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| Kerberos Saga | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Mamoru Oshii |
| Original work | While Waiting for the Red Spectacles (1987) |
| Owner | Mamoru Oshii |
| Years | 1987–present |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Works | See Release chronology |
The Kerberos Saga (ケルベロス・サーガ, Keruberosu saga) (originally the Kerberos series (ケルベロス・シリーズ, keruberosu shirīzu) or the Kenrō series (犬狼・シリーズ, kenrou shirīzu)[1] before at least 2004[2]), also known as Hellhounds overseas, is a Japanese dystopian science fiction political thriller media franchise created and owned by writer and filmmaker Mamoru Oshii with several of his friends who had already worked for Mobile Police Patlabor, particularly mechanical and character designer and RahXephon director Yutaka Izubuchi as well as writer Kazunori Itō (who would later adapt Ghost in the Shell for Oshii in 1995). Created in 1987, the Kerberos Saga spans several installments and works, including live action and anime feature films, manga, novels, radio dramas, soundtrack albums, and monographs, as well as diverse merchandise ranging from garage kit model figures to clothing to even Kerberos-branded bottles of wine.
The Kerberos Saga is set in an alternate history postwar Japan where Nazi Germany won World War II, eventually denazified, and occupied Japan, establishing authoritarian rule in the country. It primarily follows the Special Armed Garrison, nicknamed "Kerberos", a heavily-militarized counterterrorist police tactical unit operating in Tokyo, and their tense relations and interactions with their rivals, who range from anti-government terrorist groups to other law enforcement agencies and military units. A defining feature of the saga is its dystopian dieselpunk aesthetic and the "Protect Gears", Wehrmacht-inspired powered exoskeletons worn by members of the Special Armed Garrison, which were designed by Izubuchi.
The saga can be divided into two "story arcs": the "Kerberos arc", the main story that follows the Special Armed Garrison and the organizational politics and interservice rivalries that affect it, as well as the unit's downfall and the aftermath of the few surviving members; and the "Tachiguishi arc", a spin-off largely set in the same universe that follow the tachiguishi ("fast food grifters"), con artists associated with tachigui (立ち食い, "eating while standing up"), a type of Japanese fast-food restaurant or style of eating where patrons stand as opposed to sitting that, in the saga's universe, have been made illegal.