Gingitsune is a slice-of-life series that focuses on the ordinary (or slightly extraordinary) life of a girl, her Shinto shrine, a big God-messenger silver fox Gintaro and the people around her. There are plenty of heartwarming moments in here, and since anime is often condensed to fit in a short screentime, there are portions where the manga elaborates on much clearer. Otherwise, the story is as good as what you can find in its anime equivalent. It should be noted that a few chapters in manga are in different order as compared to its anime counterpart.
The art is rather clean-looking. While visually not as impressive as its anime counterpart, the artwork conveys the story and various emotions well. However, Gintaro's artwork may look off at times whenever his snout was not properly drawn.
The human characters are loveable, and the true highlight will be the anthropomorphic messengers/heralds of the shrines. They are rather original in design and also have distinct personalities that make them likeable and realistic. There are moments where you feel emotionally connected to the characters and root for them.
I enjoy reading this manga and also appreciate the little sections on shrine etiquette. Overall, the unique portrayal of divine shrine messengers in this Manga ensures that this will be a work to remember for years to come. My recommendation to anyone however is to watch the anime for Gingitsune first before attempting to read the manga. The first reason being that the manga is relatively obscure and the second being that the anime art is fantastic to look at and will help you to appreciate the manga better. Hopefully this may change sometime in the future since the anime was shown a while back.
Story: 7
Art: 7
Character: 9
Enjoyment: 8
Overall: 8
