Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「SCARLET KNIGHT」 by 水樹奈々 (Mizuki Nana)
Watch the OP!: Download, Streaming ▼
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「勇者誕生！」 (Yuusha Tanjou!)
“Birth of a Hero!”
I should have known better with the director and screenwriter of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha behind this original anime by Seven Arcs, but that doesn’t change how I feel pretty cheated with the way they purposely misled me with premise for DOG DAYS. Mention of a “war” between the Republic of Biscotti and the Lion Domain of Galette that our hero from Japan, Izumi Shinku (Miyano Mamoru), gets caught in between quickly turns out to be sport-like battles in the spirit of competition. It plays out like a war in the fantasy world of Fronaldo, except there aren’t any casualties to make it feel like one. What’s more, we have commentators from both countries, and the only thing at stake are the good spirits of Princess Millhiore F Biscotti’s (Horie Yui) people from seeing their “army” constantly losing. So in short, Shinku’s been summoned from Japan to be a “star” who compete in “games” because Millhiore’s “team” is on a losing stretch and its fans are dejected. The writers simply rewrote definitions to confuse us.
The serious start to the episode with Princess Leonmichelis Galette des Rois (Koshimizu Ami) talking to her knight-captain Godwin (Wakamoto Norio) about the next phase of their attack, followed by a gloomy meeting between Millhiore, her knight-captain Rolan Martinozzi (Koyasu Takehito), personal guard captain Eclair Martinozzi (Taketatsu Ayana), chief engineer Ricotta Elmar (Mizuki Nana), and various elders was nothing short of a huge fake-out that was confirmed by Shinku’s surprise when Millhiore explained everything to him. Judging from Shinku’s surprise, it’s pretty clear in my mind that this plot twist (if you can call it one) was the intention all along. After all, you can only expect so much when all the nameless cat-like soldiers of Galette explode in a puff of smoke and turn into big cat heads when they’re defeated.
Back in the Spring 2011 Preview, I expressed my moderate expectations of this original series given its goofy title and cute character designs, so it doesn’t really disappoint me to learn that this will be more of a lighthearted fantasy type of anime. There was very little to indicate otherwise, so I can still see myself following DOG DAYS for what it truly is. Its best selling point is the all-star cast featured in something other than a high school setting, backed by an above average production. Seven Arc’s work here isn’t anything amazing, but it definitely doesn’t fall in the lower end of the spectrum. However, I’ll admit that this revelation does make me less inclined to follow this show in a season that’s absolutely bustling with new titles.
From the look of things, the focus will be on Shinku’s love for circus-style gymnastics and finally having an entire world to play in, which I can see providing some level of enjoyment when he impresses the people of Fronaldo but not a lot else. In fact, I get the feeling that everyone on both Biscotti and Galette’s side will become friends when this series is over, simply because this comes off as a show intended for all ages. For me, DOG DAYS has Horie Yui and Mizuki Nana going for it, including opening and ending themes performed by them, and just enough other little things to keep me interested for a few more episodes. It’ll likely end up as a guilty pleasure of mine this season, in that I can’t give you a good reason why I’m watching it yet will continue doing so. It’s definitely difficult to recommend.
ED Sequence
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ED: 「PRESENTER」 by 堀江由衣 (Horie Yui)
Watch the ED!: Download, Streaming ▼
Preview
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wohhh this anime past my “First impression rating”. they have wankos, the fight(game) and famous voice seiyuu’s. i really though that this anime was leaning to Zero no Tsukaima and then “what a game”. Yeah divine, the writer confused us all. hahahaha
But the protagonist displayed some cool moves while the anime was running.
Hey Divine, I thought you were taking the Spring off! Or are you doing the first episodes of the season for preview purposes and then taking off?
Yeah, I told the other writers I’d be around to help cover the first episodes of various shows. There are a lot of shows that I’m watching that no one else is, plus I can get a post out faster without having to rely on subs. It’s fun getting to introduce new shows too.
“Baby, please don’t go” 😐
If you keep it up, he might stay.
Just don’t let yourself get sucked into continuing coverage 😛
And enjoy your break, you deserve it!
lol You should have your own Cybody.
Lol. silly me for thinking this will be an epic tale of war sort of anime. I guess that’s why they don’t want to reveal too much in PV, to not spoil the first episode “plot twist”.
Not that impressed with the first episode. I don’t think I will follow this anime if it doesn’t get better by the next episode. It felt too…childish?
