Our Home's Fox Deity (Wagaya no Oinari-sama) is a Light Novel series written by Jin Shibamura and illustrated by Eizō Hōden, which was published from 2004 to 2007 and is comprised of seven volumes. It was given the anime treatment by ZEXCS, which ran for 24 episodes in the Spring of 2008.
Tooru Nakagami, being the heir of the Mizuchis, is about to become a major target for demons, ghosts, specters, and other otherworldly things. So, when Tooru and his brother Noboru visit their grandmother way out in the country, Tooru finds himself with a bodyguard in the form of Kuugen Tenko, a fox spirit entrusted to the family. A sentinel from the shrine, Kou, comes along with them back to their city, where trouble follows them. Our Home's Fox Deity has a focus on the supernatural, but the likable cast interacting in (or trying to get used to) today's world is a great source of fun as well.
NIS America licensed the series as one of their first anime titles.
Viewers in the US and Canada may watch this show legally on Crunchyroll
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This series contains examples of:
- The Ace: Kuu is very good at sports when she visits Noboru's school in episode 3. She's also very attractive to the other students who fawn over her.
- Action Girl: Kuu and Kou when dangerous Youkai attack Noboru and Toru. Sakura briefly turns into one during episode 21.
- Adorably Precocious Child: Toru, who is very innocent and usually tries to help others out, even if they're trying to kill him in the case of his first encounter with Mubyou.
- Asian Fox Spirit: Kūgen and Gyokuyou are both fox spirits. Ogami Itto and his son Daigoro as well.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: One of the post-episode trailers during the Byakki storyline showed Shiro-chan and Kuugen transforming into gigantic, Kaiju-esque forms and facing off against each other. This doesn't happen, however.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The Binbogami, or god of poverty, shows up in episode 19 during Halloween. Ebisu is worried about it, because that means he'll take good fortune away from people and give them misery instead. So he makes a contest out of it, promising to give a lot of money to whoever captures and brings him back. In the end Noboru "wins" because he unknowingly gave the god a small gift when he was chaperoning little kids for trick or treating.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- Kuu pulls these off repeatedly, and Kou also has her moments as well.
- Sakura does one for Noboru in episode 21, turning into an Action Girl and rescuing him from a werewolf thanks to a Love Potion Kuu had her and him drink earlier.
- Big Eater: Kuu, hands down. Do NOT take your eyes off your food when dining with her; it'll likely disappear in an instant!
- Blue with Shock: Sakura has this look after Kou confirms she's living with Noboru in episode 3. Due to the former's wild imagination, she assumes he's dating or engaged to either Kou or Kuu, and doesn't seem to like that answer.
- Breather Episode: A couple:
- Episode 6 has Kuu, Kou, and Sakura go to a cake buffet after the latter is unable to teach Kou how to bake a cake at home.
- In episode 11, Kou and Kuu both try out part time jobs to help pay for some living expenses. However, they aren't very good and end up making things more expensive for Noboru.
- In episode 19, Noboru takes kids out trick or treating, while Kuu and Ebisu's two guardians are roasting some sweet potatoes. Meanwhile Ebisu gathers some people and tells them whoever can catch the "binbogami", or god of poverty, he'd give them 100,000...dong, which was about 700 yen.
- In episode 23, Sakura laments gaining weight, and Noboru forces Kou to go on a diet as well when the scales says she's slightly overweight. The Stinger at the end of the episode reveals Kou hasn't lost much weight because she's carrying so many items on her.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Both Kou and Kuu are usually pretty awkward with modern day living, such as the former constantly breaking dishes. However, when dangerous Youkai strike, they are very effective fighters.
- Busman's Holiday: Zig-zagged. When the crew first head to an Onsen, they predictably run into a local ghost which causes some trouble. However, when Noboru and Kuugen later goes on a second hot-springs excursion together without the rest of the crew, the seemingly supernatural incident that happens turns out to be a Scooby-Doo-style plot by the inn's owner to boost tourism by taking advantage of a creepy local legend to fake a haunting. The only supernatural being in the entire area is Kuu-chan herself...
