Gingitsune (ぎんぎつね lit. Silver Fox) is a fantasy slice of life Seinen manga series written and illustrated by Sayori Ochiai. It was serialized in Ultra Jump from 2009 to 2022, and compiled into 18 volumes.
Makoto Saeki is the daughter of a shrine priest in a small Inari Shinto shrine dedicated to the God Ukanomitama. Despite being the fifteenth generation heiress of the Shrine, she is living a good life after her mother died. However, she has an unusual gift when she met the messenger of the god Inari: an anthropomorphic fox named Gintaro, declaring her the successor. Gintaro can see a short glimpse into the future and find lost things despite being rude and unmotivated, but still developed 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.
The manga has sold over 1 million copies in Japan. An anime adaptation aired from October to December 2013, spanning 12 episodes and covering the first 3 volumes of the manga.
The anime is watchable on Crunchyroll
. Premium members worldwide except Asia may watch it, and other viewers may watch it free in the following areas: USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Central and South America, and Portugal.
Tropes present in Gingitsune:
- 12-Episode Anime: The anime roughly covers the first 17 chapters of the manga.
- 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Pretty much every car. Thankfully, it never gets in the way of the Scenery Porn.
- Bait-and-Switch Credits: The anime opening has a scene of Makoto, Satoru, Yumi, and Hiwako at a summer festival wearing kimonos. No such event or scene appears in any of the episodes.
- A Boy and His X: A girl and her divine fox messenger.
- A Minor Kidroduction: Episode 1 begins with 4-year-old Makoto meeting Gintaro at her mother’s funeral.
- The Ace: Satoru gets a lot of attention because he has even better grades than Hiwako, is very good at Kendo, and good looking. He's also a lot better when it comes to keeping the shrine clean and following rules than Makoto is.
- Broken Ace: However, people who don't know him don't tend to see his emotional isolation and virtually non-existent social skills. Additionally, the reason why he's so helpful at home is because he's afraid of being a burden.
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Gintaro does this with Makoto a lot. She’ll sometimes complain that he’s treating her like a child because of it. He starts doing it with Haru and Satoru later on.
- All Love Is Unrequited: The show has very little romance, with multiple examples of the Hopeless Suitor trope.
- Hiwako towards Tatsuo, Makoto's father. Yumi teases her about it when she discovers it.
- Shinichi Yoshizumi towards Hiwako. Aside from their ten year age difference, he also works for her father. In episode 8 he asks the gods to let him not fall in love with her to avoid the problems that would crop up if they were to develop a relationship.
- Seishirou, the Student Council President, who has a crush on Hiwako, although she doesn't notice it nor seems to care.
- In the manga there’s Kosugi, who has a crush on Makoto. He manages to get Satoru’s help introducing him to her, but he is hopelessly awkward around her.
- Also in the manga Satoru starts falling for Makoto who is totally unaware. Satoru steps back to allow his friend Kosugi to pursue her, but in chapter 74 she has a Green-Eyed Epiphany towards Satoru
- Affectionate Nickname: Makoto sometimes calls Gintaro "Gin".
- Alpha Bitch: Yumi initially comes off like one. However, she gradually warms up to Makoto and becomes good friends with her, and surprisingly didn't consider the other girls to really be her friends in the first place.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: Especially as she tells off her not-cronies, to stop harassing Hiwako.
- Androcles' Lion:
- The reason Gintaro is so loyal to Makoto; she looks just like the girl who gave him an orange when he was dying.
- Likewise Haru became loyal to Satoru’s family because his great-grandfather tried to save her when she was dying.
- Apologizes a Lot: Deconstructed. Satoru, because he grew up with guardians who made him feel like he was a burden for just existing.
- Asian Fox Spirit: Besides Gintaro there’s Haru, Kinjiro, and Otomatsu. In this universe, kitsune seem to start out as normal foxes who have died and then became heralds of the god Inari. Their fur becomes white and they become anthropomorphic beings that are Invisible to Normals.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Makoto and Gintaro disagree, bicker, and complain about each other, but it's clear that they care about each other a lot. Gintaro tells her the things she does don't really bother him as much as he says they do, they're both upset when Gintaro runs away after their argument, and Makoto tells him she loves him.
- Beast Man: Gingitsune has several types of humanoid animals that fit this trope. Most appear in the manga.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Yumi and Shohei are a couple yet they always seem to be arguing.
