Summary:
Inari is a young, high school girl who has always been rather clumsy, especially in the worst of situations. After rescuing a young fox pup from falling in a river one morning, she accidentally embarrasses her crush, Tanbabashi, during P.E. She tries to apologize to him after the fact but he keeps ignoring her. Finally, she does manage to corner him, though inadvertently witnesses what seems like a love confession between him and the school idol, Sumizome. Devastated, she runs away to the shrine decorated with fox statues and pleads for help from the gods.
It seems like the gods have heard her answer, as she’s then led by two mystical foxes deeper into the heart of the temple, where she meets the shrine’s head god, Mistress Uka. Mistress Uka allows Inari one wish, because the fox pup she rescued earlier was one of Uka’s servants. Without thinking, Inari wishes to become Sumizome. Her wish comes true, and she runs around town with Sumizome’s appearance for a while; but she quickly realizes what a grave mistake she’s made. Inari quickly returns to the shrine, asking to return back to her normal form. Unfortunately, Uka says that they (as gods) cannot grant so many wishes for a single human in such a short span of time, as that would be unfair. However, Mistress Uka manages to find a workaround. By giving Inari some of her power, Inari is able to transform back—and has also gained the power to transform at will. Inari also gains a fox familiar by way of Kon, the fox she rescued before.
The next day, Inari plans to properly apologize to Tanbabashi, but he is strangely absent from school…
My Opinion:
I wasn’t really expecting anything from this series going in, as I had no prior knowledge of it and just picked it due to the series summary sounding interesting. But the first episode turned out to be a pretty solid start to what seems to be a good series.
The basic set up of the story isn’t all that unique—there’s a ditzy high school girl who has a crush on a boy who seems unwilling to return her feelings. But what does make Inari, Konkon unique is that Inari gains the power of transformation. And also she is friends with a shrine god and it’s not treated as that big a deal. I quite like stories like that; I find them charming. It’s only the first episode so I’m sure Inari’s newly gained transformation powers will land her in some more interesting adventures. In a way, this series sort of seems like a magical girl anime, except that Inari doesn’t fight crime/monsters and it’s more slice-of-life.
Character-wise, Inari manages to be both endearing and unique despite following the “lead-female character in an anime” template. She’s clumsy, airheaded, and always seems to be late for school. And yet there’s just something about her that sets her apart from all the other past heroines. Perhaps is just that she’s show right from the start to be much more sweet and caring? I also love her design. Her two best girl friends are also a pretty interesting bunch. Tanbabashi, on the other hand… uh, he looks cute at least? I dunno, I always found the dudes the main girls crush on to be rather bland, but hopefully Tanbabashi surprises us in future episodes. And of course, there’s Mistress Uka! I really love her design, in that she’s made to look pretty without being fanservicey. She also seems to have a fondness for otome dating sims, which is rather amusing.
Overall, this is shaping up to be a very well-rounded series. The animation is also quite nice, and it seems like the character designs from the manga transferred to the anime well. However, while I did enjoy this episode, I don’t know if I can be motivated to watch more. Inari, Konkon seems like a pleasant series, but honestly (if I had to choose), I’d rather watch something a bit more exciting.
Out of five:
If I had more time in the world to watch anime, I’d definitely watch this. But as things are now…
Okay, that officially wraps up all my first impressions for the winter anime season. Stay tuned to find out which series I ultimately pick!
Moeronpan 