Stories with spirits and humans from literature are always a fascinating tale. The concept of blending between the lines of fiction and reality can be an intellectual story to tell. Often times, fantasy literature brings elements of suspense, horror, and power struggles into stories involving clashes between spirits and humans. However, stories can sometimes be just simple and straightforward. Take Gingitsune for example. It’s a series that defines itself as a fantasy slice of life that is simplistic but yet charming, sensible, and alluring.
Gingitsune is an anime series based off of the manga of the same name written by Sayori Ochiai. The setting takes place
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in the modern ages but fuses it with traditional Japanese themes to transform it into a product of elegance. In such an age is a young child named Makoto Saeki, the only child and daughter of a widowed shrine priest in an Inari Shinto Shrine. She may seem ordinary but Makoto possesses a very special gift – the ability to see heralds. As a well-known phrase goes, “with great power comes great responsibility”, Sekai now plays the role of a girl that can change people’s lives. She’s not alone either because Gintaro, an anthropomorphic fox whom Sekai can only see, becomes her partner and guardian of the shrines.
As what it is, Gingitsune isn’t a horror story or vengeance with anguish spirits out to get back at humans. Rather, it’s a simple slice of life fantasy story that conveys the life of Makoto Saeki. More importantly is also the significance of character relationships. This is especially true earlier on as we get to witness how Makoto interacts with others, in particular Gintaro. The duo often works together because of Makoto’s circumstances of being unable to accurately tell fortunes. This is a problem as most Sekai priestesses are proficient in the art of fortune telling. Luckily, Gintaro serves as her helping hand as the duo are able to serve their roles with Makoto bringing many hopes and promises. As promising as the series goes, the story seems to be a bit slow at first. Most episodes focuses on specific events that can be simple as solving a problem to more complex issues dealing with human relationships. This is where Makoto comes in as her ways of thinking is beneficial with human knowledge. On the other hand, Gintaro comes into play whenever there is a supernatural problem that becomes more than what Makoto can handle on her own.
Because the series isn’t focused exclusively on an ongoing story or arcs, there can be some issues with pacing. It sometimes may feel slow further evidenced by its serene atmosphere. The way it presents the series is simple but yet offers a concept that can be captivating. Most of this is captured by character interactions. Makoto and Gintaro is an odd duo to get to know just by simple observation. Gintaro often finds Makoto as a nuisance and is indifferent about human affairs. However, there are various times when he truly cares for Makoto’s well-being and offers her useful advice. Makoto can be a bit argumentative with Gintaro’s actions or ways of thinking. Yet because a human and spirit relationship can be complex, the duo can work out problems collectively to protect and help the helpless.
As the series goes on, there are also other characters’ relationships and backgrounds revealed. This includes another prominent successor of the shrine, Satoru Kamio. The young man can be considered a prodigy especially in the arts of kendo. But unlike Makoto, he didn’t grow up in a very well treated environment. In fact, his childhood had people mistreat him and causes the young man to be isolated as who he is today. His closest friend and fox herald is an 80-year old being named Haru. Unlike Makoto and Gintaro, the relationship between Satoru and Haru can be quite one sided at first. Haru often cares for the well-being of Satoru, so much that it borders on obsession. (Typically involves members of the opposite sex) Unfortunately, Satoru seems to rarely respond in a way that can be deemed as appreciation which because of his stoic personality. It is not until later though where their relationship is more emphasized and viewers will get to see how much they develop. Relationships are also further explored in a realistic manner especially involving parents. We get to see how children respects their elders and holding responsibility of their future. They represent the future generations as comparisons are made throughout the series of how the new generation are similar to their ancestors.
A fantasy modern slice of life is not complete with its heralds. Throughout the show, other characters of supernatural nature shows up including dog-like heralds, turtles, or playful monkeys. There is a sense of comedy representing some of these characters that contrasts the usual vengeful spirits greatly. In essence, they also represents human characteristics such as Haru’s jealousy, the turtles’ humbleness, or the monkeys’ playfulness that of a child. It’s fun to see it from a more human perspective and how they compare as if they were one of us.
