Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs

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Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs
いぬばか
(Inubaka)
Genre Comedy
Manga
Author Yukiya Sakuragi
Publisher Flag of Japan Shueisha
Flag of the United States Flag of Canada Viz Media
Demographic Seinen
Serialized in Flag of Japan Young Jump
Original run 2005 – ongoing
Volumes 13

Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs (いぬばか Inubaka?) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yukiya Sakuragi.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

All alone except for her loyal mutt Lupin, 18 year old Suguri moves from the country-side to the big city, Tokyo, to find a career and a new life. 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 which leads her to numerous adventures of canine antics.

[edit] The Manga :Volumes

Volumes release date price
Volume 1 Feb 20/07 US: $9.99, Can $11.99
Volume 2 Apr 17/07 US: $9.99, Can $11.99
Volume 3 Jun 19/07 US: $9.99, Can $11.99
Volume 4 Aug 21/07 US: $9.99, Can $11.99
Volume 5 Oct 16/07 US: $9.99, Can $11.99
Volume 6 Dec 18/07 US: $9.99, Can $11.99
Volume 7 Feb 19/08 US: $9.99, Can $11.99
Volume 8 Apr 15/08 US: $9.99, Can $11.99
Volume 9 Jun 17/08 US: $9.99, Can $11.99
Volume 10 Aug 19/08 US: $9.99, Can $11.99

[edit] Main Characters

Suguri Miyauchi

The female protagonist of Inubaka, 18-year old Suguri loves everything about the canine world. She's innocent, clumsy, and a bit of an airhead but she cares deeply for both dogs and humans. Her best friend is her mutt Lupin who Suguri states is like her "alter ego." As a young girl, Suguri was kidnapped and although the kidnapper was never caught, Suguri herself was found and rescued shortly afterward by her grandfather's dog-who was also Lupin's grandfather-and she wears its red collar around her neck in homage. The incident however caused her parents to be extremely over-protective of her which of course led to her naive and inexperienced view of the world. Her connection with all dogs is so strong that when she first enters the Woofles Pet Shop, every puppy in the store starts to produce "happy pee," a reflexive action whenever puppies get excited. She can even sense when a dog is ready to use the restroom or when a dog is trying to tell her something urgent. Suguri is also good at massages. Because Teppei keeps her as only part-time, Suguri gets a job as a hostess alonside a friend of hers to earn extra money. She later begins to develop a crush on Teppei and can become very jealous if another girl gives him too much attention, much like dogs make a big fuss over strange dogs who get too close to their owner.

Teppei

The male lead of Inubaka, Teppei is the manager of a pet shop by the name of "Woofles" and lives in an apartment above the store. When he was a boy, Teppei frequently picked up stray dogs, much to the chagrin of his single mother who was barely able to support the two of them. Despite his aloof and non-chalant nature, Teppei retains his weak spot for both strays be they dogs or people, allowing both Kentaro and Suguri to work at Woofles and even to crash with him until they earn enough to find their own place. Being fluent in all areas of dog knowledge; Teppei is an expert groomer, is well versed in canine diet and health, and can even state the history of nearly every breed from memory. (Kentaro even had the nerve to call him a "dog otaku" or "dog geek"). Unfotunately, Teppei lacks any sort of practical business sense; occasionally expanding services at Woofles without knowing if the profits can cover the costs and believing that matching dogs to the best owners possible is more important than profit. He owns a purebred black Lab named Noa who Lupin mated with in the first novel, but fortunately didn't become pregnant. He allows Suguri to temporarily work at Woofles to make up for her dog Lupin's tryst with Noa and later hires her as a permanent employee after seeing her repetoir with dogs, although her naive nature occasionally annoys him into punishing her in slapstick fashion.

Momoko Takeuchi

A girl licensed in dog grooming, Momoko was hired by Teppei to assist with the increased number of clients for Woofles pet boutique services. As a young girl, Momoko was ostracized by her classmates due to a weight problem except for a boy named Kyu. Momoko's relationship with Kyu inspired her to lose weight in a healthy, balanced way and the two eventually became a couple. Unfortunately, Kyu's true self was manipulative and controlling; frequently sponging money off of her even as he dated other girls behind her back. The resulting strain from Kyu's abuse caused Momoko to become cold and withdrawn to the world around her except when grooming dogs. With the help and support of Suguri, Momoko found the strength to break up with Kyu and she and her Toy Poodle Mel move in with Suguri into the "Woofles Girls Dorm," an apartment leased by Teppei above the store

Kentaro Osada

A high school friend of Teppei, Kentaro is an amateur musician who performs guitar on the street. Teppei hired Kentaro to work at Woofles after seeing he had no home or job and also allows him to sleep in the doghouse in the kennels atop the store roof. Although at first he didn't like dogs, Kentaro came to tolerate them and even became friends with Lupin, sharing his beer with him and composing songs about the mutt. Kentaro is addicted to Pachinko gambling to the point that he once stole money from Suguri to feed his addiction and subsequently lost all of it. He also has a crush on Kanako-sensei but continually fails to attract her attention.

