Fuji/Riki?

[laia92]

Ok, I admit it: i never, never understood this couple. Actually, it doesn't even seem a real copule. We never see them together; when Daisuke told Fuji that Riki is dead, she didn't seem worried for him; Riki never thought about his mate, neither in his last moments.
I know when Gin was leaving from home, Fuji told him he is similar to his father, and when Riki, in episode 20, healed from his amnesia, a (little) picture of Fuji appeared, but these scene are anime-only. In the manga, Fuji never spoke about her mate, and the picture of Fuji didn't appear in Riki's memories.
So... do you think these two dogs actually loved or cared for each other? Or were they simply forced to mate by their owners (Gohei in particular, considering he needed other dogs to train)?

(...sorry for my English)

[Kit]

A Finnish fan may be able to correct me or shed more light on this, but I believe the GNG profile book "Meteor Gin" mentions that Riki had bred with several females and sired several puppies. One of Gohei's dogs at the very beginning of GNG - Aka - was said to be one of Riki's sons from another litter.

So while it's possible that there were special feelings between Riki and Fuji (Ginga portrays loving husband/wife relationships between the dogs sometimes, after all) nothing is really confirmed or denied, and Riki's bloodline was apparently being spread around through other females, as well. It does seem like the anime tried to give off a more romantic vibe that wasn't present in the manga, though.

[The Kirbeard™]

I always sort of assumed that Gohei bred his own hunting dogs, seeing as all of his dogs are somehow related. I never really considered Fuji and Riki to be an actual couple, the humans just bred them because Gohei needed a dog to succeed Riki in the future.

[GOREHOUND]

It's been awhile since I watched or read the start of GNG so forgive me if I'm wrong.

I never felt there was much connection. Fuji never really seemed concerned with Riki, just her pups. I feel like it was a breeding out of necessity rather than them liking each other any.