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Hoppongi Hills
A luxurious district of Tokyo, based on the real-life Roppongi Hills
. Celebrities, business tycoons, and various other well-to-do make their homes here, among whom the Inuyamas have just become a part of. Within the Hills there exists a secret alternate dimension known as Dog Paradise, a haven for stray dogs and through which a particular group of dogs aims to help other pooches in need.
The Hills Dog Paradise
Tetsunoshin
Celebrity Knight
Voiced by: Reiko Takagi
The main protagonist of the series, he is a young Toy Poodle who's just moved from Kyushu to the luxurious Hoppongi Hills in Tokyo, accompanying his owner Rumi and her family. He may be young, naive, and a bit scrappy, but he is fiercely loyal to the Inuyama family and especially Rumi, which motivates him to help improve their financial situation however he possibly can. After discovering the existence of the Hills Dogs and joining them, he gains the ability to transform into his alter ego Celebrity Knight, granting him a human form that allows him to take a more direct role in lending a helping hand.
- Adaptational Dumbass: He's much dumber and goofier in the manga.
- All-Loving Hero: He doesn't like the growing conflict between the dogs of Hoppongi and Shirogane, and would prefer they work their differences out in peace as he rejects the idea of considering even his enemies to be unforgiveable. He wins John over with this mindset, but Sasuke sadly rejects it, and he's lost enough by the time he faces Neo that he decides to make Neo an exception.
- Catchphrase: His Big "OMG!", though he uses it less as the show goes on.
- Butt-Monkey: Not as much as Pochi, but he's still the target of a fair amount of jokes and slapstick, largely because he's a newbie among the Hills Dogs.
- Cool Mask: As Celebrity Knight.
- Country Mouse: Though it doesn't come up much, on occasion he does get ribbed on for being a "country dog". Mostly due to his accent.
- The Determinator: Nothing will stop him from doing whatever he can to keep the Inuyamas afloat.
- Forced Transformation: The punishment for if he ever reveals his secret identity as Celebrity Knight, or anything else about Hoppongi's Dog Paradise, is being turned into a monkey by Seto. It actually does happen to him a few times just to be Played for Laughs, but the one time he actually does accidentally reveal his identity to someone, Seto is persuaded not to do it.
- Gasshole: In the manga, usually either for comedic effect or for saving the day.
- Goggles Do Something Unusual: His goggles allow him to see the entrance into Dog Paradise.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Wears a short-sleeved hoodie and goggles but nothing below the waist.
- I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Losing Chocolat to an attack Neo meant to kill him with motivates him to seek revenge.
- Interspecies Romance: At first his devotion to Rumi has romantic undertones, something he himself admits to. This goes away once he starts to fall for Chocolat, however.
- In the Name of the Moon: Often marks his appearances as Celebrity Knight this way, even referencing the Trope Namer."The messenger of Love, Justice, and Making Money. The Celebrity Knight as arrived!"
- Large Ham: He really gets into the role of Celebrity Knight whenever transformed.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: Tetsunoshin has 102 siblings, with he himself being the 81st pup born to Chiyo. It makes sense though, as it's explained that his mother was a highly sought-after breeding dog.
- Puppy Love: Literally in this case, with Chocolat.
- Super Drowning Skills: He literally can't swim to save his life and can't even do the doggy paddle, which is especially ironic since poodles are a breed designed to do well in water. Somehow he averts this when he's Celebrity Knight however, who can swim through rapids like a hot knife through butter.
- Trauma Conga Line: Within the last bunch of episodes of the show up to its finale, he failed to save Sasuke, couldn't save Rumi or most everyone else in Hoppongi from being turned to stone, found out Chocolat was The Mole all along and played an instrumental part in it, had Chocolat die in his arms after Taking the Bullet for him, thought he had to leave Iwan and Rinia to die, briefly thought Seto died saving him from Neo, found out that Neo who caused most of his hardships was (supposedly) his father, and finally after winning in the end and convincing Neo to stop being evil, had no choice but to let him sacrifice himself to fix everything. Ouch.
- Verbal Tic: Especially when he gets riled up, he ends his sentences with the common Kyushu dialect particle "-tai".
Seto
Voiced by: Yuichi Nagashima
A Miniature Schnauzer who is the oldest dog in Hoppongi Hills, and acts as leader of their Dog Paradise. Generally he is the laid-back mentor of the bunch, even though his sometimes alternates between being a scatterbrain or a pervert, and when things get serious he proves to be very capable of taking charge of a situation. He wields a mysterious "Dog Magic" that comes in handy for all sorts of things, most notably for allowing dogs to turn into humans so as to better interact with human society.
- Big Good: As the creator of Hoppongi's Dog Paradise and the leader of its residents, he oversees most of their ventures in the interest of helping others.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: All of his quirks can make it easy to forget that Seto is without question one of the most powerful beings in the plot, with all the wisdom and experience that comes with it.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Can be a bit wacky at times.
- Cool Old Guy: When he's not being serious, ditzy, or pervy, he comes off as an easy-going grandfatherly figure who treats others kindly and helps them out if they need it.
- Dirty Old Man: Has a habit of making rather suggestive remarks towards his female associates, though it never goes further than that and is always met with scorn. He also seems to have a thing for young, attractive human women, in particular Pochi's owner Aya, and fantasizes about bathing with them. Occassionally he even uses his human form to go clubbing with Rumi's grandfather just to be surrounded by beautiful women.
- Fortune Teller: Does this occasionally as a side gig in his human form.
- Really 700 Years Old: He was apparently around in the 19th century to meet Patrasche and was at one point the dog of the real-life 16th centure daimyo Takeda Shingen - whom he refers to as "Takeda-kun" - meaning he's at least over 400 years old.
