Some time back I was changing the channels and stopped when I saw this cartoon airing on national channel TVes, it featured live action backgrounds of real locations in what definitely looks like Japan, but the animation was very much not anime, looking like Flash or a similar program and not really having the art style most anime do. From what I could tell of the half episode (?) that I watched, it was about a kid who dressed like a Buddhist monk (I think he was bald as well, or at least had very little hair) followed by a dog sized dragon who I think was a light blue-green color, and the series didn't seem to be action based, considering the whole conflict they had was solved by just talking to the people in the town united before a place with a door. Time it was made is just totally unknown to me as the channel cuts just cuts the credits of its shows, and they've aired a couple of 70s anime like Mazinger Z and Marco, but as I said earlier the animation was very Flash-like so I'd say it can't be from before that became used for cartoons. Despite being a local channel they air foreign programs as well so I say it could be imported. This has been bothering me for some time since I only caught it that time and never again managed to see it, so I'd appreciate if anyone knows something that could help.
The realistic backgrounds and flash characters sounds like the cartoon Kappa Mikey:
However it doesn't match the characters designs you described, maybe there could be some supporting or minor characters with those, but it's been forever since I've watched the show and I don't have enough time to watch it.
Sadly I don't think it's that, as aside from the super hero costume boy, the art style of it is very different from what I remember, ironically enough it's too anime-ish compared to what I'm thinking.