Hello and salutations, welcome to another blog of Project Nitsuj. Today will be talking about fantasies. Fantasies have been around for as long as we can remember and since the start of anime. Some of most popular animes in the world today tend to place a heavy focus on magic and other supernatural phenomenon’s such as Fairy Tail, One Piece, Sailor Moon, and Yu-gi-Oh relies on fantasy. I guess the idea of going off into an unknown world, befriending strange people, being a hero, and not knowing what’s behind the next corner is enough to be considered a man’s romance. I myself have always been a fan of fantasies but sometimes I just want to watch a fantasy anime that takes it time and has fun with the world it’s in. Case in point Dog Days. No, not the hot days of summer, but the anime under the same name. Dog Days was an anime series created in 2011 by Masaki Tsuzuki who also created the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha series. There’s also a manga with only 4 chapters and a light novel adaptation of the anime that got released shortly after the anime ended in 2011. Dog Days is an anime that ask the simple question what would happen if a young boy was sent to a world to defend a kingdom from the continued assault from its neighbors? Well l’ve wasted enough time setting up, let’s dive right into Dog Days.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening song is called Scarlet Knight sung by Nana Mizuki. It’s got a very heroic feel to it, it gets you excited for the series and it sounds like it could be used as the opening to a good rpg game. The ending is called Presenter sung by Yui Horie who is also the voice actress of Princess Millhiore in the anime. While not a bad song I just feel that it doesn’t work as an ending theme. It sounds like something you would expect to hear as the opening of one of those high school romance/comedy animes.
Episodes 1-5
Are story begins in the magical land of Flonyard where a bunch of feline humanoids led by Princess Leonmitchelli Galette Des Rois or Leo for short are resting. She’s voiced by Ami Koshimizu who also voiced Kallen from Code Geass. She plans on leading an assault on a neighboring country of dog humanoids called the Republic of Biscotti who have their backs up against the wall because of the many defeats caused by the Lion Kingdom of Galette. With no other option Princess Millhiore (known as Millhi) decides to summon a hero from another world to aid them in their time of need. We then cut to our world where we meet the hero of our show a 13-year old boy named Sinku voiced by Mamoru Miyano the same guy who did the voice of Light from Death Note. Right off the bat we see that Sinku isn’t just an ordinary middle school boy; he’s a very athletic guy who enjoys all kinds of different sports and IS ABLE TO LEAP FROM A TWO STORY BUILDING WHILE FLIPPING THROUGH THE AIR AND LAND PERFECTLY UNHURT! Wow! 5 minutes into this anime and they wasted no time at suspending our disbelief; seriously, there aren’t even train professionals who could do the things he just did. Anyway Sinku is excited because it’s the last day of school before spring break and how he’ll be able to see his family again and go back to his hometown Cornwall. Oh yeah that’s right, I forgot to mention he’s half British and half Japanese. Okay, if this gets an English dub I am so voting for LittleKuriboh to be his VA if not MasakoX. At school Sinku skips out on the closing ceremony and jumps off the entrancing roof of his school (seriously, what 13 year old boy does this?) into a magical cirlce set up by an unknown dog. Sinku is transported to the world of Flonyard where he’s greeted by Millhi and not the least bit shocked about being transported to a different world and greeted by a dog person (this kid has the right reaction). They ride off on a chocobo (I’m serious) to the battlefield while Millhi explains why she summoned him and the situation her country is in. While this is all going on we get to see how the battles are fought in this world. Instead of it being you’re usual slaughter the army it’s instead more like a simple game of Call of Duty or Battlefield except you use swords and weapons with magic and you’re not constantly arguing with kids too young to even play the game. Nobody is really getting hurt and after they’re defeated they turn into tiny puff balls of their respected animal and after a few minutes return back to normal and resume fighting. Each team has leaders and captains and gets points for every time they defeat an opponent and the side with the most points at the end of time limit wins. This is actually a pretty created war system; I could see this being used in a video game if not a minigame. In fact they actually treat these wars as spectacles with announcers calling everything and TV broadcasters doing interviews and filming. It’s said that these wars are used as negotiations between countries and are seen as an event for enjoying athletics and competition. After seeing all of this, Sinku agrees to become Millhi’s hero and they end the episode with him making his debut as the hero of Biscotti.
