Ginga Densetsu Weed



A manga/anime action/adventure series by Yoshihiro Takahashi about dogs who follow a rather bushido-esque code of fighting and loyalty. The series has drama, swearing, and gore.

Ginga Densetsu Weed (Silver Fang Legend: Weed) is a sequel series to Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin. Taking place 10 years after the events of Nagareboshi Gin (some translations give it as fourteen years, but if you use dog years, then everyone's happy), Weed, the son of Gin, must fight to save the father he's never met from Hōgen, a Complete Monster of a Great Dane that threatens his father's paradise. This series was adapted into an anime in the early 00s, starting to air on Animax in 2004. The manga ended at the total of 60 volumes in 2009.

Popular enough in Finland, Denmark and Sweden to produce a complete series DVD box release. Considering the amount of cursing and blood coming from dogs, America is not likely to see a dub anytime soon. You can dig the fansubs up from somewhere, though.

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Tropes used in the animated adaptation:

 * Abusive Parents: Kyōshirō's main motivation for learning how to fight.
 * And poor Teru too...
 * Faux Action Girl: Ryo in the anime, and Lydia in the manga.
 * Action Mom: Cross
 * Amazing Technicolor Dogs: Subverted as most dogs are in normal colours but however Weed, Gin and Tokimune are coloured blue despite labelling them as silver-grey.
 * Angry Guard Dog: Weed encounters one of these in the first episode of his series. 
 * Animals Are Easier to Draw: Averted in the anime that while the dogs were drawn badly, the humans were drawn well.
 * Animals Lack Attributes: every dog is drawn this way, despite the fact one character is known for biting the testicles off of his enemies.
 * Animation Bump: The very first and very last episodes are suddenly much more streamlined and detailed. (And almost cute, if there weren't so much blood.)
 * But even those episodes didn't emulate Takahashi's style. The episodes coming closest to Takahashi's style are 6, 10, the selection of generals for Hōgen's army in episode 17, and 21.
 * Anyone Can Die: Yes. Especially in the final episodes.
 * Ax Crazy: Hōgen, when he gets really pissed.
 * And Shōgun the axe-wielding baboon in the manga... literally.
 * Badass in Distress: Poor Gin, John and later, Hiro were captured by Hōgen after they were outnumbered by Hōgen's soldier and were forced to surrender when Reika was taken hostage.
 * In Hokkaidō arc from the manga, almost all of the Ōu Soldiers (led by Gin) were trapped in the gorge at both sides by Victor and the militant German Shepherds.
 * Berserker Tears: Happens at times when Weed is in a rage
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Weed is the most polite and the nicest puppy but if you mess with him, you are seriously in big trouble.
 * Big Guy: Hiro and Moss
 * Big Ol' Eyebrows: Stone
 * Bizarre and Improbable Ballistics: The number of times attacking dogs change direction in midair and dodge foes...
 * Justified. Flash Step was common in the original series.
 * Blind Idiot Translation: The subtitles can read like this sometimes.
 * "You son of a bitches!"
 * "I will revenge!"
 * Blind Seer - Batto
 * Blood From the Mouth: Happens many times to characters who are in a prolonged battle
 * Body Double: Gin's substitute Tokimune and other doubles of John and Akame
 * Broken Aesop: While Weed's sympathy and "if you kill them you're just like them" philosophy is arguably the biggest Aesop in the anime. Even after Hōgen proves himself a Complete Monster time and time again,  This is the reason Jerome goes off on his own and Kyoushiro almost follows him. However, after Hōgen   What.
 * Brother Chuck: Hook
 * But for Me It Was Tuesday: When Hiro confronts Kamakiri about killing his father, Kamakiri mockingly says he doesn't remember it.
 * Calling Your Attacks: "Zetsu! TENRŌ! BATTŌGA!!"
 * Changing of the Guard: Most of the characters from Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin get sons or otherwise similar characters to take over their roles.
 * The Chick: Reika, so very much. She doesn't miss out on a Crowning Moment, though.
 * Cold-Blooded Torture: Hōgen tortures poor Gin and John during their captivity
 * Cool Old Guy: Smith.
 * Cowardly Lion: GB
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: GB, Sasuke and Mel
 * Cruel Mercy: The fate of after his defeat by Hiro
 * Cursed with Awesome: Though Zetsu tenrō battōga is a stronger attack that inflicts more damage to the opponents, the downside is that the attack user gets exhausted easily from putting more energy by spinning.
