Dog Anime You Should Watch This Year!

Dogs are the perfect companions and friends. They never judge us, they love us unconditionally, and all they ask for in return are head pats and snacks. Here are a handful of dog anime you can watch this year to celebrate the most wonderful dogs. While these aren’t quite the same as snuggling up with your favorite pooch, they’re still a bunch of fun.

Oda Cinnamon Nobunaga

Oda Nobunaga is one of Japanese history’s most controversial and divisive figures. He fought to unify Japan under his singular rule through any means necessary. While he’s often depicted as one of the most ruthless men in Japanese history, his impact on the nation is still felt today. This, of course, is the perfect reason to turn him into a Shiba Inu. 

Nobunaga, alongside other famous Japanese figures such as Date Masamune and Takeda Shingen, are all reincarnated as household dogs. What makes the show work so well is that the ancient lords still act like themselves but also enjoy the luxurious perks of being a pampered little pooch. It’s just a little bit different from waging war across Japan and bringing an end to the Warring States Period.

Sherlock Hound

When mysteries arise, only Sherlock Hound can solve them! This delightful anime transforms Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic detective stories by reimagining the characters as anthropomorphic dogs. Despite their canine nature, the characters drive cars and operate steampunk machinery, creating exciting adventures perfect for young viewers.

The series brilliantly adapts Sherlock Holmes stories for children, with the added bonus of Hayao Miyazaki directing several episodes. Notably, Miyazaki’s involvement makes this anime particularly intriguing for Studio Ghibli fans, as it represents his work before founding the famous animation studio.

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Fortune Dogs

One day, a young girl named Ai adopts a little French Bulldog. She names him Alex and creates a wonderful friendship with him. Every day, she reads to him stories from her book “The Adventures of Freddy” which steal Alex’s imagination. But when Alex accidentally follows the wrong girl onto a bus one day and becomes separated from Ai, he decides to name himself Freddy from his favorite stories and return to Ai.

Fortune Dogs is an anime that follows a French Bulldog named Alex/Freddy on a heroic quest to find the Fortune Tree and return to his owner Ai, presenting a fantasy adventure from the unique perspective of dogs. There might even be the fate of all the luck in the world hanging in the balance, too!

Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds

Alexander Dumas’ The Three Musketeers is one of the world’s finest adventure stories. D’Artagnan travels to Paris to join the Musketeers. He quickly finds himself in dangerous adventures. The original story is quite mature, so Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds transforms it into a child-friendly version. The anime reimagines the classic tale with dog characters, making it accessible and entertaining for younger audiences.

There’s adventure and excitement but without the original novel’s mature themes. And really, its title is adorable. Who wouldn’t want to watch a troupe of courageous dogs, swords in paws, swearing to uphold honor and bravery in the face of danger? Athos, Porthos, and Aramis may look slightly different than they do in the book, but that’s okay. There’s never anything wrong with cute dogs.

Why should I watch this anime?

If you’re a dog lover, you should watch these dog anime because they feature dogs in very silly and unique situations. It’s easy to have a show with a dog as a supporting character or as something in the background. Dogs don’t often speak or contribute significantly to the overall narrative in anime (Ein notwithstanding in Cowboy Bebop), so it’s cool that the shows put dogs front and center the way they do. 

The reincarnation subgenre has been massively inundated in recent years with some of the most ridiculous concepts imaginable, but coming back as a dog is a classic take. Bringing classic literature to children in acceptable and easily understandable means is always a great thing, and there’s hardly a better way to do so than by transforming those characters into dogs.

Have you watched any of these shows before? If so, do you have a favorite? Which dog anime did we forget? Please let us know in the comments below! We would love to hear about your favorite dog anime!