Also, lol @ the 900MB file. Ayako’s encoder was on crack.
His reply in the comments: “It was my debut as an encoder! It was also my farewell as Spi refuses to allow me to do it ever again… :(“
poor encoder 🙁
I fell over laughing when I Realized what kind of war they were fighting.
It will kill sum time watching this for me.
Eh….this wasn’t exactly the way I wanted to start off my Spring Season. But then I watched the Tiger & Bunny OP and it was all good.
not that bad but not that good either well I guessed I should wait for episode 2
Outrageous. That’s the only word that comes to mind after watching this episode. Absolutely none of it can be taken seriously, so it’s pretty fun! Just hope it doesn’t get boring later, since there isn’t any real “threat” if all the fighting is like this.
Immediate impression:
Utawarerumon+Zero no Tsukaima
I had the same feeling…
On top of the two that you had pointed out, there are another two that came into my mind:
Utawarerumon+Zero no Tsukaima+Sasuke(US: Ninja Warrior)+Takeshi’s Castle
When I saw the war I went ha…….. and then I realized it was Dog vs Cats and then I went hur……….
The small redeeming factor for me is that unlike a lot of “hero summoning to alternate world” anime, the protagonist here isn’t some lame weak character who accidentally got caught up in everything and magically becomes strong and defeats everyone. Shinku appears to have quite a lot of skill.
Anyone else thought of Chocobos when they saw those birds? 😛
Your not the only one…….
Those were definitelly Chocobos!
Definitely Chocobos lol
More like chocolate Chocobos with their darker colors, lol…now I want a candy bar x_x
I wonder if they will stick with the mock war thing for the whole season or if they will toss in some kind of super evil that forces both sides to join together and fight for real. Could see that happening really easily in this kind of series.
That would be interesting. And then they’d have to train for real fights and try to get in the mindset of hurting their enemies. Quite possible, good sir.
Thanks for the review. I can write this series off now. Considering how stacked the Spring Lineup is, that’s good news for me.
Agreed! There are so many shows I have to try out; I’m glad this isn’t one of them.
Seeing the Sasuke competition make an appearance made me giggle a bit.
You have to remember though, this is the director of the Nanoha movie, not the series itself. The writer’s still the same guy anyway.
Interesting way to start the spring season but I was amused to say the least.
Kind of thinking I’ll reserve the right to headdesk until a few more episodes in.
For some reason I don’t mind this show. Yeah it’s a little cheesy with how the main protagonist accepts everything right away but I just don’t mind it. Wonder why? Also Godwin’s voice actor is very familiar. He’s showing up a lot now-a-days. Leonmichelis Galette des Rois is a nice touch to the series. You can just tell that she’s going to be showing up a lot. The gymnastics thing is something I’ve never encountered before in a show and I don’t think it’ll be a problem as there’s still fighting with weapons and explosive techniques. Dog Days will probably go on my watch list now.
Um, Wakamoto Norio’s not simply well-known “these days”. He’s a veteran seiyuu and has been in numerous big support roles.
Wakamoto Norio is my favorite seiyuu, he makes any character he voiced “BADASS” like Charles from CG, Nobunaga from Sengoku Basara or Anderson. Also Nakata Jouji who make any character he voiced also “BADASS”, Alucard for example, that guy is simply awesome. that’s why i always love watching the Alucard and Anderson fight in Hellsing Ultimate. It’s like watching the voices of most BADASS CHARACTERS clash. such intensity and awesomeness in their voices.
well at least the main character isnt a wimp when he was summoned to fight. I usually encounter it like that, refusing to fight and is a weakling(at first).
its an ok series though might drop it in favor of others. it also might go a bit deeper but I wont make my expectations big.
this anime is already part of my must-not-watch list. I can pretty much guess how annoying this anime is going to get without even watching it
It’s so bad isn’t it? xD You know, if you mute the OP and play some metal (I played the OST of Hard Corps: Uprising) it becomes [slightly] cooler.
Well this is going on my watch list
Chocobos FTW
This and hearing Takuto to ease the Star Driver end are my reasons to watch this
This anime is Brave Fencer Musashi (Squaresoft PS1 action rpg game) with it’s kingdom that has the name of food, Kingdom of Biscotti=Allucaneet Palace, has a princess summoning a hero that has great skill at something Shinku=Gymnastics=Musashi=Fencing, and has Chocobos.If this wasn’t an inspired/straight rip off I don’t know what is.
