Creator: Yukiya Sakuragi
Publisher: Viz
Age Rating: Older Teen
Genre: Comedy
RRP: $9.99
Inubaka: Crazy For Dogs v1
Reviewed by Michael Aronson

“All alone except for her loyal mutt Lupin, 18-year-old Suguri moves from the country-side to the big city to find a career and a new life. In her first job at a pet store, she meets an assortment of quirky dogs and even stranger owners! On a walk to check out their new neighborhood, Lupin “courts” another dog while her owner Teppei isn’t looking, shattering his dream of a litter of purebred puppies. To make up for her mongrel’s wayward wooing, Suguri offers to work at the pet store Teppei manages. Her adventures in canine antics have just begun!”

I’m giving Inubaka a rather hesitant B+, which barely manages to creep up over a B due to exceptionally strong art. If you’re creating a book that centers on a pet store and various dog breeds, realistic accuracy is a must and these dogs look fantastic. Sakuragi demonstrates that a creator who does her homework comes that much closer to engaging the reader and making the subject matter more convincing. And her human characters are nothing to scoff at either, all terribly expressive and well designed.

Art side, the story doesn’t go anywhere yet. Suguri gets into a humiliating predicament that luckily manages to land her the job of her dreams. She relates to dogs in ways that constantly confuses manager Teppei and leads him to wonder how far her intuition can take her. This isn’t an overwhelmingly commanding setup, as the only real points of conflict are Suguri improving at her new trade and Teppei warming up to her.

But it’s still charming enough for what it is. Having had a pet fanatic girlfriend, I managed to smile a bit at Suguri’s antics when surrounded by furry cute animals. Even the pooping/peeing material was kind of funny and cute, given that it’s simply the baggage that comes with raising puppies. Unless you already have a warm affinity for dogs or other precocious pets, I’m afraid that warming up to Inubaka may take a little effort.

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6 October 2009
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