Doomsday with My Dog, Vol. 1 (Doomsday with My Dog, 1) (2025)

This was a weird one and not at all what I expected. However it sid make me ball my eyes out.

2.86 on CAWPILE

Fair warning - the bonus chapter has nothing to do with the main story (per the author) and it reduced me to a sobbing mess. If you're sensitive to sad animal stories, you may want to (and can safely) skip it.

That aside, this is a joyously bizarre story of a high school girl and her dog roaming Japan after the end of humanity. Dogs talk, aliens have landed and become farmers, and mythological beings are emerging from folklore. It's full-color, four-panel weirdness, and if that bonus hadn't blindsided me, I would have liked it much better.

This manga wasn't quite what I expected as I thought it would be a "deeper" version of Wonder Cat Kyuu-chan, and it is! But I didn't connect with this series the same way as I thought I would.

I did enjoy the way the story is told with double four-panel "comics" because it seems rare for manga to be told in that format through an entire volume. Haru is also SO cute! It was fun following a dog as more of the main character than the human. He's definitely pretty smart for a dog! Sometimes I was like, "whoa! This dog has some pretty profound and encouraging thoughts!" LOL!

I liked his master alright. She wasn't my favorite, but can't quite put my finger on why. However, I LOVED the aliens! They were definitely my favorite part of this first volume and would totally love to see more of them! I also liked the variety of dogs that our main characters crossed paths with. I didn't expect there to be so many dogs in post-apocalyptic times! LOL!

Overall, this wasn't my favorite read, but did find it fairly enjoyable I think! (Unrelated, the quality of this manga is AMAZING! Very sturdy and nice feeling.)

(TW?: A few panels of non-graphic nudity.)

I picked this up expecting a slightly less melancholy version of Girls' Last Tour, Vol. 1 with a young woman, "Master," and her dog, Haru, wandering a post-apocalyptic landscape. But, wait, the dog talks! I then switched to thinking it was going to riff on the fantasmagoria of Harlan Ellison's A Boy and His Dog, but no, this series really wants to be more Alice in Wonderland.

Now that Master is the last human alive, there is room in the world for aliens and cryptids to come out of the shadows and take up residence. So the duo wander about meeting such things as a chupcabra, a kitsune, a kappa, and even the occasional time traveler.

My main problem with the book is the way the story is told in pairs of 4-panel gag strips. Each page is its own moment in space and time, then the next page will jump scenes and introduce new characters. Slowly, over the course of the book, some of the characters start popping up again and again, but never enough to develop beyond being a means to sell the current joke. And a lot of jokes tend to be the leaden sort of pseudo-philosophical gags "Calvin & Hobbes" used to tell over dramatic sled rides down a snow-covered hill. Except here, there is no sled, just the lead.

On the plus side, there are lots of super-cute doggos and Master does cosplay poses for the chapter breaks. And a bonus story at the end breaks out of the gag-a-day mode and actually tells an affecting story that really spotlights how good the art is, making me wish the whole book had been told in this manner.

Still, I found the rest of the book a dull and tedious chore to read, and I immediately canceled my hold at my local library for the next volume.

In the book “Doomsday with My Dog,” we meet a Japanese teenager and a really cute Shiba dog. Together they roam the ruins of Japan after what appears to be the end of human life on earth. This incredibly illustrated book has a number of interesting stories in which the two characters experience life together. Throughout the book, the Shiba dog, always expressing his admiration of his master is her companion.

I did like this book a lot. I really liked the stories and found the book to be very fun but was not too crazy about the fact that the teenager could be mean at times. Because of this, I only give the book four stars. I really liked the dog and thought he had some really interesting perspectives on life. If you love graphic novels that deal with emotions or philosophy, this book should be your cup of tea.

A girl and her dog navigate a post-apocalyptic Japan, encountering a variety of animals and creatures--both real and supernatural--and ruminating on a variety of topics from philosophy to fables to pop culture. The graphic novel is not a linear story as much as it is a series of little vignettes.