- Team Dad: Is this at the end of the day, especially for Tetsunoshin who eventually comes to view him as a father in all but name.
Pochi
Celebrity Knight Julius
Voiced by: Shintaro Ohata
A Bull Terrier who belongs to Aya Sagiyama, a famous actress also living in Hoppongi. He looks up to Tetsunoshin quite a lot and views him as a "big brother" of a sort. Very meek and easily roped into things.
- Anime Hair: His human form, Celebrity Knight Julius, has spherical hair that almost looks more like a helmet, with two large ear-like protrusions sticking out of it.
- Big Brother Worship: What his Hero-Worshipper tendencies tend towards. The first nickname he ever gives Tetsunoshin is "big brother", even though they're about the same age.
- Butt-Monkey: He's the one dog that everyone looks down on, even others who sometimes fill this role like Iwan and Rinia. Only John rivals him in targetability.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Could be considered the Mickey to Tetsunoshin's Donald, as he wears shorts (and a bowtie) but no shirt.
- Hero-Worshipper: Becomes this for Tetsunoshin after he stands up to John.
- The Nicknamer: He has a different nickname for Tetsunoshin Once an Episode, with most of them conveying some sort of reverence given him being a Hero-Worshipper.
- Red Herring: Was believed to be the true identity of Twelve with numerous clues and callbacks backing this up. Naturally it wasn't him.
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Ugly Cute: How Aya sees him. In particular one plotline in the manga involves Pochi getting a much more conventionally "handsome" appearance, at least by dog standards. He eventually reunites with Aya while like this, who admits he does look good that way, but prefers his normal appearance and views him like this. - Verbal Tic: Ends his sentences with "-ssu", a colloquial version of the standard Japanese "desu".
Hakase
Voiced by: Hiroki Shimowada
A Corgi who serves as the resident Gadgeteer Genius. Chances are if something can't readily be solved with magic, one of his inventions might do the trick instead - just don't be surprised if he has ulterior motives for letting someone use his work.
- Animals Not to Scale: Granted the show does this to some extent with all the dogs so they appear roughly the same size, but Hakase stands out as being very big for a corgi, sometimes appearing almost as tall as Rinia and Iwan who are some of the bigger dog breeds in the show.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Many a mechanical marvel in the show are his doing, and he usually offers a technology-based solution to a problem if magic doesn't work.
- Invisible Parents: Averted but also literally played straight with his mother. She is a similarly brilliant scientist who was very present for his upbringing, but who also accidentally turned herself invisible during one of her experiments shortly after his birth and stayed that way, meaning Hakase has no idea what she even looks like.
- Mad Scientist: At his worst he can be this, putting his work above all else and forcing his associates to take part in his experiments with a cold enthusiasm. Thankfully he's not always like this.
- Meaningful Name: His name means "professor" in Japanese, befitting his character.
- Opaque Nerd Glasses: Never seen without them. The only times they've come off have been while he was off-screen, and some shots even make it look as if his glasses are his eyes.
- Otaku: Apparently enjoys buying Meido figurines, and at one point Tetsunoshin runs into him while he's browsing computers in Akihabara, a mecca for otaku culture.
- The Smart Guy
- Verbal Tic: Ends his sentances sith "-shi", which varies in meaning depending on context but in his case often means "the thing of it is..."
Hanzou
Voiced by: Junji Majima
A Shiba Inu, and a trained ninken who is the most combat-capable of the group. His calm, friendly but no-nonsense demeanor reflects his choice of profession, though even he is not entirely immune to the show's wackier moments.
- Blood Knight: He used to be one, picking fights on the regular and getting satisfaction from beating up anyone who crossed him. Seto being a Badass Pacifist kicked off his moving away from this.
- Dark and Troubled Past: He worked himself to the bone perfecting his ninja skills to impress his owner, only for said owner to replace him with another dog. He became a stray who only found pleasure in using his abilities to get into fights, and was possibly on his way to a Face–Heel Turn before Seto intervened.
- Gratuitous Ninja: As the only ninja in Hoppongi's Dog Paradise while Shirogane has a whole squad of them.
- Undying Loyalty: Is heavily devoted to Seto and by extension the well-being of Dog Paradise, no doubt as thanks for Seto taking him in off the streets.
- Japanese Pronouns: Uses the stock ninja/samurai first person pronoun "sessha".
- Named After Somebody Famous: He is named after Hattori Hanzō, a famous real-life samurai who is often portrayed as a ninja in pop culture.
- Ninja Log: Naturally has this skill, used for both comedic effect and combat.
- Pride: Very subtle in his case, but he does show from time to time that he likes showing off his ninja skills and being complimented on them. He used to be much worse about this until his Character Development.
- Self-Duplication: Another stock ninja ability he has.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Before meeting Seto and being accepted into Hoppongi's Dog Paradise, he was an aggressive, haughty Blood Knight who did nothing but beat others up for his own enjoyment. It wasn't until Seto denied to fight him while also taking him in and showing him kindness that he started to change for the better.
- Verbal Tic: Ends his sentences with "de gozaru", an antiquated form of the standard Japanese "desu" that's often used by samurai and ninja in fiction.
Iwan
Voiced by: Yuuichi Ishigami
A Siberian Husky, and a mercenary dog who provides the muscle for the group. He's about as boisterous as he is dimwitted.
- Berserk Button: As his catchphrase suggests, calling him an idiot. Or really even just saying or thinking the word "idiot" around him.
- The Big Guy
- Catchphrase: "Don't call Iwan an idiot!"
- Disney Death: Seemingly bites it during the mission to destroy Neo's Kill Sat, though in the finale it's revealed he escaped with Rinia.
- Dumb Muscle: So much so that it's the basis for his Phrase Catcher-Catchphrase shtick.
