Yaoyoro Hot Spring Village – The Fox Deity Mitama's Overflowing Devotion (Ear Cleaning, Hair Washing & Sleeping Together)

There are quite a few works where you get healed by a goddess, but most of the time even an "immature" goddess turns out to be a loli type who's actually lived for hundreds of years. This Mitama-chan, though, seems to be set as being the same age as the protagonist or maybe a bit younger, and I personally loved how well it managed to make the fantastical world where gods live coexist with a familiar, relatable cuteness! The overall quality is really high, and especially the ambient sound was amazing — it naturally blends things like flowing water, insects and birds chirping, a shishi-odoshi, wind chimes and the sound of wind, shifting naturally to color each and every scene! And despite clearly being put together with so much care, that ambient sound never once gets in the way of the voice or the ear-cleaning sounds, even for a moment! Of course, the voice is provided by Akari Kito, and she plays the role like it was made for her, perfectly! In the hot spring scene, when the line "I got praised~" comes out, I bet a lot of people just blacked out! The inari-zushi scene was also super cute, amazing! Overall I feel like the image that's closest is Kotoko Iwanaga from Kyokou Suiri! Maybe because she's a goddess of wisdom too, there's some overlap there! With this fun setting, this quality of ambient sound, these super cute illustrations, and a voice actress like Akari Kito who fits the role perfectly... there's just no way a work with this much overall quality wouldn't turn out to be a masterpiece!

You spend a healing time together with "Mitama," the Inari god voiced by Akari Kito. This time, you get taken care of by the Inari god "Mitama," and from listening to the sample, my impression was that just the situation of being healed by a calm-feeling "Mitama" already seemed like it would be relaxing. She talks to you at such a pleasant, comfortable pace that just listening to the conversation felt like it would let the tension drain out of your shoulders — it seemed like the kind of thing where you could spend a really laid-back time. Also, since her tone is polite, I was listening while guessing she might be the neat, prim and proper type, but from the way the conversation goes I got the sense she might also have a playful, mischievous side, and from her mentioning being like a betrothed partner, I felt a bit of a strong, pushy vibe too, so I found myself looking forward to how things develop from here, wondering if she's the type who blocks off your escape routes before you even notice. Below, about the content (partial) In "Welcome to Yaoyoro Hot Spring Village," from the first impression I got a neat, prim feeling? A healing feeling? So it seemed like just being in the same space would already let you relax. In "A Bit Special Ear Cleaning on Her Lap (Right Ear)," she talks to you in such a gentle tone while cleaning your ear that it was simply so comfortable I could listen while spacing out. In "Ear Cleaning on Her Lap / Bonten is Tail Fur (Left Ear)," being gently guided along while it's done was simply so comfortable that I could listen with my mind completely emptied out. In "The Path to the Open-Air Bath: 'Autumn Leaves Path,'" Mitama's narration-like explanations had a way of drawing you in, like listening to a narrator. In "Carbonated Shampoo and Washing with Her Tail at the Hot Spring," the sound of the carbonated spring water is light and bubbly but very pleasant to listen to, so it was nice being able to just space out and listen. I can't cover everything here, so for the rest, please check the main work (⇒I've posted a full, in-depth review over on the DL Channel)

This is a story where you receive various kinds of service from Mitama, an Inari god whose power has weakened. Mitama, voiced by Akari Kito, is mischievous and cute. Especially her reaction to the inari-zushi in Track 6, for instance. In this series, the setting is that "gods whose power has weakened regain their power by healing and saving the protagonist." This premise made me a little curious, but within the work it's explained that "those she serves are limited to people she has a bond with." Mitama is extremely affectionate from the very start, but there's a proper reason for that. During things like the ear cleaning, Mitama talks quite a bit and you can hear her breathing too. Personally, I prefer it this way. Also, since the ambient sound is so beautifully done, even the scenes without dialogue are pleasant to listen to. Also, besides the main story, it's nice that there are bonus tracks with voice clips of married life with Mitama. Each one is quite short, but there are seven of them. On top of that, there's also a voice clip of Mitama introducing "Yaoyoro Hot Spring Village." ・Price and length: 1980 yen, about 1 hour 33 minutes. That's plenty of volume for the price.