Dogsred (stylized as DOGSRED) is a seinen sports manga written and illustrated by Satoru Noda (of Golden Kamuy fame), which began serialization in Weekly Young Jump in July 2023. The manga is an alternate version/remake of Noda's first work, Supinamarada!.
Set in 2010, the story follows Rou Shirakawa, a disgraced up-and-coming Junior figure skater. After the death of his mother, he has a breakdown that gets him banned from figure skating and ends his career. He and his twin sister are forced to move in with their estranged grandparent in Tamakomai, a Northern town that lives and breathes hockey. In this town he ends up involved in the sport in his desire to keep skating even after losing figure skating.
Starting on its eleventh chapter, the manga became available through Shounen Jump's MangaPlus app.
Tropes
- Artistic Age: In no small part due to Noda's art style and Reused Character Design, none of the characters look like teenagers. Various characters are made to look the characters who were already grown men at least in their 20s, if not 30s, on Golden Kamuy.
- Berserk Button: Keiichi will not let anyone get close to the goal he sets up for himself and his brother, believing that it is a necessary pre-game ritual for them. He outright a gets violent with those who approach it and has been known to have used the blood of someone he beat up to draw a goalie line.
- Confusion Fu: Rou's skating is so unpredictable, partly because he barely understands hockey, that he ends up confounding the people trying to predict his movements.
- Driving Question: One of the initial story hooks is "Why did Rou break down at a skating event?" As if to to start the discussion, the immediate scene after that one is of a TV panel discussing possible reasons, but Rou himself is tight lipped about the subject and even avoids answering when asked directly.
- Chapter 12 answers this: Rou just wanted out of figure skating. He believed he paid his dues to his mother and his family by proving his mother's routine was the best, but he had not enjoyed the sport for a long time, and seemed to have lost the love for the sport completely when he caused his sister to stop skating. Unfortunately, he'd be saddled with living up to the dreams of his sister, whose own dreams he helped destroy. He wanted to end the chapter of his life defined by figure skating, and by extension, let his sister have a shot at the dream while he figured out something he actually loved.
- Exotic Eye Designs: The Genma brothers have rectangular irises and square pupils.
- It Runs in the Family: The Shirakawa family has a history of connection with ice sports. The grandfather was a hockey player in the 1972's Sapporo Winter Olympics, while Haruna and Rou both love skating. Akiko seemed to also be dedicated to ice skating, but never made it to the Olympics.
- Parental Favoritism: Chapter 6 reveals that, unable to afford for both of her children to have their go at figure skating, Akiko elects to let Rou proceed while stopping Haruna's career despite her love for the sport, believing him to be the best bet to get the Olympics.
- Parents as People: Akiko seemed to have been a dedicated mother, but also just couldn't handle the financial and physical demands of trying to get both of her children through professional sports by herself, causing her to eventually have to give up on Haruna to wage her bets on the child who had the best chances to go far in the field.
- Pun-Based Title: In the Japanese pronunciation, anyways: the romanized "DOGSRED"note can be read as either "Dog's Red" (referring to the team's red uniform) or Dogsled (A simile to a hockey team that is invoked in the opening pages).
- Red Baron: After his public freakout, Rou became known as "The Rabid Prince".
- Remake: The manga is a remake of Nora's first manga, which was a short-lived manga that ended up cancelled.
- Reused Character Design: Several characters are reused from Noda's previous work Golden Kamuy like Nihei, the boisterous bear hunter turned Oino-Kami High coach.
