Kaede finally loses his virginity with his older girlfriend, Maria, but he becomes her dog in the process. After an unforgettable night, he's told to wear a chastity cage until their next date. (This is a remake of How I Became My Girlfriend's Dog, featuring the same characters and a slightly different story.)

NEW How I Became My Girlfriend's Dog has story and art by Umino Ryo. English translation is done by Umino Ryo, and lettering by Ashley D. Published by Irodori (April 8, 2026). Rated M.

Lucas DeRuyter
Rating:

Umino Ryo's NEW How I Became My Girlfriend's Dog is close to everything I love about small market comics wrapped up in a nice little package. A remake of Umino Ryo's How I Became My Girlfriend's Dog, this work shows off how much the artist's artistic and storytelling talents have improved since that initial outing. Furthermore, as this work focuses on the more niche kinks of masochism and pet play, this both feels like a labor of love from the author and something intended to be appreciated with a small number of like-minded individuals rather than a work whose primary goal is to appeal to a mass market. This is a work for people who enjoy being bullied by beautiful women and is seemingly written by someone who enjoys being bullied by beautiful women, and I love that manga as a medium is eclectic enough to support this kind of remake.

In NEW How I Became My Girlfriend's Dog, soft, smol, college boi Kaede has landed himself a tall, statuesque, older than himself, baddie named Maria. Their first night together doesn't go as planned, though, when Maria reveals herself to be a more domineering partner in the bedroom, forcing him to admit to having a masochistic streak and then “pressuring” him into giving in to those urges and submitting to her. While you could argue that pressuring Kaede into pet play, wearing a chastity cage, and anal brushes up against consent issues, it's clear in this narrative that Kaede does want to engage in this kind of sexual activity, but can't because of patriarchal and misogynistic baggage. This, of course, makes it all the hotter when his cool and more experienced girlfriend kicks down these psychological walls and forces him to embrace the fullness of his sexuality.

While the art in NEW How I Became My Girlfriend's Dog is a dramatic improvement over the original, with Maria having the energy of a fallen angel in her every appearance, the panels have a business and maximalism that can be a bit distracting while reading. I do need to shout out to Ashley D.'s translation, though, which absolutely understood the assignment and embellished the best qualities of this work. The line “make a mess out of me in bed” is inspired and will be rattling around in my brain for some time.

If you've ever once thought about being stepped on and either know or suspect that you would enjoy that experience, NEW How I Became My Girlfriend's Dog is for you!