The girl isn't the most likable protagonist--she's often selfish and has a mean streak--but the illustrations, especially of the dogs and other animals, are a delight. Haru the Shiba Inu is adorable, and he is joined by a variety of other animals ranging from cranes to tanuki. (I just wish the girl were nicer to them!)

Like the horror tales of Junji Ito, DOOMSDAY WITH MY DOG seems to be a bit more enjoyable for graphic novel readers who don't already have a strong affinity for "usual" manga (like me). Thankfully, a section at the conclusion of each "chapter" explains the traditional Japanese references that may go over the heads of Westerners. I also was greatly amused to learn that the "Flatwoods monster" of West Virginia became an unlikely beloved figure in Japan in the 1970s!

A teenage girl and her dog travel through the ruins of Japan following the apocalypse. The dog is somehow a philosopher and we don't really know much else.

Doomsday with My Dog is told in a 4-Koma format and is full color. The manga is pretty short page wise, but takes a bit longer to read than most other manga. I wouldn't recommend this title to everyone, but somehow it hit all the buttons for me. It's a quirky little book that tows the line between silly, fantastical, and profound. Definitely a niche book. Hopefully the next volumes are as good.

4.5 out of 5 stars

You'd think a story about the apocalypse would be sad, but it's not. It's not even necessarily bittersweet. While I wouldn't use terms like "heartwarming" or "charming," I will most definitely say that this is a very chill book, cute, and a lot of fun to read.

The adventures of Haru-san and Master are delightfully chill, the strange characters they encounter are really charming, and while there were a few moments that were surprisingly poignant, the story never got depressing. I can't wait to see what volume 2 is all about!

A cute, fun, and bizarre book that had a deeper message than expected.

I was expecting just a cute book full of adventures between a girl and her dog, but it became more than that. It showed a world where there was no need for any more humans, because it was simply just a girl hanging out with her dog.

I truly enjoyed this and I hope more people read it. It definitely isn't the best manga ever, but it was still thoroughly enjoyable. And that's all your really need, right?

DNF @ 50%

It had funny moments but I was hoping for a deeper story.

Pretty good! At times thought provoking, at others laugh out loud funny, and sometimes both at the same time!

The art style was cute, but the book couldn’t really hold my attention… I was mainly reading just to finish.

The ‘story’ is told in 8-panel comic strips. There isn’t any kind of consistent timeline here. It feels more like something that should be published in the Sunday paper or a webtoon than a book, in all honesty. I was expecting a much more consistent plotline, more like a traditional manga, and it definitely caught me off guard (and not in a good way).

Haru (the dog) is a sweet character, but “Master” (I don’t think we’re ever told her name) is kind of annoying.

I would have liked the book much better if it focused on actually developing the characters. The concept is there, the characters are there. However, the way the storytelling is approached leaves much to be desired.

If you’re thinking of reading this, it’s a pretty easy skip, unless you like comic strips.

This book was so fun and refreshing and I seriously loved all the little stories we got of Haru and his Master. I just love the concept of no humans in the world, random creatures showing up, insects and myths coming to life but the relationship between a dog and its Master doesn’t change.
Also I love how we never got told the “Master’s” name because to Haru-san that’s all she is, his master and he will forever be loyal to her.
Anyways this is just a very silly funny book and blue Haru is wayyyyy more intellectual than me.

A solid philosophical gag manga about a dog and his girl walking around a post-apocalypse Tokyo. Originally started as a webcomic but this collection still has enough to keep you interested. Easy to pick up and put down due to the 4koma format.

If you like dogs, especially shiba inu, then you'll probably really like this. My fave parts are the interactions between all the dogs, and the interactions with figures from Japanese tales (kappa, kitsune, etc).

J'ai grave pleuré :D

cute. once when you realize this started as an web manga, everything about it makes sense.

As someone who belives that one of the greatest things in life is ones connection with their dog this collection of short comics strips was humorous and heartfelt.

This book made me extremely happy and gratrful for my own furry friend so while it may not be a perfect book to everyone it worked really well for me.

