#tosa

Tosaaaaaa!! Yes, I’m aware of them! Admittedly don’t know that much about them (Mastiffs in general are probably the type of dog I know the least about, despite having a Mastiff-adjacent breed 😭 Oops), but from what little i’ve read they seem like really cool dogs!

Here’s a little temperament blurb from the AKC website, for those curious:

“The Tosa's temperament is marked by patience, composure, boldness and courage. He is normally a tranquil, quiet, and obedient dog, with a calm but vigilant demeanor. With a stately manner and robust build, they were formerly bred for fighting, but are now used as watchdogs.

The Tosa is quietly affectionate with his own family, but may be somewhat aloof with strangers. This breed is also, by nature, watchful of other dogs and may react aggressively to dogs it considers intruders. Overtly aggressive behavior towards humans is uncharacteristic of the breed.”

Which like… yeah, i’m also kind of surprised they’re not more popular! You’d think a huge laid-back watchdog would be right up a lot of folks’ alley. I’m sure the fighting history and possibility of DA play a part but… I mean, people love Bull Terriers, Dogos, Akitas, etc despite having similar qualities and/or histories 🤷

Anyway, my favorite thing about these guys is the fact that one of the breeds used in their original creation was the Shikoku-Ken. Like what do you MEAN that adding a bit of Mastiff to this:

Made THIS???:

I'm not very happy with the anatomy in most of those drawings, but they are already finished (nearly all of them) and it would be a waste of time not to post them. This time it's very "Westlanders"-full.

1. Scaring the newcomer. Damaja, as a big Barbary lion, can surely be very intimidating - especially when you are a irresponsible, fun-seeking coward like Jua. The black maned approached him silently, without any word or sound, piercing the golden male with his green eyes and towering above him. Tosa saw the scene from afar and rushed to the new pridemate's help. 2. More of Jua. As written before, Jua might look kind-hearted and harmless, but his recklessness has caused a lot of pain to other people. He goes around breaking female hearts, and when he gets to the Westlanders, he targets both Busara and Maela. He seems to understand it is not welcome, but the rejection wakes awful ideas in his mind. The scars on his face are obviously a consequence of it and happen after this scene. There is a spoiler at the end of this description if you are interested what happened! 3. Manesha, a little bit older as in the last picture, taking his first lesson as the healer's apprentice. The blue feather's don't appear in all pictures, as Damaja gets them later in his life. 4. Nyesha scolding Damaja. This was to depict their big argument, which lead to these two finally finding common ground - but in my head the scene looks totally different and would probably take more than one picture to show. Also the character's anatomy is off and I'm angry. Grrr. 5. Kii from her new character sheet.

6. Simba doing a blep. Simblep. 7. Random design. Simba (c) Disney Nyesha, Tosa, Busara (mentioned), Maela (mentioned) (c) @Ki-Re Damaja, Jua, Kii and artwork (c) @MadKakerlaken

Since Kaiji and Endou have official dog-sonas by FKMT, I randomly doodled one for Kurosaki too. Kaiji’s a mutt and Endou’s a Schnauzer, so I had to think: hmm, Kurosaki is… A Tosa!

amagi(santa)

akagi(santa)

kaga(santa)

tosa(santa)

shinano & musashi