Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs
Encyclopedia
Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs, ' onMouseout='HidePop("91848")' href="/topics/Kerberos_saga">Kerberos saga
Kerberos saga
The is a military science fiction franchise and alternate history universe created by the Japanese writer and filmmaker Mamoru Oshii in 1986. The saga is centered around the fictitious Tokyo police Special Armed Garrison which emblem and nickname is Kerberos , the mythological three-headed...

 manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 written by Mamoru Oshii
Mamoru Oshii
Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director, and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of popular anime, including Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, Ghost in the Shell, and Patlabor 2...

 and illustrated by Mamoru Sugiura who was in charge of the continuity in the Kerberos Panzer Cop
Kerberos Panzer Cop
Kerberos Panzer Cop, also known as Kerberos Panzer Cops literally , is a 1988 to 2000 Kerberos saga manga written by Mamoru Oshii and illustrated by Kamui Fujiwara with mechanical design by Yutaka Izubuchi. This comic series tales events prior to those portrayed in Oshii's 1987 live-action feature...

manga. The story is the sequel to the Kerberos Panzer Cop and a prequel to the StrayDog movie.

Plot


Kerberos Koichi Todome (都々目紅一) chases elite sniper Eito Kurosaki (黒崎英斗) a.k.a. "Afghan Hound" in Asia with a vengeance. During the Kerberos Riot event (see Kerberos Panzer Cop
Kerberos Panzer Cop
Kerberos Panzer Cop, also known as Kerberos Panzer Cops literally , is a 1988 to 2000 Kerberos saga manga written by Mamoru Oshii and illustrated by Kamui Fujiwara with mechanical design by Yutaka Izubuchi. This comic series tales events prior to those portrayed in Oshii's 1987 live-action feature...

Act 8), Kurosaki betrayed the Special Armed Garrison by letting know Bunmei Muroto about the coup d'état. Kurosaki left the bessieged Self-Police headquarters using an helicopter and escaped overseas, since then, Koichi is after him, the once brothers in arms are now deadly enemies.

The Killers (キラーズ)

"The Killers" (キラーズ, kirāzu) is an independent short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 which is a parody of Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...

's classic "The Killers"
The Killers (short story)
'"The Killers"' is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. It first appeared to the public in 1927 in Scribner's Magazine. How much Hemingway received for the literary piece is unknown, but some sources state it was $200. Historians have some documents showing that the working title of the piece was...

. Two Latinos dressed in black enter the bar restaurant "Papa's Lunch Room" ("Henry's Lunch Room" in the 1927 eponymous short story, "Papa" being Hemingway's nickname) located downtown in a Latin American city; arguably in Old Havana
Old Havana
Old Havana contains the core of the original city of Havana. The positions of the original Havana city walls are the modern boundaries of Old Havana....

 due to the Spanish Colonial architecture and the presence of a Yank tank
Yank tank
Yank tank is a slang term referring to American cars, especially large models produced in the 1950s and 1960s as well as SUVs of recent production.-Classic American cars in Cuba:...

 1954 Chevrolet 210
Chevrolet 210
The Chevrolet Two-Ten, or 210 was the midrange model of the Chevrolet car from 1953-1957. It took its name by shortening the production series number by one digit in order to capitalize on 50's numerical auto name trend. The numerical designation '"210"' was also sporadically used in company...

. Hemingway lived in Old Havana during the 1930s. Three other customers are silently waiting in the restaurant each one on a separated table, the first one is a yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...

 wearing black sunglasses and a tuxedo (a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

 of Golgo 13
Golgo 13
is a manga series written and illustrated by Takao Saito, published in Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine since January 1969. In 1976, the manga won the 21st Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga...

), the second one is a middle-aged hairy bearded man wearing a black cassock and a large crucifix necklace like some Roman Catholic priest. The third customer (老殺し屋) is a British style old man wearing a beret and a smart costume, a violin case is standing near him. The two men in black ask for the menu and order sandwiches to the young waitress chewing bubblegum. As they eat, a young boy enters and delivers a large package to Golgo 13, the latter goes to the toilet bringing the packet with him. Suddenly a Latino brutally hits the restaurant's chef with his sandwich plate, binds him and brings him to the toilet. The other Latino puts a Glock 17 and a FN Hi-Power automatic handguns on his table and asks for the waitress about Koichi Todome. The second Latino comes back from the toilet armed with a Lupara
Lupara
Lupara is an Italian word used to refer to a sawn-off shotgun of the break-open type. It is traditionally associated with Cosa Nostra, the Italian organized crime group dominant in Sicily for their use of it in vendettas, defense—such as its use against Mussolini's army when he decided to break up...

 sawed-off shotgun
Sawed-off shotgun
A sawed-off shotgun also called a sawn-off shotgun and a short-barreled shotgun , is a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel and often a shorter or absent stock....

, soon followed by Golgo 13 smoking a cigarette and holding a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. Then the old man takes a drum magazine
Drum magazine
A drum magazine is a type of firearms magazine that is cylindrical in shape, similar to a drum. Instead of rounds being stored flat, as in a more common box magazine, rounds in a drum magazine are stored in a spiral around the center of the magazine, facing the direction of the barrel.There are...

