It’s a tale as old as isekai: a young man, worked to death at his job, has one final thought before succumbing to eternal slumber. “Ah, if I had another life, I wish-” Routa Okami thinks that it would be so nice to come back as a beloved pet, not as another corporate slave. Unfortunately for him a goddess thinks that being a mere pet isn’t enough, as Routa has been reborn as Fenrir, King of the Fen Wolves! But Routa doesn’t want that, he wants to be just Routa, the beloved pet of rich young girl Mary, and hopes that no one notices how beastly he has become lately…
The Light Novel
Since there are so many series where both the light novels and manga spin-offs are being licensed at the same time now, I’m trying something different and will be reviewing the first volume of both the original light novel and manga adaptation for Woof Woof Story. I ended up reading the light novel first, followed immediately by the manga, and I’m bemused that by this point we have a true isekai subcategory as “reincarnated as weird things.” I think Routa did quite well by not being reincarnated as say a sword or a vending machine, and he did end up being the pampered pet of a rich family so it’s not like the goddess in charge of his reincarnation was slacking — she was merely embellishing! The story is a bit more comedic than some other isekai tales, although I feel like in general the isekai of today have more humor in them than the ones of the early 2000s or 1990s, so this one might appeal to fans who want a non-grimdark isekai fantasy.
The Manga
One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that I tend to prefer the first version of a story I encounter and that was the case here, as I ended up liking the first light novel volume of Woof Woof Story more than the manga. I did find the art in the manga to be a little bland, it felt rather workman-like without any personal flair on Koikuchi Kiki’s part. Normally I look to the art in a manga adaptation to add to the story but it didn’t add anything here. Routa’s near-constant internal monologue was actually trimmed down in the manga so the reader is already losing a bit of context and not having it “added back in” using the tools uniquely at the manga’s disposal. There’s also the fact that a single manga volume simply doesn’t contain as much story as a single light novel volume, and it’s not coming out in English as quickly or frequently as the light novel, so I’d recommend the light novel over the manga in this case.
Overall
Overall this was a pleasant but ultimately forgettable story with a bit too much fluff. I definitely feel like some isekai stories are trying too hard to lean in too far in their “weird set-ups” (think the Pizza Hero light novel), but humor doesn’t work if all that you do is say “oh look! This is weird, look at how weird this situation is!” Woof Woof Story feels like it’s trying too hard to coast on that kind of superficial detail without putting in the legwork to hold up the story overall, and any bits of world-building feels like an afterthought to prop up Routa’s current problem.
The story also doesn’t seem to have a real goal in general. The characters are all pretty flat, and the female knight character was so annoying that instead of laughing at her I was instead sorry that she got stuck in such a mean story, and, I don’t want to say that there’s a harem situation going on with Routa but, even though he’s a dog there are multiple women who just seem to be a bit too interested in him. It’s also a situation where the leading character is male but almost every other significant character in the cast is female and yet they can’t really do anything without him which is always annoying (especially since this includes a world-class night and amazingly intelligent witch).
If this was going to be a one and done story, again like Pizza Hero, then I think I would have been more forgiving of Woof Woof Story but since it’s not, these first volumes just weren’t strong enough for me to want to make the time to follow-up with volume two and beyond. It’s another story that thinks it’s cleverer than it actually is and also isn’t as unique as it thinks either.