The Helpful Fox Senko-san: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

The Helpful Fox Senko-san: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

The Helpful Fox Senko-san is an anime comedy with an abundance of heart. Created by Rimukoro, The Helpful Fox Senko-san is a lighthearted anime with a cheerful sense of style. The series features theme song music performed by Azumi Waki and Maaya Uchida.

The Helpful Fox Senko-san features animation by Doga Kobo (Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater, Aria the Scarlet Ammo AA). Produced by Aya Iizuka (Non Non Biyori Nonstop, Arifureta - From Commonplace to World's Strongest), Daisuke Iwasaki (Bloom Into You, The Ones Within), Mitsuhiro Ogata (Mitsuboshi Colors, Tada Never Falls in Love), Satoshi Motonaga (Spy Classroom, Kandagawa Jet Girls), and Tomoyuki Ohwada (The Quintessential Quintuplets the Movie, My Roommate is a Cat), The Helpful Fox Senko-san is sure to delight fans of charming slice-of-life anime series. A series which will appeal to anime fans who enjoy cute and sweet productions.

Nakano (Junichi Suwabe) isn’t enjoying his life as much as he should be. Nakano is an overworked and undervalued worker and despite being a salaryman he doesn’t get the respect that he deserves from work. Yet things can change suddenly.

One day, Nakano comes home to find himself greeted by the demigod fox Senko (Azumi Waki). It now appears that Nakano’s life isn’t so miserable after all as the business-man now gets pampered by a fox demigod who is determined to bring a smile to his face with help around the house and a heart full of love! Can Nakano withstand the pampering of the affectionate fox Senko?

The series characters are entertaining and add to the sense of charm. Senko is a delightful demigod fox with a sense of adventure. The character has a joyful sense of wonder. Alongside Nakano, the unique contrast between the characters makes for some interesting comedy. The character designs by Miwa Oshima (Baka and Test - Summon the Beasts, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!) are impressive as well and help the series to achieve a unique style.

The animation is one of the highlights of The Helpful Fox Senko-san. The series has a stunning production aesthetic. The animation is excellent and there are a lot of great elements to the series art style. The art direction by Masakazu Miyake (I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World, My First Girlfriend is a Gal) provides the series with a sense of cute-charm that makes the series more enjoyable. The animators did a great job bringing the series to life.

The cinematography by Takehiro Go (Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater, My Senpai Is Annoying) is vibrant and colorful. The cinematography impresses in spades and helps to bring the series to life. A compelling effort from Go. The cinematography excels.

The score composed by Yoshiaki Fujisawa (A Place Further Than the Universe, The Eccentric Family) adds some subtle charm to the series. The score is light and airy sounding. The score adds a sense of wonder to the production. Fujisawa understands the series style and created music to compliment it.

Written by Yoshiko Nakamura (Tada Never Falls in Love, Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle), The Helpful Fox Senko-san is partly a success because of its charming storytelling. The series has a fun concept and the demigod fox adds a lot of personality to the anime. Solid writing from Nakamura enhances the filmmaking.

The Helpful Fox Senko-san is brought to life by director Tomoaki Koshida (Ikebukuro West Gate Park, RPG Real Estate). The director made something cute and charming – with a fun personality for the series. The filmmaking handles the series concept well. A solid approach for Koshida and fans of lighthearted comedic anime series will find something to enjoy.

The Helpful Fox Senko-san: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray from Crunchyroll/Funimation, The Helpful Fox Senko-san is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The colorful animation is outstanding and one of the highlights of the release. The presentation benefits from strong encoding and the animation appears beautifully reproduced overall. Though a presentation with some inherent softness, the transfer still pleases for the most part and looks impressive on the release. The clarity is generally excellent even despite some inherent softness to the encoding. A solid release from Crunchyroll.

The Helpful Fox Senko-san: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (with English subtitles). The release includes an impressive sound design by Masanori Tsuchiya. Dialogue is crisp and clear on the release. The score composed by Yoshiaki Fujisawa is well reproduced as well. A worthwhile lossless presentation from Crunchyroll.

The Helpful Fox Senko-san: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The first print run includes a nice looking o-card slipcover.

Disc 1:

Episode 8 Audio Commentary

Disc 2:

Super Senko-san Time! (HD, 15:09)

Promo Videos (HD, 2:00)

Web Previews (HD, 3:24)

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:32)

The Helpful Fox Senko-san: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Helpful Fox Senko-san is an engaging and lighthearted comedy. Anime fans who enjoy in slice-of-life anime and who appreciate cute and charming series will find a lot to appreciate about The Helpful Fox Senko-san. Fans of kawaii anime series won't be able to resist.

The Blu-ray release includes a nice video and audio presentation. The release also provides a selection of bonus features and the first print run includes a nice o-card slipcover as well. Recommended.