STRAY DOG

A stray dog. Just a dirty, feral stray living in the alleyways somewhere in the middle of the city. He has fleas, eats from dumpsters and smells like everywhere he's been. Sounds like a great protagonist, eh?

This is Zatsu, a coarse-furred mongrel who was born in a cardboard box behind the local karaoke bar. This sort of sets the tone for his whole life, in case you can't tell. Zatsu isn't actually his name of course, it means "mongrel" or "stray." But he can't quite remember his real name, and this happens to be what people call him when they throw things at him to get the little heathen out of their trash. It was the only thing people called him for a long time, so eventually he got used to it and began calling himself Zatsu as well.

Before you all find verification of my insanity herein, let me explain the whole idea of this madness. You know those dorky stories on animal planet-you know, the ones where all the characters are animals and the story is narrated so we can all tell what's going on? Basically, that's what Zatsuinu is, but the cast is human-shaped and capable of speech. Just so it's easier to follow. It was all inspired by the debut work of my idol, Hiromu Arakawa. Entitled "Stray Dog," it was a one-shot manga about a renegade who finds himself the owner of a mysterious dog-child. It was a really intriguing story, for what I've heard-too bad it only lasted a chapter. And then something donned on me, "stories have been written about dogs for centuries. But where in manga is all the love for doggies? I must remedy this!" Corny, yes. But it works. I have a whole new story to bother you with no-behold my latest manga attempt! In honor of Arakawa-sensei, I shall call it STRAY DOG!!!

Oh, and for the record, both the kanji at the bottom and the writing on his collar read "ZATSUINU," or "STRAY DOG." Creative, I know.

STRAY DOG and Zatsu are both copyright to me.

Stray Dog, the legendary one-shot manga by the same name, is copyright to Hiromu Arakawa-sensei.