Anime Review: Our Home's Fox Deity

Our Home’s Fox Deity, also known as Wagaya No Oinari-Sama, is a genre-bent anime based on a series of light novels by Jin Shibamura. The plot is fairly standard (a family is plagued by youkai and so release the family guardian spirit to protect themselves, but said spirit has to find a way to fit in with modern society), but don’t let that fool you. While far from perfect, Our Home’s Fox Deity goes out of its way to differentiate itself from other shows with similar set ups.

Combining elements of shōnen action, a small degree of harem-esque set-up, a smidgen of horror (including some beautifully done werewolf transformations later in the series) and boasting a fair few slice of life tendencies, it’s no wonder that the show is commonly described as not knowing what it wants to be. Rather than come across as directionless however, the genre-bending pays off thanks to a decent cast that includes a nice variety of spirits: the title fox deity Kuu switches between male, female and fox form throughout the series (it’s been locked up so long that it doesn’t remember what gender it was) and works as a fine lead. Meanwhile, Ebisu (the god of commerce) throws out some wonderful comedic moments and Daigoro the fox child is absolutely adorable. The humans, while less interesting, are not without their charms either. Misaki Sakura, the potential love interest of the elder brother in the plagued family, is an absolute hoot when she lets her paranoid mind run away with her.

On the downside, the lack of pulling in one sure fire direction will no doubt be harder to stomach for some viewers, and it is undeniable that some characters have been given far less depth than others. In truth though, these are minor issues. The show may not be to everyones tastes as a complete package, but it can safely say that it has a little something for most. It’s simple, uncomplicated fun.

Plus, any show that has two bath house episodes and avoids devolving into a mass of fan service gags (one is a ghost story and the other a comedy mystery) has got to be worth a look-in!

Rating: 4/5

→ Full review (on Matt Doyle Media)