- Butt-Monkey: The masked stranger Noboru runs into in episode 8. They try asking for help, but due to the suspicious looking clothing that person is wearing along with a mask, he just bikes past them and tries to get away as fast as possible. Said stranger turns out to be the real Mubyou who wanted Kuu's help in episodes 9 and 10.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: Kou gets drunk off of one can of beer in episode 10. Apparently it was enough to allow the dragon spirit residing in her to escape temporarily, resulting in a comical chase after it.
- Cat Girl: Kuu tries this out in a super-deformed short, with actual cats, but it didn't stick for some reason
- Chick Magnet - Noboru is quite a hit with the ladies, despite him being mostly clueless.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Sakura shows signs of this from time to time, such as in episode 10 when she puts her hands over Noboru's eyes really hard so he can't see what a drunk Kou is trying to do, chase after the spirit dragon that escaped from her, though her dialogue suggests part of her clothing came off. And in episode 13 she drags him out of a concert being sung by Miyabe, largely because they keep seeming to make eye contact with each other.
- Color Failure: Happens to Noboru after Kou pricks his ear during a forced Ear Cleaning session in episode 21.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Sakura busts into a classroom with a fire extinguisher when Noburu is cornered by a werewolf; though it turns she was under Kuu's hypnosis at the time.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Kuu is usually on the giving end of these, although Ebisu has the upper hand during their fight in episode 5.
- Cursed with Awesome: Kuu tells Noboru and Toru's father in episode 4 that the Mizuchi priestesses such as his long gone wife often have a short lifespan, generally dying before they reach thirty years of age. She laments that it was foolish to have mortals bear that power. Regardless, she is still content that Miyako found a good partner.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Kou when at Noburu and Toru's house, tends to break dishes. She also tries working at various jobs in episode 11, but tends to break or screw things up at them as well.
- Cuteness Proximity:
- Daigoro seems to have this effect on most people when they first meet him.
- Miyako is also afflicted by this, giving The Glomp to both Kuu and her future husband (who was wearing an animal costume at the time) when she meets them both.
- Dancing Theme - "Shiawase no Kotodama", the second end, featuring the entire cast in a cute, Super-Deformed style.
- Distressed Dude: Both Noboru and Toru are captured at some point, although they're usually rescued fairly quickly as well by Kuu and Kou.
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Sakura displays some in episode 3 when Kuu and Kou visit Noboru's school.
- Ear Cleaning: Kou tries this on Noboru in episode 21. However, he's not convinced she can do it because her hands are shaking quite a bit despite her reassurance. She then pokes part of his ear, and he lets out a painful scream.
- Easily Forgiven:
- The Youkai in the first episode after Kuu defeats it. Toru is given the option to kill it, or let it go, and he chooses the latter, although Kuu still gives it a warning that if she sees it again, she wouldn't hesitate to kill it even if Toru tells her not to.
- Toru does the same thing with Mubyou in episode 8, who moments earlier wanted to crack open his head to get her missing MacGuffin which the thief claimed he put inside.
- Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors - The relationship between the elements is a deciding factor in Kuu and Kou's battles, but a bit of magical Applied Phlebotinum, the Sakasaen, can reverse the way the relationships work.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Enju is told to kill Toru in episode 18, to erase the Byakki's imprinting of him as the parent, so that she can then become the new parent. However, she balks at that idea and hesitates, and ultimately doesn't follow through with it. She also warned Sakura to run away before the fight between Shiro-chan and the Dema golem started, which she fortunately does.
- Faked Food Contaminant: A father and son pair of Kitsune is turned out into human habitat after their home in the mountains has been destroyed. The father tries to eat a meal without paying by putting hairs in his dish; too bad the chef is revealed to be bald.
- Fish out of Water - Kuu and Kou are largely unfamiliar with the modern world, but as time goes on they catch onto it and combine modern tech with magic to help them solve what comes up.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: And in Kuu's case especially. Being a deity that's been sleeping for a while, she's unfamiliar with modern technology, and is quite fascinated by things such as television. She's also fascinated by school, since Miyako also stated her reason for leaving the shrine was to attend school, so has Toru take her to Noboru's school.
- Food as Bribe: Used a couple of times on Ebisu's two guardians by Noboru, Toru, and even Kuu.
- For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself - In a town populated with spirits, it makes sense. Doesn't really work out very well for Ogami-san, though.
- Genki Girl:
- Kuu acts like this at times.
