitted it and her people accepted it, just shows how her people loved her so much. Other important characters such as Ricotta from the research department and Eclair from the Imperial knights serving Princess Millhiore provided some comedic relief as well as important companions for the Hero Cinque in solving the dispute between the two kingdoms.

There are also a lot of supporting characters that added important contributions and several other viewpoints. Worth mentioning is Gaul (Leon’s brother) and General Godwin from the Kingdom of Galette, Brioche, Laurent, and Yuki from Biscotti’s side, also is Rebecca, which is an earthling that have a very close relationship with Cinque. Not to forget are the commentators that cover the matches and many other important events, they gave several hilarious comments on the background that added more fun to the series.

Dog Days is a series I started watching out of curiosity and after completing it, all I can say is that it is a very well made series. Enjoyment is quite high and not a boring moment so to speak. It has a fun-filled, lighthearted, magical, fantasy, and adventure story set in an alternate world with characters that have big ears and fluffy tails. Add to that are good animation, many interesting characters to meet and places to explore that really gave life to the world of Fronyaldo that will surely appeal to younger viewers as well as older viewers alike with interest on the aforementioned themes of the series.

Note: edited at some parts, ratings changed.

STORY:

There wasn't really much of a story to dog days. Some random guy got ported into a world full of dogs and cats, where they have friendly or not so friendly battles with eachother just for the sake of having battle(and money)(while typing that, a strange image of america came up with me, I don't know why). This kind of story has been done before, and it just had nothing new in itself(except for the cat and dog girls. Oh, there were guys as well, sometimes, in the background). So no a high score on the story part.


ANIMATION:

Dog days was very colorful, which I liked ... a lot. Because dog days is all about happy battles that sort of style suited it perfectly. I also liked it that the main characters were 10 times more detailed unimportant random battle dudes, who all had the same face.



SOUND:

Barely passed the grade on this part, the characters all sounded way too squeaky. The opening song was very forgetable as well. As was the ending song. I guess I must´ve liked the ambiance to still give it a passing grade on the sound.


CHARACTERS:

First of all: There were just too many. The serie had like 3 main characters and 50 billion side characters. I had the feeling that the characters which actually had an expression on their face should've played some part in the plot, but just didn't. They did get some lines of text, just enough to make me interested, but not enough to satisfy me. And the main characters story sucked big time.



OVERALL:

Dog days was a very lighthearted series, which I liked at the time of watching. After looking back though, I noticed that there wasn't all that much going on, and that it completely lacked any sort of progress in the story(other than some characters liking each other more and more. Yea, what else is new?). So if you want to have some eye candy in the form of cat girls which doesn't require your brain to digest: Go for it. Just don't look back on it later.... :)

I honestly wasn't expecting much from Dog Days. I simply clicked and watched it for the sake of passing some time. However, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed watching the anime. Normally I don't watch shows with such a lighthearted atmosphere but I feel like Dog Days was able to pull it off quite well. Although there were several elements that I felt needed work, the majority of the series was enjoyable enough that it could be ignored.

(Some spoilers!)
First the story of the anime is somewhat weak. The hero is summoned to an alternate world so ... that he may fight in a war. Seems all good until you find out that the wars aren't actually wars. Critical thinkers while watching the anime may feel distracted by the fact that the "intense" battles the characters face are not as deadly. However the story does become more interesting as you go into the series. The demon at the end and the foreshadowing quote from Brioche d'Arquien to Cinque may increase the drama and intensity in the next season.
As for the characters, at occasions things feel too extreme. For example, Cinque in the human world participated in the Iron Athletics (imagine Ninja Warrior) and placed second place. The princess of the dog world watched this from her magical mirror(?) and decided to make him the hero right then and there. That's already a bit odd but onto the next subject, the hero is in middle school and has a near superhuman ability to jump several times his own height, has the strength of several men, the ability to fight with dual swords and bo staff, and lastly the ability to quickly master spells from the dog world in mere days. Of course this IS an anime so I guess its only natural that he has these abilities. But I still find it...odd.
Lastly theres the hints of romance in the story. The main character has 3 main love interests. The human girl, Rebecca (seen only a few times in the series), Eclair (the tsundere), and the princess Milliefiore. You see a relationship build between both the princess and Eclair to Cinque quite often in the series. The romance itself is not bad, but the fact that they are all so young is unsettling at sometimes.

Overall, it was an enjoyable ride and I have high hopes for the next season.