Most of you have seen a character named Cerberus. Maybe you know Cerberus because of Disney’s version of Hercules or perhaps the Clow Card guardian of Cardcaptor Sakura. Some cute versions, some scary versions.
As you might imagine from the title, this Cerberus is one of the former. He’s so cute that even Hades, the god of the underworld, can’t resist Cerberus’ adorableness.
…But don’t let this fact get out, or it’s off to Hell for you!
So while the three-headed, snake-tailed Cerberus is meant to guard souls from escaping, he’s still very much a dog. A talking dog that can be bribed with treats, hates baths, and loves his Master dearly.
The manga is very much about basking in his cuddly, lovable self. It’s divided into five chapters, with short mini-stories ranging from one page to about five. Even when Good Dog, Cerberus technically is a multi-page story, most pages can be enjoyed as a single one-page funny comic. The last chapter is kind of an exception on both counts, as it’s both a flashback and meant to be more sweet than funny.
Speaking of the comedy, the manga sometimes reaches out to the dog lovers, other times riffs on Greek mythology, and it even features a few pop culture references. For instance, ever play the “which hand has the treats” game with your dog? Well, guess what happens when you try this on the three-headed Cerberus. Meanwhile, if AC/DC ever finds themselves in Hell, perhaps they could offer an autograph in exchange to escape. Plenty of mythological creatures and figures appear, but Good Dog, Cerberus doesn’t adhere strictly to folklore. Hercules, for instance, stops by to play, and Hades doesn’t seem to hate Zeus.
Of course, as is the case with pure comedic manga, some strips are funnier than the others. It’s not a huge range, and generally the first in the chapter is just as good as the final one in a chapter. More importantly, to a lot of manga, this one is very accessible to general audiences. Only a couple of translation notes are needed, and even they don’t really affect any punchlines. If it weren’t for things like the sound effects and the unflopped format, a lot of readers might assume this was something from the Sunday newspaper funnies section because of the full color art.
The only real downside is the length. It’s not even 100 pages, and even then each page is just four to seven simple panels. I mean, the art works for a manga like this (even if Hades looks like an uninspired RPG villain), and it’s one of the rare manga not just in black and white. However, even among other comedic series that have a low page count, Good Dog, Cerberus! feels light on content. This would be less of a problem if you could easily share it with multiple people. As a (currently) digital-only release, this isn’t something that can be passed from person to person or tossed in a backpack for a read at grandma’s house.
Plus, this is something that probably would be a hit with the Chi’s Sweet Home crowd, but the actual format may be a bit of a barrier. That, and I was surprised they kept “Cer-chan” instead of dropping honorifics since it’s “Lord Hades” anyway.
But as long as readers know that Good Dog, Cerberus is meant to be a short book meant to do nothing else but dish out some smiles, the series will tap into the dog lover in you. Good manga, Cerberus!