Dog Days

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.

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.

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.... :)

Overview:
5/10 story
5/10 art
5/10 sound
5/10 character
6/10 enjoyment
6/10 overall.


Summary: This is a silly, lighthearted and almost kids friendly anime, with some very light fanservice and nearly no darkness in it. It is by no means exceptional, but watching it leaves positive impression. So, it is not a masterpiece, but it is worth checking out.
...
Summary: 5/10 The story is about athlete school boy that is sumonned into another world to fight in a war.... except the war is different from the one we're used to, it is fun and not bloody, and resembles sport tournament. And the world is populated with beast-people meaning cat-eared and dog-eared characters all around. There's some minor drama in it, with a hint of darkness, but the anime doesn't really go too far from light hearted nature. Still, the story is amusing, but not exceptional.

Art: 5/10. Designs are fairly typical - a bit simplified characters more on a cute side, with fairly low amount of detail. The art is quite average and does not really stand out, but character designs are attractive. Amount of detilas on characters is fairly low, and people in crowds are a bit simplified compared to protagonist and the main cast.

Sound: 5/10. Decent song/music, good voice acting from characters other than the lead, but the lead has slightly annoying voice.

Character: 5/10: The anime is focused more on comedic aspect, so characters are not incredibly deep, meaning there's no significant depth to them. Still, they play their roles and act according to their archetypes and are entertaining enough. So while they don't really stand out, they're believable enough.

Enjoyment: 6/10: This is actually fun. Lightheartedness of the anime works, and this kind of non-dangerous world can be a welcome change after too many grimdark titles.

OVerall: 6/10: I would recommend it. However, do keep in mind that this is a "light" title, meaning it is a fairly entertaining fun ride, but no masterpiece. Its comedy sorta reminded me of Galaxy Angel, although Dog Days stories are not as ridiculous as Galaxy Angel scenarios were. But the tone is slightly similar, I think.

Anyway, it is worth checking out, if you want something lighthearted and somewhat relaxing and a bit silly. Despite few dramatic moments, the anime is mostly bright/fun type, without horrible events or terrible drama.

It is worth checking out.

DOG DAYS: Loved by most in the anime community and critiqued by few- Thus making it a highly recommended anime. I will be doing a fair review of it along with my up's and downs for the show.


Story-6.5/10
The story is so pure and even with amazing character's but the main problem most have with it is the lack of "danger" though rarely spoken about, along with it's "Slow" beginning were people- even me! expected a full-blown harem.

Art- 5.5/10
Bright and colorful with a typical animation rate. though it doesn't bring anything new to the table like NGNL. but it's familiar and doesn't put you off. ... The character's design's however are absolutely amazing. In my honest opinion, this color scheme fit's the world of Dog Day's with a pure sense of moe from the masses of essentially furry-half human's.

Sound-5.5/10
The opening's specifically turned me off due to their plain normal mildly catchy nature, my favorite is the third one the beginning makes it seem more "Let's get ready!" than the other's. But in my opinion their both rather...Plain and the ending's are pretty normal as well. But their's not much negative or positive so 50/50 rating

Character's 7/10
This is were dog day's mainly shines the character's are varied and with wide array of them, they at least don't get boring, all characters are rather normal spare the main and main support. I don't really have much to say other than that im sick of Main character's who are pussies in the sense that none of them get LAID! all jokes aside though.


Enjoyment? well...7/10 it as rather nice in the sense that it had some good moment's and the
"Ecchi" if you could call it that was rather well placed out. and the story was interesting and wanted you to keep watching it through the slow and fast pace's.

Overall it comes down to a even 6.8/10 The show had it's fault's but it wasn't encumbering in the "sexual scene's" though it was heavily cliched. but it's harem anime, Honestly.

Now so many magical girls anime are around and about these days
But how about something that can be classed as "magical boy" anime? It's a rare occurrence and Dog days is one such.

The story of dog days is kind of forced on the viewer with not much of a proper explanation at first. It explains itself as it goes and you learn more and more about it as things unfold. However it does create many plot holes and loops in the differing worlds' stories as to how events in the real world are immensely unrealistic and utterly unexplained. That being said, Dog Days seems to ... focus not so much on the male protagonist but more so on the events happening in the alternate world and they do convey the story of such relatively well.

Art style is very cutesy. Some times too much so considering the type of anime it is. It does make for good entertainment but also makes it very had to even attempt to take seriously because its so bright and candy colored. This does not however limit the effects and battle scenes as being the "magical" feel it has really makes for some interesting action scenes even if it does feel like you're watching a Japanese Wipeout competition... until later on (So hard trying to avoid anything even slightly spoilerish)

Music for actions and suspenseful scenes is used quite well as even the times you can see whats going to happen, you are still enticed because even if it goes unnoticed by the viewers, the music adds the sense of engulfment into the action where you want to see more. There are only a few times during the entire 13 episodes where is no music playing and even during those times the sounds effects used are what creates the scenes atmosphere whether its from simple foot steps to wind blowing in the background.

Character seems to be like a coin that's had one side word down in the fact of, in the alternate world where the story takes place, you can see the development between the characters slowly getting better even if its not admitted. Meanwhile in the original world its almost as if it skipped a few beats as its not referenced to or the friends and family are only mentioned on a rare basis. Even still, the world where everything takes place for some characters a bit more development wouldn't have hurt either as I myself (slight bias here) was wanting to know more backstory on a few characters on either side of the battlefield.

Overall enjoyment was kept fairly steady throughout the entire season with it hitting a peak in the final 5 eps before, just while the hype slowly dies down, kicking you with a feels moment before rising it back up again. This feels moment is both expected in some ways but executed in others you wouldn't expect. However overall it does leave something to be longed for. There is fan service within the first few eps but it's not rolled upon every episode and is actually kept rather tame while the humor card is constantly played well to the point where it will gather a chuckle or too even in the feels moments.