In episode 2 Sinku makes his debut on the battlefield where he dominates the opposing army. I have to admit the action scenes are well done, exciting and created. You can eliminate your opponent by knocking them out, hitting them with a powerful magic beam or get extra points by tagging them on the back. Sinku manages to work his way from base camp all the way to the front of the battlefield where he meets Éclair, captain of the Imperial Guards. She’s voiced by . . . Ayana Taketatsu (?_?). Yeah, Ayana Taketatsu, the same VA for Ayumi from the World Only God Knows what a coincidence, I seriously didn’t know that. And ironically the characters have similar characteristics; they’re both strong girls who didn’t like the main character but by the end they fall for him. Now out of all the characters this season she serves as the foil to Sinku often acting tsundere towards him. Sinku has a no worry attitude and is willing to listen to others while Éclair has a serious attitude and is stubborn when dealing with others and will usually do things her way. A running gag in the series is that she is an inferiority complex about her ears because they droop down compared to other characters (just take a look at her, you’ll see what I mean). Leo finally enters the battlefield blowing though everyone and everything in her path including Sinku and Éclair who with their combined powers are able to destroy Leo’s armor and forcing her to surrender. Sinku also destroys Éclair’s clothes accidently while attacking Leo. The episode ends with Biscotti winning the war and Sinku finding out that once a hero has been summoned to this world he can’t go back to his (duh duh duhhhhh!).
In episode 3 we find out that Millhi didn’t know that by summoning Sinku to her world he wouldn’t be able to go back to his world which leaves her worrying about Sinku and feeling bad about what she did but she can’t worry about that since she has to prepare for a concert in celebration of the victory. A princess who’s also a pop idol, this anime continues to throw stuff at us. We also learn about the compensation of the war games. Basically, the winning side receives 60% of the war profits which comes from the participation fee of soldiers taking part in the war and the losing side receives 40%. That money is then used to repay those who have participated and the remaining money is then used to build hospitals, fortresses, etc. and supporting those in the national services like Éclair. Why is it that the more I hear about their war games and how they work I feel as if this would a good concept for a game? Anyway, we get a somewhat formal meeting of Ricotta Elmar commonly known as Rico who’s voiced by Nana Mizuki who’s researching on how to send Sinku back. I say somewhat formal meeting because we’ve seen her in the first two episodes but we really didn’t know who she was or what she did. We really don’t know a whole lot about her other than the fact that she’s the head researcher of Biscotti and a friend of Éclair and Millhi. Thanks to Rico, Sinku is able to contact his best friend Becky voiced by Mikako Takahashi and tell her how he’s gonna be unreachable for a while but that he’ll be okay (and she doesn’t question him or anything she just says okay and stay well. I like these kids). Later on Sinku walks in on Millhi taking a bath and he and Millhi have a private talk (hmm, an adolescent boy and girl alone in a bathtub wearing nothing. Follow this link: https://youtu.be/4fYfdlKIon4. Oh yeah! Time to teach this dog some new tricks. Oh yeah!). After their talk Millhi is kidnapped by Gaul voiced by Natsu from Fairy Tail, Tetsuya Kakihara. He’s the younger brother Leo who’s a hothead and wants to challenge Sinku after hearing about him, Sinku accepts his challenge and Gaul takes Millhi to his fortress in order to prepare for Sinku.
After meeting up with Éclair and Rico they come up with a plan to storm the fortress and get the princess back before the concert. Sinku and Éclair storm the fortress while Rico provides artillery support from a distance. At first the plan seems to be going good as they manage to get inside the fort and take out a few guards but it becomes apparently clear that they’re outnumbered and when Rico is forced to surrender all seems lost. *Protoman whistle* What’s this, two shadows appearing in the distance? Could this be a sign of hope? It is, we finally meet Brioche Dalkian the strongest warrior of Biscotti voiced by Yōko Hikasa and her assistant and leader of Biscotti’s ninja squad a fox deity named Yukikaze Panettone voiced by Kana Asumi. With the help of these two Sinku and Éclair are able to battle their way through as they reach Gaul’s last line of defense his personal body guards Genoise. Genoise is a group composed of 3 fighters, one is Juane (who I’m pretty sure she’s a cat) an axe-wielder voiced by Yoriko Nagata, a rabbit girl named Vert voiced by Minako Kotobuki who uses a bow and arrow as her weapon, and Noir a silent catgirl who uses knives voiced by Kana Hanazawa. I have to admit they have a pretty good balance between the three, you got the speed of Noir, the strength of Juane and the precision and accuracy of Vert granted the three are said to be idiots but I didn’t really see it. Put them together and you have yourself a team with almost no weak points. Éclair takes them on while Sinku rushes in to face Gaul. In the next episode Gaul and Sinku battle it out with each other. The two seem pretty well matched, both of them being good at hand to hand combat. However, the battle is interrupted by Leo who comes in and beats them both (scene here: https://youtu.be/9N7548Ngauk. Oh come on Leo, you don’t interfere in a man’s fight). The war game ends with Biscotti winning technically but the concert hall is too far away and they won’t make it back in time. But after some quick thinking Sinku picks Millhi and goes Sonic the Hedgehog on us and runs Millhi to the castle just in time for her concert. The episode ends with the concert being a big success.
