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. 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 mechanical and character designers and RahXephon director Yutaka 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.
The Kerberos Saga is set in an alternate history 20th century. In this timeline, the United States maintained their policy of non-interventionism through both World War I and World War II, and the Empire of Japan joined the Allies of World War II instead of the Axis powers. In the Kerberos Saga's version of World War II, Nazi Germany manages to develop advanced technology during the war, most prominently "Protect Gears", heavily-armored powered exoskeletons that distinctively feature a Stahlhelm and a gas mask with glowing red lenses. These advances allow Germany to defeat the Allies, most prominently the Soviet Union by using the Protect Gears during the Battle of Stalingrad, and Japan through the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, the 20 July plot, when Claus von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler with a bomb during a meeting in 1944 (a failure in real life), succeeds, leading to a complete purge of Nazism from the German Reich and the restoration of the Weimar Republic, though authoritarianism remains dominant. A now denazified Germany occupies Japan and, by the postwar economic boom, shifts course in the occupation and sets up a new government called the "Weimar Establishment" (ワイマール体制, waimāru taisei) to modernize and globalize Japan, allowing it to take advantage of the growing economy. However, this also exacerbates class stratification and urbanization, leading to the growth of anti-government movements that often resort to terrorism.