 * Dead Ex Machina:
 * Death by Adaptation:, then later  in Battle for Gajō arc.
 * Death by Falling Over:
 * Did Not Do the Research: For starters, it's all too tempting to shout, "Dog packs do not work that way!" Though this may be creative license at work here.
 * Dies Wide Open: Most dogs die like this in violent deaths especially for the C-List Fodder.
 * Dying Like Animals: When Hōgen's army fights Weed's. Also, when.
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Hōgen towards Genba and vice versa.
 * Mr. Fanservice: Jerome... oh so much...
 * George from the manga also fits this role too
 * Fake Defector: Kyōshirō
 * Family-Unfriendly Death: Oh god, where do I start?
 * Gecko Ending: While the manga series is ongoing (and only recently [9/2009] ended at 60 volumes), the anime ended at 26 episodes.
 * Generation Xerox: Weed is a dead ringer for dear old Dad. Pretty amazing considering his mother has brown fur.
 * Gentle Giant: Moss, the retired Ōu soldier.
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom: Most evil characters have this to make them look badass
 * And also Weed when he unleashes his battōga
 * Grievous Harm with a Body: As seen in fighting scenes, the stronger dog would pick up another dog and always use it as a weapon or a shield.
 * Good Scars, Evil Scars: Happens to wild dogs and pet hunting dogs, though some of the villains were more deformed.
 * Groin Attack: Hiro's specialty. Taken one step further with castration.
 * Handicapped Badass: Smith, who was left with three legs after an accident, can still fight. He fights Kaibutsu, but gets a cave-in dropped on him. And then it turns out that Kaibutsu is Not Quite Dead...
 * The villainous blind labrador Batto (not so much in the manga) also counts.
 * As well as the three-legged Husky Hakurō and the deformed Murder S (Sniper), both in the manga.
 * Heel Face Turn: Jeez... where do we start? Weed is like a magic talisman for getting this reaction.
 * Probably the most memorable of these is Rocket.
 * Heroic Second Wind:
 * Hero Worshipper: Mel, and Kotetsu in the manga
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Many of the seiyuu can also be heard in The Prince of Tennis. There are some very surprising cases, too - like Hiroki Tochi voicing Gin, or John having the voice of Roy Mustang.
 * Hong Kong Dub: Sort of. The dog's mouths don't always move in synch with what they're saying, if at all, and even when someone has a mouthful of enemy throat, they can still speak clearly. This gets especially frustrating if they're supposed to be thinking.
 * Actually this is done on purpose, they aren't actually speaking Japanese, they're barking.
 * But every animator does this differently: one doesn't animate the mouths, second draws the dogs barking and third animates the dogs like they were talking.
 * Hot-Blooded - Kyōshirō. Weed by definition. Everyone gets their moments, often overlapping with their Crowning Moment of Awesome.
 * Howl of Sorrow
 * Humans Are Bastards: Motivation for Hōgen, Genba, and Kaibutsu. Plus, you do actually see people doing things like shooting dogs and running them over.
 * The manga subverts this. Some humans are bastards, some are not. The anime doesn't really focus on humans very often, but at least in the case of Jerome and his original allies, it seems they were well cared for - however this was by the same people who made Kaibutsu what he is, so it's really a mixed bag.
 * Hypercompetent Sidekick: Jerome is one of most competent dogs of Weed's pack until he was banished by his leader after.
 * Though in the manga, he came back from his banishment after Murder S' defeat and remains as Weed's hypercompetent sidekick.
 * If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him: Weed's often-invoked argument to his subordinates.
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja: Akame and Tesshin both count, like whoa. Tesshin is even referred to as the 'ninja dog of Kōga'.
 * Intellectual Animal: All the dogs qualify, plus some boars. (Interestingly enough, none of the bears ever talk.)
 * Japanese Politeness: Played with. It's considered rude to mock an opponent, but if they mock you, it's seriously on. If a dog jeers unprovoked, he's probably a bad guy, and expect Gin and Weed to epitomize this trope.
 * Jerkass: Kamakiri, Genba, Hōgen. Also GB and Kyōshirō, but the good kind.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A lot of characters count, but most notably Kyōshirō and John.
 * Karmic Death: Hōgen's death
 * Large and In Charge: The Great Dane brothers, Hōgen and Genba.
 * Lawful Stupid Chaotic Stupid: Oh boy...Weed and his morals
 * Leitmotif: Anytime the mood shifts, expect the music to let you know it's coming. Weed's acoustic theme during lectures is about the only subtle one.
