The 7 Most Loyal and Inspirational Dogs in Anime

 BY MAIKAIDO K. | SHIROOKAMI - DOGS.UNITE | 9.24.2021

If you're an otaku like me, you probably noticed that there are a ton of dogs in anime that manage to warm your heart. Here are seven of my all-time favorite dogs in anime.

Ein, Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop focuses on the Bebop mercenary crew as they fly through space, pursuing business opportunities with different colonies on different planets.  From chasing after wanted men to escorting clients, the Bebop crew will do what is needed in the mercenary realm of space.  As a very lovable Corgi, Ein accompanies his good friend, Edward, as well as the crew of the Bebop.  With his intelligence, Ein helps them throughout their stellar journey.  Ever useful, Ein is able to do a range of things from, hacking computer databases to talking with other animals. With Ed, Ein's shared curiosity brings deepens their friendship. Eventually choosing to stay with Ed as they make their last departure from the Bebop ship, Ein continues to show great loyalty and friendship to Ed.

Buddy, Nichijou 

In the wacky world of Nichijou, Yuuko, Mio, and Mai tackles the facets of everyday, ordinary school life.  However, some things or people around them are not so normal, such as the android who befriends them, wishing to appear more human.  Yuuko has a very childish nature and loves to instill happy moods in others by playing tricks on her friends or playing games with them.  Often though, she neglects persistence in her responsibilities and does not always behave well socially, resulting in her fair share of troubles.  At times like these, Buddy, who is a light brown dog, comes to the aid of Yuuko and comforts her through multiple times throughout the series.  From mishaps such as losing her shoes as she kicks them off a moving vehicle, or her failing her school exams and dropping to her knees with despair, Buddy comes to place his paw on her shoulder or back.  While they may not know each other, the dog's compassion for Yuuko is shown in his actions of support for her.

ChouChou, One Piece

Living as a pirate in world of open sea, Luffy sets off on a grand voyage to gather his crew and sail towards the Grand Line in search of the great treasure, One Piece. Acquiring this treasure will fulfil his dream of becoming the king of pirates.  Driven by this passion, he faces other pirate crews along the way.  One of them is the Buggy pirates, who take control of Orange Town as they begin looting and depleting it of its riches.  ChouChou is a tenacious small white dog who steadily watches over his owner's pet shop.  Locked in a cage, Luffy first encounters ChouhChouh .  As Luffy tries to obtain the key to his escape, ChouChou ironically swallows it.  ChouChouh has always lived with his owner, Hocker, until Hocker's passing, yet he remains loyal to his master's wishes.  He bites anyone disrespecting him or his owner's shop, and fights diligently against one of Buggy's crewman, Mohji and his lion, Richie.  Unfortunately, ChouChouh is defeated, and he's forced to watch as his owner's shop is burned to the ground.  As Luffy is knocked out of his cage by Richie, he then helps ChouChou achieve revenge against them. In doing so, he accepts the Strawhat crew and helps defend them against the town people who sees them as evil pirates.  But throughout this event, he shows that his loyalty for his master and his master's shop can last his whole lifetime.

Tadakichi, Azumanga Daioh

Azumanga Daioh focuses on the high school lives of mainly five unique girls; the mind-wandering Osaka, the energetic and eccentric Tomo, Yomo who is the most serious of the group, the athletic and quiet Sakaki, and the small and cute Chiyo. As they get more aquainted with each other, they love to get away and have fun at Chiyo's house where the large dog, Tadakichi-san, lives.  Tadakichi-san is a big white Great Pyrenees who is very gentle and supportive to the tiny Chiyo, allowing her to ride on his back.  To me, he is what I like to call a teddy bear dog, and loves to be pet and hugged.  Friendly to everyone in general, he even calms Sakaki with her fear of being bitten and supports her love for animals.  He also is friendly to Maya, Sakaki's pet Iriomote mountain cat, which Sakaki meets during a senior trip to Iriomote.  Tadakichi's kindness towards Maya places Sakaki at ease as Maya stays with them.  With Tadakichi's friendly nature, he represents the ease of being approachable and a warm amicability that calms those around him.

Kaito, Konohana Kitan

In the spiritually rich world of Konohana Kitan, an inn developed by a goddess becomes a place of meaningful rest for different types of beings and spirits.  Whether it's a human or being living in the realm the inn resides or different spirits coming in from our reality, all are welcomed at the inn with relaxing hot springs and the services of five women attendants that work there.  Yuzu, a cheerful yet clumsy country fox rookie attendant, interacts and learns from the other four women who work there.  Driven by her curious nature, she frequently interacts with her customers, thus allowing them to open up to her and learn more about themselves.  Kaito originally comes to visit the inn as a small child who is a little playful in nature.  After causing a little trouble for the attendants, he meets Yuzu and claims to want to be a "good boy" to his parents.  He loves his parents deeply and after his first visit, becomes heartbroken and resentful when he is offered up to be trained for servicing others.  His second visit as a grumpy older man becomes encouraging, however, as he meets a another man who has a temporary stay at the inn.  The man is torn as he explains that he doesn't want to return to his family in disgrace, having been greatly injured in his work.  That would mean he would live as being blind and disabled, unable to support his loved ones.  While the boy and old man are not at all alike, they both come to the realization that they are both running away from their current lives.  Thus, they both decide to support each other's return.  As it turns out, Kaito, who is actually a light brown dog in the real world, becomes chosen as the old man's service dog and helps him in the most important ways.  As they support each other in the spiritual realm, they come to love one another in the real world.

Roda, Tegami Bachi

Dingos are loyal companions of the letter bees, and protect them against the Gaichuu, wich are giant insects that feed on the emotions displayed by humans.  Their destructive feeding targets emotions of the human hearts themselves or those written by the letters entrusted to the bees for delivery throughout the land. Dingos are able to not only protect their partners but are also able to find the weakness in the hard scales of the Gaichu. Roda, a big snow white female dog dingo, continues to stay with Gauche, a former letter bee, as he loses his original heart and becomes Noir, who steals letters from the letter bees and while working against the government.  Though she cared for Lag as she helped Gauche transport him to his aunt and became connected to Gauche, she is willing to strike against Lag as he tries to stop Noir.  She remains loyal to what is now Noir with the heart of her old guardian.

Toboe, Wolf's Rain

Being the youngest wolf in the pack that is in search of Paradise at the world's end, Toboe, with light brown fur, looks very similar to a dog and carries a dog's passion and kindness towards humans. Despite being in a world where wolves are hunted to extinction, Toboe's youthful nature makes him loyal and committed to preserving life, even of humans whom he is told to be weary of.  Raised by a elderly woman called Granny, he seeks to befriend others.  He is however cautious of himself with them, as he accidentally killed Granny while playing with her.  He is able to come to terms with his strength though.  During his travels, he uses his incredible strength to save his friends from a walrus hundreds of times his size by lunging and grappling at its neck.  He also helps Quent, an old ex-sheriff whose loss of wife and son to wolves sees the pack as a danger to humankind and target of destruction.  Quent attempts to to kill Toboe and the other wolves of his pack repeatedly throughout their journeys.  Despite this, when Quent is on the brink of freezing to death, Toboe decides to keep him warm, and his compassion moves Quent, allow the old man to be more at peace with himself and cease his vendetta against wolves.