Dogs: Bullets & Carnage

Meh, I read the manga for only a bit (actually, when I stopped reading the manga, it was also the point where the anime stopped).

Art: I must say I was very disappointed. Repeated action scenes, mediocre gun fights, time delay on gun shots, but the character illustrations are ok, the background scenes were only very mediocre. All in all, for an "action" and supposedly "dark" anime, it just doesn't give that feeling. It gives it a normal setting, nothing interesting. There were also very corny action scenes. If your a pro hitman or killer, how do you miss 15 shots when the target is standing ... still. Also when it shows Heine "jumping around", I laughed at the slow movement. I can't say much more about the art, but in short, I was disappointed.

Sound: This was also a point where I didn't like it at all. You know how sometimes you read the manga, and you imagine a voice for the characters? I do that a lot ,and I must say a lot of the characters didn't fit my prediction of voicing. It might be selfish or just my opinion, but I believe that Naoto, Badou could have had better voice actors. Heine was average, I guess it suits him, although they need that evil sound. Naoto sounds too soft, and doesn't sound like a character seeking revenge or living a life of revenge. Badou just sounds too foolish and when he starts going on a rampage, his voice just doesn't click. There was no opening and ending (expected) and no background music. Time delay on bullet shots. Like after a bullet is shot, it takes 2-3 seconds to make contact with something. This was a bad part in the anime.

Characters: I actually enjoyed each of their character traits. A chain smoker machine gunner, an experimental human that is cool and and emits a bad side, a girl training with the person she wants to kill (although this type of character has become more common now), and a old pro hitman that emits humor and seriousness. The drawings also suit them. Nothing more to say about the characters except that I liked it a lot because it is unique, fresh, and memorable.

Story: I must say, they packed in a lot in 4 episodes. Two episodes contain a character background story, and the other two are character type stories (but you kind of get a little bit of Heine's background story). What I liked is how they connected the characters together. Nao as a paper delivery girl, Badou on the bus and meeting with Mihai, Heine partnered up with Badou, the list goes on. They connect it well for a character part OVA. Only thing I didn't like was that it was really predictable. Every action and movement, I can guess what's gonna happen next. Maybe because the art is slow?

Enjoyment: I enjoyed it actually, seeing the characters and the ending of the OVA. It really captivates the audience (me anyways). The Naoto and Heine episodes really contain a moment on finding who the characters in the ending were. I enjoyed it while it lasted I guess. However, too many factors bring this down: cliche moments, predictability, bad action scenes, lacking sound, delay in sound, the list goes on for a bit. Although in my point of view, this OVA deserves a 3, just keeping with the manga, the great characters and some of the things they did with the story, made me give it a final score of 4.

TL;DR It gets a 4, I enjoyed watching it, but it could of been a darker anime, better action packed, less corny scenes, and maybe make it a little faster pace?

I was very disappointed by these OVAs >_> It was such an annoyance to have to watch poorly animated versions of awesome manga sequences. Shirow Miwa practically draws the manga as a form of storyboard, so he practically did half the work for them.

Perhaps with better budgeting or a better studio in charge, these OVA could have been decent. As they stand, just painful. Do yourselves a favor and read the manga - don't stop! It's good stuff.

This is fundamentally a panel-by-panel, frame-by-frame remake of the manga book Dogs: Stray Dogs Howling in the Dark, which is part 0 of the manga series Dogs: Bullets and Carnage.

Short version: Just read the manga. You don't have to read the whole series, just the one volume. The art is fierce, active, and evocative. And while each of the 4 short stories varies quality, they weave together into a powerful whole.

As I said, these OVAs are frame by frame from the manga. Some of the drawings are literally the exact drawings from the manga. Except the art/animation quality of the OVAs is very poor, and ... it just retells the story literally, with none of the power or heart of the originals. There are truly scary, violent people in these stories and on screen they just kind of stand around looking pasty and silly.

Quick summary of my ratings:
Story - 8 The stories from the mangas are pretty good. They weave together interestingly. But I would have rated this much lower if I hadn't read the manga first. They feel very lackluster in this adaptation, while the originals are defined by their ferocity.

Art - 5 The art is basic at best, nothing like the incredible detail of the manga. The characters all suffer from those poofy, featureless pale faces that certain animation styles have. And the use of color and background is absolutely, mind-numbingly dull.

Sound - 4 Nothing special. Gunplay is HUGE in this series, and some of the gun effects are downright bizarre. Someone can be going at it with a machine gun in both hands and it just kind sounds like a woodpecker 6 blocks away.

Characters - 8 I absolutely fell in love with these characters through the manga. Each one is very distinct (some tragic, some comic). But again, the animation style and voice acting really takes away their edge.

Enjoyment - 6 This is a 6 only because I had read the manga. Going in blind it would have been a 3 or 4.

Overall - 3 I repeat: Please for the love of all things read Stray Dogs Howling in the Night before you watch this. It's available all over, and it only takes an hour or two. There's really no point in watching this unless you've read the manga (and even then, since it's so painfully literal in its interpretation, its not very rewarding). I can't even say that if you dislike reading, or manga, you should watch it anyway to enjoy the stories. They are done such a disservice that you might as well not bother at all.