 * Kid Pup Hero: Weed.
 * Living Prop: The background characters, Harutora and Nobutora. Basically they are Kagetora's brothers who are introduced in both manga and anime with no lines and role other than as soldiers.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters: Even though the anime cuts down on stuff, there's still a lot to keep track of.
 * Lovable Coward: GB, emphasis on the lovable.
 * Manly Tears: Happens a lot of times to the male dogs whenever they are sad or touched.
 * Missing Mom: Lots of dogs have this, though no one knows what happened to the mother dogs....
 * Mix and Match Critter: P4, also known as Kaibutsu
 * Mood Whiplash: Weed gets over . Also, just when you thought Hōgen was an unsympathetic bastard...
 * "Unsympathetic" is, like, the understatement of the year.
 * Also, Kaibutsu's flashback which moved him from Complete Monster to Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds in a single chapter.
 * My Master, Right or Wrong: Oh lord, Jerome.
 * Narm: So. Damn. Many. Times.
 * Howling dogs in the sad scenes, such as, sound more like humans screaming or coyotes barking instead of the true dog howls. It seems that the animators, writers and voice actors of the anime just didn't care.
 * Hōgen's death by.
 * Second episode. "BLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUE!" That is all.
 * Just one of many moments ruined by terrible animation: Tokimune's death at Kaibutsu's jaws. No, not the actual death - a shot of Weed screaming "Father!" looks like he's having a friendly conversation.
 * Nice Guy: Rocket after his Heel Face Turn.
 * Not Quite Dead:
 * Hōgen pulls this off WAY too many times. In this troper's opinion, it is rather pitiful that
 * Actually, this troper is a huge fan of the original series and
 * No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Administered to Weed by Hōgen in the final episode.
 * Off-Model: The Weed adaptation is really, really bad with this, to the point of unintentional hilarity. One wonders if the animators were too used to drawing humans... or whether they cared.
 * See for yourself. Especially these three pics.
 * Oh Crap: Just like its prequel series, this happens quite frequently. The Angry Guard Dog panicking when he sees Smith is just one of the first.
 * One-Man Army: Weed is seen as a one puppy army in the anime opening.
 * Only Known by Initials: GB. His full name is Great Britain. Of course, nobody ever calls him like that.
 * Overtook the Manga
 * Parental Abandonment:
 * Pet the Dog: Kyōshirō gets one with the pup he adopts, named Teru.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Weed
 * Pragmatic Adaptation: The violence and gore had to be toned down for the anime adaptation.
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy: Every freaking warrior of Ōu is one of these, and those who aren't want to be.
 * Put on a Bus: Teru and the younger members in Kyōshirō's pack were left behind in the care of Chōrō at the Kōga territory while the Ōu soldiers move on to their destination.
 * In the manga, Teru and the younger members return as Badass Adorable ninja pups in Hokkaidō arc when Kyōshirō went to the territory to look for recruits.
 * The Quiet One: Rocket
 * Quirky Miniboss Squad: Batto, Kite, Buruge and Tōbei
 * Redemption Equals Death: A couple of times.
 * Rule of Cool: Don't ask how a dog spinning in midair suddenly becomes the equivalent of a mechanical saw, just watch how awesome it is.
 * Shoot the Dog: When Genba was heavily-wounded, paralyzed and gone insane from the damage by Tesshin (and in the anime's case, Shigure), poor Hōgen had to.
 * Shown Their Work: Most of the dogs' character designs are based on real dog breeds. Yes, even Genba and Hōgen - they're Harlequin Great Danes. (However, some of them don't look like the breeds they're supposed to be. Cross is a saluki?)
 * Schrodingers Cat: Both of Weed's friends die towards the end of the series - (anime),  (manga)
 * Smug Snake: Kamakiri
 * The Smurfette Principle: This happens a lot in both 'Ginga Nagareboshi Gin' and 'Weed'
 * Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Weed, GB, Jerome and Kyōshirō
 * Other than the four dogs above, Sasuke also fills this role in the manga.
 * Stupid Good: Weed. He is adamant to Save the Villain no matter how many dogs he kicked.
 * Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: is described as being dead by most of the characters, but there is no actual explanation for his death.
 * Tagalong Kid: Mel
 * Taking the Bullet:
 * Tears of Blood: The mortally-wounded John has bloody tears in his last moments.