- Mubyou can also be this way, although she usually takes a more serious tone.
- The Glomp:
- Miyako does this to Kuu and her future husband (who is wearing an animal costume for his school club to recruit new members) when she first meets them, due to Cuteness Proximity.
- Shiro-chan does this to Toru in episode 16.
- Greed: Ebisu, the local god of the land the story mostly takes place on, runs on this trope. He runs a convenience store at the base of the steps leading into his temple, and tries to come up with ways to make money, such as trying out pizza delivery.
- Heroic BSoD: Toru seems to go through one after Shiro-chan is taken back by the oni clan at the end of episode 15 and the first half of 16.
- High-Pressure Emotion: Happens to Sakura in episode 16, after mistaking Noboru talking about going with both as taking both Kou and Kuu out on a date.
- Honey Trap: Used on Noburu in episode 14, when he gets what he thinks is a love letter from Miyabe. He then goes around to the back of the school, and it turns out that "Miyabe" is a guy, who ends up kidnapping him when he seems to refuse to cooperate with returning Shiro-chan. Kuu calls him out on this in episode 15, wondering if he got caught because of some girl.
- Hot Springs Episode - Two, the second with Very False Advertising.
- In the first one, during episode 12, things go over fairly smoothly until the very end, when a little girl drains Toru's powers.
- During the second one, in episode 20, several characters make justifiable reasons not to go (Noboru's dad ran out of vacation time, Toru didn't want a repeat of the first trip happening again, and Kou decides to stay behind to protect him), so Kuu and Noboru are the only ones who go. And in contrast to the first inn they visited, this one is very run down and looks to be on the verge of bankruptcy. All of the things the staff did turned out to be false, such as a girl haunting a cave, the girl seen outside a second floor window, and a landslide that blocked the road preventing access to the inn.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: The little girl at the hot springs in episode 12. Despite what happens, the main characters end up playing with her in the end, although Kuu and Kou end up breaking things again in the process much to Noboru's chagrin.
- I Know Your True Name: An important theme in the show, and Kuu regularly asks the other Youkai for their names after defeating them, to keep them from attacking again.
- Imagine Spot - Misaki Sakura, Noboru's secret admirer, frequently launches into fantasy sequences either mistaking Kuu and Kou for his girlfriends, or about Noboru and herself.
- Immortal Immaturity - Kuugen, while having many smart moments considering his/her age, also has a few...not so smart. She can also act incredibly childish when she doesn't get her way with Noboru.
- Instant Fan Club: Ebisu uses the hair that he forces Kuu to give him during episode 5 into bracelets to sell in his store, which can be seen briefly in episode 7. In episode 11, a Cat Girl stalks Kuu and steals all the pizza the latter was trying to deliver, then reveals she was wearing one of those bracelets and also stalked her as a result.
- Lethal Chef: Kou isn't very good at cooking food, and at one point burns a hole in a pot.
- Little Black Dress - Kuugen dons one when she (quite literally) crashes Miyabe's Christmas party in episode 22. Even more impressive in that she doesn't get a scratch on it when going head to head with Miyabe's transformed state.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Noboru tries his best not to let Sakura know about Kuu and Kou's true reason for living with them. As a result, she's constantly thinking he's dating at least one of them.
- Love Potion: Kuu makes one for Sakura in episode 21, and has her drink some, while giving the rest to Noboru. She tells her that this would help him to notice the good things about her. Although the potion was actually a hypnosis spell designed to have her protect him in case of danger, Kuu later comments that it only worked because Sakura cares about him deeply.
- Love Triangle: One certainly forms at the end of episode 22, when Miyabe tells Sakura that she likes Noboru too, and won't give up without a fight. Sakura meekly claims the same thing.
- Macross Missile Massacre - More like Macross syringe massacre, as Kuugen uses her abilities to launch a huge volley of syringes loaded with anti-lycanthrope vaccine at the other werewolves serving under Miyabe in episode 22.
- Marshmallow Hell - Kūgen does this to Noboru in the third episode.
- Missing Mom - Noboru & Tooru's mother died shortly after Tooru was born. She's largely seen only in photos and flashbacks, though in episode 5, Kuugen performs a forbidden ritual that allows her ghost to appear and briefly visit with her and Tooru.
