Customer Reviews

Man's Best Friend: Inu Mo Arukeba

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Man's Best Friend is perfect for a quick yaoi fix. You can flick to any of the six short stories and find a simple, steamy read.

Having said that, Man's Best Friend probably isn't for somebody looking for something with any amount of depth or character development, the mangaka seems to shy away from such things.

The first three stories - Fallin' love, Gettin' Love and Burnin' love - involve the title theme. The stories are cute and the idea is interesting but personally, I don't really like stupid characters, and Kuro, the dog, is just that.

The next two stories - Summers here again and pinpoint lovers - Is about two college age students who meet again after a 10 year seperation. These two stories were my favourite from the collection. Both characters were cute, funny and believable.

The final story - Princess Goldfish - About another shapeshifting pet is only a few pages long and gets to the point quickly.

Kazusa Takashima's art alone is reason enough to buy any of her books, every character is beautiful and the bonus 'gallery' pages are an added bonus. This author has a great sense of humour, so make sure to read the author interviews at the end with guest appearances from the boys of wild rock.

...but you shouldn't LOVE your dog.

I don't know why I purchased this (morbid curiosity?). I knew exactly what it was about and I passed over it for months before I finally broke down and ordered it.

The title story is about a love affair between a dog and his master. While the drawings were nice (I must admit that Kuro in human form was beautiful! I could have looked at page after page of him in various poses and been a happy-camper.); it was hard to get past the fact that it was a love affair between a dog and its master...a dog...a...DOG?! There was absolutely nothing sexy about this story (aside from the fact that humanoid Kuro was one marvelous piece of eye candy). Kuro was a dog, who acted like a dog even when they were doing the nasty. I have a dog; that's not sexy to me! Aside from the fact that Kuro as a human was really hot; I wouldn't exactly call this story engrossing.

The second pairing is mostly why I gave this book 3 stars (that and Kuro in human form *sigh* soo cute...soo, soo cute...). What could have been a run-of-the-mill tale of childhood friends growing up to become lovers was given a little twist and told with more flair than I expected after reading that sucky first story. This manga-ka really seems to excel at those close-up drawings of the characters faces (ie, the first time Kuro takes human form...and almost every other page he is in human form; Kentaro when he is looking in the mirror and preparing to meet the adult "Kasumi-chan"; Kasumi on the park bench). They are extremely expressive and even Kuro gains a little depth (and did I mention how cute he is?). And Kuro's cameo in "Pinpoint Lovers" was a cute touch.

The third pairing barely deserves a mention. It was some nonsense about a goldfish that turns into a long-haired girly-boy. Who cares?! And, BTW, I like my men to look like men.

Whenever I pick-up this book, I flip through the first story to look at the pretty pictures of Kuro in human form (I refuse to waste my time reading the story again); then I read "Summers Here Again" and "Pinpoint Lovers" (if only Kasumi and Kentaro's story had been longer); and then, I put the book back on the shelf (the third pairing doesn't even exist as far as I am concerned).

Three stories here by the mangaka of "Wild Rock". The first on the love between dog and master is refreshing and hilarious and of course Yaoi. No I won't call their first encounter rape, as pointed out by the first reviewer. It is passion.

My favorite is the second story on the lasting love between 2 friends. There is a fine and quite erotic plot here. The 2 young men are endearing and Kasumi is just the type of uke character I adore. I will buy this manga just for this story alone.

The third story about a gold fish turning into a sex toy is cute but too short to be effective.

There is an insightful interview with the mangaka, and last but not least a short but entertaining and fun interview with our 2 boys from Wild Rock.

A worthy addition to my Yaoi collection.

I purchased this because I really enjoyed Wild Rock. However, this isn't as good. I expected the first (cover) story to be funny and imaginative--it wasn't. Kuro is not some kind of shapechanger. He's really a dog who fell in love with a human. His thoughts and dialogue are PRIMITIVE, and there is almost no conversation between them. The relationship between the two characters is just sex. The art is lovely, but not enough to carry the "story."

However, the second story made this book worth reading (though maybe not worth buying). Two friends separated as children meet again as adults and find themselves drawn to each other. This story was richer since the characters have back-story and angst.

The last story was "blah." Boy rescues goldfish at fair; fish becomes a boy for one night to "thank" his rescuer with sex. Only a couple pages. If you're desperate for more Yaoi to read, buy this. But if your watching your money, there are other more worthy books to buy like Embracing Love, Yellow or the mangaka's other book, Wild Rock.

A great read. This has a cupple different storys and was great. A little expensive but ill prolly read it over and over again so its worth it. <3

I bought this manga because I really enjoyed some of the mangaka's other works(mainly Hard Rock), but I was a little disappointed with Man's Best Friend.

