A fluffy, feel-good romance manga for dog lovers! Chiharu enjoys every day with her sweetie of a Rottweiler, who probably weighs as much as she does. Meanwhile, Kiyotaka can't get enough of his fluffy Pomeranian, who barely comes up to his knees. When these two mismatched pairs chance upon each other at the park, they're like oil and water. But, after enough chance meetings, could this turn into an unlikely friendship, or something more?
Kiyotaka musters up the courage and invites Chiharu on a short get-a-way, hoping for some bonding time outside of their usual walks. The two—along with their pups, Tsubu-chan and Monjuro—head to Kominka Inn Asaoka, a dog-friendly bed and breakfast in their own neighborhood, and run into yet another familiar face. Chako, a classmate of Kiyotaka's younger brother Takaya, and her family run the inn, aided by their dependable old Shiba, Aniki. Kiyotaka and Chiharu, Chako and Takaya... Each pair takes a step closer together, and makes some new friends, too, on a staycation filled with warm memories for pups and people alike.
NOOOOO NOT A CLIFFHANGERRR!!!! And the next volume doesn’t officially release in English til next April! 😭😭😭😭
That aside, another beautiful volume. I almost cried at Chako and Aniki’s story. It hit me in a very personal place because, like Chako, I struggled with making and keeping friends, but my dogs have always been there for me throughout the years.
Ugh, gonna tear up again.
Anyways highly recommend this series for dog-lovers looking for a sweet, low stakes cozy, wholesome, slow-burn friends-to-lovers slice-of-life romance. 🥰
IDK if it's cause I'm hormonal right now, but I sobbed reading a few of these chapters. Pets are too pure for this world.
RECAP: the two are at the inn, they spend quality time, her dog is fearful of his owner growing distant but his dog reassures him, they get mistaken as a couple, dog photographer is staying at the inn and talks to them, little brother and innkeeper talk, backstory on aniki aka the crying chapter, they go on a walk, see her and the photographer on a bench together.
Dog frolic with a couple of enjoyable romances brewing beneath makes for one of the better reads in a rather underwhelming week. That these pooches continue to entertain my decidedly cat-loving self is a testament to the quality.
Now, they’re a little too anthropomorphic still, if that’s a thing that bothers you. On the scale of ‘being the other animal book I’m reading’, it’s a step above Cat + Gamer in that regard. In that story the cats were decidedly cats. Here? A dog is training somebody on how to run an inn, basically.
But it’s not so bad that I actually mind it. Also, dogs in uniforms are cute, so there’s also that to consider. Just realize that these are some of the best behaved pooches ever and enjoy.
Mainly because there is just so dang much to enjoy here. Kiyotaka and Chiharu are moving slowly with the romance, but their relationship is very sweet. I like the way it’s developing and the date-not-a-date they go on is a great idea.
I also like the way that poor Kiyotaka is clearly having something activated in him when Chiharu brings her dog to heel and he thinks she’s talking to him. That really made me laugh. Similarly when they swap dogs for a moment and realize how the personalities mesh so much better that way. It might be calling out the premise, but it worked.
We get a sort-of rival introduced this time, although he doesn’t seem to be terribly interested. In a move that I appreciate, it turns out that Kiyotaka is the one really into him, while Chiharu isn’t fussed. There’s a BL spin-off in that concept.
We get more development for Chako, who has a crush on Kiyotaka’s brother and also helps run the inn. I like her character a lot, just because of the contrast between her work persona and her regular life. Her backstory, featuring the lovable Leonardo, is also well done.
Romance but with dog antics is a solid enough concept, as it turns out, and even things like Monjuro helping Tsubu feel like the latter isn’t being abandoned by Chiharu as Kiyotaka becomes more important to her? Well, they just kind of work.
It’s all quite terribly charming and, while there’s minimal conflict, it’s not the sort of story that needs much of it anyway. This works because it has two things that it does pretty well. It’ll take a harder heart than mine not to enjoy two dogs exchanging smug looks.
4 stars - oh, it’s very twee, let us be real, but it’s the sort of twee I can get behind. This is a feel good book that has enough strength to its writing that it’s a little better than it probably deserves to be. A good time.
Another wonderful volume full of fluff and feel-good vibes!
Though oh my goodness, the story with Aniki and Chako was so fun but also deeply heartfelt! I loved seeing him step on her feet like a human would of, "hey, get your act together!," but also seeing their backstory, which was far more moving than I expected! I'm definitely rooting for her and Kiyotaka's younger brother!