[edit] Reoccurring characters

Kanako Sensei - A regular customer at Woofles, Kanako teaches piano and lives in the same building as the Woofle's staff. She owns a Pomeranian by the name of Czerny of whom she is protective of to the point of paranoia, shooing away Lupin whenever he gets too close.

Chizuru Sawamura - Another customer of Woofles, she used to have a senior golden retriever named Ricky who died of old age but not before alerting Suguri of a potentially fatal heart condition within a chihuahua being sold at Woofles. In return for Ricky’s love, Chizuru adopted the chihuahua, named it Melon, and vowed she would care for it until it was time for it’s life to pass away as well. Chizuru and Suguri become close friends and she takes a hostess job alongside her to help pay for Melon's medical bills.

Hiroshi Akiba - A young otaku whom Suguri introduced to the unconditional love dogs have for people, something he had never known from his classmates who ostracize him as a loser and nerd. He purchases a french bulldog who he names "Zidane" and turns into a true "dog otaku" who incessantly talks to those around him about the history of any dog breed he encounters. The character biography page in the front of each manga volume states that he's a government employee.

Mari Yamashita - A super model for a women's magazine, Yamashita performed in a commercial that also starred a papillon from Show's store who later had to be replaced with its sibling from Teppei's store when its ears drooped undesirably. She once owned a cocker spaniel who died a few days before the commercial and Yamashita became greatly depressed to the point that she couldn't focus on her work. However, after seeing Suguri's dedication to taking care of the papillon used in the commercial, Yamashita pulls herself together and later purchases the papillon for herself.

Kim -A friend of Kentaro, he plays the harmonica and is from Korea. Kim has a strong fear of dogs because in Korea, dogs were often used for eating purposes and this caused strays to act very aggressive to anybody who would try to touch them. Kim himself relates of how one encounter with a stray left him with a nasty scar on his bottom. He develops a crush on Suguri and becomes determined to be close to her by becoming closer to dogs. To that end, Kim purchases a shiba he names Chanta and despite the difficulty in raising it caused by his general inexperience with dogs (including one incident where Chanta nearly died from electrocution after biting a power cord) he soon becomes a dedicated and loving owner.

Show Kaneko - Teppei's direct superior, Show owns the Woofles chain and also manages the main store. Unlike Teppei, Show is ruthlessly pragmatic and is more concerned with the business aspects of running a pet shop, viewing sales and profit as more important than matching dogs to the best potential owner. Despite his seemingly machiavellian nature, Show genuinely loves dogs; being able to trigger nearby puppies to produce "happy pee" with his presence like Suguri can and condeming a rival trainer for forcing his dog to compete in agility competition despite being injured. Show also enjoys needling Teppei by calling him little brother and owns a pedagree afghan hound named Alfred. He notices Suguri's connection to dogs after she manages to get Alfred to shake paws with her, something only Show himself should be able to do, whereupon he labels her as "interesting."

[edit] Dogs

Lupin -A mixed breed dog who belongs to Suguri. His grandfather (whose collar Suguri wears around her neck) saved Suguri when she was kidnapped as a child. Suguri considers Lupin to be her alter ego and is unable to function without him near her. He has the ability to unlock his kennel door and a habit of coming down into the shop when it's crowded, much to Teppei's anoyance.

Noa -A Labrador Retriever dog who belongs to Teppei. She was at one time supposed to breed with a champion, until Lupin mated with her. Fortunately, a pregnancy was avoided but Teppei refused to allow Lupin to get so much as near her again. Noa is well behaved and also has a strong maternal instinct, at one point adopting a stray kitten as her own.

Czerny -A pomeranian belonging to Kanako-sensei. She shares a telapathic connection to her owner which allows Czerny to contact Kanako during her work assignment in Europe and alert her to a fire that had begun in the adjoining hotel room.

Ricky -A Senior Golden Retriever belonging to Chizuru that died of old age in volume 1. He alerted Suguri that Melon had a heart condition and in gratitude for Ricky's love, Chizuru adopted Melon as her own. His picture is worn on a collar around Melon's neck.

Melon -A Chihuahua owned by Chizuru. He has a heart condition which potentially limits his life. Because Teppei couldn't legally sell any dog with a serious health condition, he instead gives Melon to Chizuru free of charge.

