“Inari is true to her own feelings. If asked between studying and visiting Uka sama’s shrine, she would not hesitate to rush to Uka’s side. Though she often speaks with tears, I have never doubted her affection. Yet what if the choice was between godhood and humanity? To choose one would mean abandoning the other. She would come to despise herself, whatever her choice. I cannot force her to make such a decision. And yet…”
This quote is from a game called Fire Emblem Blazing Sword, where I altered the sections pertaining the characters because I felt it fits Inari’s situation incredibly well. It also immediately gives a deeper sense of duty and guilt, which both play a significant role in the story.
As I prefer to look at anime and manga objectively, I will try to limit my personal opinions to the enjoyment section, but my love for shrines, foxes and accompanying folklore may be more obvious than intended. To make this review more complete, because there are some things I need to mention, I will go into spoiler territory. But only at the very last section, marked with spoiler tags, so enter at your own risk.
---- Story ----
Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha is a story where the characters truly make the difference. Inari rescues a fox and arrives late at school. To add insult to injury, she is paired with the boy she loves (Tanbabashi Kouji), but embarrasses him at PE by being clumsy and pulling his pants down. Ashamed, she tries to apologize to him later, but discovers that Tanbabashi likes another girl from their class, Sumizome Akemi.
Inari is summoned by Uka no mitama no kami (abbreviated to Uka here) and in exchange for rescuing Uka’s fox, she is allowed one wish. Inari wishes to be Sumizome because she is envious of her. After realizing being someone else isn’t going to help her with her live and love, she asks to be changed back. Uka sama breaks a goddess rule by giving Inari a part of her own divine power, which is the main introduction to the story.
Having divine power comes with its own problems and Inari will find out the hard way. This manga is rated seinen and probably for the reason that some of the backlashes feel quite heavy. This story doesn’t pull any punches and puts Inari into difficult situations, some of which could be prevented by not using her divine power. Not as heavy as Ashita no Joe for example, but you start to feel genuinely bad for Inari and many others because of how affected they are by their mistakes.
There are many ups and downs, tears and laugther, love and broken hearts in this story. And all equally important for the story. I will not break them down into detail, but I will mention some important parts in the spoiler section.
My only complaint is that, even though a lot happens in each chapter, it all feels quite slow. I understand the build up at the start, because it is hard to feel bad for someone you only know for five minutes, but all relationship and love related problems are resolved incredibly slowly for a 50 chapter manga, even for the supporting characters.
----- Art -----
The art is amazing and complements the story and setting superbly. The research Yoshida has done and photographs she has made of shrines are implemented smoothly in her own light hearted and heartwarming art style. Light strokes on the pages and just enough detail in background trees, shrine ornaments and school environment to make them obvious without taking the focus away from the important aspects in each panel, usually the characters. It all feels calming, while a slightly darker tone is used in some heavier and more dangerous situations such that the suspense can be felt on the pages.
In a manga where the characters are the most important, it is hard to consistently have them express what they feel at any point in time. But Yoshida has excelled in that aspect without falling back too much on simple chibi faces. The facial details are expressive enough to tell what a person is feeling. Enough so that sometimes the text felt unnecessary, rather than complementary. It is not just Inari or Uka, but every character that has received the same amount of detail, up to some stray cats bickering with the shrine foxes. Never a wrong expression and most characters are recognizable. My personal exception being Tanbabashi and Touka. Both of them have the same bland black hair and a similar face, which sometimes made it difficult to tell them apart. Touka is taller and has slightly narrower eyes, but up until about halfway through the manga, I had to consider the circumstances to know who’s who.
Morohe Yoshida seems to be experimenting with her drawing style pertaining jokes. It may be an evolution or adaptation of the concurrent popular manga style, but it feels like she is trying out some new gags and silly faces. At least they are not overly part of the story and often a single panel, so it can easily be ignored. Comedy isn’t the main focus of this manga, but it helps alleviate some heavier feelings by cracking a quick smile. Usually because Ootoshi no Kami (Uka’s brother) keeps making weird faces whenever someone praises Uka and he thinks they want to keep his sister for themselves, as the siscon he is.
----- Character -----
Let me just skip how the characters look, because I have already explained that in the Art section. Every character is here for a reason. Not a single side character shows up only once. The most lovable characters are of course Inari and Uka, but even the mascot foxes and the silly characters like Ootoshi play a significant role that only they can play. Be it comedic relief or whispering consoling words into your ear. The different love rivalries, study difficulties and extra-curricular activities all give room for character improvement, and boy do they use it. Even the beach episode was used for character development and telling each other secrets. Yeah, I don’t even know why there was a beach episode, but it wasn’t to show off sexy characters like Uka sama. You would have to read more ecchi manga for that.
There is only so much I can tell without going into spoiler territory, so take this at face value and just believe me if I say that every character has their own difficulties and tries to overcome them in their own way. Whether or not they succeed, you have to find out yourself. ;)
----- Enjoyment -----
Now for the more subjective part. I received this manga at the MAL Santa gift exchange, but I could have found it myself if I had searched for foxes, inari or shrines and divine powers. I like shrine maidens and oh boy did I like it. I liked Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha so much that I deliberately read other manga, just to savor this one longer. But all things must come to an end, so here we are, writing a review the day after I finished it. Apart from maybe the first couple of chapters, I was hooked and couldn’t let go. The story is written such that it doesn’t need cliffhangers at the end of each chapter to continue reading and the art is smooth, fluent and a lust for one’s eyes. Just like the characters. Most specifically Uka sama, who acts like a mother figure and is a beacon of hope for many while acting spoiled in a secluded environment. It shows that gods can behave like humans too, which made her even more lovely. Inari is envious of Sumizome, but the more you get to know her, the more you like her. Honestly, if you dislike a character here, you probably are in the wrong mood to read this.
----- Overall -----
There are many things the author did well, like the story, art and characters. Even subtle humour that is not shoved into your face like some other comedy shows that rely on gags and weird faces (looking at you Dr. Stone). My small dislikes were the slow development and… uh… that’s it. Oh yeah, two male characters somewhat looking alike.
The art is fluid, lively, and vibrant and didn’t focus on unnecessary aspects. There was never too much going on in the same page or panel and the characters drive the story, accompanied by expressive faces. After a bit of a slow start, you gradually fall in love with the characters and experience nearly the same emotions they feel. You feel bad when all goes wrong and relieved when two people love each other and get together, even if they are supporting characters.
The story is captivating after a slow start, the characters gradually improve despite their bickering and the art supplements it gorgeously. The comedy is subtle and alleviates some tense moments without taking away all the suspense. Honestly, this is such an underrated manga. It deserves more recognition!
----- Spoiler section -----
There be spoilers below, if you want to stop reading, I advise you to scroll back up NOW.
Spoilers start here!
The synopsis gives a small part of the story by stating the introduction. But just giving Inari a divine power isn’t quite what the story promises. There is so much more behind it. By having a divine power, Inari finds out that using it doesn’t always result in good endings, both short term and long term. The biggest role in the story is that Inari doesn’t just receive a divine power from Uka, they share their divine power. Meaning that if one of them uses it, the other feels their power being drained, resulting in them spacing out or fainting in the worst case scenario. This has big consequences and Inari must eventually choose whether to steal the divine power from Uka or have it taken away and never be able to see Uka or other gods again. Let me just tell that this is not at the end, but rather around halfway through the story, so there are other big developments that I won’t spoil even here. Those are the things one must find out themselves, because the emotions felt at those moments are different for everyone.
