Dog Days 01 and 02 Impressions

 
The clever invocation of Chocobo

Heroic pose, check

The journey to another fantasy world with a slice of fan service has been done to death recently in anime. It’s refreshing when a studio decides to make fun of such a situation by being extremely self-aware of where the weaknesses lie.

Dog Days is a show that relies on energy. The first two episodes are pure energy and action. Rather than checking all the boxes and fulfilling a fan service to serious ratio, they simply choose to be outright odd from the beginning. The young boy is summoned for war, but it’s not our definition of war. It’s simply cats versus dogs playing at war for the sake of their kingdoms. There’s no death, and it’s a competition like any sports meet.

With that in mind, the youth dragged into this world can just go all out and have some fun rather than worry about going home (until the battle ends). Because of this, the episode just flies by and is pure enjoyment. 

Rather than talking heads, we actually have action and get to enjoy animation for that sake. Occasionally, I forget about it myself since I largely go for story, but it’s nice to see the kind of epic eye candy that drew me to anime in the first place freshly being used.

War grunts that turn into adorable balls upon defeat

Oh, you’re a girl . . .