Gingitsune

Plot

Makoto Saeki is the daughter of a shrine priest in a small Inari Shinto shrine dedicated to the God Ukanomitama. When she was 4 years old, her mother died and she inherited an unusual gift called The Sight, allowing her to see the Shrine's Heralds. She met the messenger of the god Inari, an anthropomorphic fox named Gintaro, during the funeral, and he declared her as the fifteenth generation heiress. Gintaro can see a short glimpse into the future and can find lost things despite being rude and unmotivated, but still develops a good friendship with Makoto. As she is the only girl who can see the spirit, both of them decide to be a go-between for the gods and humans as they try to help those who come to the shrine.

Saeki Shrine

Makoto Saeki (冴木 まこと, Saeki Makoto)

Voiced by: Hisako KanemotoA true successor of the Saeki Inari Shrine. When her mother died before Makoto turned 4 years old, she gained the ability to see heralds, who serve as messengers of the gods. Makoto lives with her father Tatsuo and Gintaro until Satoru and Haru arrive to live with them as well. She is also known in her school for telling accurate fortunes albeit through Gintarō's help.

Gintarou (銀太郎, Gintarō)

Voiced by: Shin-ichiro MikiThe herald of Saeki Shrine, he appears as a huge fox that protected the shrine for 15 generations of successors of the Saeki family. Although seemingly laid-back and uninterested in human affairs, Gintaro actually cares a lot for Makoto despite his claims that she is annoying. He has a penchant for oranges due to his past where he was saved by a young lady.

Tatsuo Saeki (冴木 達夫, Saeki Tatsuo)

Voiced by: Toshihiko SekiMakoto's father and also the Saeki Shrine's priest. He does not possess the sight to see Gintaro, unlike his daughter and deceased wife as he was married into the family. However, he knows about Gintaro and hopes to be able to see him. He was born Tatsuo Toyokura, but adopted his wife's surname when he chose to become a priest instead of a brewer.

Satoru Kamio (神尾 悟, Kamio Satoru)

Voiced by: Kenshō OnoThe successor to the Kamio Shrine, he inherited the sight from his grandfather after his death since Satoru's parents died earlier due to an accident.. He was raised by some relatives who mistreated him and he was isolated from the others. He later moved away to stay at Saeki Shrine with Haru. He is popular with the girls in school and also proficient in Kendo. In the manga, he is shown to slowly take a liking to Makoto and has a rivalry with Nanami Kosugi.

Haru (ハル)

Voiced by: Ayumi FujimuraAn 80-year-old fox herald of Kamio Shrine. She was once a young fox who had been killed by a vehicle and her spirit followed Satoru's great-grandfather to Kamio Shrine and became a herald. She is very attached to Satoru and is jealous of any girl who approaches him.

Shinto West Public High School

Yumi Ikegami (池上 ユミ, Ikegami Yumi)

Voiced by: Chinatsu AkasakiMakoto's classmate who once seek help from her to resolve her relationship problem with Shōhei. She is laid-back but stubborn and also at odds with Hiwako's personality, but eventually she becomes close friends with Hiwako and Makoto after being invited by Makoto to stay at her shrine. She is interested to work in any jobs with animals.

Hiwako Funabashi (船橋 日輪子, Funabashi Hiwako)

Voiced by: Ami KoshimizuMakoto's classmate and also the vice-president of the student council. She is a model student who comes from a wealthy family which specialises in tea ceremonies. She used to be cold to others due to her strict upbringing but she changes after becoming close friends with Makoto and Yumi. She also seems to have a crush on Makoto's father.

Seishirou Kirishima (桐島 清志郎, Kirishima Seishirō)

Voiced by: Tomokazu SugitaThe blond-hair 3rd-year student council president. He looks like a foreigner as his grandmother was a British. He has also known Taisuke since they were in the same elementary school. He is obsessed over Hiwako.

Taisuke Kinukawa (絹川 泰介, Kinukawa Taisuke)

Voiced by: Yūki OnoCaptain of the Kendo Club with a big stature. He is bad at making tofu although his family owns a tofu shop. He recognises Satoru's efforts that he places on Kendo that he manages to stop him from quitting the Kendo Club.

Nanami Kosugi (小杉 七海, Kosugi Nanami)

Voiced by: Hiroyuki YoshinoMember of the Kendo Club. He despises Satoru over his poor attitude. He also seems to have developed a crush on Makoto.

