Kinokoinu Mushroom Pup

Kinokoinu: Mushroom Pup — A dog that can disguise itself as a mushroom? What gives of this shenanigan's premise? Let me keep this short, plain, and simple: the niche topics have always been the shows that people ventured "less the road travelled," and their predictability from start to finish depends on how you feel about the series as a whole. And this Fall, besides the more palpable and digestible Tsuma, Shougakusei ni Naru. a.k.a If My Wife Becomes an Elementary School Student., there is yet another show that flies even lower than the radar, though its seemingly cute nature will turn more people off and notappreciate how different it is in the sea of the never-ending wash, rinse, repeat cycle of Isekai and fantasy shows. My friends, that show is this one — mangaka Kimama Aoboshi's lone work of Kinoko Inu: Mushroom Pup (which its 74 chapters in 15 volumes that took 12 years of publication, is quite the long run). Pretty much like Tsuma, Shougakusei ni Naru., Kinoko Inu's plot is one and the same of dealing with life's grievances and learning to move on to better things ahead in the same lifeline. And this story involves a human and his beloved dog, once the best adage of "man's best friend" to old age, so much that said human cannot easily forget how much it meant to him. This is the tale of Hotaru Yuyami, living his keep as an author, and how his beloved pet friend of Hanako's natural passing enables one rather supernatural walk in the form of a pink mushroom, being an observer...to the pup that acts on its own accord and gives no second thought to the people around it. First of all, who comes up with this weird premise, and yet finds a way to make this all work? Not if you get into the mind of its eccentric author, that's what. Kinoko Inu is quite the supernatural anomaly of a pet in a rather slice-of-life, Iyashikei world, being surrounded by regular humans that find it all the more intriguing, from being offered melon breads to takoyaki, and also just being the goofball that it is, the mushroom pup is such an emotional delight of a trip for its owner, who has to slowly acknowledge that with or without Hanako, Hotaru must inevitably move on, emotionally and physically, with his usual unexpressive, depressive mood. Thankfully, he's not alone in this regard alongside his childhood friend-cum-editor of Komako Amano, as well as the eccentric mushroom researcher of Itsuki Yara (who seemingly has a gay reflection on Hotaru), before being joined by the unlikeliest of people with the Ueharas of daughter Anzu and mother Tsubaki (who just so happened to be yet another childhood friend of Hotaru and Amano), with their yet another mushroom pup, this time a purple one they call Plum. Of course, the selling of the premise of how and why Kinoko Inu exists is one of intrigue, being a story as far as time would allow since Hotaru's existence from young and essentially growing up and not heeding any regard to it, until its importance rears its head into this weaving story of life, death, and learning to experience joy unspeakable. All in all, the heartwarming experience sells its soul here so that we feeble humans can soak in the emotional feels; that's all for the right reasons. Being a C-Station anime, having the studio produce yet another slice-of-life, Iyashikei show, this is right under its wheelhouse, having produced the now bigger-than-life series that is Yuru Camp. And I guess this shouldn't be a surprise when Kinoko Inu is done by most of the in-house staff team coming from the franchise itself: storyboarder Kagetoshi Asano serving his directorial debut, scriptwriter-cum-series composer Jin Tanaka, music composer Akiyuki Tateyama, and many more. It's simple on the eyes with minimalist animation, but overall, it gets the job done. With Akiyuki Tateyama's touch on the music, while every show or series that he did was hit-and-miss to some degree, it's the Yuru Camp feels that he brings to the table for Kinoko Inu. And given his work on the Bananya series, the show excels at its use of musical tones to good effect, and it shows. Even both HY's OP and Iberis&'s ED are lively and poppy songs, though I'd say that the OP is much more musically fitting and the better of the two since it's composed specifically for the anime. Still good marks around. Kinoko Inu: Mushroom Pup is a criminally underrated hidden gem, in every sense of the word. It's just made so for the purpose of differentiating in the sea of never-ending tropes, and it's the perfect match for times like these to experience something out of the usual comfort zone. In contrast to the veteran series that is Natsume Yuujinchou a.k.a Natsume: Book of Friends (that's airing its 7th season), alongside this show, it still remains that SoL/Iyashikei series are just not for everyone, and this is quite the shame for an industry so focused on the predictable nowadays. At least I can say that I've enjoyed this lil' show that is a blip in the ever-evolving seasonal chart, and it made its mark in an adorable manner.