In Summary

A post-apocalyptic four-panel comic series that’s at times philosophical, at times crude, and at times childishly silly, but consistently wonderfully drawn. There’s no overarching story arc, just a series of interactions with creatures – many of whom are fantastical – amid the ruins of civilization. Our main characters may look like a teenager and her dog, but they interact more like a comedy duo than a master and her pet.

The Review

All mankind has been wiped out, except for one 17-year-old Japanese girl. But that’s okay! Her Shiba Inu Haru remains as her loyal companion. Together, they traverse the ruins of civilization, encountering aliens, fox spirits, and other fantastic creatures along the way!

The thing to keep in mind about Doomsday with My Dog is that it’s not trying to be realistic. Conversations include quotes from real people and actual facts, but the destruction of humankind is never explained. Haru’s master survives just fine among the ruins of civilization despite not having any particular skills and effortlessly communicates with aliens, mythological creatures, and all animals, except for the gorilla who only speaks French.

The series is drawn in a four-panel format, with the majority of the manga strips presented in pairs. There’s no real arc to the series; comics are grouped into sections, but the section breaks serve mainly as places for the publisher to insert cultural notes. And because of the many references to Japanese products and folklore, there are a lot of notes.

According to the afterword, the creator started this manga on Twitter for the sole purpose of drawing whatever he wanted. And it does go all over the place. Our lone human mooches off a retired alien couple, catches all manner of creatures on her fishing line, and binges on alcohol. The content is predominantly philosophizing mixed with various types of comedy and reminds me a lot of the American comic series “Calvin and Hobbes.” Like Hobbes, Haru shouldn’t be able to talk, but he serves as his master’s chatty best friend, and the narrative swings from highly intellectual discourse to silly childish pranks in the blink of an eye.

Doomsday with My Dog, however, has an edgier tone than “Calvin and Hobbes.” It’s probably due to the apocalyptic landscape, but more because of Haru’s master. The 17-year-old is a former shut in. She’s impulsive and frequently thoughtless, which gives her a bit of a mean streak. Despite owning a dog, she’s more of a cat lover and doesn’t bother to hide that preference from Haru. She’s also quick to pinch Haru’s face when she’s annoyed by his remarks.

Haru, the other half of this comedy duo, is the quintessential loyal canine. Despite his master’s many faults, he’s utterly devoted to her. Most of the series’ philosophizing stems from Haru, so he comes off as the smarter of the two. Even so, he definitely retains canine impulses, such as the urge to flee from baths.

Illustrations are rendered in full color. The quality of the drawings are top-notch all around. The dogs especially are adorable, and Ishihara-sensei does an excellent job conveying their emotions. If you are a dog person, and especially if you like the Shiba Inu breed, you’ll probably fall in love with Haru.

Extras include the bonus story “Ten Years Later with You,” translation notes, afterword, and illustrations printed on the inside cover.

For more manga and book reviews, drop by my blog Keeping It In Canon!

This manga just hit right-- having just recently adopted a new dog after losing ours in the winter, loving manga that has purpose/heart/thoughtfulness, and frankly reading it before bed and on the cusp of a fancier birthday six months from now.

A girl and her dog, a Shiba with plenty of others making appearances but focused on Shibas and Akitas. Specifically the girl, who is never named is friends his Haru-san, the dog. It's the end-of-the-world apocalyptic times and they're walking around (a little like Alone by Freeman mixed with Girls' Last Tour, Vol. 1). But it's not necessarily survival but an enriching conversation that is philosophical, similar to The Alchemist or The Little Prince but with ADORABLE transitions between the chapters like when Haru-san is wearing bunny ears or when the girl is wearing an oversized tshirt and high socks. Each page has a "chapter title" focus and while it makes sense as a whole, it's more like vignettes.