- Phrase Catcher: Gets called an idiot almost every time he appears. This usually prompts him to spout his Catchphrase.
- Sports Mom: His own mother was the one who trained him to be a mercenary in the first place, and apparently prefers to be called "Sergeant" rather than "mom".
- Third-Person Person: As seen in his Catchphrase above.
Meg
Voiced by: Chiwa Saitō
A young Papillon, she serves as somewhat of an authority on new trends and what young people are into at any given time. Her dream to become an idol motivates her to affect a cutesy image, but the antics of her friends often brings out her more prickly side.
- All Love Is Unrequited: It's implied towards the end of the show that she might have a crush on Tetsunoshin, but she's well aware he only has eyes for Chocolat and has to accept it.
- Cute Bruiser: Usually Played for Laughs.
- The Fashionista: As a consequence of being the one who is "in the know" about what's popular, she loves to shop and especially enjoys getting new clothes.
- Teen Idol: Wants to become one.
Ooana
Voiced by: Nobuyuki Kobushi
A Pekingese who supposedly has great intuition, especially in gambling. "Supposedly" being the word because his results are questionable at best.
- Meaningful Name: "Ooana" can mean "big hole", as in "in a big hole" or in other words "owing lots of money", in reference to his lackluster luck with gambling.
- Out of Focus: While he will often tag along for adventures with the rest of the group, his role in many of them is subdued, given that he's largely a Non-Action Guy and doesn't have any other skills to compensate for it. This extends to the final battle, where due to being Taken for Granite he's the only dog out of the main cast who doesn't get to take part in it while also not being dead or presumed as such.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: His intuition can be so terrible that on occassion the group does the exact opposite of what he advises them to, and it actually works.
- Taken for Granite: Because he wasn't with the rest of the group to be protected by Seto, he is the only dog out of the principle cast who gets hit with this by Neo.
Rinia
Voiced by: Tatsuhisa Suzuki
An English Setter who's quite the speedster, and thus is the Hills Dogs' vehicle buff.
- Ace Pilot: The go-to driver of any vehicles the Hills dogs use.
- Disney Death: Apparently dies in a Last Stand during the mission to destroy Neo's Kill Sat, but it's revealed in the finale he escaped with Iwan by hijacking an attack drone.
- Grease Monkey: While he isn't a Gadgeteer Genius like Hakase, he does know a thing or two about vehicles. Whenever there's a vehicle that needs driving he's almost always the one doing it, and when the show needs to give him a weapon, he settles for using his mechanical tools. It runs in the family too - his mother was a notorious biker.
- Ship Tease: There's some between him and Victoria towards the end of the show.
- Speed Demon: Loves to go fast, whether it's on foot or in a vehicle.
Victoria
Voiced by: Haruhi Terada
A Poodle who does a lot of PR for the group, usually by taking human form and networking with influential people or appearing at VIP events. Otherwise she fills the role of Seto's secretary.
- Berserk Button: Ribbing her about her age.
- Cleavage Window: She has one, albeit only in dog form, as it would be incredibly Stripperific if she kept it while disguised as a human.
- Cool Big Sis: She's one of the more "mature" dogs in the main cast and sometimes fills this role.
- The Face: Most often it's her who handles talking on behalf of the Hills dogs.
- Interspecies Romance: Ended up having one with Rashid after initially only pretending to be his girlfriend so he wouldn't have to marry. Naturally it doesn't last, although they continue to have feelings for each other afterwards.
- Sexy Secretary: Not quite as suggestive as many examples, but her markedly feminine design (especially her glasses) and her demeanor do play to this trope. Seto approves, naturally. Her human disguise is no slouch either.
- Ship Tease: Gets some with Rinia towards the end of the show.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: She's cripplingly afraid of the supernatural, especially ghosts.
Chocolat
Voiced by: Shion Hirota
A Chihuahua belonging to Rumi's schoolmate Yuki, and Tetsunoshin's main love interest.
- Becoming the Mask: Her relationship with Tetsunoshin was all a ruse so she could gain access to the Hills' Dog Paradise for Neo. But towards the end of the show it's evident that she really did start to like him at some point, so much so that she performs a Heroic Sacrifice to save him from Neo rather than keep on helping him.
- Being Tortured Makes You Evil: Enduring cruelty at the hands of the circus she belonged to made her agree to help Neo once he saved her.
- Dark Action Girl: Given that she's Twelve, she automatically counts as one.
- Dark and Troubled Past: She used to be a circus dog, being made to perform under threat of whipping and being mistreated in general, until Neo rescued her and convinced her to join him.
- Dying Declaration of Love: Gives the first and final verbal confession of her love for Tetsunoshin right before she dies.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: She dies in Tetsunoshin's arms.
- Electric Torture: Her necklace is actually a shock collar Neo planted on her to ensure she doesn't disobey him.
- Evil All Along: She was sent by Neo to inflitrate Hoppongi's Dog Paradies from the start - her getting close to Tetsunoshin was all a ploy to accomplish this.
- Forced into Evil: She really didn't have anywhere to go after Neo freed her, and while she did agree to help him, the threat of Electric Torture denied her a choice anyway.
- Freudian Excuse: Her Dark and Troubled Past instilled disdain for humans in her.
- Heroic Sacrifice: She takes the brunt of a lightning bolt that Neo intended to kill Tetsunoshin with, saving him but dying soon after.
- Humanoid Female Animal: While every dog character takes on some more human qualities when walking on two legs, Chocolat is a particular case as she's normally very fluffy and round in her normal dog form, but when on two legs she looks nearly human save for her head, tail and fur color.
- Killed Off for Real: She dies shortly after her Heroic Sacrifice.