- Miyabe is revealed to not have a mother either. Skirts perilously close to Parental Abandonment as her father is rarely around either, to the point that she grows resentful of his extended absences.
- Mood Whiplash: The series goes back and forth between somewhat light-hearted comedy and more serious action scenes.
- Morton's Fork: Toru is faced with one in episode 18 regarding Shiro-chan. He either has to let her die, or seal her so that she goes into a deep sleep but is still alive. Kuu asks why simply treating her isn't an option, and is told that unless one of those two choices are made, the oni clan would never stop chasing Toru. He ultimately chooses to seal her, so that at least she's still alive. In reality, it was the blonde guy, Tsukuyomi, who wouldn't stop hounding them, but Kuu doesn't tell them that, figuring it's better if they don't know about it, while the oni clan purusing them has already been demonstrated already.
- Never Trust a Trailer - The Post Episode Trailers begin normally, but as the series goes on, they start to show things that never happen in the next episode.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In episode 11, after breaking a window, Kou decides that due to her costing the family a lot of money with her mistakes, decides to try and get a job to pay for it. Kuu even helps out, but unfortunately both of them aren't very good at any of the jobs, such as Kou breaking more dishes, or Kuu delivering pizzas without collecting the money first, and end up making things worse. Kou decides to leave out of shame, but Noboru tells her not to, especially when he finds out she was planning on living in the tree outside.
- No-Sell: The Dema golem that attacks Shiro-chan in episode 18 gets hit by some spells the latter throws at it which destroys part of a metal fence. She then traps it inside a cab, and blows it up, only for it to get up and not be phased by the explosion at all. Fortunately for her, the Sakasaen tossed by Kou takes care of it instantly, causing it to turn to dust upon getting hit.
- No Sense of Direction: Kou, who gets lost trying to find an address to deliver some pizza in episode 11.
- One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Noboru and Sayaka often have a lot of these due to him being distracted with finances, and her assuming he's talking about Kuu and Kou.
- Perpetual Poverty - Taking on two more people, plus Kou's tendency to break things, makes the family budget run very tight.
- The Plan: In episode 2, Kuu mentions visiting the local deity shrine to pay her respects and ask permission to use her powers. Ebisu, the local god, attacks her with his two stone guardians, prompting her to use force to defeat them, and destroying the shrine in the process. At first it seems like a case of Nice Job Breaking It, Hero, but Ebisu immediately dismisses that idea, stating that he can't destroy his own shrine, so he had Kuu do it for him. The reason is so he can renovate the area, and in the process have the construction workers use his convenience store at the base of the shrine to make money. And he'll have the local government pay for the repairs to the shrine, so he's not losing any money at all.
- Pretty Boy: Kuu in her male form. Women fawn every time they see him like this.
- Pretty Freeloaders: Averted. Kou tries to help out around the house regularly, although said work is debatable due to her tendency to break dishes. Kuu doesn't help out around the house, but earns her keep by protecting Toru and Noboru from dangerous Youkai.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Tooru and Noboru's father. He's surprisingly okay with Kuu and Kou living with them, and even insists that Kou sleep inside rather outside in the yard as she originally wanted to. He also tells Kuu not to speak while in her fox form as it would make things more complicated.
- Religion is Magic - The whole series is practically bursting at the seams with this, drawing heavily on Shinto legend and mythology.
- Revenge: Several characters believe Kuu is likely angry at being sealed away for centuries and would take it out on the humans the instant she was freed. However, she repeatedly states to them that she doesn't care about that stuff, and lets go of the bad memories while keeping the good ones. As a result, she doesn't hold any grudges towards humans.
- Serious Business: Kou tends to treat everything she does this way, even promising to fulfill her duty at the cost of her life. Some of those duties include shopping for food and doing laundry.
- Sex Sells: Kuu uses her male form to great use in episode 11 when working at a part time job in a fast food restaurant. He attracts quite a few fangirls in there. Unfortunately Kou isn't very good at that job either, and gets fired from it. She also uses her female form to try and get Noboru to buy her food, although that usually doesn't work.
- Sex Shifter: Both Kuugen and Gyoukuyou can switch between male and female forms at will. Both also have No Biological Sex, being spirits, and in Kuugen's case being too old to remember what sex he/she originally was. However, she seems to stick to the female form the most.