Episodes 6-9
In episode 6 and 7 things begin to slow down and nothing really happens. All we see between these two episodes is Sinku socializing with the people of Biscotti. He trains with the knights, plays with Rico, talks to Brioche and Yukikaze, goes on a date with the Princess (nice), plays Frisbee with her, pets her (wait what!). *Goes back to watch the scene* Dude! That’s the princess of an entire nation show some respect! Actually to be fair we do learn 2 important things from these two episodes that make up for almost nothing happening. The first thing we learn is how Millhi knew about Sinku long before they met. It turns out she has this ability called stargazing which allows her to see visions of other worlds and even see glances of the future. She saw a version of Sinku participating in an Iron Athletics event (think Ninja Warrior only with kids) where he came in second after his cousin. Millhi was amazed by his determination and passion in the event that she decided she wanted him to be her hero. The second important thing we learn is why Leo is waging war against Biscotti so much. It turns out that she too has stargazing abilities and sees a vision of the future where Millhi and Sinku die in a few days and all this time she’s been waging war to change the future. We also discover that Leo and Millhi are actually childhood friends who think of each other as sisters. So wait, why not just tell Millhi about the situation instead of being cold and distant from her? Well they do address that question by saying that even if she told Millhi it wouldn’t change the situation. Again, why not just tell her? This whole situation could be resolved if Leo would have talked to Millhi but no, she comes up with a plan to have another war game where each country will wage their most sacred treasures. The sacred treasures are basically the main weapons of the series. Sinku has one which takes the form of anything he wants it to, Millhi’s weapon is a small dagger and Leo’s sacred weapon is a giant battle axe.
In episode 8 the action starts back up again with the war game starting and both leaders waiting in their main base. However, Millhi has snuck out under the disguise as Rico and goes with Sinku and Éclair to face Leo herself. There’s really not that much to say about this episode, it’s just fighting. In episode 9 not much happens here besides some more fighting and Millhi finally confronting Leo in battle much to Leo’s dismay who is now realizing that the future she sought to stop is unfolding before her very eyes. The episode ends with a monster appearing right before them. Okay, I kind of ignored this subject because the anime explains it in little detail but basically in this world they have spirits who watch over the land and bring life to areas while also protecting the inhabits of the area, this is why nobody really gets hurt in the war games because they’re under the protection of spirits whenever they have war games. However, there are some spirits who go rogue and transform into fearsome monsters who try to destroy the land. This is where Brioche and Yukikaze come in; they travel around the world tracking monsters and sealing them away.
Episodes 10-13
In episode 10 Millhi and Leo try to stop the monster but are unable to and Millhi gets absorbed by it. When Sinku and Éclair hear this they immediately chase after the monster. Inside the monster Millhi learns the sad story behind it from the monster’s mother. It turns out that the monster is really a small fox cub that was possessed by an EVIL sword. He was sealed away a few centuries ago but has reawakened due to the power of the sacred treasures. Millhi is asked to slay the fox cub but refuses and instead says that she will save it. After this declaration she escapes the beast naked (why I have no idea I guess they just felt the need to add in fanservice out of the blue) and combines her powers with Sinku to remove the sword and save the fox child. In the next episode Brioche and Yukikaze find the sword and destroy it once and forever, Yukikaze adopts the fox cub, Leo and Millhi are on good terms again, and they hold a big concert to celebrate the end of the hostilities between the two nations (well this wrapped up nicely I wonder what’s next).