- Big Brother Mentor: Gintaro plays this role for Makoto. He later takes Satoru and Haru under his wing.
- Taisuke is a literal example. He has two younger siblings he gets along well with.
- Big Eater: Kozue, one of Makoto's friends. She is almost always eating, was rushed to the hospital in one episode when she got a stomachache from eating too much, and even says that her dream is to become a chef or a nutritionist.
- Bitch Slap: In the manga Yumi slaps Makoto when the fortune she told her doesn’t come true right away.
- Blatant Lies: In episode 6, Haru claims to be hanging out with Gintaro to keep him company while Satoru is spending time with Makoto and her friends. Gintaro pretends to believe this.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Haru is small and childish acts bratty towards anyone who isn’t Satoru.
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: What the hell, Mr. Saeki.'''Episode 3: I used to see a lot of turtles, especially on the street by the river. And when the cars hit them their shells would blow up like fireworks!
- Breaking the Glass Ceiling: The anime ends before Makoto decides what she wants to do after high school. In the manga she decides to become a Shinto priest like her father. While there are female priests in modern day Japan and her family anr friends are supportive it’s still a male dominated profession and all of the other priests who have appeared in the manga are male.
- Broken Bird: Haru explains that Satoru's afraid of letting anyone get close to him because of his experience with his family.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl:
- Makoto and Gintaro blend this trope with Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing.
- Makoto also has this dynamic with Satoru and patiently coaxes him out of his shell.
- Bystander Syndrome: Gintaro’s laziness often manifests as this trope. If it wasn’t for Makoto he wouldn’t lift a finger to help anyone.
- Central Theme: Shintoism and its place in modern Japan.
- Tradition versus progress.
- The loneliness of immortality and the briefness of human life.
- Childhood Friends: Yoshitomo and Tatsuo
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Makoto likes helping others no matter how mundane or inconvenient it may be. Gintaro is more reluctant but he ends up helping Makoto in her efforts anyway.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Haru to Satoru. She gets angry when girls tease him, and especially when they try to hit on him, such as Shouhei's sisters.
- Cocky Rooster: Watari and Gunji, who are both more aggressive and intimidating than most other messengers.
- Continuity Nod: In episode 5, it's mentioned that heralds sometimes run away when they are unhappy at their shrine, which Gintaro did in the first episode, Kinjiro did before then, and Haru did when she left with Satoru.
- Cuddle Bug: Makoto likes being affectionate with Gintaro and frequently uses The Glomp on him. There’s also a lot of Holding Hands.
- Cuteness Proximity: Makoto and Yumi are both like this.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Satoru's introduction in episode 4 shows that both of his parents died in a car accident. His grandfather then tries to raise him, but passes away shortly afterwards as well, forcing his aunt to raise him along with her two kids. Unfortunately his cousins and aunt are strict with him, and the former even boss him around, making him pick up their toys for them. As a result, he doesn't like living there, and moves out at the first opportunity. He also begs Makoto's father to let him move out after he's found a place to live in despite his guardians already giving him the money to help with living expenses.
- Haru was only a cub when she was hit by car.
- Gintaro himself has suffered a lot in his long life. He was originally an ordinary fox who was hit in the head with a rock by an angry farmer. The injury slowly killed him. After that he became a herald at the Saeki shrine where he watched all of the humans he bonded with die, and was eventually abandoned by his partner Kinjiro.
- A Day in the Limelight: Many of the episodes, especially after the introduction of Satoru and Haru in episode 4 ("Satoru and Haru").
- The turtle herald in episode 3.
- Episode 7 covers Shouhei's family shrine, and the two local heralds there, Fuu and Fuku.
- Episode 8 focuses on Hiwako and her father's assistant, Shinichi.
- Episodes 9 and 10 focus on Haru and Satoru, respectively.
- Debut Queue: The early episodes introduce a couple of new characters each time.
- The Defroster: Makoto. Just about everyone she’s friends with is someone whose heart she thawed.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Gintaro is a male version of this trope.
- Hiwako, who used to be stoic and cold, now laughs and has become a lot nicer to people. Seishirō has noticed this and likes the change.
- Satoru acts this way at first, but gradually warms up to Makoto and her friends after he realizes they're trying to help him to stop being so isolated.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Yuuko Saeki's funeral in the prologue. It thankfully doesn't last.