For example-- a conversation between the girl and the dog companion--

"Supposedly, the richest moments of our lives are when we're staring into space, thinking about nothing. Why do I get the feeling that in the past I was always running from something? You know, I think you might be right about that, Haru-san. The idea of not doing anything makes us feel guilty or impatient, but that's what's strong. You're absolutely right, Master. The hours we enjoyed squandering weren't squandered at all, right, master? Long ago, in the era called Jomon people only worked for four hours a day. And it lasted for more than ten thousand years. Shhh, don't think right now. You're absolutely right, master. Whatever, just don't talk right now. Why do you get to talk?"

A young teenage girl wanders through a decrepit wasteland, void of civilization. She is alone, save for her faithful companion—Haru, a loyal Shiba Inu.

As she explores this wasteland and interacts with the few alien species that have found her ruined world, Haru keeps her company. He can speak to her and often gives her insight into humanity, reminding her of what matters most even in difficult times.

She’s alone but never lonely.

Perhaps the end of the world is easier to bear with a friend—a furriend—at your side~

So, this is definitely a cuter, more wholesome story than I was expecting.

Despite its odd premise, this series largely works because it’s told as a mostly humorous series of peculiar and bizarre events set against the backdrop of an apocalyptic event befalling earth—no details given. There are aliens and other cryptids that appear as well a slew of talking animals; it’s largely bizarre and surreal—which makes the series “work”, in a sense. I’m willing to suspend my disbelief.

Additionally, these humorous vignettes are often interrupted with insightful or heartfelt kernels of wisdom on the human condition.

At its core, this is clearly meant to be a cute but heart warming story.

That said, I can understand how some people might feel like the ending is too ham-handed. I appreciated the mystery of the narrative and the vague setting. I didn’t need any help in interpreting the tale—or, really, I didn’t want it.

Subtlety is, after all, an art though~

Anyway, I think most people would enjoy this cute, little heart warming story. Especially if you enjoy series with animals as main characters, you will immensely enjoy this one~

This is almost entirely NOT what I expected to read! To start with, the animals ALL TALK, and "Master's" dog Haru is curiously philosophical for what you might expect of a Shiba Inu! (or maybe that's EXACTLY what you'd expect—I don't know what you're like)

The book is a collection of four-panel comics, so a series of short jokes that are sometimes sequential narratively. Many of them are wholesome, about a dog loving his owner. Many of them are bizarre, like a random time-travel comic, or the girl playing Texas Hold 'em with aliens.

Probably the main drawback IS the complete disconnectedness of the "story." As the author notes at the end, the series was drawn as just "whatever I feel like posting on the internet," so there's by design only a nebulous narrative: Somehow the world ended, Haru's master is the only human left, and they wander wherever they want to, just because they can. It's an interesting read, but even as cute as it is, it feels incredibly samey throughout (despite everything).

Recommended for fans of gag comics (even though, the apocalypse!) and cute dogs!

Not a continuous storyline, more a collection of 4-panel strips following the sole human survivor of an unspecified apocalypse, a teen/twentysomething girl wandering Japan with her faithful Shiba Inu dog without any real purpose, having conversations with her talking dog and encountering various fictional beings along the way (homesteading aliens who look exactly like the one in the movie 'Paul', kappas, tanuki, kitsune, etc). There's no plot here, it's just semi-philosophical/psychological conversations interspersed with silly doings.
I generally don't enjoy vignette-style, plot-less manga like this, but skimming to the end there was a more serious-feeling chapter of an alternate universe (OR WAS IT???) of what might have happened between the girl & the dog if the world hadn't ended, and that was good enough to get me a little choked up.
Not my cup of tea, but might appeal to readers who don't want to focus on or stress over a storyline and would just like to mentally wander around like these two characters.

What if the last human on Earth was a former shut in who can talk to animals and now travels Japan with her pet dog?

This is the base premise, but instead of fighting for survival, trying to find others, or fixing whatever caused the world to end up like this; the two discuss philosophyand fables while meeting various animals and paranormal creatures and just doing whatever strikes their fancy.

At times lighthearted and funny while at other points profound, it is a thought-provoking book.

There's really nobeginningor end to the story, no ultimate goal or purpose, just the journey itself which seems to be the book's main message. Enjoying and making the most of the journey and those whom we travel through life with.