Kozue Ashihara (葦原 梢, Ashihara Kozue)

Voiced by: Yō TaichiMakoto's classmate whose family owns an inn. She loves to eat and intends to be a chef or nutritionist.

Saki Suzui (鈴井 咲, Suzui Saki)

Voiced by: Ayaka SuwaMakoto's classmate. She is working part-time to save money to go into nursing.

Heralds

Kinjiro (金次郎, Kinjirō)

Voiced by: Kazuhiko InoueAnother fox herald and Gintaro's partner who left to parts unknown centuries before.

Saimaru (才丸) and Utamaru (歌丸)

Voiced by: Naomi Kusumi (Saimaru) and Yōji Ueda (Utamaru)Two old lion-dog heralds who live at a Matsunō altar behind the Shoubai Grand Shrine. Saimaru is 1500-years old and Utamaru is 1400-years old.

Kame (カメ)

Voiced by: Kanehira YamamotoA 300-year-old turtle herald whose shrine was destroyed and found a new home with Saimaru and Utamaru thanks to Makoto and Gintaro.

Fu (風) and Fuku (吹)

Voiced by: Sanae Fuku (Fu) and Kotori Koiwai (Fuku)Two 60-year-old young monkey heralds from an abandoned shrine inside Amabuki Temple who like to play pranks on humans.

Otomatsu (乙松)

The other herald of Kamio Shrine

Tamachiyo (珠千代)

Hama (波真)

Mitsuki (深月)

Nachi (那智)

Tetsuro (鉄郎 Tetsurō)

Other characters

Shohei Amamoto (天本 将平, Amamoto Shōhei)

Voiced by: Tomokazu SekiYumi's boyfriend and studies at a different school. He lives in Amabuki Temple and his father is the head priest of the temple.

Shinichi Yoshizumi (吉住 真一, Yoshizumi Shin'ichi)

Voiced by: Hirofumi NojimaHe is the assistant of Hiwako's father who takes charge in driving Hiwako to and from school. He is 10 years older than Hiwako and appears to have a crush on her.

Yoshitomo Takami (高見 義友, Takami Yoshitomo)

Voiced by: Hiroaki HirataTatsuo's childhood friend and a retired priest. He currently owns an Izakaya. He helps out Tatsuo with the shrine's Purification Ceremony every year.

Etsuko Toyokura (豊倉 江津子, Toyokura Etsuko)

Voiced by: Atsuko TanakaMakoto's aunt and Tatsuo's older sister. Her family owns the local Toyokura brewery. She helps out Tatsuo with the shrine's Purification Ceremony every year.

Touko Tsumugi (紬 十子, Tsumugi Tōko)

Manga

The Manga was first published as a one-shot manga by Sayori Ochiai back in March 2008 to June 2008 in Shueisha's Ultra Jump magazine. It was then green-lit into a full manga series by the author with its first chapter published in June 2009, compiling it into 11 volumes.

Audio drama

An audio drama of the manga is released in collaboration with Shueisha and Pony Canyon in 2010 under the VOMIC label. The voices of the drama includes Kanae Itō as Makoto and Toshihiko Seki as Gintarō.

Anime

The May issue of Shueisha's Ultra Jump officially announced the anime adaptation of the manga which was released on October 6, 2013. Diomedéa animated the series with Shin Misawa serving as the director, Hiroshi Yamaguchi as the series wrtter and both Mayuko Matsumoto and Naomi Ide as the character designers. Tatsuya Katou composes the music for the anime adaptation. The opening theme song "tiny lamp" is performed by Fhána and the ending theme song "Gekkou Story" (月光STORY, Gekkō Story, lit. Moonlight Story) is sung by Screen Mode. The opening single was released on November 23, 2013.

Video streaming site Crunchyroll also announced that they will stream the anime under the name Gingitsune: Messenger Fox of the Gods. The anime has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks.

Reception

Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network reviewed the complete anime series in 2015. While finding criticism in the awkward character animations, misplaced musical score in places and lack of cultural notes about shrines, Silverman praised the series for its charming and believable characters, elegant backgrounds with distinctive shrine designs and for being informative on Shintoism, concluding that "Gingitsune is a charming gem of a show. It isn't action-packed or even particularly continuous in terms of plot, but it is warm and cozy and worth a visit to the Saeki Shrine."