Comedy wise, the series is lighthearted and avoids crude or shock value. There’s virtually no fan service as it avoids the typical beach/onsen episode. Instead, it relies on natural humor with some sarcasm and gags such as Gintaro’s love of oranges. Also surprisingly enough, there is minimal romance that is often played out as a causal sense. Otherwise, most relationships are based on events from the past such as Makoto’s introduction to the series is when she was a young child. She witnessed the first sight of Gintaro that changed her life forever. With clever usage of flashbacks, it’s also easy to feel what the experiences the characters have gone through. It can create mixed responses but surprisingly can be pragmatic. Furthermore, some of these stories sends a message with a tag of morality labeled. Unfortunately for action junkies, there isn’t much intensity or rivalries going on throughout the series. It takes on the more slice of life approach rather than the typical ‘save the world’ trope. As a simple fantasy life story, this is what it should be.
Artwork wise, Gingitsune is easy to see visually. Human characters are designed to look human while heralds are colored with fantasy tones. The shrines are designed as being simple, realistic, and natural. There’s a sense of mystical atmosphere that the shrines also brings out that can make viewers wonder what goes on behind its history. It’s not a magic story but creates that atmosphere of innocence such as Makoto and Haru. The studio Diomedea is involved with the project that has a history involved with supernatural stories such as Nanatsuiro Drops, Squid Girl, and Sola. Here, they do their job with consistency to bring this fictional story to life.
Soundtrack is moderate with only some outstanding features. The OST generally remains the same with its serene tones. The OP song, "tiny lamp" by fhána works well but lacks any catchy moments that captures the essence of the series. There’s also hardly any notable characteristics regarding its ED song. But if we were to discuss voice acting, then Gintaoru’s VA should definitely be one to mention. Shinichiro Miki plays the role of Gintaoru with his talent that represents why he is a prominent voice actor in the seiyu industry. The way his character speaks out often comes with a sophisticated tone that combines elements of sarcasm, pride, and maturity.
I’ll admit, this show is not the type of anime for everyone. If you’re looking forward to a complex action fantasy with plot twists and struggles, then GIngitsune is the wrong show for you. Instead, this show fits more of a fantasy slice of life with dynamic character building based on relationships, past lives, and construction of friendships. Although it lacks a complex love polygon, the parental love that the characters presents is very realistic. The elements of fantasy and realism fused creates a line that blurs together creating a charming story. As relaxing the series can be, there are times when it feels slow paced or simply put…boring. But if we look carefully, it’s easy to tell that Gingitsune is nothing about saving the world or exorcising evil spirits. Not every fantasy story has to be about defeating evil. Gingitsune is about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Silver Fox
Japanese: ぎんぎつね
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
12
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Oct 7, 2013 to Dec 23, 2013
Premiered:
Fall 2013
Broadcast:
Mondays at 01:05 (JST)
Licensors:
Sentai Filmworks
Studios:
Diomedéa
Source:
Manga
Theme:
Mythology
Demographic:
Seinen
Duration:
24 min. per ep.
Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Statistics
Ranked:
#34692
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#2884
Members:
57,892
Favorites:
95
Available AtResourcesStreaming Platforms | Reviews
Filtered Results: 12 / 13
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Your Feelings Categories Dec 22, 2013
Stories with spirits and humans from literature are always a fascinating tale. The concept of blending between the lines of fiction and reality can be an intellectual story to tell. Often times, fantasy literature brings elements of suspense, horror, and power struggles into stories involving clashes between spirits and humans. However, stories can sometimes be just simple and straightforward. Take Gingitsune for example. It’s a series that defines itself as a fantasy slice of life that is simplistic but yet charming, sensible, and alluring.
Gingitsune is an anime series based off of the manga of the same name written by Sayori Ochiai. The setting takes place ... Dec 25, 2013
This is why I like animes, after getting thoroughly disappointed by watching something with excellent animation and music fall way beyond mediocrity due to lack of originality, unnecessary fan-service and a crappy sense of humor; getting angry at yet another butchering of a video game adaption into a utterly stinking pile misdirection and lack of effort; and laughing at a purely unrealistic and shameless attempt at seinen through yet again short skirt wearing superhuman schoolgirls, I get to experience a show like Gingitsune. This anime is not trying to achieve any new grounds and actually does not attempt at anything other than simplistic beauty, tries
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May 31, 2014
Gingitsune is one of those shows that feels "alive" in every respect. There's honestly no better way to describe it. From its general beauty to its inner world of provocatively enriching emotions, this show always has something to mesmerize you with.
