Have you ever wondered about shrine maidens and what sort of importance do they have in Japanese culture? Shrine maidens or miko if you will, are supplementary priestess that are trained to perform shrine rituals such as cleansing and sacred dances. Well, in this anime, it seemed to suggest that this particular shrine maiden has a special gift. Makoto Saeki, successor of the Saeki Inari shrine, has the sight to see the shrine’s herald it houses. Can you guess what is the herald at the shrine? Yep, it’s a silver fox called Gintaro.
It appears that every shrine has a pair of heralds. Makoto’s shrine houses the silver fox whereas other shrines may house a different herald such as a lion-dogs, turtle, monkeys. But it’s almost always a pair. Why? Unfortunately, this anime doesn’t really explain it, so I can only guess that the story behind that would eventually be revealed. Gintaro’s other partner had disappeared a long time ago leaving behind the shrine. The why and repercussions of that absence is beyond me. You may think, what in the world is this anime all about then? Well, it doesn’t entirely focus on the heralds unfortunately. Its main focus appears to be on the slice of life of the people with this gift of Sight.
Makoto isn’t the only one with the sight, although it is a rare and important gift. In a family, only one may inherit the sight. When that person dies, the gift is passed along to the next successor and it could skip a generation too. Besides Makoto, one other character that holds this gift is Satoru Kamio, a boy who came from the Kamio Shrine. His shrine happens to hold silver fox heralds as well. And one particular herald sticks to him and is a “young” one of 80 years old. Heralds live to over thousands of years if not longer. As I have mentioned earlier, this anime seem to be focusing more on the the life surrounding the characters with the gift of Sight. Although Makoto and Satoru share the same kind of gift, their life and upbringing were totally different. Makoto’s life was filled with love and laughter surrounded by friends and a father who dotes on her. For Satoru however, his parents died leaving him behind with his relatives who mistreat him. As a result, he adopts a quiet and anti-social personality. Out of desperation however, he one day chose to leave his family shrine to come live with Makoto’s family. Makoto befriends him and soon, he experiences life like never before. 
Although this anime is kind of bland for me, but I couldn’t help but continue watching it just to see how their life unfold. The heralds don’t really have any big role other than being a messenger between the people that worships the God it serves. Gintaro seems to be the only one with some sort of power and that power is of divination. Grouchy but patient with Makoto, it lives day to day just lazing about on roof of the shrine.
The manga created by Sayori Ochiai, first published back in March 2008 in Shueisha’s Ultra Jump magazine and later serialized into a full manga in 2009. It is still ongoing at volume 10. Even though the anime ended after 12 episodes, I still have high hopes that it would continue on to a second season. There are still some questions left unanswered after all…
chokocat 