Director: Takahashi Tohru (Majutsushi Orphen
Revenge)
Writer: Machida Touko (Amensia,
Allison to Lilia)
Main Cast:
Oozora Naomi as Fushimi Inari
Kuwashima Houko as Uka no Mitama no Kami
Character Design: Takashina Yuka
Music: Senoh Takeshi (Himawari!,
Aria the Animation)
The final show of the Winter 2014 season is Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha. It doesn't get more Japanese with this, as it's a show about a girl (Inari) who gets transformation powers from a fox god at the largest Inari shrine in Japan. She gets these powers because she's a nice girl, who helped a fox cub that was about to fall into a lake. Said fox cub turned out to be a familiar of the Uka no Mitama no Kami, a god who grants Inari's wish to look like her classmate, who she thinks the boy she likes is crushing on. When she wants to turn back, she finds out she can't, but the Kami circumvents this by giving her the power to transform into any human. Hilarity ensues.
Except, that isn't sarcastic. I may not have been grabbing my sides with laughter, but I was at least smiling at the antics of Inari's transformation adventures. First off, she has some fun with it, giving herself a magical girl-esque transformation phrase and pose. Second, the show doesn't go for the cheap jokes like having her transform into a girl with giant tits and grope herself. Or when she turns into a boy, she doesn't check her pants. What's sad is that's my expectation for anime humor these days. Back to the actual show, the other big thing that charms me about this show is the main characters. Inari is a perfectly likeable female lead. She's a middle school girl with a boy she likes who has been thrust into a strange situation, and acts fairly reasonably. As for the Kami, she has become smitten with visual novels, and a couple of the male protagonists thanks to a gift from the human world she recently received. And she really cares about Inari, wanting to help her when her wish goes awry, instead of being cruel to her saying "well, I granted your wish!"
 |
| "So... cute..." |
Other gods, as portrayed in the show, are less kind to Inari. Her transformation powers don't come without notice from the higher gods in the Japanese pantheon. And we get to know these gods when Inari is challenged to not use her transformation powers for a day, or else she'll end up in Japanese heaven learning how to control her powers, and Kami will be married off to one of her lecherous divine suitors. When Inari uses her power to help a friend, only after being harassed and forced into the situation by the less savory gods, the main goddess, Amaterasu, shows some mercy and lets her stay in Japan. And she lets Kami stay single with her cadre of fox spirits. All in all, the plots are never super heavy, but they're fun little watches that feel like something to relax with at the end of a day.
And I feel there is room in anime for shows like Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha. It isn't striving to be the next big thing, it just wants to entertain and put a smile on my face. To that end, it succeeds. It just goes to show that something as simple as a cast of good characters doing something is fun. And this one comes with a small bonus, that Inari's older brother can see the spirits too. Now, why would that be? I don't know, but I'm giving this one a pass so I can find out and have a good time along the way.
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