My Life as Inukai-san's Dog (Japanese: 犬になったら好きな人に拾われた。, Hepburn: Inu ni Nattara Suki na Hito ni Hirowareta; "After I Became a Dog I Was Picked Up by the Person I Like") is a Japanese web manga series written and illustrated by Itsutsuse. It was serialized in Kodansha's Magazine Pocket website from August 2020 to March 2022; it also started in Shōnen Magazine R in September of the same year. It moved from Magazine Pocket to the Suiyōbi no Sirius and YanMaga Web sites in March 2022. It also moved from Shōnen Magazine R to Monthly Magazine Base in January 2023, and finished in July of the same year.
An anime television series adaptation by Quad aired from January to March 2023.
Contents
Characters
Pochita (ポチ太)
Voiced by: Shūichirō Umeda
A high school boy who suddenly finds himself turned into an Akita Inu puppy. He is taken in by his classmate Karen Inukai, on whom he has a crush, and lives together with her as her pet. Although he wishes to be turned back to human as soon as possible, he cannot resist the charm of living his life as Inukai's dog. Later on in the series, he gains the ability to change between being a dog and a human.
Karen Inukai (犬飼 加恋, Inukai Karen)
Voiced by: Saya Aizawa
Pochita's classmate when he was a human. She encounters Pochita on the street and takes him home with her. Even though she is usually cool and expressionless, she is a dog lover and likes to have skinship with Pochita.
Mike Nekotani (猫谷 ミケ, Nekotani Mike)
Voiced by: Mayu Sagara
Karen's childhood friend and Pochita's neighbor. She does not like dogs and is afraid of Pochita.
Usagi Tsukishiro (月城 うさぎ, Tsukishiro Usagi)
Voiced by: Yurie Kozakai
A girl attending the same school as Pochita. She likes to tease him when he was a human, but secretly has feelings for him.
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Itsutsuse, My Life as Inukai-san's Dog started in Kodansha's Magazine Pocket website on August 2, 2020. It also started publication in Shōnen Magazine R on September 20 of the same year. The manga stopped running on Magazine Pocket on March 17, 2022, and was later transferred to the Suiyōbi no Sirius and YanMaga Web sites. On January 20, 2023, the series was transferred to the Monthly Magazine Base website after the disbandment of Shōnen Magazine R. Kodansha has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. Nine volumes were published between November 9, 2020, and July 14, 2023; the series' last chapter was published online on July 18, after the release of the ninth volume.
Anime
In March 2022, it was announced that the manga would receive an anime television series adaptation. The series was produced by Quad and directed by Takashi Andō, with Hisashi Saito serving as visual director, Kazuaki Morita designing the characters and serving as chief animation director, and Tatsuya Kikuchi composing the music. It aired from January 7 to April 26, 2023, on Tokyo MX, BS11, and AT-X. The opening theme song is "Gyakyū Fuwaku Fraction" (逆境☆不惑☆フラクション), while the ending theme song is "Let's Go My House!!!" (レッツゴー・マイ・ハウス!!!) by Saya Aizawa, Mayu Sagara, and Yurie Kozakai. It ran for 12 episodes, with additional original video animations bundled with the first and second Blu-ray Disc volumes of the series.
At Anime NYC 2022, Sentai Filmworks announced that it had licensed the series, and streamed it on Hidive. Medialink licensed the series in South and Southeast Asian territories.