- Redemption Equals Death: After aiding Neo in defeating the Hills dogs, she dies saving Tetsunoshin from him.
- Satellite Love Interest: She starts out as one, having little relevance to the story outside of being an object for Tetsunoshin's affection. Her eventual admittance into Dog Paradise isn't even given much fanfare, though it's not long after this where she gets fleshed out more.
- Stepford Smiler: Her cute & pleasant demeaner hides a lot of angst over her Dark and Troubled Past, as well as her true villainous intent as one of Neo's subordinates.
- The Mole: She is the true identity of Twelve, the spy sent by Neo to infiltrate and gather info about Hoppongi's Dog Paradise.
- Nice Girl: She's not as easily angered as Meg, and less troubled than Victoria, so in general she is a very pleasant to everyone. Even when Tetsunoshin is at his goofiest it rarely makes her upset, save for misunderstandings and the like. Subverted since she's secretly been helping with Neo's plans and harbors some bitterness over her past mistreatment, but in the end she makes a Heroic Sacrifice rather than stay evil.
- Puppy Love: With Tetsunoshin. Except it's just a ploy for her to find an in to the Hill's Dog Paradise, though it eventually becomes genuine.
- Walking Spoiler: The sheer number of blanked out entries here say it all. She's not at all what she appears to be, having been working for the Big Bad since before the series began, was The Mole the whole time and ultimately dies redeeming herself.
Chin
Voiced by: Takashi Nagasako
A Chow-Chow who acts as the chef for the Hills Dogs.
- Chef of Iron: He more or less treats cooking like a martial art, and is no slouch in a fight because of it. At one point he manages to pull off a Catch and Return on some shuriken with a frying pan.
- Verbal Tic: Ends his sentences with "-chow".
- Supreme Chef: Having gone to China to learn the ways of traditional Chinese cooking, he came back a world-class chef and is said to have 4000 years' worth of culinary knowledge under his belt.
- Team Chef
Mika
Voiced by: Rikako Aikawa
A Mikawa Inu who came from Nagoya to work as the lead financial advisor for Hoppongi's Dog Paradise. Her sheer insight when it comes to money matters has earned her somewhat of a celebrity status among the Hills dogs, though she has little patience for people who don't understand her methods.
- What Are Records?: Gets frustrated when she has to explain to Tetsunoshin what an abacus is.
Robbie
Voiced by: Akiko Yajima
A robot dog toy that used to belong to Rumi's friend Lina before it malfunctioned and was discarded. Tetsunoshin takes pity on the toy and attempts to salvage it, only for a chance lightning strike to reactivate it and imbue it with some semblance of a personality.
- Death of Personality: Eventually it's found out that he is broken in such a way that "fixing" him will require his memories, and thus his newfound self, to be erased. While Tetsunoshin is against it, eventually it's agreed to be better than letting him suffer a slow mechanical death, and so he is effectively reset before being given away. There is a Hope Spot that he somehow held on to at least some of his memories after the procedure, though.
- Insistent Terminology: When he first became self-aware and asked what Tetsunoshin's name was, Tetsunoshin had just been electrocuted and could only manage to say a pained "ayayayaya" in response. Robbie took this literally and thus only refers to Tetsunoshin as "Ayayayaya", no matter how many times Tetsunoshin tries to explain what his name really is.
- Literal-Minded: Justified as he only just gained self-awareness and has a limited understanding of most things.
- Robot Buddy: Intended to be one for human children, ended up becoming one for Tetsunoshin instead.
- Robot Dog
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Suffers Death of Personality at the end of his debut episode and what remains of him is given away.
Humans
The Inuyamas
Rumi Inuyama
Voiced by: Kei Shindō
The daughter of the Inuyama family, and Tetsunoshin's beloved owner. She is cheerful, innocent, and kind to most everyone even if they don't treat her the same.
- Cheerful Child
- Forced Transformation: Seto turns her into a dog after she finds out Celebrity Knight and Tetsunoshin are the same person, with the intention being she must remain one so as not to divulge it to anyone else. She takes it in stride even so, and it ends up being only temporary.
- Genre Savvy: When she encounters Sasuke disguised as Celebrity Knight she immediately knows something isn't right, and then proceeds to quickly figure him out by feeding him false claims about how the real Celebrity Knights acts so he unknowingly rats himself out.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Nothing seems to get her down but temporarily, not even dealing with Reika. She's so kind and innocent in fact, that when Reika shows up to rub salt in the wound about the Inuyamas having to move out of Hoppongi or go bankrupt, all Rumi has to say is that she'll miss Reika and that she considers the two of them to be friends.
- Secret-Keeper: After finding out who Celebrity Knight is, being temporarily turned into a dog, and subsequently visiting Dog Paradise, she's allowed to keep her knowledge of these things on the grounds that she never tell anyone.
Masao Inuyama
Voiced by: Yoshihisa Kawahara
Rumi's father, and president of the burgeoning IT company "Sunchild". As the main breadwinner of the family he is most concerned with their financial status, and so it usually falls on him to bend over backwards in order to make ends meet and preserve their new way of life in Hoppongi Hills.
- Butt-Monkey: Considering his family's unwitting Financial Abuse that he constantly has to bust his ass to fix, he's a pretty big one. His treatment is sadly Truth in Television to an extent, as traditional family roles in Japan often call for the husband to bear most of the burden of the family's finances and often be the only one who works a full-time job.
- Happily Married: He really does love his wife despite all the money troubles she unwittingly brings upon the family. He even named his company after her.
Youko Inuyama
Voiced by: Misa Kobayashi
Rumi's mother, who is quite enamored with the luxuries of living in Hoppongi but also oblivious to the family's inability to afford much of it, which often results in her driving them further into debt.