 M1928 Thompson submachine gun
Thompson submachine gun
The Thompson is an American submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1919, that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals...

 from his violin case, and the priest unveils a katana from his cassock. Each men are aiming at each other stand still. When the girl bursts her bubble gum all men suddenly attack eventually killing them each other. Lone survivor, the girl frees the chef and rides her Vespa
Vespa
Vespa is an Italian brand of scooter manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian.The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A...

 to the outskirts. She enters a coast hotel, bumps a woman (Midori Washio) and run up stairs to the room 203 to tell Koichi Todome. The latter is lying in his bed, barely noticing the girl, he's still wearing his famous trench coat, and a large suitcase containing his Protect Gear is on the ground (see The Red Spectacles
The Red Spectacles
is a 1987 absurdist, surrealist Japanese film directed by Mamoru Oshii, co-written with Kazunori Ito, and starring Shigeru Chiba and Mako Hyodo.This is the first film of the Kerberos saga and last episode in Oshii's Orwellian Watchdog of Hell feature trilogy.-Chronicles:Kerberos saga historical...

and StrayDog). Finally Midori thanks the girl who leaves, grabs her Mauser C96
Mauser C96
The Mauser C96 is a semi-automatic pistol that was originally produced by German arms manufacturer Mauser from 1896 to 1937...

 pistol and heads to the staircase. The story ends with Midori entering room 203.

Kerberos Panzer Cop

Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs is the follow-up to the 1988~2000 manga Kerberos Panzer Cop
Kerberos Panzer Cop
Kerberos Panzer Cop, also known as Kerberos Panzer Cops literally , is a 1988 to 2000 Kerberos saga manga written by Mamoru Oshii and illustrated by Kamui Fujiwara with mechanical design by Yutaka Izubuchi. This comic series tales events prior to those portrayed in Oshii's 1987 live-action feature...

written by Mamoru Oshii and illustrated by Kamui Fujiwara
Kamui Fujiwara
is a Japanese character designer and manga artist. Fujiwara's father was a soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. He excelled in mathematics and computer science when in grade school. He graduated from the Kuwasawa Design School, which is attached to Tokyo Zokei University...

. Flashback sequences from the Kerberos Panzer Cop key event called "Kerberos Riot" are depicted in Rainy Dogs.

StrayDog: Kerberos Panzer Cops

The plot of Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs happens before the events depicted in StrayDog, Koichi left Latin America with his suitcase and is now living in Taiwan.

Killers

The short story "The Killers" was published prior to Rainy Dogs and in order to coincide with the theater release of Mamoru Oshii's eponymous live-action compilation movie Killers.

The Killers

Mamoru Oshii's The Killers is a parody of the eponymous classic short story by American writer Ernest Hemingway published in 1927. Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, a known influence of Oshii, adapted The Killers for the screen in 1956 as his first student short film.

Golgo 13

The yakuza character "Togo 13" appearing in The Killers is a cameo of Golgo 13
Golgo 13
is a manga series written and illustrated by Takao Saito, published in Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine since January 1969. In 1976, the manga won the 21st Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga...

 from the eponymous franchise.

Issues

Like its prequel, Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs was first serialized in a B5 comics magazine before to be published as a compilation volume.

Ace Tokunoh serialization (B5)

Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs was first published in Ace Tokunoh (エース特濃, Esu Tokunou), a comic magazine owned by Kadokawa Shoten
Kadokawa Shoten
is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...

.
  • 2003.05: Ace Tokunoh vol.1
The Killers
キラーズ
  • 2003.06: Ace Tokunoh vol.2
Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs - Act 01: Break Up
Rainy Dogs 紅い足痕
  • 2003.0X: Ace Tokunoh vol.3
Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs - Act 02: Technical Shot
Rainy Dogs 紅い足痕
  • 2003.09: Ace Tokunoh vol.4
Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs - Act 03: Bank Shot
Rainy Dogs 紅い足痕
  • 2003.0X: Ace Tokunoh vol.5
Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs - Act 04: Cannon Shot
Rainy Dogs 紅い足痕
  • 2004.01: Ace Tokunoh vol.6
Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs - Act 05: Hug Shot (color)
Rainy Dogs 紅い足痕 (color)
  • 2004.0X: Ace Tokunoh vol.7
Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs - Act 06: Follow Shot
Rainy Dogs 紅い足痕
  • 2004.05: Ace Tokunoh vol.8
Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs - Act 07: Time Shot
Rainy Dogs 紅い足痕
  • 2004.07: Ace Tokunoh vol.9
Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs - Act 08: Eight Ball Shot
Rainy Dogs 紅い足痕

Original edition (A5)

The compilation volume was published by Kadokawa in its "New Type 100% Comics" collection (ニュータイプ100%コミックス). The dusk cover features a red obi
Obi
Obi may refer to:* Obi , a sash worn with a kimono or with the uniforms used by practitioners of Japanese martial arts* Obi-Wan Kenobi, fictional character from the Star Wars universe...

with the manga's international title "Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs". The previously unreleased prologue "Act 00: Set Up" was added to help in the understanding of the complex background and the 2003 short story "The Killers" (first issued in Ace Tokunoh vol.1) was also included as an epilogue.
  • 2005.10.26: Kerberos Saga: Rainy Dogs
犬狼伝説 紅い足痕
A5 (384p.) Kadokawa Shoten
ISBN 4-04-853780-6

External links

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