Can They Turn Into Jets?

In mixing my recent streak of Megaman posts with my persisting fondness for anime, here’s a Megaman AND anime-related post.

I recently obtained the “Rockman 20th Anniversary Design Book” (or whatever its official title is), and in it I found out that the big blue dogs from Woodman’s stage in Megaman 2, called “Hot Dogs” In English, have a different name in Japan.

In the world of Rockman, this dog is called “Friender,” which is a very obvious reference to another blue, fire-spitting robot dog, only this one isn’t from the wrong side of the tracks from the series Neo-Human Casshern and its remakes.

It’s kind of funny realizing just how many of those games from childhood before you discovered anime turn out to have taken inspiration from anime.

Hots Dogs

Perhaps she is the main character.

What if there was a Hot Dog Manga?

I went to Coney Island yesterday and helped myself to some Nathan’s Hot Dogs, the world famous ones you can get at any franchise but they are especially special at Coney Island.

Yakitate Japan, Addicted to Curry, La Sommeliere, there’s all this food-themed manga in existence, so what if someone decided to aestheticize and romanticize the world of hot dogs? And I don’t mean hot dog eating, as that’d be way too easy.

Imagine a scene where a character is explaining the source from which one person made his hot dogs, and in the background as he’s explaining it you see giant vats of pureed meat and meat by-products churning around. The background itself would have bold speed lines to show the power with which the hot dog mix is being churned. It would all look beautiful.

…Maybe this would work better if it was about sausage, as it would put the creation of the actual sausages into the hands of the characters. Maybe in that case one of the battles would involve hot dogs.

(And every year all participants would put all their dreams into winning the Sausage Fest).