Dogs: Prelude, Volume 0

Dogs: Bullets & Carnage

by Shirow Miwa

An action-packed, stylish shoot-’em-up.

Boasting furious action, switchback plotting, magnetic characters and dazzling art, Dogs tells the story of four individuals struggling to survive a dystopian urban future by gun and sword and courage and luck.

MIHAI , the "Weepy Old Killer": A former hitman now trying to live a quiet life but haunted by the deaths of his victims and his lover.

BADOU , the "Gun Smoker": A chain-smoking "information broker" and hired gun whose reckless façade hides a serious intent.

NAOTO , the "Blade Maiden": A preternaturally skilled swordswoman with a single revenge against the assassin who cut down her family.

HEINE , the "Stray Dog": A cipher with a metal collar bolted to his neck, a disturbing talent for mayhem, and a childhood sacrificed to the thing known as "Kerberos."

Driven by their ghosts --both dead and alive--and their desire for truth, all are struggling to solve the secrets of the past while surviving the dangerous present--by gun and sword and courage and luck .

Genres: Manga, Comics, Graphic Novels, Seinen, Science Fiction, Comics Manga, Action

208 pages, Paperback

First published December 10, 2001

Reviews

[Jay Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made myself only take the first one from the library instead the whole series and now I regret

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty cool manga that had a heavy sci-fi/action feel to it. I'm glad I investigated this on Amazon.com before purchasing, though, because I never would have known that book one is actually volume #0 (this prelude) and not volume #1. And apparently many readers have made a mistake and been thoroughly confused by the story when missing out on the prelude. The prelude basically starts to set the tone of the story and the feel of the futuristic environment - as well as introducing readers to the main characters by presenting a chapter for each of them with some history/background so you can understand something of where these characters are coming from. At this point of the story, many of the main characters have not connected with each other yet, but you get the sense that their paths are destined to cross. Assassins, survivors of genetic experimentation, sword masters, information brokers - all very cool customers. I would definitely read more to so how this story unfolds since the prelude really just scratches the surface and wets your appetite (my appetite, at least) :) The icing on the cake is that the action sequences are drawn very well, in my opinion. I can sometimes get lost with the blur of pen strokes in some works, but the artwork here is very well done...

[alexander shay · Rating 3 out of 5]

It probably would have been best if I had started with volume 1, but whenever I see a volume 0 in store I feel obligated to start with that one. "Prelude" is an apt title for this volume, as it is sort of a disconnected collection of origin stories, of how each of the series' characters came to know one another/work with each other/etc. The way the art and storylines are constructed makes it feel you should already be familiar with the characters when reading this volume, and I was not. This made it hard to tell some characters apart visually, and I couldn't keep any names straight at all. It does create an interesting premise for the series as a whole, but not enough for me to continue with it.

[n [larrythelatypus] · Rating 4 out of 5]

i enjoyed this and I think I'll probably pick up the series...there's something about it that is so appealing, maybe the art style or the grittiness idk

[osoi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Эта книга длиной в шесть глав может похвастаться неожиданно мощным и захватывающим сторителлингом. Казалось бы, что можно уместить на паре сотен страниц манги? Познакомить с героями, обозначить их характеристики, наметить антагонистов (и надеяться, что все это зацепит публику)? Псы делают круче - они предлагают четыре зарисовки, каждая со своей харизматичной центральной фигурой и непростой, закрученной историей. Неоднозначных персонажей с зачастую понятной мотивацией, но искаженными понятиями. Жестокий, несправедливый, темный и неприветливый мир в качестве сеттинга. Царапающие самые отдаленные уголки сознания разрушенные судьбы. И чтобы не расслабляться - много экшна и насилия, а также пересекающиеся линии всех персонажей (где-то явно, а где-то только намеками). Я еще пару лет назад освоила OVA по мотивам, но в силу поверхностного интереса осталась в состоянии not amused (меня тогда больше волновали коленки канеки, если уж на то пошло). Но сейчас эти циничные и беспринципные (и трепетные, и трогательные) зарисовки пришлись на ура; я наконец могу оценить мастерство укладывать все самое интересное и интригующее в небольшой формат без размазывания на множество томов.

lukk.svbtle

[tattwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5

[Shawnie Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm this was alright.
Not what I was expecting but I enjoyed it as far as prologues go.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

guns guns guns guns and more guns

[WriterDamon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grabbed this from Chapters ages ago and it's still one of my favorite Manga ever. I have reread this particular volume MANY times. I love the characters!