Rico and her assistants finally find a way to send Sinku back to his world however they discover that once he goes back to his world he’ll forget all about his time in Flonyard and won’t be able to come back. When Sinku hears this he asks Rico to keep it a secret from everyone saying that he doesn’t want to see any sad faces when he leaves. In the final episode Sinku says his goodbyes to everyone while giving them keepsakes. This episode also has what I consider to be the best scene in the entire season. While being accompany by Éclair to the summon platform Éclair figures out that Sinku won’t be able to return. Rather than get mad at him for not telling the truth or cry at the fact that he’s leaving she just speaks in a calm manner telling him that she won’t remember him because she’ll be too busy with her work but that if he doesn’t want her to forget then he shouldn’t forget them and hurry back. I love this scene, the music sets the mood perfectly on how sad it is that he’s leaving, we never see Éclair’s eyes throughout the scene which makes me believe that she’s holding back her tears and her tsundere lines are just perfect. The tone in her voice, she’s sad and angry that she’ll never get to see him again. What once started as her not really caring about Sinku at the beginning of the series has come full circle and now she thinks of him as one of her close friends that she can’t imagine a life without. It’s like with Keima and Ayumi in the TWOGK, Ayumi may have forgotten about her time with him but the feelings she has are still dormant within her.
They finally reach the platform where Millhi is waiting to send Sinku back. Unable to hold back their tears they say goodbye to each other and Millhi confessing she loves him. Sinku arrives back into his world where he has forgotten about his time spent in Flonyard but feels that he has forgotten about something important. A few days past between both worlds and Rico receives a letter from Galette explaining that the hero can be re-summoned if he makes a promise with three people that he would return, gives them an item that has been in his possession, make a written promise between him and his summoner that he would return, and 91 days must past before he can be re-summoned (geez, this has more rules then a return policy at stores). Sinku accomplishes all of these things upon his departure and while in his world the dog that created the magic circle appears before him giving him back his scared treasure and all of Sinku’s memories return. He rushes to his friend Becky saying that he remembers and that he will bring her along during summer vacation. The end.
Final Thoughts
So that was Dog Days, how was it? Well, to be honest it’s actually a pretty good anime. The animation is bright and colorful, Flonyard looks amazing I wish we could have explored this world more in the season, the characters are good and memorable, and the fight scenes are pretty decent. Sinku is a good main character, he’s a kid who enjoys challenges and someone you can really get behind. The girls presented in the anime are also good and vary. You got Leo a stubborn strong girl who wants to do things her way but will do everything in her power to save the people she cares about and can act a little spoiled and childish (you’ll see this at a few parts in the season). Millhi is your pop idol princess who’s new to the role of leading people but doing the best she can for her country. The best female is without a doubt Éclair who is an amazing tsundere character and as I said before a good foil to Sinku’s character. My favorite character throughout the season would have to be Gaul even though we don’t get see him that much. He’s hot-headed and considers Sinku to be his rival but at the same time he cares about both the people of Galette and Biscotti and wants to remain on friendly terms with Biscotti. I read somewhere that he also has a crush on Millhi, but I didn’t see it in the anime. As I said before the fight scenes are good and decent but sometimes I feel that they end too quickly and when one fight scene seems to be getting good and you start to get into it they go to a different fight scene or end it. The music is okay, outside of the opening and ending song it’s not really that memorable except for Millhi’s insertion songs which she sang at her concerts within the anime and at the end of the season. The one place where this anime falls short at is that the plot is weak. There’s really no villain or evil force at work here it’s just Sinku going off into an unknown world, becoming a hero and having fun. But that’s not too bad, sometimes it’s good to see animes like this where there’s no villain or big struggle going on and instead it just the characters having fun and enjoying themselves.
Final Score
The final score for Dog Days is a 6/10. While this anime may not have as much suspense, action, or plot as other fantasy based-animes it’s still a good anime that takes it time and allows the viewer to just enjoy what it has to offer. It’s not one of the best animes I’ve seen but I’m glad I watched it and if you’re a fan of fantasies and you wanna take a break from the fast pace of fantasies I recommend watching this anime at least once and then if you feel like it, see it again a few months later. Well that’s my review I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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