- Delicate and Sickly: Yuuko was this in life. Tatsuo says it was why she had to become a Miko because she would have put her health in greater danger.
- Dirty Old Man: Yoshitomo has a thing for high school girls and is not ashamed to show it.
- Yoshizumi is a downplayed example. He has a crush on Hiwako but he struggles with this because she’s both a teenager and his boss’s daughter.
- Divine Birds: There are bird heralds in the manga that fit this trope. Besides the roosters there are three-legged crows. All of them are sacred to the sun goddess Amaterasu.
- Elemental Powers: Some of the heralds display these abilities.
- Playing with Fire: Gintaro and Haru can create flames to divine the future.
- Blow You Away: Fuu and Fuku can control the wind.
- Light 'em Up: Gunji and Watari can create light. Mitsuki has power over moonlight.
- An Ice Person: Tetsuro can make it snow.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Satoru doesn't like that the other students call him Ouji.
- Expecting Someone Taller: Yumi says this almost word-for-word when first meeting Satoru.
- Extreme Doormat: Gintaro is a downplayed example. He wants everyone to think he’s a cold-hearted tough guy and he’ll put up a fight if Makoto tries to boss him around, but 9 times out of 10 he gives in anyway.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: Normal animals like dogs and cats can perceive heralds and tend to respond with fear and aggression. The heralds may not be evil but they are indeed supernatural.
- Eyes Always Shut: Yoshizumi-san and Makoto’s friend Kozue.
- Eyes Out of Sight: Kinjiro's fur always covers his eyes.
- The Faceless: Makoto's mother. In episode 11, when Makoto remembers her in a flashback and when she is shown in a family photo, her face is never shown. Averted in the manga where her face is revealed.
- Fat and Skinny: Gintaro and Kinjiro.
- Father, I Want to Marry My Brother: When Makoto was younger, she claimed to become her father's bride. She thought her father was joking, but Gintaro confirms it.
- Fiery Redhead: Kosugi is a Hot-Blooded member of the kendo team and The Rival to Satoru and he is the only character with red hair.
- Food as Bribe: Makoto frequently uses tangerines to make Gintaro obey her.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble:
- Makoto is Sanguine: Extroverted, cheerful, and people-oriented. She means well but sometimes struggles with empathy and being sensitive towards others.
- Gintaro is Melancholic: Introverted and brooding. More sensitive and empathetic than he lets on, but usually blunt and harsh.
- Satoru is Phlegmatic: Introverted and quiet. Polite, kind, sensitive, and empathetic towards others.
- Haru is Choleric: Extroverted, short-tempered, unfiltered in speech, often likes to make "in your face" insults.
- The Foreign Subtitle: Airs as Gingitsune: Messenger Fox of the Gods on Crunchyroll.
- Fortune Teller: Makoto is doing this in the first episode using Gintaro's ability to see the future.
- Freudian Trio: Subverted with Hiwako as The Spock (see Not So Stoic below), Makoto is The Kirk and Yumi is The McCoy.
- Friendless Background/Loner-Turned-Friend: Hiwako and Satoru.
- Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal: All the heralds are fully clothed.
- Except for the turtle, who is an Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal.
- The Gadfly: Yumi likes to tease people, especially her friends.
- Fuu and Fuku play pranks because they want to cheer up the humans who always seem sad (especially since there's a graveyard near their shrine) and also because they find it fun.
- Genki Girl/Keet: Fuku and Fuu, unsurprisingly as they're both monkey spirits.
- Gentle Giant: Gintaro is very large and imposing, but he's quite the Nice Guy too, and it often takes a lot to get him angry. Even then however, he doesn't seem to hold grudges for very long.
- Gods Need Prayer Badly: If heralds are away from their god’s shrine for too long they’ll disappear. Not only that but the shrine they left will fall to ruin.
- Good Parents:
- Tatsuo, Makoto's father, is quite fine with Satoru moving in, despite Makoto's initial protests about a non-blood related boy and a girl living under the same roof. He also doesn't get angry with the kids after they damage a couple of things at the shrine.
- Satoru's grandfather, who vowed to raise Satoru as his successor after the latter's parents died in a car accident. Unfortunately he too passes away shortly afterwards, and Satoru's aunt is a much worse guardian for him.
