A Manga by Satoru Noda

You really do not see many manga centered on ice hockey, which is kind of surprising. Maybe the sport just is not that popular in Japan, but considering there are successful series about volleyball, badminton, horse racing, and even American football (which I know is not popular in Japan), it is wild that hockey has not received much attention. Then again, basketball was not especially popular in Japan until Takehiko Inoue created Slam Dunk!, which sparked a massive surge of interest in the sport thanks to his deep knowledge and obvious love for the game. Slam Dunk went on to become a cultural phenomenon, with enormous manga sales, a hit television adaptation, and even a successful feature film. Maybe we are on the cusp of something similar with Dogsred, a newer hockey manga by Satoru Noda, who is best known as the creator of Golden Kamuy. The series began serialization in Weekly Young Jump in July 2023 and follows Rou Shirakawa, a once promising figure skater whose Olympic dreams collapse after a personal tragedy, leading him to Hokkaido where he reluctantly becomes involved in competitive ice hockey. Noda apparently played hockey when he was younger, and his enthusiasm for the sport clearly comes through, which makes this project especially exciting.

“After winning the national championship, 15-year-old figure skater Rou Shirakawa was on his way to the Olympics. But with his mother’s tragic death on his mind, he threw it all away in an outburst of rage. Banned from figure skating, he and his sister move to Hokkaido. When he meets some local kids at the skating pond, they convince him to be a stand-in player for their soon-to-be-disbanded hockey team. The team has never won a game, and they’re up against the local champs—but if they’ve got to go down, they want to score at least one goal before it’s all over. Rou hasn’t got a clue how to play ice hockey, but he sure knows how to skate!”

I have recently become a big fan of my local minor league hockey teams, and aside from watching Shoresy, I was hoping there was more hockey media out there. Stumbling across Dogsred on the Shonen Jump app felt like perfect timing. Surprisingly, Dogsred is somewhat of a remake/relaunch of Noda’s earlier, cancelled ice hockey manga Supinamarada! (2011–2012). That original series was discontinued after six volumes due to poor sales, but after Noda’s later success with Golden Kamuy brought renewed interest in his work, he revisited and expanded the story he always wanted to tell with Dogsred. In contrast to the historical adventure and intense survival themes of Golden Kamuy, Dogsred leans into character-driven sports drama with a dash of comedy as the popular genre is often structured.

At the beginning of Dogsred, Rou Shirakawa immediately stands apart from many typical shonen sports protagonists. He does not fit the familiar mold of the small, overlooked underdog constantly doubted by everyone around him but fueled by pure determination. That archetype is actually closer to a side character like Nobuto Dohi. Rou, by contrast, is a pretentious, hot headed perfectionist. He is not as unlikable as that description might suggest, but his personality creates a refreshing dynamic compared to series such as Haikyu!! and Ahiru no Sora, which more closely follow the traditional underdog formula. He honestly feels like the late series addition that adds a secret weapon to the team’s arsenal – think Keenan Thompson’s character in The Mighty Ducks 2, who uses his unorthodox “knuckle puck” to turn the tables on the game. On a second thought, I guess in volume 1, Rou Shirakawa IS that character for Miyamori Junior High as he is brought in for the last game simply to allow the team a chance at just a single point in a disastrous season, before following the characters to high school – we just never get to follow that team through the rest of the season prior to that game.

Rou also carries a mysterious past. In volume one, the reason he abruptly quits figure skating is not fully explained. What we do know is that he was a top level competitor who suffered a tragic personal loss. After delivering a dominant comeback performance, he suddenly “crashed out” in spectacular fashion, destroying part of the competition set, causing significant damage, and effectively getting himself expelled from the sport. Why he did that remains unclear, and that lingering question is more than enough to keep me invested in what comes next.

In volume one of Dogsred, which spans seven chapters, we get the fundamentals done right. There is a strong introduction to the primary cast, including early rivals who clearly feel like long term fixtures. The stakes are present but restrained, pushing the story forward without forcing an early climax. At the same time, several compelling questions are planted. What happens now that middle school is ending? What becomes of Rou’s former figure skating rival, who keeps trying and failing to lure him back to the ice? If that obsession continues, could it eventually drive him into hockey so the two can compete on equal footing yet again?

Much of the volume also teaches the reader the rules of hockey in a humorous way that feels very reminiscent of Slam Dunk!. Rou is thrown into the sport wearing his grandfather’s fifty year old equipment with no real understanding of the game beyond the fact that he can skate VERY well. Predictably, he spends a great deal of time in the penalty box. He is called for infractions like traveling with the puck after assuming he can simply carry it because he once saw someone stop it mid air. He commits slashing and hooking when he uses his stick to trip or fight opponents. He even gets called for high sticking after wildly swinging his stick over his head. Each moment is played for comedy, and his grandfather, seated behind the penalty box, becomes the perfect in story explainer, calmly walking Rou through the rules as he breaks them. It is an organic and clever way to educate both the protagonist and the reader without slowing down the narrative or having characters talk in unnatural ways.

The art style in Dogsred feels refreshing if you appreciate unconventional character designs, though I can easily see it being divisive for some readers. Nearly every character has an extremely expressive face, often defined by exaggerated eye shapes or sharply stylized eyebrows. It is likely a practical choice so readers can distinguish players once they are fully suited up in bulky hockey gear, but it also gives the series a distinct visual identity. I cannot think of many manga that look quite like it, aside from Noda’s earlier work on Golden Kamuy.

The backgrounds are detailed and grounded, and the action scenes are dynamic while remaining easy to follow. Noda is not an especially flashy artist in the traditional sense, but he elevates the hockey sequences with a strong sense of motion and physical impact. You can feel the speed, weight, and intensity of the sport on the page, which is exactly what a series like this needs to succeed.

As a casual fan of both sports manga and ice hockey, Dogsred has been a genuine treat for me and has pulled me further into the genre than I have been in quite some time. It has that same spark and cast of endearing, high energy characters that could translate beautifully into an anime television series if it ever makes that jump. With Satoru Noda’s story now sitting at seven volumes and counting, and nearly enough chapters for ten as of this writing, there is certainly plenty of material to support an adaptation.

I will be diving into volume two soon, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that this series eventually crosses mediums. It feels like the kind of sports story that could really take off if given the chance.