My Dog Becomes Human by Hamada Kenji

As someone who regularly participates in Yuletide as a pinch hitter, I was wandering, like one does, through the tag set for the upcoming year. Lo and behold, I come across this title, My Dog Becomes Human, under the manga fandoms and I think, WTF is THAT?

So, I looked.

Do I regret my life choices? I can’t decide.

SPOILERS

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I’ve read a couple of manga like this, where, all of a sudden, for REASONS, someone’s dog becomes human. When I was talking about this to a friend, she instantly remembered the yaoi version, Man’s Best Friend (which, inexplicably, also includes a goldfish becoming human). And, then, of course, there was Wolf in the House, and, one should never forget Make Me Bark, even though that’s less turning into a dog and more being turned on by dog play.

My Dog Becomes Humans is different in that this one is for the straights. Also, because it was published on Twitter, it’s not at all explicit. There are currently only 7.5 chapters available scanlated, so far as I could find, and most of them consist of the mangaka exploring what would be great about having a human/dog around….

…which are basically a lot of women’s fantasies of men: someone protective, fierce, loyal, unconditional in their love, a little bit wild/animalistic, and still totally dependent and devoted. Like how many people literally say things like “I wish I could find someone who loves me like my dog loves me”? LOTS. And this is a wish-fulfillment manga for them.

Bonus: men in collars!

So, I mean, what’s not to love, I guess? I mean, it’s very noticeable that there is not one single depiction of a female dog. No puppies. Nothing that might break the very obvious fantasy going on here. It’s also a comedy. Like, in chapter two, our big tough husky here has to go get vaccinations, and he’s, of course, terrified of the vet. So, the whole thing is just light and fluffy (PUN INTENDED.) And, because it isn’t smut, it can sort f be viewed as wholesome (even though we immediately know that part of the issue here is that that the owner is now very hot for her dog.)

It’s a fun read? I can recommend it without hesitation. Like Nyankees, part of the fun of the story is just seeing how the mangaka will draw the various dog breeds.