 * The Caligula: Hōgen and Genba
 * Theme Naming: The borzoi brothers Rocket, Jet and Missile are named after the speeding machines.
 * The Starscream: Kamakiri always wished to take over Hōgen's position, but of course, he fails at this.
 * Toilet Humour: During the hot spring scene, when the characters go offscreen a dog suddenly asks "Hey, who the hell farted?", and another exclaims "Argh, my nose is bending!". They all burst out laughing.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Weed throughout his series, and Tesshin between the prequel series and this one.
 * In the manga, the mortally-wounded GB took a huge level of badass when.
 * Tragic Monster: Kaibutsu
 * Welcome Back, Traitor: Rocket kind of gets this after he joins Weed's group.
 * What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?: From the outside it looks like a cute dog story but on the inside it is more like a brutal samurai tale containing bucketloads of blood and ruthless violence.
 * You Have Failed Me: Hōgen and his allies are not merciful when someone screws up (screwing up here having the meaning of being in any way connected to a bad incident).
 * You Killed My Father: Happens to poor Hiro when Kamakiri killed his father as a puppy. Later on, he fights Kamakiri singlehandly in a showdown, and guess what...
 * The trope is also subverted twice (not a double subversion) with Weed. Shortly after he arrives at Ōu, he finally sees his father, Gin... and then sees his father die. The first subversion is only in the manga: humans are responsible, but Weed blames Kaibutsu instead. (In the anime, Kaibutsu kills 'Gin' directly.) The second subversion: it turns out that it wasn't Gin, but instead a look-a-like. Weed's father is alive, but doesn't show up until later.
 * The trope is also subverted twice (not a double subversion) with Weed. Shortly after he arrives at Ōu, he finally sees his father, Gin... and then sees his father die. The first subversion is only in the manga: humans are responsible, but Weed blames Kaibutsu instead. (In the anime, Kaibutsu kills 'Gin' directly.) The second subversion: it turns out that it wasn't Gin, but instead a look-a-like. Weed's father is alive, but doesn't show up until later.

Tropes used in the manga:

 * A Friend in Need: In one manga arc, Daisuke (Gin's owner) and Hidetoshi come to Hokkaidō to investigate an army of dogs led by Weed moving to the place. Upon reaching the site, they saw the dogs howling over the unconscious Gin. Daisuke shouted for his former pet to wake up, and with The Power of Friendship and love, it worked.
 * Animal Control Does Not Exist: While in the first volumes we hear about Hook's time in a shelter and see a dog catcher in volume 3, the amount of abandoned dogs, especially purebred ones, is staggering. There also seems to be a sort of 'meh' mentality among the owners about their pet, since only once does anybody come to look for their pet who escaped to join Weed.
 * Annoying Younger Sibling: Kotetsu, the younger brother of Koyuki.
 * Artificial Limbs: Murder S' (Sniper) implanted metal legs.
 * Kite had these in the anime, but the fans were rather unhappy about this.
 * : Weed and Koyuki at the end of the manga
 * Body Horror: The Not Quite Dead deformed Murder S (Sniper) and Aramu.
 * Boisterous Bruiser: Hiro plays this trope straight in the manga more than the anime. Moss is kind of an example of this too.
 * Bratty Half-Pint: Hiro's puppies and Kotetsu in the manga.
 * Catapult Nightmare: The injured captive Gin wakes up from a nightmare where his son was ambushed and brutally killed by Hōgen before Weed could rescue him.
 * Chickification: Unfortunately, this happened to Lydia after her Heel Face Turn in the later arcs.
 * Combat Medic: Akame is not only an old ninja dog who fights but also a medic who helps the injured dogs with herbs and even
 * The Chick: Reika, Koyuki and Chako.
 * Dead Little Sister: Alas, poor Minnie...
 * Demoted to Extra: Happens to some dogs as the manga progresses, most notably Mel, Hook and Shigure
 * Died in Your Arms Tonight: In the manga,.
 * Emphasize Everything: Every narration in the manga is always filled with descriptions that glorifies Weed or bearhound blood.
 * Everything Is Worse With Bears: In the last volumes of the manga, gigantic bears terrorize the dogs and humans.
 * Evil Cripple: Sniper comes back under the name Murder S in the manga with a doggy cart when he heard that Gin was captured by Hōgen. When Hōgen and his soldiers had to move to Gajō, Hōgen decided that Murder S should not be a burden by breaking his cart which also revealed his metal legs. Murder S then Took a Level In Badass when he trained himself to fight with using his metal back legs turning him into a deadly opponent.