- Half-Identical Twins: The two monkey heralds Fuu and Fuku.
- Head Pet: Makoto puts the turtle herald on top of Gintaro’s head to transport him to a new shrine. Gintaro complains about this but doesn’t bother to remove the turtle at all.
- Heavy Sleeper: The two lion-dog heralds, Saimaru and Utamaru, who fall asleep a couple of times while talking to Gin and Makoto.
- He Is Not My Boyfriend: When Satoru and Makoto go out, several people assume they're dating and she has to keep telling people that he's just a friend of the family who happens to be living with them.
- Hidden Eyes: Satoru, a few times in episodes 4 and 5 when he has a falling out with Haru, and again in episode 6 when the girls try to force him to be more social. Later episodes continue this, as he is always struggling to hide his emotions.
- Honorary Uncle: Yoshitomo to Makoto.
- Hot-Blooded: Haru tends to yell quite a bit, partly because she's a fairly young herald (80 years or so, but compared to Gintaro's hundreds she's still fairly new), and partly because she doesn't think people take her seriously due to her extremely short height.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Gintaro and Makoto.
- Satoru and Haru. Satoru is apparently short for his age but next to Haru he’s a giant.
- Also applies to Gintaro and Haru as a duo. The former is huge even for a herald and the latter is tiny. Doubles as Little Guy, Big Buddy.
- Humble Pie: The first episode had this with Makoto. She and Gintaro had an argument because she was using his power for selfish reasons and acting like a brat when she didn't get her way. After realizing she was wrong, she apologizes and starts treating him with more respect. Also, Yumi tries to get back together with her boyfriend, but it isn't until she learns to be more humble that she is successful.
- Hypocritical Humor/Not So Above It All:
- Haru complains about being woken up by noisy kids visiting the shrine in episode 9, then starts cheering on the girls when they fight against the boys. Gintaro later complains about not being able to sleep through the noise and points out that Haru ended up being the loudest one.
- In the same episode, she criticizes Gin for liking tangerines. But then Satoru tells them that she likes creamed buns. Gin immediately jokes to her about this.
- I Am Not My Mother: Makoto knows she’s not like her mother and doesn’t react well when Gintaro unfavorably compares them.
- Identical Grandson: Satoru to his great-grandfather Seigo.
- Also implied with Makoto and the girl who gave a dying Gintaro an orange.
- Immortal Immaturity: Haru is eighty years old but she looks and acts like a child.
- In a Single Bound: Gintaro can jump extremely high, making it easy for him to lounge around on rooftops.
- Informed Attribute: Lampshaded. When the turtle herald says that since he regained his strength, he's able to speak more quickly, though Gintaro says he doesn't sound any different.
- Innocently Insensitive: Makoto falls into the trope most often with the heralds. Most humans are formal and polite with them, and respectfully use the “sama” honorific when referring to them by name. By contrast Makoto is overly casual with heralds. She grew up with Gintaro who didn’t mind her calling him “Gin”, and tends to treat other heralds she meets the same way without thinking.
- Another example is when she assumed that Haru was a male kitsune and accidentally offended her.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Makoto and Gintaro, a high school girl and centuries-old herald, though they've been together since Makoto was 4 years old. It's said that it's rare for an heir to be so young.
- Satoru and Haru also have this. Haru is much older than she looks, and Satoru first gained "the sight" when he was 5.
- Invisible to Normals: Heralds can only be seen by people with "the sight", which are usually shrine heirs/heiresses. Because of this, most people no longer believe they or the gods exist. This also becomes awkward when Makoto talks to them in public and people think she's talking to herself.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Gintaro, such as in episode 5 when he acts like he doesn't care about what's happened between Satoru and Haru and can't be bothered to help, though he's waiting for Satoru to realize that making up with Haru is something he has to decide and figure out himself and he does help find Haru.
- Yumi also starts out as this.
- Karma Houdini: Fuu and Fuku’s pranks cause a lot of distress (and sometimes property damage) for everyone around them. They get some scolding from Makoto’s group but are ultimately still allowed to continue on with no consequences whatsoever.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: Yumi, to the point that she’ll ignore her boyfriend in favor of a cat.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Gintaro is a fan of samurai period dramas. In a chapter of the manga an actor from the show he likes comes to the shrine, making him uncharacteristically excited.