Speaking of Kiyotaka, one of the scenes at the inn was SO cute!! The way he is realizing his feelings!! PLEASE DON'T BE IN DENIAL! LOL! Honestly, even for Chiharu, too! Both of you don't ignore it because you both are such wonderful friends and have such a great respect for each other!
Granted, I loved when they "swapped" dogs for a moment to pet the other's dog, and both had the same thought of them making a "better visual match" with their dogs! LOL! It was a cute moment!
I LOVED that we got a new introduction of a character and their dog! They were nothing like I expected, but I hope we see more of them!
Definitely excited for the next volume and SO thankful it's up for preorder! Granted, the wait will be long, but it's always worth it because this volume brought me so much happiness!
Loved the chapters with Chako and the backstory of the inn, her grandparents, and Aniki. Chako is so adorable with those pigtails. I love that she finally got the guts to talk to her crush!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Wow that ending felt CRIMINAL! But cute dogs with human characteristics and humans in cute relationships what more can I ask for. I can't believe I have to wait so long for the next volume.
FINALLY got the third volume! Tbh it's been a minute, but glad to see this cute series again. The romance is developing very slowly however it never feels like a drag, I'm kinda not into will they won't they yet I keep reading them for some reason. Anyways theres more to the manga then just the romance, as this volume mostly focuses on Chako and kinda her realtionship with Takaya, idk if they're trying to make them a parallel romance story with the main couple? I wasn't super into Chako becoming the focus at first but by the end... that flashback made me almost tear up. I did not expect to be seeing a tearjerker like that in a dog lover romance manga. Like you assume the tear jerker whould be a dog dying but no. I don't wanna spoil but wow sniffle... Anyways I really like Chako now and I'm pretty interested in her story alongside the main couple. Maybe because she has a hard time making friends and hey man I get it. I think I won't give it a full 5 because it does that thing in romance manga where it suddenly starts focusing on side characters and pushing the leads to the side. There is some developement in the relationship but its mostly Kiyotaka realizing he might have feelings for Chiharu and them getting mistaken for a couple (HATE that trope). Also the new character Oliver I'm just not into. Idk I'm feeling like Chiharu I don't like his vibe. I just hope he isn't here to be a roadblock to the relationship.
Continues to be a lovely series about family, friendship, slowburn romance, and dogs.
As expected, the possible romance between Takaya and Chako took a bigger portion of this volume. It ended up being mostly about Chako: showing how she and her mother first moved into the inn, and how her grandfather and the family dog made her feel loved and welcome, as a shy little kid who had trouble talking to people.
She still struggles with that a bit as an adult but is able to work up the nerve to ask Takaya on a "walk" with their dogs - which is essentially their first date.
The panels where you see Chako with her grandfather and Aniki, then as an older girl with just the dog were really hard-hitting. It's a subtle way to show grief and loss, but also the continuation of love and all the good memories.
Our main couple doesn't make too much progress in this volume. Kiyotaka is starting to realize that he's romantically interested in Chiharu, but there's already a rival entering the picture, so we end on a big cliffhanger with her hanging out with the new guy and his dog in the park...even after she'd said she planned to meet him with Kiyotaka present...
After a long wait, finally got to read volume 3! It continues to be adorable and see the young couple figure out to their feelings for each other.
I do wish that, since it’s such a long wait between volumes, it was a bit longer - the time spent at the doggy inn was a little short (just one night!) and/or that the relationship would progress a little faster.
I loved seeing Chako and “Aniki’s backstory. Brought a little tear to my eye.
Looking forward to the next volume but I saw the English translation is not out until April 2026 which means even longer for my library to get a copy. 🥲
A wonderful installment to the series. We got to see more of Chako and Aniki and their story was beautiful. I am bummed that the next volume is not out yet as we ended on a bit of a cliffhanger but I can be patient and will distract myself by reading other manga.
This is so sweet and slow going. The second couple female lead's backstory and introduction was nice. I am enjoying this a lot. I don't yet understand the introduction of the photographer, so let's see.
They are all just so cute. I love every character we meet in this story so much we just keep getting ore adorable dogs and delightful people alongside. I need the next volume like ASAP.
That cliffhanger should be illegal! But learning how Chako and Aniki met was so cute. I'm kind of obsessed how every characters has a dog in this series. Look forward to seeing what happens next.
I was a little on the fence about this series, but this volume sold me. It’s so cute and thoughtful, and I love the contrast between the dogs and their owners.