I watched this on YouTube as well (along with Ginga Densetsu Weed), and it was amazing. Has to be the best anime I've ever seen. It's intensely emotional and dramatic, and you will definitely get absorbed into the story and intoxicating dialogue. The style of animation, the excellent characterization, just the appearances of the characters--each aspect contributes to its unforgettable-ness. ;)

A lot of anime I have seen seems to lean two ways. Anime show type 1: giant plot-less drivel that is meant for selling the viewer something (i.e Yugi-Oh or Inu-yasha). Anime type 2: Shows that either are truly deep or at least pretend to be (i.e Wolf’s Rain or Ghost in a Shell). Silver Fang is different from most other anime, because it simply relies on great characters, and great story telling.

Most North-Americans have never heard of Silver Fang so let me enlighten you. Gin, a tiger striped akita pup joins a pack of wild dogs, who are hoping to defeat the demonic bear, Akakabuto. Gin leaves everything he has ever known, in hopes of finding enough dogs to defeat Akakabuto.

Even though this story is simple, it is excellent. Silver Fang does not constantly get caught up in moral dilemmas, nor is it an endless barrage of action. When I first started watching Silver Fang, I did not like Gin much. I thought he was to perfect, he never seemed to do anything wrong, but when I re-watched it, I noticed Gin made lots of stupid little mistakes. These mistakes showed flaw in his character, without slowing the show down.

But what really makes this show shine, is the secondary characters. There are over twenty characters in this twenty-one episode show, but I’d say about ninety percent of them are developed, and developed well. You care about these characters and when one of them dies, it hurts.

Silver Fang also has pretty good animation. The characters look great and so do the backgrounds, but there are often flaws in the animation (i.e clone dogs). The score, although not anywhere near Yoko Kanno standard, never detracts from the show, and is quite listenable on its own.

Even though Silver Fang was released in Japan, it gained its followers in Scandinavia. Unfortunately it has never come to the U.S or Canada, (and if it did, it would probably be severely edited for violence) but there many fan-subs out there. And I am sure anyone looking for this gem can easily find it, thanks to the generosity of other Silver Fang fans. I suggesting taking the time to look for this treasure, it is well worth it.

I watched this on youtube and I loved it even though it can get a bit gory at times (it is said this is one of the most violent animes of all time.) The story is easy to follow but can be complex if you come in half way but you soon get the hang of this.

I have to warn you though it can be upsetting for animal lovers as alot of dogs die but some die heroic deaths like that fighting dog (his name slips my mind.) So if you can handle gore, tragedy and friendship this anime is for you.

Oh and do keep with the first few episodes the dogs do start talking eventually.