- Brainless Beauty: She's a bit of a ditz for sure, with her constant excessive spending and nonexistent money management being the biggest indicator. She isn't totally ineffective however; she's the one who convinced Yoru Gates to partner with Masao's company instead of Kurogane's.
- Happily Married: Loves her husband dearly.
- House Wife: Doesn't work and spends more time with her family than Masao.
- Kindhearted Simpleton: She would be a Rich Bitch just like Mrs. Kurogane if she weren't so darn cheerful (and dimwitted).
- Gold Digger: Downplayed. She loves Masao's money & status but she loves Masao and their family even more.
Toranosuke Inuyama
Voiced by: Takkou Ishimori
Rumi's grandfather, formerly a farmer before he and his wife decided to move to Hoppongi to stay with the rest of their family. Unlike most of the family, he is actually aware of their financial situation but counts on Masao to handle it.
- Dirty Old Man: Isn't above going clubbing and mingling with young attractive women behind his wife's back.
- Hen Pecked Husband: Is somewhat intimidated by Kaoruko, and it's evident she wears the pants between them.
- Verbal Tic: Ends his sentences with "-bai", a commonality of conventional Kyushu dialect.
Kaoruko Inuyama
Voiced by: Haruhi Terada
Rumi's grandmother, who moved to Hoppongi with her husband to be with the rest of the family. Like Youko she cares little for saving money and so she also contributes to the family's debt.
- Never Mess with Granny: She can really call the shots if she wants to, and she's Hot-Blooded enough that nobody in the family can stand up to her. Her husband in particular is deeply unnerved that she might find out he goes out clubbing, and for good reason. She nearly forces Masao and Youko to get divorced when she learns about Masao mismanaging his company.
- Verbal Tic: Ends her sentences with "-bai", a commonality of conventional Kyushu dialect.
Takuzou Kimura
Voiced by: Tomohisa Asou
The Inuyama family butler. He is the only one besides Masao and Tetsunoshin who shows real concern for the family's financial situation.
- The Jeeves: While he's not The Ace like Otaki, he definitely presents as this and is generally depicted as doing well at his job no matter what. He's also often the one who keeps Masao updated on the family's financial status, implying he may be more well-versed in finance than Masao himself.
Hana Hanasaki
Voiced by: Fuyuka Oura
The Inuyamas' maid, whose clumsiness makes her poor at her job but also lightens the mood when it's needed.
- The Klutz: Very rarely does she make an appearance where she doesn't fall or trip on something, sometimes with collateral damage.
- Moe: In-Universe this is the impression she seems to have on people. Her brief employment at a maid cafe in Akihabara was highly successful because of this, so much so that customers would exclaim this trope whenever she failed at something and she managed to get a figurine made of her.
- Ultimate Job Security: She can very seldom walk a few feet without breaking something, and given how the Inuyamas live it's bound to be something expensive, yet they always forgive her for it because they find it endearing and any concerns about getting fired are found to be entirely in her head. According to Rumi they keep her on because she has a good work ethic, even if her results are poor.
Otaki Akiba
Voiced by: Tomoko Miyadera
The head maid of the Inuyama family, who stays behind in Kyushu to watch over the family's estate but on occasion travels to Hoppongi if she feels they need her.
- The Ace: As far as serving the Inuyamas goes, she's far better at it than either Kimura or Hana. Seeing her do her job so well is part of what makes Hana feel like she's not needed anymore.
Other Residents
Aya Sagiyama
Voiced by: Kanae Abe
The Inuyamas' neighbor and Pochi's owner, she is kind young woman who also happens to be a popular actress.
- Career Versus Man: What both she and her husband go through at one point. On her husband's part, him being a Workaholic imposes more and more on their relationship, and on her part she has to choose between staying with him in hopes of improving their lives together or getting a divorce so she can move her career to Hollywood. With some help from the Hills dogs, they both choose each other in the end.
- Cool Big Sis: Occasionally is this for Rumi, doing things like accompanying her for walks or teaching her how to make chocolate.
- Genre Savvy: She sees right through Gary's Camp Straight facade right after meeting him.
Gary Kamata
Voiced by: Tetsuharu Ohta
A highly skilled and revered dog trimmer, who becomes notorious among dogs for his outlandish grooming methods and tendency to make dogs look like other animals entirely. He initially works for the Kuroganes, but is fired after a change of heart about his trimming style costs John the win at a dog contest. From then on he works at a local pet groomer in Hoppongi, and becomes disturbingly, hilariously infatuated with Tetsunoshin.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Camp Gay antics and mannerisms aside, he really is ridiculously good at what he does, and is adept enough at his job that he can even be an Improbable Weapon User with his trimming tools if need be.
- Camp Gay: Oh so much. Him being a hair dresser really doesn't help, but even beyond that just about everything from his mannerisms, appearance, and way of talking screams over-the-top flamboyant.
- Camp Straight: What he presented himself as while he was at the height of his fame. For what it's worth it did work well enough, as he had quite a few women swoon over him, but Aya sees right through it and he drops the act by the end of the episode. He briefly lapses back into it when around his mother, but even that doesn't last long.
- Depraved Homosexual: The only one he seems to have eyes for is Tetsunoshin, and in general he is very unsubtle and overbearing about his orientation.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: His given name is actually "Tomisaburou", which isn't revealed until late into the show, so everyone just calls him by his preferred name "Gary".
- Punny Name: Though it's more noticeable in Japanese: his name is pronounced "Geiri" with the "gei" part being pronounced exactly like "gay".
- Something about a Rose: Part of his Camp Straight facade is carrying one around.
Gen
Voiced by: Mugihito
An old man who owns and operates the sushi restaurant "Sushi Gen" in Hoppongi.