- Lady Looks Like a Dude: Haru is not happy when Makoto assumes she is a male kitsune.
- Large and in Charge: Taisuke is the captain of the kendo team and also the biggest member.
- Late for School: In episode 1 Makoto wakes up late for school and misses the bus. Episode 2 begins similarly but she makes it to the bus just in time.
- Lightning Glare: Hiwako and Yumi do this twice in episode 3.
- Little Miss Snarker: Haru is definitely this trope.
- Love Triangle:
- Hiwako is implied to have a crush on Makoto's father, and doesn't seem to realize that both her driver/father's assistant and Seishirō are in love with her.
- Friends Satoru and Kosugi both fall for Makoto. The former puts his feelings aside so the latter can have a chance with her. However she ends up falling for Satoru but hasn’t told anyone about this yet.
- Luminescent Blush: Makoto and Satoru when asked if they are on a date. Hiwako when Yumi accuses her of having a crush on Makoto's dad.
- The Magic Goes Away: A major theme in the story first exemplified by the turtle herald’s situation, and later the monkeys. In modern Japan people visit shrines less and less, with some even being destroyed and built over. The number of priests who can see heralds is also dwindling.
- Mayfly–December Friendship: Any friendship between a human and a herald counts as this.
- Monster and the Maiden: Gintaro and Makoto are a great example of this trope.
- Haru and Satoru are a gender inverted example.
- In the manga there’s Tetsuro and Toko. Tetsuro is a wolf spirit with no specific shrine and Toko is his human companion.
- Miko: Makoto says being a shrine maiden will be her career.
- Mischief-Making Monkey: Fuu and Fuku fit this trope perfectly.
- Missing Mom: Makoto's mother is deceased.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: In the manga Satoru plans to go to law school so he can legally take back the Kamio shrine from his abusive aunt. She treats this like a huge betrayal.
- Moon Rabbit: Mitsuki the rabbit herald has the kanji for “moon” in her name and has some ability to control moonlight.
- Morality Pet: Makoto to Gintaro; she's normally the one who gets him to help out those who need it. It’s not that he lacks morals, though, he’s just lazy.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Makoto yells at Gintaro and tells him to leave after Yumi's fortune telling goes bad, partly because Makoto didn't give the full explanation. She then realizes how important he is, and goes back to apologize to him.
- Satoru realizes that he shouldn't have sent Haru away, and goes out looking for her.
- Naïve Everygirl: Makoto
- The Napoleon: Haru acts this way a lot, and is often Hot-Blooded as well. She thinks the others don't take her too seriously because of how tiny she is.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The little kids damage the dippers and one of the fox statues in episode 9. They then run off, but return later to apologize for it because one of the boy's grandmother told them that the gods would be angry with them, and that the fox spirits would eat them. Makoto's dad brushes it off, but accepts the apology since they realized what they did was wrong and promised not to do it again.
- No Name Given: The turtle herald is the only herald who is never referred to be name.
- Not So Stoic: In episode 6, Satoru gets increasingly angry as Makoto and her friends continue bothering (with his Hidden Eyes becoming more and more prominent) until he finally snaps, telling them all to shut up and hitting them over the head with his school workbook. Makoto reacts to this by laughing.
- Hiwako becomes much more openly emotional after her cold exterior cracks and stays broken in episode 2.
- Oblivious to Love: Hiwako is unaware that her driver Yoshizumi has a crush on her. She also rejects all of Seishirou’s advances, although this may be a case of Abhorrent Admirer.
- Likewise in the manga Makoto doesn’t know that Kosugi or Satoru has a crush on her.
- Ojou: Hiwako, who is the daughter of a politician.
- Open-Minded Parent: Tatsuo can’t see Gintaro or any of the other heralds, but he believes they exist and never doubts Makoto or Satoru when they tell him they’re there.
- Ordinary High-School Student: Makoto is this as well as a Miko.
- Orphan's Ordeal: Poor Satoru has had it rough. First his parents are killed in an accident. He is Happily Adopted by his grandfather but the old man soon dies, leaving Satoru with his aunt’s family. They treat him horribly and it gets so bad that he runs away from home. Things only get better when he moves in with the Saeki family.
- Our Ghosts Are Different/Our Spirits Are Different: The heralds are spirits of animals who have died. They are Invisible to Normals and are messengers to their respective gods.