The manga features three main storylines: 1. Inu Mo Arukeba 2. Pinpoint Lovers and 3. Princess Goldfish.

The Inu Mo Arukeba series is split up into three sections: Fallin' Love, Burnin' Love, and Gettin' Love. They feature Ukyo and a dog(Kuro) he finds on the street one day that has the magical ability of turning into a human. There isn't much to say about the storyline as I couldn't ultimately get past the fact that technically it was a 'love' story between a dog and his owner. In Fallin' Love Ukyo finds out that Kuro can become human. It has some humorous subplots as well as a soft core yaoi feature. In Burnin' Love Ukyo takes Kuro out to the park for a walk in his human form. After a humorous episode with the park police, there is a steamy yaoi scene in the bushes, but it's not overly graphic. Finally in Gettin' Love, my personal favorite of the three, Ukyo and Kuro share a humorous little adventure with a kiddy pool followed by yet another yaoi moment.

The next storyline is split up into two sections: Summer's Here Again and Pinpoint Lovers.

In Summer's Here Again Kasumi(semi) and Kentaro(Uke) meet again after being separated as children. After getting to know each other again, Kasumi begins to get jealous of all the attention Kentaro gets from females. One night the two get drunk and end up having sex. There are some angsty moments, but the situation is resolved.

Their story continues in Pinpoint Lovers when Kentaro and Kasumi, due to school, live in different places. When Kentaro finds out that Kasumi has a job for Fall Break, he decides to get one too, but gets fired. Meanwhile Kasumi's job turns out to be tutoring the son of his dad's boss. When Kentaro shows up at Kasumi's house suddenly to find the boy sitting on the door step he gets upset. Another angsty period is resolved soonafter. The Pinpoint Lovers series was my favorite of the three because it had more emotional depth than any of the Inu Mo Arukeba or Princess Goldfish. The sex scenes are done exceptionally well in this section and there's effort put into the characters personalities, making them easier to like.

The final storyline is also the shortest. Kei, a normal guy just looking out for his hormones, saves a goldfish from being thrown away at a fair. When he gets home, the goldfish magically turns into a human and asks Kei to use his body however he wishes for one night. Obviously the two have sex and the next morning Kei thinks it was all a dream. This storyline is short and to the point. It doesn't really give you time to like either of the characters. Also, the goldfish character looks more female than male, so I had a hard time considering the storyline yaoi. The sex scene isn't the best. It's only a few pages heavenly shaded and not graphic at all.

In general I have mixed feelings about Man's Best Friend. The art, true to mangaka's form is exceptionally beautiful. The stories are humorous and the sex scenes very well done. However I don't really read this manga for the characters or the story. When I pick up the manga, all I'm really wanting is a refresher on the more steamy aspects of the story. Overall I'd say if you are looking for a yaoi manga that is full of depth with relatable characters and a good plot, then you should pass on Man's Best Friend. If you are simply looking for a filler manga with some great sex scenes then pick this manga up.

I give Man's Best Friend a 3 out of 5. It's more of a borrow than a buy and didn't live up to my expectations.

If you like yaoi, you'll be sure to love this book. It has three different stories in it. The first one about a dog that can turn into a human, the second about to best friends and the third about a goldfish that can turn into a human. All the stories are worth reading (cept maybe the last one, but luckily it was only a few pages long). Its cute, fun and has wonderful drawings. I loved it, all my friends loved it, even my male friends liked it! (and theyre not even gay!)

When I first saw this in the bookstore, I didn't think it was very special. The synopsis piqued my curiosity, and I'm glad I bought it. This book is funny, sweet, and romantic, with a few twists I would never have guessed at. The three stories in this volume show that love can come in a wide variety of shapes and circumstances, and that happiness doesn't always come in the package we expect. It's the epitome of "Don't judge a book by its cover". I recommend this book to anyone with an open mind and heart.

Man's Best Friend is a collection of three short stories. The first is about a dog who falls in love with a high school boy, and prays that he might become human so they can be together. The second is the story of two boys who part as children but meet again in college. The third--taking from classic Japanese fairy tales--is about a goldfish who, to repay a human who saved his life, turns human and offers sex as as recompense.

None of these stories are particularly life-changing, but they're not meant to be. Instead, this book is cute. By turns it's hilarious (especially the first story, which will have you laughing aloud), touching and sweet. Above all, it's fun.

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone looking for a serious story or deep meaning. Instead it's a pick me up, a book that leaves you feeling good after you finish. Well worth it.

The artwork in this volume is extremely interesting, and the stories are cute, although many of them do involve sex with animals.