I might continue to watch it and eventually like it just like Cardfight Vanguard.
What a colorful looking anime.
Here too, agree with the “Chocobos!”.
wow so amazing, just like every other action/adventure anime but with people with dog ears. so ORIGINAL. I AM going to watch this FOR SURE…..
Most colorful, adorable “war” ever. I think I’d enjoy the premise anyway
What’s different about this show is that the main character (hero) actually has some skills instead of just being expected to know everything and charge into battle. He also willingly accepts his situation!
Very nice. Love Yui Horie as the princess. Show Spoiler ▼
OMG neko-mimi AND inu-mimi.
I’m watching this show for the eye candy!!!!! Nice screenshots Divine.
The anime will end with him waking up from his fantasy world, and a coma caused by falling of the entrance terrace of a school and sustaining head trauma.
LOL, You wrote exactly what was in my mind! thanks.
I like to watch dubbed rerun Takeshi Castle in local TV station. So I will definitely watch this anime.LOL.
it’s pretty strange he didn’t freak out so this must be what went on in shinku’s mind:
oh, it’s a hot girl! oh, it’s floating islands! must be dreaming of course, so i’ll just take everything in my stride, wonder when i’ll wake up… in the mean time, time to do some awesome backflips…
I was hoping he’d say “Dazzling the stage!” after that acrobatic entrance.
I Loled, therefore I will continue watching this. 😉
Nice chara design but the plot is weak and not so original. I have the feeling that now the opponents will summon the friend of Shinku and they will fight each other… oh wait. 😀
That’s exactly what will happen, Shinku’s rival, probably the guy who won first place in that tournament he came 2nd in, will be summoned to that world and they’ll battle it out just like how someone summoned Kojiro to fight Musashi :p
it’s Eien no Aselia? or Izumo?
summon main dude’s rival on the other force, making them fight each other.
UNDERdog days anyone?
definitely chocobos! is it a meme starting?
maid squad at bottom screencap is so moe!
Do i saw a Chobit? FF Vibes? 🙂
https://randomc.net/image/DOG%20DAYS/DOG%20DAYS%20-%20OP%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
You mean a Chocobo?
The black one is kinda cool. L approves of this.
But those other ones are straight up Fugly.
Oh, you Checking now WebLinks embedded here in our Postings?. Thats new
This’ll probably be good for some mindless entertainment where we dont have to suffer the loss of lovable characters.
Sassou Toujou! Yuusha Bishounen! Izumi Shinku!
I do approve that the main character isn’t just some random guy that was in the wrong place at the wrong time yet can handle the situation perfectly. Having him chosen for his skill does make a welcome change and maybe he will even be a likeable character instead of someone that male/female characters can faun over.
Still it did throw me off how innocent the battles are, I was expecting something more along the lines of Utawarerumono but this can work too as long as the character interactions are interesting, if not this series is going to get boring quickly.
Stupid b****…. White chocobos don’t fly….
This show is why I try not to look too much into the synopsis before watching an episode or two. I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, and hearing Takuto V2 with even more FABULOUS action is well worth it IMO XD.
I thought Shukufuku no Campanella was bad, but this Dog Days is on similar level: boring, uninspiring, uninteresting characters with generic design, awkward pacing. Well, this is the first episode, perhaps I should give this anime another chance, especially when there are my favorite seiyus in this: Nana Mizuki and Yui Horie. Damn, I wish this was a Nanoha clone or spin-off!?
Well I’m not sure if I am going to follow this anime through the season, I was really disappointed to hear that the war actally was a sports event and not really a war. And it was only stupid watching all those cat heads when they were cut.
Horie Yui and Mizuki Nana? Nice OP/ED? Nanoha screenwriter? Colorful looking screenshots? Though I had no intention of giving this a shot, seeing as how Divine decided to blog it after all, I thought I might as well. Alas, he hit the nail on the head – there isn’t much point in watching this anime at all. It simply feels too bland and pointless, quite like a generic kids anime in fact. Nanoha vibes are certainly there but I was never a huge fan of that particular anime to begin with, so unless the situation here miraculously improves in the next couple of episodes (which I very much doubt it will) or I get sucked in again with more cute looking screenshots, I am dropping DOG DAYS for good.
Looking at those cat head things reminds me of Lucky Star’s eyecatch. 😀
Also, 1:27 in the OP… Is that you, Raising Heart?
why do i get the feeling that this series is somewhat misleading us, i mean
what if something, like Puella Magi “thing” happened, anyways, i’ll wait for that before picking this series ^^
Madoka at the least had an interesting art style in its first episode to keep people interested until the plot suddenly took a 180.