- Pet the Dog: Literally; he often treats Seto to leftover sushi, earning Seto's good will to the point of him enlisting the Hills Dogs to help Gen keep his restaurant afloat after Kurogane sabotages it.
Security Guard Suzuki
Voiced by: Kazuhiro Nakata
An elite squad of inexplicably identical security guards who man the entrance to a high-rise building in Hoppongi Hills.
- Inexplicably Identical Individuals: They all have the same appearance, voice and name, the reason for which Hanzou states is a mystery.
Shirogane
Another district of Tokyo near Hoppongi Hills, likewise based on the real-life Shirokane district. Just like Hoppongi it is home to all sorts of affluent people, though it's presented as more of a home for less pleasant wealthy individuals.
The Kuroganes
Reika Kurogane
Daughter of the affluent Kurogane family situated in Shirogane, who contrasts Rumi's sweet and kind nature by being a stuck-up, self-aggrandizing Rich Bitch.
- Alpha Bitch: She tries to be this, but with mixed results. She has a clique and enjoys ridiculing others whom she views as being beneath her, butnot everyone plays along with it and sometimes Rumi's Incorruptible Pure Pureness is enough for people to call her out on her behavior.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She really does love John, even if she hardly shows it. This is best seen when he's forced to flee Shirogane after Neo sends dogs to get rid of him, and she shows genuine concern over not knowing where he is.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Has some shades of this, feeling compelled to take a competitive approach to things she really doesn't even need to bother with just for the sake of praise. In one instance she toils away making homemade Valentine's Day chocolate even though she thinks it's better to just buy and even though she doesn't even have anyone to give it to - all because she didn't want anyone to believe Rumi could do it and she couldn't.
- Loves My Alter Ego: She has a burgeoning crush on Celebrity Knight, ever unaware that he's really the pet of the girl she considers The Rival. It's not really a problem since Tetsunoshin doesn't care much for her either, though.
- Rich Bitch
- Unknown Rival: Since Rumi is too much of a Nice Girl to really pick up on Reika's animosity towards her, most of the time Reika's ploys to one-up Rumi in any given venture go over Rumi's head, much to her annoyance.
- Why Can't I Hate You?: Try as she might to antagonize Rumi, her status as an Unknown Rival coupled with Rumi's Incorruptible Pure Pureness makes it fall flat in the end. She's flabbergasted to find out that, even after all her mistreatment, Rumi still considers her a friend, so much so that she can't even respond to it with any sort of disdain.
Taizou Kurogane
Reika's father who heads the MegaCorp "Kuroichi", a rival company to Masao's.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Is fine with resorting to underhanded and questionable business practices to get ahead, like buying all the supplies for a local sushi restaurant to try and put it out of business, or appealing to Onizuka to artificially plummet the value of Masao's company stocks.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He may be a shady business shark but he loves his family just as Masao does his, and wants the best for them even (and often) at the expense of everyone else.
- Evil Counterpart: Not incredibly evil, but he's certainly the mean, underhanded counterpart to Masao.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: Justified since his company is a MegaCorp with multiple divisions, unlike Masao's which only really deals in technology. Over the course of the show Taizou makes ventures in restaurants, cafes, professional sports, and the film industry to name a few.
Shima Kurogane
- Fat Bitch: She's chubbier than her husband and daughter, and every bit as stuck-up.
- Rich Bitch
- Verbal Tic: Ends sentances with "-zamasu", a very pompous alternative to the common "desu", signifying her self-important nature.
John
Voiced by: Atsushi Imaruoka
A Dachshund who belongs to Reika, and who sometimes butts heads with Tetsunoshin. He loves asserting his superiority over his peers just as much as the rest of his family does, even though it often blows up in his face.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's not specified whether he returned to Shirogane or stayed with the Hills Dogs after his Heel–Face Turn and Neo's defeat.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: One half of the motivation for his Heel–Face Turn. Tetsunoshin not only forgives him for helping out with a plot that nearly blew up Hoppongi's Dog Paradise, but also defuses the bomb personally and saves John from the second bomb unknowingly planted on him by Neo. After this he's fully on the heroes' side.
- Butt-Monkey: An even bigger one than Pochi - absolutely nobody respects him, his own owner mistreats him, and everything he ever does to try and garner the reverence he thinks he deserves fails spectacularly, often coming back to (deservedly) bite him. This sticks even after he joins the good guys.
- Gratuitous English: Almost every sentence that comes out of his mouth is peppered with Engrish, no doubt to make him appear more "cultured".
- Heel–Face Turn: A combination of his mistreatment by Neo and Tetsunoshin's kindness drives him to defect to Hoppongi's Dog Paradise.
- Hero-Worshipper: He becomes this for Tetsunoshin after the latter forgives his villainy and saves him from being blown up.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: The other half of the motivation for his Heel–Face Turn. Being treated as a mere pawn by Neo and ultimately almost being killed to further his plans drives John to join the heroes instead.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: He goes from simple being Tetsunoshin's innefectual rival to working for Neo and very nearly killing everyone in Hoppongi's Dog Paradise. Thankfully it was soon after this that he...
- Took a Level in Kindness: He becomes nicer after his Heel–Face Turn.
- Why Am I Ticking?: Unbeknownst to him even after Neo entrusted him with assisting in the plot to blow up the Dog Paradise in Hoppongi, Neo had a back-up plan wherein John himself would be the bomb by virtue of a necklace he was given while being made to think it was a reward for his agreeing to help out. Thankfully Tetsonoshin saves him.
Shirogane Dog Paradise
Neo
Voiced by: Kinryū Arimoto
Another Toy Poodle, and the leader of the Dog Paradise in Shirogane. He has a long-standing personal vendetta against Seto and thus seeks to destroy Hoppongi's Dog Paradise by any means necessary. He also seems to take interest in Tetsunoshin, for reasons that become more clear as the series goes on.
