Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Slice of Life, Shounen, Isekai

Even in Another World, Dogs Still Remain Man’s Best Friend!

Even Dogs Go to Other Worlds firmly places itself as a solid slow life series about a former wage slave and his pet Maltese as they navigate their new life in another world. Just like many others of its genre, this series falls back on several different tropes that may be familiar to light novel readers, from the burnt-out corporate slave (Takumi) in search of a better work-life balance, to the immediate saving of a damsel in distress (Claire) who’s been set upon by an orc. However, what saves this series from being generic is the addition of the main protagonist’s pet, Leo, to the ‘another world’ formula. After their transfer to another world, Leo has been given a rather big upgrade in more ways than one. He has turned into a fluffy Silver Fenrir, a beast of legend in the other world, it’s a symbol of strength within the nation and is featured on many coats of arms including Claire’s family crest. It is likely due to Leo’s change that Claire comes to trust Takumi so quickly even given the fact that he saved her during their first-ever meeting

From the very beginning, our titular Silver Fenrir is stealing the show. Leo has some very human-like qualities to her, and both the author and the translators have done their very best in trying to convey just how much of a character she can be. She’s very clued in as a character and knows exactly what her master is thinking even when he doesn’t know himself. The only thing that would help make Leo’s scenes seem more expressive is a manga adaptation that would use a full range of her emotions and facial expressions for the reader to enjoy. Leo acts as the glue that holds all the characters together, she’s a good way of alleviating tension as well as a good way to get characters to open up and trust each other, something which is certainly seen between Takumi and the rest of the members of Claire’s household.

With the first chapter mainly used as a way to introduce the reader to the characters and the world as a whole, the overall story of the volume starts to pick up towards the halfway point. At this point, the story has already established that Leo isn’t the only reincarnate to have been given a skill but Takumi has been granted the ability of Herb Cultivation, which allows for any non crop style herb to be grown just by thinking about it. This section also sees the development of Claire’s character and the flickers of what could be a romance between Claire and Takumi. During the climax of the novel as Claire’s household goes in search of the Fenrir on the mountain, Takumi and Claire have a heart to heart with one another. The author uses this as an opportunity to showcase Claire’s affinity towards the Fenrir and the significance of the two of them meeting. It also shows the difficulties of growing up as part of the nobility and the expectation put upon you, which in this case stems from the servants’ reckless notions of Claire’s similarities towards the founder of their household. The end of the novel sees them successful in their mission to find a Fenrir which they end up bringing back with them leaving several potential plot lines open for the next volume.

Whilst the overall content of the series is solid and the slow life concept overall is enjoyable, I have one major problem with the series, its protagonist Takumi. At times throughout the novel, he comes over as annoyingly dense. This is no more pronounced than during the first half of the first chapter where he is stubbornly against accepting the reality of being thrust into another world. Here he falls into the default of thinking that everybody other than himself is confused even though his pet dog has turned into a massive Fenrir. His denseness isn’t helped as the author has decided that his romantic intelligence should be close to zero leading to several instances of him missing the obvious feelings Claire has for him.

Cross Infinite World’s latest novel is a solid slow life series with plenty of cute big dog action to satisfy those looking for something heartwarming to read. If you enjoyed series such as Quiet Blacksmith Life or Guide to the Beastly Wilds, I’m sure there’ll be something in this series that you’ll enjoy. Hopefully, as we move into the second volume we can move beyond the dense characteristic and look to develop the relationship between Claire and her father.