- Pals with Jesus: Makoto has known Gintaro, the fox messenger of the god Inari, since she was four. They developed a very close friendship in that time, and other heralds are surprised by how chummy they are.
- Satoru and Haru as well.
- Perpetual Frowner: Gintaro always has a grumpy look on his face often while folding his arms for extra grumpiness. He does occasionally smile or laugh but by facial markings still make it look like he’s frowning.
- Pervert Revenge Mode: Sweet little Makoto punches Takami in the stomach for groping her butt.
- Pinky Swear: Featured in the opening and in episode 12. Makoto does this with Gintaro as they promise to be together forever.
- Platonic Declaration of Love: Makoto tells Gintaro this in episode 2. He reacts with a Luminescent Blush.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Makoto and Gintaro have been together since the former was only four years old and they’ve grown very close. Despite their bickering Gintaro says he’ll never forget Makoto and promises he will stay with her for the rest of her life.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Tatsuo. His friend Takami is like this as well when he shows up.
- Posthumous Character: Yuuko's death meant that she has passed "the Sight" down to Makoto. The former gets mentioned semi-frequently since Makoto was 4 years old and has trouble remembering her mother sometimes.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: The anime uses material from the first 17 chapters of the manga but cuts a few things out, adds a few things, and rearranges some events to fit within a 12 episode season.
- Precocious Crush: Hiwako is implied to have one on Makoto's father Tatsuo, and Yumi makes fun of her for apparently having a preference for older men. This is later confirmed when Hiwako falls for Tatsuo’s friend Takami.
- Present Absence: This trope applies to Yuuko Saeki. From the very beginning her memory weighs heavily on Makoto, who inherited the sight from her and wants to be a miko because of her. Yuuko also comes up often in conversations with Gintaro, Tatsuo, and Yoshitomo.
- Real Men Hate Affection: Zig zagged with Gintaro. The most he can muster up is an Affectionate Gesture to the Head to Makoto (occasionally Haru and Satoru). The only person he allows to initiate affection with is Makoto but he often complains when she wants to hug him or hold his hand. He seems to enjoy it anyway unless she’s being too rough or too clingy, in which case he’ll push her away.
- Really Fond of Sleeping: A natural extension of Gintaro’s laziness. His favorite sleep spots are on the roof of the shrine or next to the offering box. He always complains when Makoto or anyone else wakes him up, and if he really doesn’t want to do something he’ll pretend to be sleeping.
- Really 700 Years Old: Haru looks and acts like a child despite being over 80 years old.
- Gintaro is around 300 years old.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Makoto is the more passionate and excitable one while Gintaro is very laid back, lazy, and more level-headed.
- His partner Kinjiro was also a red oni to him, being more active and emotional.
- Also the addition of Haru, who can get very Hot-Blooded and Satoru, who usually keeps his emotions in check.
- Scenery Porn: The backgrounds have a huge amount of detail and vibrant color. The show also plays up Shrines and Temples and nature blended with modern architecture to maintain excellent visual variety.
- Secondary Character Title: Gintaro is the “Silver Fox” the title refers to but he’s not the main protagonist. That role belongs to Makoto whose Coming of Age and Character Development drive most of the plot.
- Secretly Wealthy: Yumi thinks Makoto's father was this in episode 11. He actually was supposed to inherit a local brewery business, but gave it up to marry Makoto's mother, a local shrine maiden, and became a priest instead.
- Seers: Gintaro and Haru are both able to see the future and relay their messages to their priests. Gintaro states that he doesn’t enjoy knowing the future because in his opinion Prescience Is Predictable.
- Seinen: Not kidding, Ultra Jump is a Seinen manga magazine. A lighthearted Slice of Life is unusual for Seinen.
- Senior Year Struggles: Makoto is only 16 but she and her friends frequently discuss topics like if they want to get married after high school and what jobs they want.
- Screw Destiny: When Gintaro predicts that a stray cat will die by the end of the day Makoto is hell-bent on preventing it. Despite Gintaro saying You Can't Fight Fate she succeeds, much to his surprise.
- She Is All Grown Up: Yoshizumi met Hiwako when she was a child. He’s become quite smitten with her as a teenager.
