View source for Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs

{{Short description|Japanese manga series}}
{{Infobox animanga/Header
| name            = Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs
| image           = Kerberos saga rainy dogs cover.jpg
| image_size      = 190px
| caption         = Original edition with promo [[Obi (publishing)|obi]] (2005).
| ja_kanji        = 犬狼伝説 紅い足痕
| ja_romaji       = Kenrō Densetsu Akai Ashiato
| genre           = [[Science fiction]], [[Action film|Action]]
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Print
| type            = manga
| author          = [[Mamoru Oshii]]
| illustrator     = Mamoru Sugiura
| publisher       = [[Kadokawa Shoten|Kadokawa]]
| demographic     = ''[[Seinen manga|Seinen]]''
| magazine        = Ace Tokunoh
| first           = May 2003
| last            = July 2004
| volumes         = 1
| volume_list     = 
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Other
| title           = Related works
| content         = 
* ''[[Kerberos Panzer Cop]]''
* ''[[StrayDog: Kerberos Panzer Cops]]''
* ''[[Killers (2003 film)|Killers]]''
* [[The Killers (Hemingway short story)|"The Killers" (short story)]]
* ''[[Golgo 13]]''
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Footer}}

{{nihongo|'''''Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs'''''|犬狼伝説 紅い足痕|Kenrou Densetsu Akai Ashiato|{{lit}} "Dog-Wolf Legend: The Red Footsteps"|lead=yes}} is an [[alternate history]] [[political thriller]] [[manga]] written by [[Mamoru Oshii]] and illustrated by Mamoru Sugiura, running from 2003 to 2004. Part of the ''[[Kerberos Saga]]'', it is a sequel to Oshii's manga ''[[Kerberos Panzer Cop]]'' (for which Sugiura was in charge of managing the series' continuity) and a prequel to the 1991 film ''[[StrayDog: Kerberos Panzer Cops]]''.

Set after the failed [[Kerberos Uprising]] by the [[List of Kerberos Saga characters#Special Armed Garrison "Kerberos"|Special Armed Garrison]] "[[Cerberus|Kerberos]]", ''Rainy Dogs'' follows former Kerberos member Koichi Todome as he pursues former Kerberos sniper Eito Kurosaki across [[Asia]], seeking revenge for the latter's betrayal during the Uprising.

Also included in ''Rainy Dogs'' is {{nihongo|"'''''The Killers'''''"|キラーズ|kirāzu}}, an independent [[short story]] based on [[Ernest Hemingway]]'s [[The Killers (Hemingway short story)|short story of the same name]] and set in the ''Kerberos Saga'' universe.

== Plot ==
{{details|Kerberos saga#Setting|List of Kerberos Saga characters}}[[File:Kerberossagaplanche.png|thumb|right|200px|Eito Kurosaki during the [[Kerberos Riot]] (top, right). Hayashi (bottom left). (Act 00).]]
''Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs'' is set in the ''Kerberos Saga''<nowiki/>'s alternate timeline, where [[Nazi Germany]] won [[World War II]], eventually [[denazified]] and restored the [[Weimar Republic]], and [[occupied Japan]] (part of the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] in this timeline) to establish [[authoritarian]] rule; however, their attempts at establishing a new government led to increased [[poverty]] and [[class stratification]], resulting in the rise of [[Sedition|anti-government]] movements and [[terrorism]], most predominantly [[List of Kerberos Saga characters#The Sect|the Sect]]. In response, the Japanese government formed the [[Metropolitan Security Police Organization]] to counter the terrorists and restore order to [[Tokyo]]. The Metropolitan Police's Special Armed Garrison ("Special Unit" in English), nicknamed "Kerberos", was profoundly effective in defeating the terrorists and the Sect, but found themselves facing friction from the [[List of Kerberos Saga characters#Self-Police|Self-Police]] ("Local Police", "Metropolitan Police Force", or "[[National Police Agency (Japan)|NPA]]" in English) as well as the [[List of Kerberos Saga characters#Metropolitan Police Public Security Division|Public Security Division]], the Metropolitan Police's [[intelligence agency]]-like [[espionage]] unit. Eventually, a series of violent incidents led to the government ordering their dissolution, but the members of Kerberos resisted in the "[[Kerberos Uprising]]", an attempted [[coup d'état]] that was ultimately crushed by the [[Japan Ground Self-Defense Force]]. Only three Kerberos members—Koichi Todome, Washio Midori, and Soichiro Toribe—fled the Uprising alive, but only Todome was ultimately able to escape.

''Rainy Dogs'' is set during and after the Kerberos Uprising, and follows Todome as he pursues elite Kerberos sniper Eito Kurosaki, nicknamed the "Afghan Hound". Kurosaki, a former friend and comrade of Todome, betrayed Kerberos by alerting Public Security of the Uprising's planning, allowing them and the Self-Police to respond to the Uprising and ultimately defeat it; during the Uprising, Kurosaki escaped in a helicopter and fled overseas. Seeking revenge for his betrayal, Todome pursues Kurosaki across Asia.

===The Killers (キラーズ)===
"The Killers" (キラーズ, ''kirāzu'') is an independent short story included in ''Rainy Dogs'', based on [[Ernest Hemingway]]'s [[The Killers (Hemingway short story)|short story of the same name]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050208203727/http://www.geocities.com/cyber_explorer99/hemingwaykillers.html Short Story Classics -  The Killers by Ernest Hemingway]</ref>

In the restaurant "Papa's Lunch Room" in [[Havana]], [[Cuba]], multiple people—a [[yakuza]] in a tuxedo, a middle-aged bearded man in a [[cassock]], an old smartly-dressed violinist, and hitman [[Golgo 13]]—wait silently at separate tables. When two black-clad Latinos enter, a young boy delivers a package to Golgo 13, who brings it with him into the washroom; the Latinos suddenly attack the restaurant's chef and waitress and draw firearms, asking about Koichi Todome. When Golgo 13 reemerges with his trademark scoped [[M16 rifle]], the other men draw their own weapons and battle, but ultimately end up killing each other. The waitress, who survived the shootout, unbinds the chef and heads to a hotel in the outskirts of the city, where she alerts the occupant of room 203: Koichi Todome himself.

==Related works==

===Kerberos Panzer Cop===
''Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs'' is the follow-up to the 1988~2000 manga ''[[Kerberos Panzer Cop]]'' written by Mamoru Oshii and illustrated by [[Kamui Fujiwara]]. 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 (2003 film)|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.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiW636Yw6o0 Andrei Tarkovsky's ''The Killers'', English subtitled version]</ref>

===Golgo 13===
The yakuza character "Togo 13" appearing in ''The Killers'' is a cameo of [[Golgo 13]] 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]].
*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 (publishing)|obi]]'' 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}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051227183921/http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/comic/bk_search.php?pcd=200407000007 Official website] {{in lang|ja}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070110195318/http://www.kerberos-saga.jp/ Kerberos saga official website] {{in lang|ja}}

{{KerberosSaga}}

[[Category:2003 manga]]
[[Category:Kerberos saga]]
[[Category:Seinen manga]]