Kara Dennison
February 23, 2024 
February 23 is National Dog Biscuit Day! For pup owners and pup lovers alike, it’s a great day to set aside some extra treats for your favorite pooch. And if we could, we’d be setting some aside for our favorite anime dogs, too. Because they absolutely go the extra mile when it comes to loyalty, love, and wild superhuman abilities.
As in real life, there’s simply no time to name-check every good dog. But we can think of a few who deserve a little extra special credit today. What about you? Which anime pooches would you give an extra treat today?
Friender
Living through the robot uprising ain’t easy, as Tetsuya Azama knows all too well. To combat them, he placed his consciousness inside an android and became a neoroider. You may know him better by the name Casshan—also the name of the 1973 Tatsunoko series in which he starred. And alongside him is Friender, one of the most faithful anime dogs of classic anime.
Friender was once Lucky, Tetsuya’s loyal dog, revived as an android after his death. Now fighting alongside his master, Friender has all sorts of abilities at his disposal… including turning into a variety of vehicles. While he’s a loyal ally in Casshan’s fight against the evil Buraiking Boss, he’s a capable solo fighter as well. While the classic series is a bit hard to find, you can see Casshan and Friender in action in the more recent Casshern Sins.
Komugi
The most recent addition to the ever-growing lineup of loyal anime dogs, Komugi is something truly special: a magical girl! The canine star of Wonderful Precure! has always dreamed of following her owner Iroha to school and throughout the day. And a wish on a magic stone in their home of Animal Town makes that wish come true.
Now able to turn into a human (and, further, a Precure), Komugi defends both Iroha and her fellow local animals. She’s got a nose for the evil Garugaru infecting the innocent local animals, and her big heart helps her be both brave and gentle in the face of danger.
Ein
We will probably actually be breaking some sort of law if we exclude Ein from any list of top-tier anime dogs. The original space good boy from Cowboy Bebop is a fan favorite, and it’s not hard to see why. He’s cute, he’s funny, and he hops around entertainingly when he’s high on mushrooms.
More than that, of course, he’s a high-class data dog, capable of hacking on a level with Radical Ed herself. He’s an indispensable member of the crew… and the reason so many anime fans have pet dogs named Ein.
Want more cuteness? Join us in theorizing about the return of Pokémon Concierge!
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