Hoshi Mamoru Inu (星守る犬) (English title: Star Watching Dog[1]) is a 2011 Japanese film loosely based on the manga of the same name and directed by Tokiyuki Takimoto.

[2][3][4][5][6][7] In the middle of a camping field, an unidentified male corpse is discovered inside an abandoned van, with a dead dog body resting at its feet.

Using a few invoices and consume tickets found in the van, Okutsu and Yuki are able to locate some stores where Daddy and Happie spend some time before their death.

Now jobless, homeless and with little money in his pockets, Daddy decides to put all the stuff he has left inside the van on a road trip to southern Japan, with Happie as only companion.

Eventually Okutsu understands Daddy and Happie's life is a parable of the way as goes the people live, and comes to the conclusion that in the end, we all are like a stargazing dog, always dreaming a way to reach the impossible.

Unable to locate any relatives since Daddy intentionally destroyed all traces of his past, Okutsu decides to authorize the cremation of his remains as an unidentified person, and disperses his ashes around Happie's grave, so the couple can finally be together again.

The story is told from the point of view of the dog in proper chronological order, starting when the new born puppy is adopted and ends when he dies as an adult 9 years later.

Several secondary characters are silent on the manga, but they play a bigger role in the movie, providing Okutsu relevant information to reconstruct Daddy's life.