Release Date: Oct. 6, 2013
Studio: Diomedea
Genre: Supernatural, Slice of Life
Premise: Shortly after the death of her mother, 4-year-old Makoto Saeki begins to see a silver fox spirit lounging on the roof of her family's shrine. Several years later, Makoto, now a high school student, has become something of a local favorite, working with Gin, the fox spirit, to tell people's fortunes and give them advice.
Verdict: A solid pilot from a simple premise. Studio Medea has primarily been known for its lighthearted harem fare, but their latest series seems to be going in a more serious, girl-oriented direction for them.
Makoto is your average high school girl, barring the fact that she and only she can see a gigantic talking fox with supernatural abilities. Gin, voiced by the incredible Shinichiro Miki, has served as the herald, or spirit messenger, for Makoto's shrine for 15 generations. Understandably, Gin approaches his responsibilities as herald with the jaded dutifulness of a veteran blue collar worker. It doesn't help matters that Makoto routinely uses his divining powers just to tell fortunes for her classmates. One such girl seeks Makoto out after a fight with her boyfriend. Makoto relates Gin's advice (apologize) but leaves out a key part (apologize humbly) and ends up making matters worse. Instead of owning her mistake she blames Gin, who subsequently departs the shrine in a huff. In his absence, things begin to fall apart for Makoto, and her client isn't the only one who's learned something by episode's end.
I could see this quickly turning into a series of after school specials, with each week bringing a problem that teaches a different moral, but I will stick around as long as the beautiful art keeps coming. The scene where Gin first summons his divining powers can only be described as majestic, and the shots of the shrines that the spirits call home are faithful depictions of classic Japanese architecture. You probably won't get any earth-shattering revelations out of a show like this, but the art direction is worth repeat viewings.
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