Zidane -A French Bulldog purchased by Akiba. Because french bulldogs are so rare, Akiba had a chip implanted in Zidane in the event that he was ever stolen. Suguri and the others later use Zidane as bait to entrap and track down a rival pet store owner who sells stolen dogs.

Rosetta -The female puppy in the Pailllion litter. Show took Rosetta, saying he had huge hopes for her to be a show dog. She is trained well, though, so Show decides to make her a star dog. Rosetta stars in a bread commercial with Mari. However, after the practice, one of Rosetta's ears droops, revealing that she is a Phalene, or droopy-eared Papillion.

Lucky -Part of a litter of Papillon puppies who Show split up to be sold between his and Teppei's stores. One of his litter mates was scheduled to shoot a commercial with Yamashita but Lucky replaced it after his sibling's ears began to droop undesirably. With training done on set by both Yamashita and Suguri (who suggested calling the dog Lucky so it would train better) Lucky succeeded in filming the commercial with only moderate difficulty. Afterwards, Show attempted to purchase Lucky with the intent of turning him into an advertising mascot until Yamashita arrived to adopt Lucky for herself.

Chanta -A Shiba purchased by Kim whom he named after the tiles Chanta mixed up during a game of mahjong Kim was playing with Suguri. Chanta has something of a teething problem, chewing up Kim's special guitar pick and a bandaid on his face given to Kim by Suguri. Shortly after being taken home, Chanta nearly died from electrocution when she chewed on a power cord. Luckily, Chanta was able to be revived by Kim with some emergency coaching in dog CPR by Teppei over the phone.

Alfred -A pedigree Afghan hound owned by Show. Alfred is characterized by his aloof demeanor and is trained to only obey commands by Show. Lupin finds him rather intimidating and will slink away if Alfred so much as looks at him. Alfred only obeys Show and, oddly, Suguri.

Henry -Henry is a German Shepherd Dog. He belongs to Kyoko Furuya. He competed in agility competitions, but stopped when he caused his owner to have an accident. With Suguri's training, Henry was able to slalom again and he took second place at an agility competition. Haruomi Nishina gave a booster to his dog, so he was disqualified, leaving Henry with the default - 1st place.

Grace -Grace is a Papillion that runs agility courses. She belongs to Show and is very skilled. She is the mother of Lucky, Rosetta, and the third puppy.

June -June is a Border Collie, belonging to agility competitor Haruomi Nishina. June is a balanced black and white dog, but Haruomi mentions that he got too fat for the competition.

August -August is a Border Collie, also owned by Haruomi Nishina. August is more black than white, but sadly he cannot do the competition either because, according to Haruomi, he has gotten fat as well.

April -April is a Border Collie, owned by Haruomi Nishina. April is a lighter Border Collie, which is less common. Haruomi states that she reacts too slow, and while Haruomi mentioned her name, a few seconds later April's head bobbed.

May -May is a border Collie, also owned by Naruomi Nishina. Haruomi says that May is the best athelete and his champion. He says no matter what kind of dogs are there, May will beat them. During practice, haruomi runs her through a course. The time ends up as 42.55 seconds. Later on, May's leg joint becomes inflamed. She still runs, though, but falls off the winner's block. It is revealed that Haruomi made her take pain killers. May ends up being able to walk, but cannot do agility again.

Taro -Taro is a Miniature Schnauzer puppy who is owned by Tsutomu Nakabayashi and his daughter, Risa. Taro barks a lot because of movie scripts hidden in his backyard. Risa wasn't kind to Taro or her father, but everything changed when Taro dug up the time capsule.

Schneider -A Doberman who is king of the Dog Cafe. Chizuru remarks that the dogs "line up to sniff his butt." He is very reserved and belongs to Akira, the human king of the Dog cafe and a cafe regular.

Mosh -A West Highland White Terrier, owned by Jin. Little is known about Mosh except that he is loved extremely by his owner and obeys Jin.

Cookie -Cookie is a Miniature Daschund, owned by Mayu-chan and her mother. Mayu is getting over the loss of her brother, and she steals the puppy and calls the pup by her brother's name - Keita. Suguri finds the two and takes them back. Later, though, Mayu adopts the puppy and names her after her favorite food.

Lychee -Lychee is a very minor character, a Shih Tzu. His fur is very overgrown, due to lack of attention from his owner, Saijo. Momoko gives him a trim with a bob-cut and puts braids behind his ears. Saijo spazzes out, but ends up loving the braids.

Mel -Mel is a Toy Poodle that belongs to Momoko Takeuchi. She is a discolored dog, and Momoko almost gives her up to save the life of her horrible ex-boyfriend, Kyu. Momoko paints Mel fully black. Momoko has all kinds of haircuts of mel on her camera. She ends up keeping Mel, and Mel is still loved.

[edit] External links

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