- Shipper on Deck:
- Noboru's friend tries to set him up with Sakura in episode 10. Noboru unfortunately is Oblivious to Love towards her.
- Kuu does this as well. First in episode 13 having him meet Sakura at the school festival after noticing the latter getting a little jealous when she saw her on his shoulders earlier. She then does it again in episode 21, telling her she has a Love Potion for her. She tells Sakura to drink a little, and have Noboru drink the rest so that he would notice the good things about her. Later as he's carrying her on his back to take her home, Kuu comments that said potion wouldn't have worked if Sakura didn't watch over him and care about him deeply, hence why she used her to protect him.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Although Miyako has already passed on by the time the series, because she became good friends with Kuu, the latter promises to protect the former's sons when they arrive to ask for her protection.
- The Speechless: Shiro is unable to speak for most of her appearance, although she is able to for a short while before being sealed away again in episode 18.
- Stalker with a Crush: The Cat Girl in episode 11 who follows Kuu around while the latter is delivering pizza.
- The Stinger: At the end of the ending credits, a small clip plays which reveals another event, usually relevant to what happened that episode.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes - Kuugen's eyes (which are normally blue when in human form) take on this shade when in quadruped form or when tapping into his/her power to deliver a royal ass-kicking. Kuugen's sibling Gyokuyou has these on a permanent basis.
- Supreme Chef: Noboru, due to having to do a lot of the housework from a young age due to his mother dying shortly after giving birth to Toru.
- Tempting Fate: In episode 16, Toru at first thinks he saw Shiro-chan by the window in his classroom, but thinks it's just his mind and the curtains playing tricks on him. Then as he turns around, she really does pop into the classroom.
- Traumatic Hair Cut: Kuu is forced to chop off part of her hair to give to Ebisu as punishment for casting the Spirit Passing spell in episode 5. This has some far reaching implications into the next few episodes as well. However it's a small price to pay considering he wanted her left arm initially but settled for her hair instead. And it's grown back by around episode 8.
- Turned Against Their Masters: Happens to Mubyou in episode 10. The Mubyou the main characters encountered in episode 9 turns out to be a robot, designed by the real Mubyou to stand in for her while she traveled the lands. However, robot Mubyou felt her master didn't care for her at all, and resorted to violence in a cry for attention. Fortunately for her it works, as the real Mubyou decides to devote more attention to her and later gives her real hands to replace the Hand Puppet hands she had before.
- Two-Timer Date: In episode 16, Sakura assumes Noboru is talking about this regarding Kou and Kuu when he says he can't decide which one to go with. He then says he'll go with both, causing her to yell at him about this trope, only for him to then reveal that he was talking about going to two different grocery stores for their bargains. Her face goes beet red as a result of the assumption, along with bringing attention to herself by yelling it in class.
- Vampiric Draining: Shiro-chan does this, sapping away the life energy of people, hence one reason she was sealed away. She tries it on the Dema golem too, but because it lacks a soul, it doesn't work.
- Weight Woe: Sakura feels she's gained too much weight in episode 23, and goes on a strict diet as a result. Kou is also ordered to diet by Noboru after the scale says she's slightly overweight. While Sakura laments having to diet, she's happy that it gave her an excuse to go to his house after Kuu suggests a sleepover and "diet camp". And at the end, she gets to go with him to a cake shop after he hears her loud stomach growl due to starving herself.
- What the Hell, Hero?: In episode 19, Ebisu promises 100,000 to whoever brings back the god of poverty to him. Several townsfolk look around, but are unable to find him. Then Noboru unknowingly brings him back and wins it. Except he won 100,000 Vietnamese dong, which was worth about 700 yen, which is what the people thought Ebisu meant. He tries to justify it by saying he said "dong", but said it in such a way that it was very easily misunderstood. They are understandably angry at him as a result.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Used on Noboru and Tooru in the first episode. They are told by their uncle that their grandmother is dying, so they rush out to the countryside to visit her, only to find out she's perfectly okay. Their uncle figured it was the only way they'd come out so quickly after she asked them to come.
- Youkai: A big emphasis on this show. Kuu is one, and protects Noboru and Tooru from more malicious ones.
