A different way of telling a story

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The first must-see film of the year.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

This slice of life anime follows Makoto Saeki; the daughter of the priest at a small Inari Shinto shrine. Unlike her father she is a descended of those who built the shrine so she can see Gintarou; the shrine's herald; a fox spirit who acts as a messenger between humans and the gods. Gintarou can be somewhat gruff but he is a friend and mentor to Makato. After a while Satoru, the son of another priest comes to stay along with Haru the herald from his shrine. Haru is also a fox spirit but unlike Gintarou she is young and somewhat petulant. Over the course of the series theses protagonists, and occasionally some of Makoto's friends get involved in various events such as visiting other shrines where they encounter other heralds… as with most slice of life series it isn't really about what the characters get up to; it is about how their characters and how they interact.This series was an utter delight; the characters were fun without being silly and if you can accept that some people can see spirits, even if only in the context of the programme, the stories are believable… there are no wacky adventures here. It may help to have some knowledge of Japanese culture although I suspect that, if like me, you have limited knowledge this may introduce a new aspect of their culture. The animation is good with some lovely backgrounds and nice character designs; the human characters may look like standard anime characters but the heralds are novel and their designs delightfully capture their characters. Overall I'd say this is the ideal anime to watch if you are looking for a gentle series that is enjoyable with nothing to offend.These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.