Eva’s First Impression:
Ah the cuteness! Inari Konkon Koi Iroha has a very simple storyline that is very relaxing to watch or read. One of the things I love the most about Inari Konkon Koi Iroha, is Inari’s friendship with Ukanomitama! This adaption will only have ten episodes, which should work well if they handle the pace properly. There isn’t really that much material to work on, but the ED definitely implies there may be a jump to get to the drama (since the manga has a the tendency to drag it on for a handful of chapters) and we may go as far as the latest chapter to date (Ch 37) and perhaps an original ending. That being said I will be cautious with my expectations of how loyally they will be adapting this. (At least they did a good job on this episode!)
Our heroine Fushimi Inari has always loved visiting the local Inari Shrine ever seen she was a child. Unlike her brother (this is not a major spoiler), Inari cannot see spirits, but her love for the shrine gave her the ability to rescue a fox (she had mistaken as a dog) named Kon, who was serving under Ukanomitama. In return of her kindness, Ukanomitama grants her one wish. As they say, be careful of what you wish for! Inari made a wish to be Sumizome, however while she does end up possessing Sumizome’s body, she is still herself.
I have always liked Inari’s character. She is incredibly flawed, so she makes a lot of mistakes. She is a kind girl who always have good intentions in mind, but they never quite work out as she hopes. The poor really doesn’t have much luck when it comes to her love life! She ended up humiliating her crush (Kouji) in gym class by accidentally pulling his pants down!
Then we have Ukanomitama! She is is a very selfless character who is willing to sacrifice herself for a lot of things. In order to help Inari turn back to herself again, she gave her a proportion of her powers. She is an absolute sweetheart and is such a charming character. She also super awesome because she plays video-games and Otome Games during her free time, and he enjoys overseeing those who visit the shrine. As the story goes you will learn about a secret wish she harbours deep in her heart which really defines her character.
This may surprise you but Inari Konkon Koi Iroha’s romance serves a lot more as a sub-plot. It’s not (and it shouldn’t be) the main focus on the storyline (but who knows how this adaption will go!). As one should expect, Inari has to learn and take responsibilities of her newfound powers that Inari had bestowed her with good intentions in mind, and face the consequences that comes with it when she uses it on the whim.
I am very pleased with the quality of the animation and the character designs, and the seiyuu voices really suit the characters as well. Both the OP and ED Sequence were pleasant to watch, but I wasn’t entire a big fan about the OP song. It’s nice, but it’s something I’d grow tired of very quickly. The ED Song on the other hand is great! I can see myself sitting through it to listen to it while waiting for the preview!
Unfortunately I think it’s unlikely that I will be blogging this. While I do love the manga, and am especially pleased with the quality of the animation, I don’t think I will have an easy time covering this kind of storyline. But one of things I am really hoping to see featured in this adaption is Ukanomitama’s and Touka’s relationship. They are my OTP despite the fact they are the secondary couple to the main, so I can’t help but be greedy about that hahaha!
Possibility of Blogging: Low
Possibility of Watching: Guaranteed
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Chris’ First Impression:
Oooo, I’m pleasantly surprised. A mixture of comedy, romance and sexy Goddesses…basically, anime bliss. Episode 1 of Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha introduced us to all (or, at least, most of) the main characters, it introduced the ‘plot‘, it introduced the romance, and the animation was pretty darn nice, especially considering the fact that, firstly, I’ve never heard of Production IMS before, and, secondly, I’m tired of watching romantic comedies that don’t look as nice as they should just because they’re romantic comedies. The fact that the series is only going to be 10 episodes long is slightly disheartening, but as long as they’re 10 good episodes, I’m not going to complain. Perhaps the reason the animation is ‘better‘ than some rom-coms is because they only have to animate 10 episodes? Who knows. Regardless, episode 1 of Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha was pretty darn nice, and I’m curious to see just where this series will end up.
Inari likes Tanbabashi (who looks a lot like Tada Banri) who seemingly like Sumizome – but who really knows, eh? – and…well…yeah, that’s basically the set up for the romance side of things. It’s nothing revolutionary, and it’s not going to blow your mind, but I found that it was the comedy aspect of the romance that made it somewhat ‘fresher’ than you’d expect. Not only is Inari cutely anxious and cutely cute, she’s also a bit of a clutz…which ultimately results in her depantsing poor ol’ Tanbabashi…oh! And then she meets this Goddess (and believe me, she’s a Goddess alright…) called Ukanomitama-no-kami (which is a ridiculous name so we’ll just called her ‘Uka’) who grants her a wish…the wish to be Sumizome…which, in my opinion, is kind of a waste. I mean seriously! Why wouldn’t she just ask Uka to make Tanbabashi like her (because then it wouldn’t be real love, silly – dur!)? But I digress. I found the story enjoyable, but I do have my concerns as to how they’re going to make an entire anime out of the premise. They’ll do it, sure, but I’m worried more so about the quality of said plot. Put simply, if you’re here in such of a romance that’ll be able to fight one on one with that of Clannad (or Toradora, depending on your tastes), then I don’t think this is for you. In fact, if what I’ve read from Eva’s impression is true, romance isn’t even the main focus of the anime! Stick around for the supernatural fun-time if for anything, but expect lighthearted comedy and cute girls, not deeply emotional drama. That is all.
The characters themselves are actually pretty interesting, Inari’s brother though being the one to interest me the most. If the assumption I’ve made is correct, he too can see spirits? And, again, if my assumption is correct, there’s some history between him and Uka (although from the surprised look on Uka’s face, I doubt it)? Regardless, it was nice to see the cutesy antics of the girls’ group and the fawning of Inari – let’s just hope Uka continues to be an amazing paragon of Otome-lovin’ goodness.
In conclusion (because I don’t want to ramble too much, especially since Eva covered a lot of the main points), I like Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha – it was nice. Whether or not I can blog about it for an entire season is questionable, however…
Possibility of Blogging: High (giving it three episodes to prove itself)
Possibility of Watching: Guaranteed
I love how the foxes and Uka had a definite mystical and ethereal air the first time Inari ran into them, but the second time (the instant the foxes started talking) that all went out the window.
I was so pleasantly surprised by this show. I loved it!
This is like the fantasies of all girls come true!
Magical girl transformation powers, a hot brother, a nice elder-sister-like character who turns out to have godly powers…
I loved Ukanomitama once I saw her playing an otome game. xD (Btw the character in the game was voiced by Hino-san <33 )
Anw the main guy's a jerk who loves the bitch called the prettiest girl in class. They can both get out of the picture really.
Ditch him (even your brother is hotter), and get together with some ikemen god that's bound to appear soon. =D
Oy oy, don’t be mean. Sumizome has been nothing but nice to everyone, she doesn’t deserve to be called a bitch.
IT’S HEEEEERE~ ermahgawd, everyone’s so gosh darn KYOTO-BEN!!
I loved both the OP and ED sequences, and the animation was actually better than I was expecting! I also love how everyone kept their respective body types from the manga ^^ they changed certain things around compared to the first two manga chapters, but in a rare moment of adaption superiority I actually thought it helped things flow a lot better!! They even cut out a few silly misunderstandings which were disregarded quickly in the manga anyways, so that should save time in future episodes. And time saving we do need- only 10 episodes!!? Things should pan out nicely though, if they’re aiming for the semi-climax I hope they are. Not to crush Eva’s dreams, but I’d rather they keep an even pace rather than speed things up to fit in the recent chapters (I know, I know, it’s everyone’s OTP, but I don’t want Inari’s story to suffer just for that T.T). But, well…I suppose it depends on how they decide to adapt everything, so who knows? Aaah, I would like a second season though…just 10 episodes for a series I love so much is a tragedy…
And I almost forgot to talk about Inari’s transformation sequence!! I was really excited to see how they’d handle it in the anime, since these things are almost always spiffed up. I thought it was really great- short and sweet, with just a hint of Mahou Shoujo to suit Inari’s tastes ^^ I wonder if it’ll be the same thing every episode, or change depending on the situation? Will it be different when transforming into certain people? (I’m particularly excited to see her transform into a certain goddess, but that won’t be for a while DX)
I would much rather them to keep an even pace, I just wouldn’t be surprise if they decided to skip things like what had happened with Kamisama hajimemashita… And we all know how THAT turned out.
I think Kamisama’s big problem was that they were trying to focus on the romance aspect of the series, but that didn’t really have any major development until later chapters so they went and messed things up. I’m also convinced that the anime staff thought it was some kind of reverse-harem series. They should have just taken it easy and shown us Nanami’s growth as a land god, or made it a two-cour adaption to make room for the more serious arcs.
If the OP and this first episode is anything to go by, it looks like Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha will be focusing more on the godly side of things, so that might keep things from becoming a disaster even if they do cut some things out. Hopefully ^^
Not only that, but they re-arranged the chapters out of order for no good reason! *HEADesK* And you’re right, they were trying to focus too much on the romance aspect instead of her independent character growth of becoming the land-god.
So, after I ended up reading the manga for this anime, reading your comments somehow resulted in me reading all 107 currently translated chapters of Kamisama Hajimemashita. Since yesterday. I should find some way to get you folks for that. Particularly considering what happened to Nanami in that last chapter.
OH your poor soul! Talk about bad timing! Everything was great and sunshine and everything until BULLSHIT Ch 107 came along. It absolutely disturbed me and I was furious! IT WAS SO UNNECESSARY!!! I don’t give two shits about using it for “SHOCK FACTOR” or was trying to make Akura-ou more “evil” because he already done plenty of unforgivable things take makes him a ruthless villain! ARGGGGG!!!! It pissed me off so much! D:<
I hated seeing that happen to Nanami. I don’t know how the rest of the readership views her, but having gone through her story in the past 24 hours I’ve really come to like her quite a bit. Just the idea that she might give up her life for that monster was terrible enough, but the way he… assaulted her when stealing her energy was… horrible. And none of it needed to happen! She’s powerful enough now with allies enough of her own that she could have taken the upper hand in the negotiation and forced a favorable set of terms. As it was, she entered into a bargain that the other side almost certainly wouldn’t keep, and which guaranteed that she would be dead, and unable to force them to live up to their part of the bargain. And that doesn’t even mention maybe having to push the mermaid into changing Ami back to normal, which could be quite a task on its own.
It was dark and unneccessary, and it did something horrible to Nanami, that we don’t even know if she can recover from.
As far as I’m concerned the fandom loves her! She is such a strong a heroine and that’s one of the reasons why I was so pissed off with the anime adaption. They absolutely butchered that part of her character.
And that said, that’s exactly why many of the fans were so upset with the chapter (unfortunately there were a few were romanticizing the situation *HEAHDESKS*)
The RAWS for CH 108 is starting to show up. We’ll see how things goes from here. I hope it’s handled well at the very least. OTL|||||