Literature / Britsune Garden Series

This series revolves around various original species (Britsunes, Sylvaninus, Floralies, Sakanyas, and most recently, Chochinekos), as well as various Youkai, and their fantastical, magical lives throughout an easternized Britain and coinciding with a fictitious British Royal Family (known as the Reiwa-Windsors).

This series started in June 2019 by Corgipon. However, its first novel started much later in the year and eventually well into 2020.

List of arcs

• The first novel currently in the works, though its first five chapters are already published on Wattpad, is simply known as Britsune Garden. It focuses on Malorie, her adoptive “aunt-sister” Hana, and her grandmother Queen Lilie as they discover more about the once-secluded civilization of the Igiriko and the dark force that threatens their grounds.
• An upcoming novel called Britsune Garden II Whispers Of The Highlands is set to begin its publishing in 2021.

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This series provides examples of:

• Action Girl: Many of the female Senshi are known to be very competent.
• Adults Are More Anthropomorphic: Gijinka are born quadrupeds (resembling their animal newborn counterparts but twice as big and with a head of humanoid hair) and are able to walk on all fours at toddler age, but as they grow and age up their legs slowly morph into resembling more of a human’s, and they can walk on their hind legs by school-age. By adolescence they complete their gradual transformation.
• Animal Motifs: Foxes, foxes, and more foxes. Unlike in real life, the setting has the fox (as well as the Kitsune itself) as its animal of symbolism rather than the lion. This is possibly due to the "Kami-Shinjin Restoration", a cultural phenomenon that is said to "easternize" the UK many centuries ago by introducing Japanese culture and merging it with the old British culture. Not to mention fox tails are part of the Reiwa-Windsor family crest. Not to mention foxes are one of the animals often associated with both the UK and Japan. Did we mention they have foxes?
• Asian Fox Spirit:
  • Vulpine Youkai have especially occurring roles in this series.
  • Britsunes are clever, colourful vulpines who are able to use magic and do occult practices within nature.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The main gijinka characters often consist of Malorie, Hana, and Lilie.
• Big, Thin, Short Trio: Lilie (big), Malorie (thin), and Hana (short).
• Bilingual Bonus:
  • Of course, since Lilie is confirmed by Word of God to be English-Japanese, she occasionally speaks Japanese despite it not being her native tongue (she is said to have learned it from governesses as a child and when she lived in Japan throughout the majority of her adolescent years). It isn't completely Gratuitous Japanese as Lilie usually speaks in it when she experiences extreme emotion.
  • Also many Igiriko's names are Japanese and have specific meanings attributed to them. For example, Akane means "crimson" or "deep red" and refers to how that character has a mostly red theme. It is also a female Japanese given name.
• Cute Little Fangs: The gijinka characters all have this to compliment their cat smiles.
• Fictional Holiday: Although this story takes place in a dimension almost identical to the real world, that world indeed has different traditions and holidays aside from the real-world Japanese holidays (such as Obon and Tanabata). Many of them are analogous to real-world counterparts, while others are completely original. Most original holidays end with "matsuri" (meaning "festival" in Japanese), though they sometimes end with "no Matsuri" instead. Valentine's Day and White Day are borrowed over, however.
  • Fuyu Matsuri (Christmas and Yule)
  • Yokai Matsuri (Halloween)
  • Spring Moon Festival (Easter and Ostara)
  • Natsu Matsuri (Summer)
• Fictional Zodiac: The Kamitan zodiac has twelve certain Japanese yokai symbolising the horoscopes, they even have their own constellations, and are connected to one of the four elements.
  • The Kamitan zodiac works like the Western zodiac when it comes to certain dates.
• Flower Motifs:
  • Lilie has not one, but two motifs. Both the ordinary lily and the lily of the valley. No wonder she’s named Liliana.
  • Malorie's is the purple hydrangea.
• Furry Confusion: We got anthropomorphic corgis, foxes, and cats, and normal, four-legged versions of them who somehow have the ability to talk. The former are known as gijinka to avoid confusion, however.
• High Priest: The de facto leader of the Einguro (Anglo) Kami-Shinjin branch (basically the Church of England but instead related to Shinto), the High Priest/Priestess, with the current one being a vulpine gijinka by the name of Ayano Kurosawa.
  • Also Queen Lilie, as the monarch, takes on the responsibility as being the Supreme Governor of the branch.
• Meaningful Name: This is a recurring trend in the series, as many of the Igiriko are named after their theme.
• Mythical Motifs: The British monarchy has the Kitsune representing it instead of a lion.
• National Animal Stereotypes:
  • The Reiwa-Windsors are corgi gijinka.
  • Foxes are a common Animal Motif in this series, relating to both the UK and Japan.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: More of a popular figure rather than a celebrity, but Lilie's design, most notably her silver hair curls and the style of clothes she generally wears, are reminiscent of Queen Elizabeth II. It doesn't help that she's an anthro corgi-fox mix.
• Our Monsters Are Different: Unlike traditional portrayals, kitsune in this series aren't as terrified of dogs, but rather startled when they first encounter one. Even if it's a short little corgi.
• Shout-Out:
  • To The British Royal Family, of course. The author is said to be an avid fan of the Queen so she designed Lilie to where she would be inspired by her. No wonder the royal family are also known as the Reiwa-Windsors.
  • Also to the Japanese imperial family to some extent. The Japanese word "reiwa" (meaning "order of harmony"), which is also the name of the current Japanese era, makes up one half of the house name of the royal family in this series.
  • Britsunes' and Sylvaninus' eggs are generally colourful, with Britsune eggs being pale with vibrant speckles and Sylvaninu eggs being gradient with same speckles. Do they seem familiar?^note Though Word of God said that she doesn't like the toyline as much because she finds it "kind of nonsense", she also said that there are some aspects that she genuinely liked.
• Shrines and Temples: Instead of churches, the UK has shrines dedicated to certain Kami though much of them resemble more of Japanese Buddhist temples. Even Westminster Abbey has changed to Westminster Shrine, taking on more of a Shinto-style motif and a big red torii at the entrance!
• You Mean "Xmas": This series has Fuyu-Matsuri, a more traditional Japanese-themed winter holiday celebrating winter and the Yuki-Inu, their version of Santa Claus. Pretty much more faithful to the pagan festival Yule. However some traditions were borrowed over such as decorating trees and giving gifts.
• Youkai: These creatures from Japanese folklore have recurring involvements in the series, despite it taking place in the UK (though it clearly stated it was an easternised UK).

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