 * Eye Scream: Murder S (Sniper) (who came Back From the Dead and deformed from the fall) was kicked and scratched into his fleshy left face by Gin during a fight.
 * Happens to Hiro in a flashback and recently to.
 * Gasshole: Near the beginning of the manga, GB gets so nervous that he accidentally farts in front of his boss Nero. But then again, he might do it on purpose because . When the dogs get mad at him, he replies "I don't have that much control when nature calls!".
 * Gentle Giant: Moss may look intimidating, but he is actually very sweet towards puppies.
 * Hammerspace: During the moment when Reika gave birth to her four puppies, the tearful Sasuke was able to produce a handkerchief out of thin air!
 * As well as GB and Sasuke's comic relief moments when they were insulting at each other with a long pole! See it for yourself...
 * Heel Face Turn: Buruge, Batto, Kite, Tōbei, Maxime and Lydia in the manga.
 * He Who Fights Monsters: Shōji Sudō the retired policeman had a hatred for dogs ever since Hōgen and Genba had killed his partner on the fateful mission. He is so determined to ensure that there are other dogs who follow Hōgen's example that in one case, he was ready to shoot Moss and the injured Tesshin who stayed behind to rest. Fortunately, he heard the other dogs' howls which stopped him from shooting both just in time. In the end, he finally
 * High Heel Face Turn: Lydia the only female of the Russian Dog Army betrayed Victor after falling in love with Jerome who was briefly taken captive.
 * Identical Grandson:.
 * I Want to Be a Real Man: Takeshi, who is one of Kyōshirō's followers, is a scared little puppy who got kidnapped by Kamakiri. After he escaped with the help of a Heel Face Turned Tōbei, he saw Kyōshirō in trouble fighting against Hōgen's mooks. This pushed his Berserk Button; he rushed in to help his mentor to fight them, but fails to when the mook beat him to near-death. Thankfully, it got better when the other heroes turned up in time and saved Kyōshirō from death as well as reviving the unconscious Takeshi.
 * Even though this Troper could read very little Japanese/Chinese in the manga, this Troper could guess that he was screaming "I'M A REAL MALE!!!" in that scene when he rushed for Kyōshirō to help him.
 * Interrupted Suicide: Chōrō the oldest Kōga dog was dismayed when he found his disciple Tesshin befriending Weed instead of defeating him. The upset Chōrō went to the cliff and tried to jump off to drown in the river below when Weed, Tesshin and his friends managed to turn up on time and saved him. After Weed talked him out of suicide, Chōrō found his purpose by becoming a mentor of the puppies who were left behind.
 * Kidnapped by an Ally: Buruge and his pack were.
 * Lightning Bruiser: George, the second son of Ben and Cross may look weak for a saluki-mix. Unlike his Great Dane-mix brother Ken, he is not only fast but also has his father's strength.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters: You thought the anime was bad...
 * Mother Russia Makes You Strong: Victor and his Russian Dog Army in Hokkaidō arc
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Aramu got very guilty when he was ordered to
 * Only Known by Initials: Again, GB.
 * Redemption Equals Death: Subverted when
 * Retired Badass: The old dogs who used to be Ōu warriors in Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin.
 * The Chew Toy: GB and Sasuke are always mistreated in every comic relief scene in the manga.
 * Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Hiro and Reika.
 * Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Averted. Gin and Weed gather thousands of dogs, both pets and strays, to fight the villainous dogs Hōgen and Victor. The humans are startled at the sight.
 * Villainous Breakdown: Happens to Victor when he's really, really pissed off
 * Wasteland Elder: Chōrō the oldest Kōga dog in the ruined Kōga territory. Though the territory is not exactly ruined, he and the new generation of Kōga dogs reside in the underground cave.
 * What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?: Even more violent than the anime, off with heads, paws, limbs and !
 * Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: George's fear of water.
 * Women in Refrigerators: Happens to the poor female dogs in both manga and anime. Especially for Sakura, Lenny, Minnie and.
 * Even Lydia and Cross became victims of this trope, but at least they got better.
 * Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Averted in Hokkaidō Arc with the Ōu Soldiers and Victor's army were fighting in the gorge. When the reformed Lydia tries to defend Jerome from the German Shepherd Mook, Victor's brother Bozlef grabs her tail and slams her to the wall temporarily knocking her out.
 * You Shall Not Pass:
 * You Shall Not Pass: