Dogsred

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This manga has the potential to do for ice hockey what Slam Dunk did for basketball and Haikyuu did for volleyball. It employs a familiar zero to hero arc but it executes it with the confidence of a supreme figure skater going into a triple axel. It contains humorous beats without dumbing down the relate-ability and humanity of the characters and employs a steady pace magnifying the world, the characters and the intricacies of the sport for those unfamiliar.

First praise I give is to the art style, which I characterise as clean and shows both the fluidity of skating and the brutality of the contact ... in hockey. I don’t need A level art in my sports series but whenever I read something that can convey the speed and the hustling nature of competition a series is better served for it. Of course without a deep knowledge of the game the art can only score a series up to a few points. Fortunately in the action presented so far the mangaka has proven their knowledge and done so without burdening anyone not familiar with the game.

In Rou we have a fantastic protagonist, who follows in the footsteps of similar prodigious idiots, but has enough personality to distinguish himself. His background makes the journey into ice hockey more believable with the moves he is able to pull off. We have conflict set up with his family and teammates and we have a good idea where the series is going.

With all these aspects combined, Dogsred is a must read. It packs action and humour and pathos into a well structured story and scores nines to tens across the board as the best new sports series to hit the shelves.