The Fox Priestess of Yakushido Vols 1-4

While not the first manga I've reviewed from DLSite, this was the first that I purchased based purely on the gorgeous art by creator Rio Akisaki. The titular Kitsune Priestess Kamiyori Yuzuki is a beautiful traditional Japanese design for a shrine maiden and as such is instantly appealing. The cosy idea of a healing priestess tending to the locals seemed like a cute and fun idea, so I picked up all four translated volumes and dug in.

Then volume 1 kicked me in the heart. Hard.

The idea of a child entering Yakushido because of a paint caused by from parental abuse and rejection was already tugging at my heart-strings (I have a 5 year old daughter so I'm pretty emotionally susceptible to anything with young children these days) but the ending really hit me pretty hard. It's a lovely story with a bittersweet ending, but I had my guard up for the remaining three volumes now I knew the author had something meaningful to say under all the gorgeous artwork.

While much of the art is very cute, there are some wonderful yokai moments strewn throughout the books!

Volume two had echoes of the previous book's themes, though with a similar light touch applied and a really good throughline with a new lovelorn character named Kameguchi Akemi, who has a surprising little trait that has scared off her boyfriend. The story does a great job of setting the emotional focus on Yuzuki's past so that it can pay off Akemi's plotline with a great gag that I might otherwise have seen coming. 

The remaining volumes expand the character roster and follow up on the search for Yuzuki's missing brother with the same charm and emotional resonance. The story concludes at the end of volume 4, so everything you need is fully translated and provides a satisfying ending to this short but sweet little saga.

It's a fantastically whimsical story overall and certainly a book that works best in a cosy nook with a beverage of your choice. The art is consistently top-notch, with lots of detail for both characters and backgrounds, with the use of tone adding a depth to the pages that makes everything feel weighty and present. This has really been a highlight of the year and I can wholeheartedly recommend it without reservation - tonally, artistically and in terms of pacing, it's masterful. The characters will stick with you too.

I'd love to see a collected one-shot make it West one day, in the meantime you can read all four volumes over on DLSite, and as always you can pay using our current site sponsor DLPay too.