-----
There're some Mamoru Oshii book lists on the Internet, but they don't have detailed explanations about the contents. My Mamoru Oshii book collection is far from complete, but I'd like to write some short summaries for each of those books.
I apologize in advance for grammatical errors and misinformation.
-----
title: 犬の気持ちは、わからない 熱海バセット通信
(Dogs' Hearts Are Mysterious: Basset Hound News from Atami)
release: 12/12/2000
publisher: Enterbrain
[contents]
Basset Hound and me
Oshii family members list
1996
1997
1998 & 1999
[review]
This is Oshii's essay series serialized in a pet magazine called "wan".
The story begins in the middle 80s. Oshii and his wife were living in Tokyo. However, he had one dream in those days, or I should say he had a "delusion". According to this book, Oshii was a dog in his previous life. He likes smelling something. He likes eating outside. He likes using bathrooms of unfamiliar buildings. And thus, he was a dog. After he realized that "fact", his enthusiasm for dogs began to grow. He wanted to get a dog no matter what.
In those days, he didn't have enough money to get a new house and dogs. He was sidelined due to Angel's Egg's failure.
In 1986, however, he became a director of an epochmaking project, Mobile Police Patlabor. He was unpaid in the first OVA series, but the royalty was finally paid in the first movie. Patlabor series was loved by the 80s otaku people, so the home video package sold well. Oshii finally got money for the downpayment. They moved to Atami and got their first dog. That female basset hound was named "Gabriel" by Oshii.
Later, they got another crossbreed dog. Oshii named him "Daniel".
It's an essay series purely about dogs, so it doesn't tell much about his anime. He just writes about dog shows, veterinary clinics, etc. I enjoyed this book so much, but I don't recommend it to normal anime fans. It's for hardcore Oshii enthusiasts.
I randomly picked some anime-related parts.
[a conversation with an animator]
"A weird dog is on the tugboat. What is it?"
"It's obviously a basset hound."
"Why is it there?"
"She notices a weird thing in the next cut. When she looks up, an attack helicopter appears and..."
"That's cliched."
"What's wrong with a cliche?"
"I don't say it's wrong, but why does it need to be a basset hound? It doesn't fit a tugboat."
"The shipowner loves basset hounds."
"That's silly."
[another conversation in a different anime]
"I have an idea about this cut."
"What idea?"
"I want to put a dog next to the main character."
"What kind of dog?"
"Well, how about a basset hound?"
"Basset?"
"Yes, a basset hound."
"That's weird. Why a basset?"
"Well, it's a stray basset hound."
"Do you really think there are 'stray' basset hounds?"
"Do you think that's weird?"
"Absolutely."
"But it's okay."
"What. Do. You. Mean. By. Okay?
"I mean, even Hitchcock shows up in his films! We can at least have a basset hound!"
"That's another matter entirely."
"Anime creators don't even get a chance to meet a beautiful actress. We deserve a little treat like a basset hound!"
"But that's weird!"
"You think so?"
"Yeah."
"Then, how about this? The main character looks up at a bridge in the next cut. She sees a basset hound on that bridge."
"As I said, there is no stray basset hound..."
"Put some old lady there. She owns the dog."
"So, you need to do it by any means?"
"Yes, I prepared tons of reference materials for you."
"Okay... I'll draw it."
"She flicks her tail, like a stick."