Story: Keep in mind that this is a Slice of Life show, so the thing is that this is a story much more than it is an underlying plot. This is far from a bad thing; in all honesty, I find this show to be a very refreshing take on the Fantasy genre. For example, the rule that makes only one bloodline member possess "the ... Feb 12, 2014
To be perfectly honest, I thought at first that this anime would be headed into a great plot development, seeing the whole fox-spirit and shrine maiden theme, until I actually watched through the entire thing. I've seen a lot of people hype about this anime when it was clearly nothing special. Maybe it's just me, but I tend to dislike the whole slice-of-life type of anime. Gingitsune isn't that bad, but clearly nothing special. If you're looking for an anime that's completely calm and if you like the slice-of-life genre then it's worth checking out I suppose.
Story: 4/10 Call me strict, but there was nearly ... Nov 16, 2015
Gingitsune caught me at a good time, offering a bit of heartfelt drama and a relaxing atmosphere to take it all in with. Looking at the premise I almost skipped over this series entirely, mainly due to my personal bias against slice-of-life and how I usually see them as snore-fests where nothing really happens. In the end I gave the first episode a chance and my expectations were quickly surpassed.
What exactly caught me off guard? It would be the fact that the script and characters brought genuine life to the story, both subtle and meaningful. I’ve grown used to slice-of-life having little to no story, ... Dec 22, 2013
I finally decided to write a review, yay xD Hopefully somebody will read this incoming rant :P
Gingitsune revolves around a girl Makoto, who can see gods' messengers and a bunch of people around her, mainly her father, friends from school and Gintaro, the fox spirit that resides in the shrine where she and her father live. With Gintaro's power to see glimpses of the future and find lost things, Makoto tries to help anyone from their little community who comes to the shrine. Around the middle of the series, a boy named Satoru comes to live at Makoto's shrine. He can also see the ... Jun 15, 2020
I enjoy slice of life anime and elements of the supernatural, and Gingitsune delivered on both aspects. My favorite part of this show, and why I gave it a 10, is the relationships. The bonds between the characters were meaningful and authentic. There were scenes that made me cry they were so heart warming. It did a great job of showing what truly matters in life. I also enjoyed learning about shrine ceremonies. The artwork, especially the scene with the rainbow, was beautiful. The series made me feel warm, happy, and uplifted. Very relaxing show. If
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Aug 27, 2023
Reviewing after rewatching after a decade since its first airing. This show is heartwarming, simple and wholesome. Story revolves around Inari shrine, Makoto Saeki, the teenage girl, as the protagonist, doing her daily life mostly with Gintarou, herald, fox-like creature. Yes, she can see spirits since she was kid. The one that makes this show differs from other slice of life is they treated the minor characters so well. Even if it's not deep. Also don't forget the character development. As the story goes, the new herald appears and one human character as a main supporting character or should I say closest comrade. This show
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Jul 9, 2022 This is my second or third time rewatching. It's a very wholesome and pleasant anime. The montage of the scenery is beautiful, really makes me want to go out and appreciate the world. The characters each have some development that makes them endearing. I actually found haru-chan to be quite bratty in the beginning but she began to grow on me, and i'm sure if the anime were longer, we would be able to see her growth. The relationship between gin and makoto is very special and it was heartwarming to see it. I wish there were a second season that went into depth about kinjirou ... Jan 6, 2021
Just finished this anime, and I need to say, it is not the most brilliant, outstanding anime of my list, but it is not a bad one neither. There's no more plot than Makoto's (the MC) life, told through small stories every chapter (it has that style of mini-stories every chapter, without any important subplot).
The anime starts pretty "loose". The first chapter is kinda "you don't know these characters, but we are going to put emotional scenes, but you are not going to bat an eyelash with them" type (because, duh, you haven't developed any emotional connection with anyone). The second and the third chapter ... Jan 27, 2023
This is the most heartwarming and revolutionary anime since Steins;Gate, it might sound unbelievable to you reading this, but let me convince you with this in-depth review of the furriest anime in 2023.
This anime begins in episode 1, where we are introduced to the most complex character in this anime called Gingitsune, the fox youkai that lives in the shrine as a god's messenger, and the shrine maiden Makoto, who is also a high school student. She lives in the shrine with his dad who is s̶o̶ ̶h̶o̶t̶ so diligently working as another shrine maiden. This might look like an application of unpaid child ... Nov 26, 2017
I have downgraded this anime for a few reasons. There are some bright spots, but most of it is not very good in my opinion.
I liked the overall general idea that there are some temple people that can talk to temple gods. I thought that was a pretty cool idea and they probably could have done some interesting story elements with that. But alas! It is a slice of life and I feel that this anime doesn't really get started. For some slice of life, that is fine. Slice of Life is my favorite genre. But I felt like this slice of life was more character ... |