This however… it’s practically bleeding blandness all over the place from the start.
mmm seems like its seiyuu cast is the only good thing about this anime but I’ll watch a couple of chapters firts 😀 thank you!.
If Leonmichi falls for Shinku, then this show is OVER.
Hope the war maintain till the end, and not becoming another harem show.
This show isn’t even listed as Romance genre, let alone Harem, so I think most of the focus is gonna be on the action.
Hope you’re right.
What’s wrong with Inuyasha falling in love with Shinku :p?
So this is Asobi Ni Iku Yo with dogs?
when you think about it, the only difference is that, unlike Asobi Ni Iku yo, there is absolutely no sense of death.
it seems sort of funny yet ridiculous. People are in war in a non-violent fashion. ha ha, I hope there would be some ecchi later on.
Generally it looks way better than i expected. Probably it has a great potential of being a relaxing, lighthearted show which is good for just watching without any spiteful thoughts.
“ITS A PINC–GYMNASTICS!”
When I started the episode I was excited. Magic, a war, a good variety of characters; it had checked off some important points for me. Five minutes into the show it was still good, but then I see the ‘war’ they’re having and I couldn’t help but laugh.
Some of the best shows, for me at least, include magic, a strong lead, romance and a war, so when I saw it I thought that I’d watch it all the way through, but now I guess I’ve ended up one show down already *sniff*
I won’t stop watching it yet, but I doubt it will change much. However, if it excels in another area; such as comedy, it might be able to draw me back in :3
muy buena y interesante cuando llega el siguiente?
This is almost like the animation of Ninja Warrior. It may be fun for the first few episodes. But so far this series doesn’t look promising and is low on my watch list.
This anime remember me zero no tskaima @,@ … other world
What’s the most disappointing is the design of that bird.
Okay I like all the flippy shit but those OP and ED themes have gotta go. And that stupid badly drawn Chocobo should go die.
LOLZ. That voice! Takuto acrobat-ted his way to an unadministered world in the Nanoha timeline to become a hero in a sports-fest, and ride chocobos while impressing a Madoka-lookalike princess.
I feel cheated. I would like another salvo of StrikerS in a spin-off world of Nanoha. I’ll give it a few more rounds and if it fails to capture my heart, I will drop it.
did i just spot a chocobo?
epic fail, dropped like a sack or bricks.
Now me, I kind of like how this show doesn’t take itself seriously. When it started pitting the cat soldiers through MXC style obstacle courses, complete with commentators, I burst out into laughter. You can mock the show for not being a serious fantasy, or bringing to the table anything beyond an athletic high schooler into, for him, the world’s biggest playground. But if you ask me, that’s still an improvement over something like, say, Zero no Tsukaima or any other anime of this genre where the protagonist has no real talents, and can’t do much until the end of the series. The fact that the protagonist is actually kind of a go-getter in a setting that has been largely populated by unassuming, wimpy and/or just plain weak protagonists is downright refreshing for me.
As mentioned a lot already, I’m also glad that they completely threw us off with the “war” going on. I was afraid this was simply going to be another cliche series; (below) average boy (yet they’re always shounen pretty boys XP lol) with little to no real talent/skills summoned to a different world/planet that so happens to be filled with beautiful girls and expected to be some hero to save their world/planet from the enemy while constantly trying to deny it all and not wanting to fight because it’s not his responsibility or whatever, but ends up either happening to have some “hidden power” inside him all along or gains it through other means, and “miraculously” proves himself and helps or wins the war while somehow gaining a harem along the way through his good, selfless heart.
Dog queen is cute but don’t see any storyline. Hopefully ep 2 will make things clearer
So this series actually tried to troll as the way SHAFT and Urobuchi Gen tried to troll everyone into believing we will be watching Madoka that is all sugar, cake, cutesy and fluffy? I actually fell on that, the atmosphere in the beginning of this episode is all in serious tone, then all the sudden I found a battle that looks like an obstacle run and soldiers puffing out into cats? It’s a good first episode overall, and with few surprises that really made me laugh a bit 🙂
I will be keeping this series on my list for the meantime and will watch the next few episodes, if things go well I will be watching this till its end.
hmmm nice 🙂 🙂 🙂
More Dog Days plz.
probably no. unless Kiiragi or Takaii gets this.