[Jamsly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An action packed comedy with a character that you will hate, so very much but entertain you a lot .kinda sad in my opinion.favorite character is chain smoker has an explosive personality and completely unpritectedable one second I wimp the next take out a whole gang with two uzis because they took away his weed .over pretty funny book i say

[Booknerder42 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. Not what I thought it would be. Over all a good mange

[FiliżankaFantasy · Rating 4 out of 5]

35/45/2023

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This manga is different. This thought kept following me throughout the whole volume and, now that I have considered it for a while, I can fully agree.
Be it the characters, the names, the art, overall, what some people would summarize as "style", all this makes "Dogs" kind of untypical. It even starts with the much bigger format of the book, which is awesome, by the way!

The storyline, however, is more or less what I expected it to be. Nevertheless, it is very thrilling and, so far, I usually could not guess what was coming and kept being interested. All that in combination with its uncommon factors makes me hope this manga might take some cool turns!

"Dogs" is rather dark and graphic as it also sais on the cover (although, I think there are much heavier mangas regarding graphicness...). I really like the way those scenes are done. I think this manga is not lazy at all and the art, some people said it was "rough", really helps to maintain a certain level. It helps to make the reader unterstand that this is not just a story filled with brutality and sinister characters. All in all, it wants you to think and I appreciate that. Maybe, I am overdoing a little but this is the conclusion I drew after comparing the style on different pages of the book. The rougher done parts are done so on purpose, even though, it might appear a bit more western. I actually liked that.

The plot is filles with exciting, tragic, and quite a few funny moments. The characters are enjoyable and have a certain depth to them, all revealing their imperfections. I loved the band references in the surnames of Heine Rammsteiner and Badou Nails. This really made me like the author ;)

This volume has to be regarded as the prelude to the main story. It's really nothing more than an introduction to the different character arcs and leaves the reader confused and a feeling of uncompleteness when read as a standalone. For that it would have needed a few more chapters.

I already started reading Volume 1 of the series and am enjoying it so far.

Badou is my absolute favourite, btw! Hilarious guy!

[Regalia Lenzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wprowadzenie w mangę. Jako opowiadania to nawet i ciekawe, ale jakoś nie do końca tytuł mi zaimponował.

[Negin · Rating 3 out of 5]

i love this manga series and it's really disappointing to think that the author/ artist doesn't intend to write the next chapter

[simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

i rather flat and half wonkily drawn little prologue to a series i couldn't give a shit about. the setting is never established, the ton seems to go back and forth expectially with badou and naoto's chapters being back to back. In general badou seems to almost be from an entirely different series, but thats just a nit pick. I don't really know but its kind of a put off when a manga that dealt with an old assassin confronting a mob bosses psychopathic would be son, a girl who was trained to fight by her parents killers and sexually assualted by the other apprentice, and a mutant whos had a fear of girls saving a 14 year old mute with wings from being forced into prostitution also has a long haired guy in a camo jacket get bloody brooklyn rage from getting his cigarettes tackin away. Some of the better bits from the segments honestly feel like they've been done before in other anime or heck even movies for that matter
despite being for readers older than 18, it comes across as something for just teenagers in general, say for one panel of muff and like 4 of exposed semi-nipple-less breasts
i'd say give it a pass, theres no dogs anywhere in this manga, nor is mention that any of the characters own one.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of my favorite manga are about gritty crime, and this is absolutely no different. It's taken me a while to really dig my fingers back into it, but I'm so glad that I finally did. An easy 5 stars and I'm eager to dig into the rest with all my fingers.

[Slap Happy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lazy. That's one word to describe this volume. I don't read a lot of manga, but for the ones I have read over the years, I cay say, are certainly more accomplished (or even ambitious) than this one. I'd include the ones that I didn't think were all that good too, in the mix - in comparison to Dogs: Prelude. Even for the ones that sucked, the writing was where the manga fell short, but the artwork? I could tell that the artist was enthusiastic about drawing, illustrating, and creating the visual world with his hands. Shirow Miwa does little with his; there's no ambition; just white backgrounds, no sense of location, of characters inhabiting a world. This wouldn't have killed it for me if the writing was better, but guess what? It's not.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing and gritty prelude to Miwa Shirow's brilliant series, Dogs: Bullets & Carnage. This book contains several chapters that introduce Badou, Haine, Nill, Naoto, Mihai, Giovanni, and Bishop who feature later in Bullets & Carnage.

