Dogs are often considered to be man's best friends, but perhaps it's time to think of them as manga's best friends, as well.

Love for dogs is a common theme of two manga series: “;Guru Guru Pon-chan,”; being published stateside by Del Rey, and “;Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs,”; published by Viz.

'Guru Guru Pon-chan'

Girl meets boy; girl falls in love with boy; girl rides roller coaster of emotions cultivating relationship with boy—it's a formula that has worked well in numerous romantic shoujo (girls) manga series. Everyone loves a heartwarming story about true love, after all.

Manga artist Satomi Ikezawa ups the ante in “;Guru Guru Pon-chan,”; making her lead female character, Ponta, a dog.

But Ponta isn't just the Koizumi family dog; she's also a human, albeit one that retains many of her doggy qualities whenever she transforms. That's thanks to a creation by eccentric inventor Yasuke Koizumi called the “;Guru Guru Bone,”; a chemically enhanced bone that can turn dogs into humans. Ponta nibbles on the bone, turns into a small, naked girl and immediately scampers off, none the wiser about her new form.

It's when she almost gets hit by a car in that human form that she meets her savior and eventual love interest: Mirai, the most popular guy at school. She's smitten by his dashingly good looks and vows to become human so she can meet him again—never mind that (a) she already has the means to transform but doesn't realize it yet and (b) as one of her dog friends tells her, “;A love between dogs and humans can never be.”;

Nine months (and another awkwardly naked moment for Ponta in her human form) pass before everyone realizes what is going on—just enough time, for Ponta to conveniently age enough in dog years to appear to be around the same age as Mirai. In short order, Ponta learns how to harness the power of the Guru Guru Bone to maintain her human form, dress in human clothes, fit in at Mirai's school, and even speak in human language. Sure, she also fetches thrown objects when she isn't supposed to and runs off to chase cats every now and then, but it's impossible to completely change old habits.

As for Mirai, he knows Ponta's secret. Despite early misgivings about being known as “;the guy who does it with dogs,”; he eventually finds himself falling for Ponta. This sets the stage for the typical romantic shoujo manga plot, where the core couple constantly finds itself under attack by rival would-be lovers determined to split the relationship.

What keeps this series from falling back on tired conventions, however, is the fundamental truth that Ponta never was meant to be a human; she's a transformed dog. The fact that the story is told largely from Ponta's perspective makes it all the more charming. But there's also just one Guru Guru Bone, and its powers are certain to wear off over time. Watching all of this play out is heartbreaking yet compelling, and certainly well worth reading.

'Inubaka'

Suguri Miyauchi, the 18-year-old heroine of “;Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs,”; may not be a dog transformed into a human like Ponta, but she certainly could have been a dog in a previous life. She's eternally cheerful (albeit a bit naïve) and has an uncanny rapport with dogs, as evidenced by how they often do what's called a “;happy pee”; every time they see her. She also wears a dog collar around her neck, a reminder of the time a dog saved her life when she was younger.

With little more than her dreams and her mixed-breed mongrel Lupin, Suguri leaves her countryside home and ventures out to Tokyo to start a life independent from her parents ... but soon finds herself abandoned at a rest stop just outside Tokyo.

Fortunately, she meets Teppei Iida, manager of a Woofles pet shop branch in Tokyo, at that rest stop. Unfortunately, they end up meeting after Lupin sees Teppei's dog Noa, runs over and immediately mounts her. Through a series of twists and turns, Teppei eventually takes pity on Suguri and ends up hiring her as his newest sales clerk.

Teppei's goal is to match good owners with good dogs, and the owners that he and Suguri find form an extended family of sorts in the series. Characters like Chizuru, a young woman who works at a hostess bar to pay back medical bills incurred to save her Chihuahua, Melon; and Kim, Teppei's Korean friend who overcomes a dog phobia to own his own dog, keep showing up at different points in the story.

This all plays out in a style that seems a bit melodramatic at times. The dogs are either innocently cute or worthy of feats that make Lassie look rather pedestrian by comparison, while the owners are either saints or in need of some sort of correction that will turn them into saints.

The series easily could have been renamed “;The Manga Guide to Dogs”; without anyone being the wiser, what with all of the attention to detail artist Yukiya Sakuragi lavishes on the illustrations on dogs and her characters throwing around trivia facts about different breeds and dog care tips.

Still, it's a fun series to read. Granted, it's not a series for younger readers; “;Inubaka,”; originally serialized in a seinen (men's) magazine in Japan, has several pandering shots of women in their underwear. But for mature audiences—and particularly dog lovers—it comes highly recommended.