- Shipper on Deck:
- A couple of the girls at school wonder about this regarding Makoto and Satoru after the latter moves into her house.
- Makoto says Gintaro should make Haru his bride since she's a girl. Both of them immediately disagree, not wanting anything to do with the other.
- Shoo the Dog: Right after moving to Saeki Shrine Satoru tries to make Haru leave him, thinking it will be better for both them. When she refuses he yells at her to make her leave. He soon regrets this decision and makes up with her.
- Shrines and Temples: Most of the series focuses on Shinto shrines and episode 7 takes place mostly at a Buddhist temple that overlaps with a shrine.
- Sitting on the Roof: Gintaro and Haru can most often be found lounging on the roof of the shrine.
- The Slacker: Gintaro is very lazy and would rather lounge around the shrine than do any work.
- Sliding Scale of Shiny Versus Gritty: Primarily on the Shiny end, but there are a few select gritty moments like the turtle herald's shrine and lake getting destroyed for city development.
- Smoking Is Cool: Mitsuki the rabbit herald smokes a pipe.
- Snot Bubble: The lion-dog heralds, when they keep falling asleep in episode 3.
- Spirit Advisor: The heralds are all animal spirit versions of this trope.
- Spoiler Opening: Some of the characters shown don't appear until later, such Satoru and Haru, who are featured prominently but don't appear until episode 4.
- Stalker with a Crush: Seishirō, who goes up to Hiwako's limo and tells the driver to leave so he could take her home himself and tries to force him to reveal Hiwako's phone number.
- Stepford Smiler: Satoru smiles so Haru won't worry about him. He gets better though.
- Stoic Spectacles: Hiwako
- Talking Animal: The turtle herald is much less anthropomorphic than the other heralds, who are more of the Beast Man variety.
- In the manga there’s also crow heralds who look like normal crows but can talk like humans.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Fuku wears a red bow. Averted with Haru, who doesn't have any to speak of, so Makoto didn't realize she was a girl.
- They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: The two lion-dogs ask Makoto not to call them "Lefty" and "Righty", since those are their nicknames for each other, and they tell her what their real names are.
- Haru objects to being called Haru-chan due to being a herald and Haru-kun since she's a girl. Makoto sticks to Haru-chan.
- Those Two Guys: Most heralds work in pairs. The two lion-dogs are always seen together.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Gintaro loves tangerines, but will settle for oranges, and whenever Makoto needs to ask him for a favor, she gives him at least one. There's a flashback showing him as an ordinary fox and a woman giving him a tangerine.
- Haru claims to like fried tofu, though it's mostly due to not having tried anything else. Although it turns out that she really liked cream buns and is embarrassed by the fact. Gintaro teases her about it when he finds out, due to her making fun of him for liking tangerines earlier.
- Trickster Twins: Fuu and Fuku are constantly playing pranks on anyone who comes to the shrine.
- Tsundere: Gintaro is the more “tsun” type towards Makoto; he has a harsh exterior but he’s soft for her.
- Makoto herself is a “dere” type towards Gintaro. She’s usually sweet but she’s not above physically bullying him.
- Yumi is this with her boyfriend.
- Also Haru, who reluctantly becomes friends with Makoto and Gintaro.
- Unprovoked Pervert Payback: Yumi punches Shouhei when her skirt flies up, despite the fact that it was the wind that did it (actually Fuu and Fuku playing a joke).
- Urban Fantasy: The heralds make up a significant part of the human world whether said humans know it or not; however, the show is primarily a Slice of Life.
- We Are as Mayflies: Discussed in episode 3. Saimaru and Utamaru tell Makoto that human lifespans are very brief compared to a herald’s. This makes Makoto worry that Gintaro will forget her after she dies, but he gruffly denies this.
- Haru realizes that it's best to give Satoru some space to allow him to make friends with other humans because of this.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Hiwako barely sees her father, who is always working.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Gintaro and Haru are afraid of dogs. Justified because foxes naturally see dogs as threats.
- "X" Marks the Hero: Gintaro has an X shaped scar above his left eye. He got it when a farmer hit him with a rock.
- You Can See Me?: Fuu and Fuuku are shocked and delighted when they finally meet humans who can see them.
- You Remind Me of X:
- Gintaro compares Makoto to her mother, though usually he's complaining about how different she is from her mother.
- Satoru is compared to his great-grandfather.