- Always Second Best: In the past he was commended for his immense prowess with dog magic, but lacked the compassion needed to use it for good. As a result he was deemed Seto's inferior in inheriting the legacy of dog magic and retaliated by trying to steal its secrets for himself, only for Seto to thwart him.
- Archnemesis Dad: He claims to be Tetsunoshin's father, and by the point he reveals this he's cemented himself as Tetsunoshin's main enemy for all that he's done. Though it later turns out he was mistaken, as while he did indeed have kids with Tetsunoshin's mother Chiyo, Tetsunoshin came from a different litter than his.
- Bad Boss: He only really cares about showing empathy for his cohorts if it ensures their loyalty - once that's out of the equation he doesn't really care much about them. Sasuke's death doesn't elicit much of a response from him, he's perfectly fine to kill John as part of his plans, he attempted to force Kaiser to fight dirty and chewed him out for refusing, and he forces Chocolat to relive her trauma as a circus animal right after she plays an instrumental part in seeing his plan's success, while also forcing her to comply for fear of electric shock.
- Big Bad
- The Chosen Wannabe: He had the raw talent for becoming a master of dog magic but lacked the empathy to use it for good, causing Seto to be chosen instead and thus kicking off Neo's grudge against him.
- Evil Counterpart: To Seto.
- Gonk: Probably one of the ugliest poodles you'll ever see in media.
- I Resemble That Remark!: His masters believed he had too little compassion to be an effective user of dog magic. He responded to their decision by immediately betraying them and attempting to steal their secrets all for himself, and he still wants it all for himself by any means necesssary years later, so they were absolutely right.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Reveals himself to be Tetsunoshin's father near the end of the show, though he's actually wrong; Tetsunoshin came from a different litter than the one he had with Chiyo.
- Psycho Poodle: As the nefarious Big Bad of the whole series.
- Redemption Equals Death: Concedes to stop his plans after Tetsunoshin beats him, and uses the last of his powers to reverse everything he's done, killing him in the process.
- Red Herring: It seems more and more likely as the show goes on that he's Tetsunoshin's father, and even he thought that was the case until Chiyo clarifies that Tetsunoshin's dad is someone else.
- The Rival: Was this to Seto in their past as trainees for inheriting the secrets of dog magic.
Sasuke
Voiced by: Kunihiro Kawamoto
An Akita Inu ninken who works for Neo, and commands a squadron of other ninjas to do all manner of discrete work for Shirogane's Dog Paradise. He is incredibly loyal to Neo and is always terribly serious, not shying away from using lethal force if he sees fit.
- Driven to Suicide: Rather than be captured, return to Neo after failing his mission, or accept Tetsonoshin's pleas to turn good, he decides to end his own life by jumping off a building and blowing himself up.
- Evil Counterpart: To Hanzou, and a particularly meaningful one for this series. His Tragic Backstory is very similar to Hanzou's, and they both share more ideals than even they realize or would like to admit - by all accounts Sasuke is exactly what Hanzou could have been had he not been taken in by Seto.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Speaks with a deep, grave cut-throat voice.
- Eyepatch of Power: He wears one over his left eye after a thrown rock from a human child damaged it.
- Eye Scream: Was blinded in his left eye by a rock a child threw at him.
- Freudian Excuse: He and the rest of his litter were abandoned, he was mistreated by the people who eventually found him, and was almost taken in by dog catchers until Neo saved him, exploiting his acquired disdain for humans to recruit him.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: He admits to agreeing with Tetsunoshin's ideals about dogs not fighting with each other, but decides he's gone too far to change, and kills himself instead.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Like Hanzou he is named after a legendary ninja, in his case Sarutobi Sasuke.
- Never Hurt an Innocent: He fights to kill when ordered or when Neo's operations are jeopardized and is fine with a Duel to the Death with Hanzou, but doesn't want anyone to die outside those parameters. This is shown during his final confrontation with Hanzou where he saves Tetsunoshin from falling off a building before even Hanzou can, as it was a consequence of their duel that Tetsunoshin's life was endangered in the first place.
Kaiser
Voiced by: Tetsuharu Ota
A narcissistic Afghan Hound who serves as the "brains" of the operations in Shirogane's Dog Paradise. He loves showing off his superiority, but dislikes doing it through underhanded tactics.
- Animal Mecha: Has not one but three: a dog-shaped one called Kaiser X, a gorilla named General Y, and a bird named Emperor Z.
- Combining Mecha: The three aforementioned mechs can combine into one called IQ God, which is... sort of one, except the three mechs don't actually combine parts but instead just piggyback on each other.
- Distracted by My Own Sexy: Gets temporarily distracted by his own reflection while scrubbing the floor in Neo's lair.
- Evil Counterpart: To Hakase.
- Fate Worse than Death: Being made to drift alone in a bubble endlessly in space until you die slowly surely wouldn't be pleasant, but it's subverted in his reaction, since being the narcissist that he is, Kaiser likes the idea of "becoming a star".
- Gadgeteer Genius
- The Fighting Narcissist: Not only is he one of Neo's top subordinates, but he's also hilariously enamored with himself, fawning over his own reflection and singing the praises of his own skills, class and intelligence. He eats dinner while watching recordings of his own piano performances and even has a swath of mirrors installed into the cockpit of his Mecha just so he can look at himself while completing a mission.
- Something about a Rose: He has one on his coat to complete his look, is surrounded by them in many of his scenes, and even the cockpit of his mech appears to be full with them, with some of the buttons in it even being rose-shaped.
