The Helpful Fox Senko-san 05
Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san 05
世話やきキツネの仙狐さん episode 05

Spoiler Summary/Synopsis

Nakano comes home to find another divine kitsune at his home. She introduces herself as Shiro. Nakano is fine with her visit, so she has dinner with Nakano and Senko-san. Nakano finds himself captivated by Shiro’s pure white tail. This initially bothers Shiro, but then she understands that he’d feel that way. Shiro decides to let Nakano pet her head. Senko-san gets a bit jealous and gets in on the act. Shiro then uses her powers to discover Nakano’s true desire. She’s shocked to learn that he wants to fluff her tail. As such, she’s forced to flee.

Some other evening, Nakano comes home exhausted. Senko-san has prepared a bath for him. She decides to join Nakano in the bath after seeing his doom cloud return. He’s a little bothered by this initially, but then he agrees to allow her to scrub his back. Nakano finds the experience quite enjoyable. As such, he returns the favor for Senko-san. However, he’s dismayed when her tail gets soaked. After the two relax in the tub and talk, they get out. Senko-san dries her tail. To Nakano’s relief, it is at maximum fluff. Senko-san graciously allows him to indulge his fluffing desires.

Thoughts/Review

For The Helpful Fox Senko-san 05, chapters 8 and 9 of the source manga were used in the adaptation. While the anime episode was enjoyable for what it was, FUNimation continues to piss me off with their incessant, FALSE use of “Kuroto.”

The New Loli-babaa

Shiro makes her official introduction in The Helpful Fox Senko-san 05. We’ve seen her before with bit cameos, but this is where she’s properly brought into the anime. Based on what I saw of her in the manga, Shiro is a pretty fun addition to the series. So I look forward to seeing more of her in the anime series.

As to this specific episode, I found her introduction funnier than in the source manga. Plus, I loved seeing Senko-san want to get in on the head-patting stuff. 😄

Bath Time Loli-babaa

With the U.N. wanting to crack down on Japan’s love of loli (and shouta) content, I wondered how The Helpful Fox Senko-san 05 would handle the bath scene. With the exception of removing a joke from Senko-san about Nakano possibly desiring her loli form, the anime adaptation kept everything else from the manga. I would say the anime version is a bit tamer than the manga version, but I don’t have a problem with that.

Anime Adaptation Changes

For fun, I thought I’d note the changes The Helpful Fox Senko-san 05 made to the source material. Aside from the above-mentioned joke removal, everything else was an addition to fill time. Those were as follows:

• The discussion of aburaage and how kitsune came to eat fried tofu is not in the manga. Nor is the discussion of kitsune eating mouse tempura! 😂
• When Shirou flees from being fluffed by Nakano, in the manga she does not end up at Kouenji’s apartment.
• During the bath scene, the source manga did not have Senko-san and Nakano squirting water in the bath.

I wasn’t too sure about the Kouenji additional scene, but the other additions were no problem for me.

FUNimation Sez, “Duuuhhhhh…we use Kuroto when Kuroto not used! Duuuuhhhhhh!”

At this point, I’ve grown beyond angry at whomever is adapting the official subtitles for FUNimation. I’ve complained about them ramming in the name “Kuroto” repeatedly when it has only been used ONE TIME through five anime episodes. The Helpful Fox Senko-san 05 sees FUNimation ram the name in numerous times ’cause “reasons.”

I guess the translator/adapter had an issue with Senko-san addressing Nakano as “Onushi” (お主). Basically, this is an archaic way of saying “you.” It also means “husband” or “head of a household.” Since Senko-san has called herself Nakano’s wife and mother, the unofficial manga English adapter opted for “dear” as a translation of onushi. I’m fine with that since “anata” (also meaning “you”) is often translated as “dear” for a wife to address a husband.

FUNimation apparently decided that any terms of affection from Senko-san are an absolute no-no. Even though the anime CLEARLY shows Senko-san’s affection, FUNimation sez, “Up your butt, Jobu! We going to call him ‘Kuroto’ ’cause even though the manga has NEVER addressed him as such, we saw the name in an early anime episode. So we are assuming the boy with this name is Nakano.”

No doubt these bastards will be right, but man, I’d laugh my arse off if Kuroto turned out to be Nakano’s dad or grandfather. I was asked why this issue pisses me off so much. Well, I’m in the school of “accurate but readable” and having Senko-san address Nakano by something other than something proper for “onushi” is not acceptable to me. Plus, I’ve seen official adaptations where the translator/adapter decided something, only to be proven wrong later.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, The Helpful Fox Senko-san 05 is a fun episode and a good adaptation of the source manga material. FUNimation’s decision to have Senko-san improperly address Nakano as “Kuroto” pretty much kills my enjoyment.