I read this back when it was a scanlation and loved it so much I kept watching to see if there was more. Badou is by far my favourite character. He's deadly but also very dorky and endearing. There are some hints that his character is far deeper than that and that's what I love about this series. This, and the fact that the art is so very lovely. One of my favourite manga series.

[R J Royer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the most interesting Graphic Novel I have read in years and I will probably be picking up the series as soon as I can after reading others books.

I enjoyed the introduction to the main "Dogs" characters and am very glad that this made it's way out of a storage box from moving to being read. I loved the contrast and art though I would love to see it in color. Black and white does a lot for some books of this nature but when it comes to this I would love to see the way it would look in color.

This is definitely a good read and I recommend it to all my manga and anime friends. This is a very R rated book though so no kids.

[Momo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly wasn't planning on actually liking this series. My friend bought the whole series before Borders went under. I could never find it again. I remember looking through the pages, looking at the stunning artwork. It was beautiful. The front cover of this may deceive what the true art looks like. I don't really understand what's up with the front cover. The art on the other volumes look a lot better than this.

Anyways, if you like organized crime, then you'll love this. I love guns and some comedy mixed in. I'm not really sure if there was supposed to be comedy, however, some parts made me laugh.

[Sparrow · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember this manga being much more interesting and awesome. I think I've read the sequels to this manga online, but this prequel was all wrong.

The art, no doubt, is gorgeous - a rare trait. The story was too damn confusing though. I struggled through Mihai's story because I never knew who was talking, or who anyone was. Badou was annoying as hell, except for when he went crazy. Naoto and Heine's stories, however, were pretty interesting.

In fact, put Heine's character inside Badou's body = love.

So, I don't plan on reading more, really.

[Miss Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

finally!

i've been meaning to read this for years; my best friend in high school really liked it

i can see why; the characters are roughly drawn atm but they've all got basic appeal

also w00t, gender breakdown isn't entirely awful! granted it only really seems balanced if you're willing to count side characters on the same level as main (which i'm not quite) but hey, there are worse shonen out there

plus i'm excited for nao's storyline; girls don't get their revenge plotlines taken seriously as often as i'd like

3.5 stars

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewers on Myanimelist mention that this prelude feels like it starts out a bit generic but has a lot of potential. This is certainly true, possibly due to the very clear and lovely art and the competent pacing. This volume only gets 3 stars from me because I was annoyed by 1) Gimmicky quick change character fueled by nicotine withdrawal and 2) ultra angsty, overreacting, science-gone-dark victim. Of course he finds comfort with a female who cannot speak...

[Lady Captain Bók · Rating 3 out of 5]

*To będzie wspólna opinia do całej serii, chyba że któryś tom czymś się wyróżni w przyszłości*

Mroczna i brutalna. Klimat gangów, podziemia i barku skrupułów. Świat i państwa właściwie nie istnieją.
Gwałtowa i interesująca, a przedewszytkim jest dla mnie świetną odskocznią, bo jest totalnie inna niż to co ostatnio czytałam.

[Kallie M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dogs was a really good book with lots of action, though it did get a little explicit at times, it still has a good story line. What i liked was that, as usual, the lazy guy who just wanted to sleep/drink got really good when he was mad.

[Kristin Fletcher-spear · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the short stories, but I probably wouldn't have bought it if I had realized that it wasn't a series starter. Maybe the actual series would be better. I liked the first story and the one with naoto best. The sf aspect of geneticm utations in the last story didn't fit with the rest for me.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This manga is just wow. It has a feeling sort of similar to Fire Candy, but on the whole is a lot cleaner and more coherent. It's also one of the few of its kind that has four main characters that (as of the *first* volume) all get equal screen time. All the characters are awesome. Read it.

[Vee · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best action mangas I have ever read, though I haven't read many. I have been meaning to check out this series for several years and I am glad I finally did. It's pretty graphic as forewarned, but has interesting characters and the promise of an engaging plot.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too young to be thrown i nto the world of organized crime, four exceptional teens each carve an identity in a hopeless world.