- The Starscream: Goes rogue from Neo's plan partway through his attack on the Hoppongi Dog Paradise, partly because Neo planted Chocolat as a hostage on his mech without him agreeing to it, and partly because he cares less about completing his mission and more about proving his superiority.
- A Twinkle in the Sky: His ultimate fate after losing to Hakase's own Combining Mecha. Unlike many examples, he never comes down either - he gets set adrift in space.
Golgo
Turbo
Voiced by:
A dog who fills the role of Shirogane's Grease Monkey just as Rinia does for Hoppongi.
- Composite Character: Of a sort. While he's obviously meant to be Rinia's counterpart, he also has a bit more of a penchant for gadgets and mechs like Hakase does.
- Evil Counterpart: To Rinia.
- Grease Monkey
- A Twinkle in the Sky: Goes out the same way as Kaiser.
- Unknown Rival: Tries his darndest to be Rinia's better, but Rinia (and everyone else) all but forgets who he is by their second encounter.
Twelve
Voiced by: Reiko Takagi
A mysterious masked spy whom Neo brings on to assist in his plans. Virtually nothing is known about him other than his code name and his knack for infiltration.
- Ambiguous Gender: Is never referred to personally or by anyone else in such a way that implies they're male or female, their outfit gives little away, and their voice is clearly pitch-shifted to muddle things further. Turns out they're a girl, as Chocolat.
- Cool Helmet: Wears a vaguely bat-shaped one that covers all but the mouth and eyes, with cloth covering most of what remains.
- Pet the Dog: The one who gives Tetsunoshin the key that unlocks the explosive necklace placed on John is implied to have been Twelve.
- Purple Is Powerful: Wears purple and black, and is one of Neo's most dangerous associates.
Other Characters
Steven Shirosawa
Voiced by: Akihiko Ishizumi
A famous film director. He has a genuine passion for making movies, but his methods aren't exactly the safest.
-
Doing It for the Art: He subjects his cast members, particularly Tetsunoshin, to extremely dangerous situations just to make his film more interesting. He also doesn't care much for money, putting the integrity of the film first and blowing off Taizo Kurogane's demands despite Kurogane bankrolling his movie in the first place. - No Celebrities Were Harmed: He is based on both Steven Spielberg and Akira Kurosawa.
Yoru Gates
spoilers
Voiced by: Kouji Yusa
The president of Dicrosoft, the largest tech company in the world. Naturally both Masao and Taizo are eager to partner with him when he decides to visit Japan.
- King Incognito: The man everyone believes to be him is actually a decoy, while the real Yoru Gates is disguised as his secretary.
- Latex Perfection: The mask he uses while impersonating his secretary is virtually indistinguishable from a real human face.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: He is based on Bill Gates.
- Old Beggar Test: The real Yoru Gates opts to disguise himself as a secretary to see whether either the Inuyamas or Kuroganes will treat him will even if they don't know it's really him.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: The real Yoru Gates dresses up as his own female secretary to keep a low profile and allow the Old Beggar Test to happen.
Chiyo
Voiced by: Ai Satou
Tetsunoshin's mother, the dog of a world-famous breeder who's usually gone traveling from country to country.
- Almighty Mom: Not even the combined zeal of all of her kids is enough to match her, as she readily beats them all down both verbally and physically if they go too far.
- Explosive Breeder: She has 102 children, what with being a world-class breeding poodle and all.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives (well-meaning) ones to each and every one of her children when they try to figure out which one of them she loves the most, as well as for spending most of their visit boasting about either their status, amount of wealth, or luxuries. Even Tetsunoshin gets it, as she reprimands him for lying about his life just to impress her.
- Tough Love: She truly does love every single one of her pups even if she doesn't get to know any of them all that much, and chooses to show it by literally knocking some sense into each of them and sending them all flying while giving the aforementioned "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- You Are Number 6: Not her, but her kids. With the sheer number of pups she's had over her lifetime, she doesn't even bother learning their names and simply denotes them by number in order of their birth. Tetsunoshin is the 81st of her children and is thus referred to as "Number 81" though he's actually her 91st child. Fortunately he does manage to leave enough of an impression on her upon their first proper meeting that she's able to remember his name.
Ferret
A ferret. Presumed to be the pet of someone living in Hoppongi, he happens upon a precious keepsake pacifier belonging to Seto and has to be chased down by Tetsunoshin and co. to reclaim it.
- Nearly Normal Animal: Unlike the dogs and some other animals in the series, he doesn't speak and may not even be able to, but he does seem to understand speech and is otherwise as intelligent as everyone else.
- No Name Given: Is just referred to by his species, even though being a pet he would likely have a name.
- Troll: Loves to rub it in when the protagonists fail to capture him.
- Wicked Weasel: Well, a ferret in this case.
Ruffian
Voiced by: Kunihiro Kawamoto
A wandering stray dog that Tetsunoshin and Chocolat encounter by chance in Hoppongi. He is staunchly against the culture of dogs being valued by their pedigree or other superficial qualities, and believes that being owned by humans only perpetuates this. Nonetheless he agrees to help the Hills dogs investigate a dognapping scheme after Chocolat becomes its latest victim.
- Evil All Along: Since he is Sasuke in disguise, the whole situation about wanting dogs to be free of human ownership was just a ploy to get Tetsunoshin to pull a Face–Heel Turn.
- Latex Perfection: The mask Sasuke used to pretend to be him is a perfectly articulate Expressive Mask.
- No Name Given: He claims to have forgotten his name after forsaking his life as a pet. "Ruffian" is something he makes up on the spot for Tetsunoshin to call him, and it's not even really a name, just the Japanese word burai that translates to "ruffian".
- Significant Double Casting: He shares a voice actor with Sasuke because he is Sasuke.