The last chapter was particularly moving, if not a bit bittersweet.

It's helpful to have some background knowledge of Japanese folklore and mythology, but even without this the end of each chapter has a short explanation of the literary works or pop culture references that were made, so it should still feel accessible to most people.

With a good dog like Haru maybe the near extinction of humanity is not so grim.

This book is a lot of hun with plenty of art that is not only nice but in full color as the mangaka really brings the end of the world to weird and wonderful life just as easily as they show their love for dogs throughout the book and even share strange little tidbits of information and regular translation notes throughout the book. For those that may be offended however I should point out there is some limited nudity/undergarment scenes and depictions of alcohol consumption in case that bothers any of you all.

Generally done in a 4Koma style of comics this series involves the (supposedly) last human in the world who happens to not only pick up the incredible ability to understand the language of animals such as dogs but also has the luck to meet unusual creatures including familiar green aliens. In general the tone of the book is pretty humorous with ever optimistic Haru and his master who is deliberately left unnamed as they experience life on a journey at the end of the world. The saddest part of the book is when the book takes on a different style in the story of "Ten Years Later with You" which really hit me hard having had my own beloved pets passing peacefully after living a good and loving life.

Ok, so there's no explanation for how or why the world ended, or why there's only one human left and it's this girl, or why she can talk to her dog and, apparently, other animals. I don't care. It's still a silly, cute animal manga with an unusual setting that lends to a lot of fun story ideas. There are tons of references to Japanese culture, so much so that there's actually notes after every chapter, instead of just at the end of the book, which makes it really rewarding when I actually recognized something. And then there's the "alternate universe" story, set in a world where the apocalypse never happened, and it seriously made me cry. It's really sweet and really sad, especially if you've had to let go of a senior pet in your time. The only thing I didn't love is that there's some nudity. It's non-sexual, but still a little gratuitous for me.

Surprisingly insightful and philosophical at times, especially for what I expected to be a typical cutesy-poo yonkoma. I definitely want to read more from this, because I found myself looking up some of these references to folklore and becoming super curious! :)

The background art and animals are beautifully and lovingly rendered. Pretty much my only complaint is a "comes-with-the-territory" style thing: at my age, I'm REALLLLLLYY over how common and prevalent the sexualization of young girls is, particularly in manga. I'd definitely say that is a personal taste thing for me, but it has been one of the biggest mental roadblocks for me in reading manga or watching anime again. Glad I pushed back on it, though, because this one seems more than worth it.

I don't know if it was the original writing or the translation (my guess is translation), but half the time I felt like the text in this was really hard to follow or didn't make much sense. (And no, it isn't my first manga by any means so that wasn't the issue.) After about 30 pages of scratching my head about the point I gave up. There were glimmers of something there occasionally, but I just couldn't get into it.

Notes on content (based on first 30 pages): No language issues that I remember, maybe 1 minor swear. One somewhat detailed illustration of the girl naked on the beach (more detailed than usual for manga). They mention that she's pretty much the only human left alive but didn't talk too much yet about what had happened to the others.

Vaikea tähditettävä, koska toiset stripeistä viihdytti enemmän kuin toiset. Tästä todennäköisesti saa myös enemmän irti, jos hiukankaan tuntee japanilaisten rotujen sielunelämää, sen verran osuvia ja todentuntuisia koiramaisimmat kuvaukset olivat. Kuten toisinaan mangan kohdalla, mietiskelin tahtomattanikin tätä lukiessa, kenen katseen kohteeksi päähenkilö oikeastaan on luotu ja olenko oletettua kohderyhmää, vai onko sellaista edes tämän kohdalla?

Noh, en tiedä miksi rupesin nyt näin vakavasti tätä pohtimaan — joka tapauksessa pidin koirista, hauskasta ja ei liian vakavasta filosofoinnista sekä kulttuurisista viittauksista. Kääntäjä on liittänyt mukaan selitysosioita, mistä suuret kiitokset hänelle.