My cousin is a crazy cat lady. She’s adopted around six (and counting) new felines into her home in the past few years and they’ve taken over most of her life. Most of her paycheck goes towards buying them new toys and food, and she'd always post pictures and videos with them nonstop. I’ve never been a pet guy myself, but seeing my cousin’s diehard devotion to her cat family gave me pause to think about our relationship to pets and how they introduce us to new people.
I was thinking about this while watching Kinokoinu Mushroom Pup, which follows a young picture book author who encounters the titular strange mushroom-like creature growing in his backyard. The main character of the series is author Hotaru Yuyami, and he is grieving the recent passing of his family dog, Hanako. It’s the most recent death in his family, after the passing of his parents when he was young, and his grandmother, who raised him during his youth.
Kinokoinu is a slow slice of life anime with a small cast that explores who each of them are and how their personalities complement and contrast with the more reserved Hotaru. The show has a fairly simple plot and storyline, but its approach with the character interactions show a nuanced reflection between grief and pet companionship, and how it leads to forming new connections.
This ties back to Hotaru and Kinokoinu’s relationship, and how they gradually bond in the show. Hotaru is a seemingly emotionless and calm individual, whose success as a published author is eluded by his distant and aloof demeanor. He often has trouble fully expressing himself and understanding his own emotions, especially in regards to his tragic losses in life. Despite his initial loneliness in the first episode, his chance meeting with Kinokoinu has given him a different perspective on his life.
Kinokoinu, meanwhile, is a creature unto himself. He’s not quite a dog, nor a cat, maybe not even a mushroom — perhaps an unholy combination of the three. He loves eating takoyaki and often assists people in his own strange ways. For example, in episode one, he burns the collar of Hotaru’s late pet dog, Hanako, to help him move on after her passing. Rather than get upset, Hotaru realizes what Kinokoinu had really done and accepts his true message — to move on and carry his memories of Hanako into tomorrow.
In that way, Kinokoinu slowly helps Hotaru become a changed person with a renewed sense of life. While still somewhat of a loner at the start of the series, only ever dealing with his editor and childhood friend Komako Amano, Kinokoinu’s presence has helped bring many new faces into Hotaru’s bland life, which include his biggest fan Itsuki Yara and the mellow, snail-themed artist Ayumi Amano.
However, the most interesting new characters Hotaru meets are Tsubaki and Anzu Uehara. The single mother-daughter duo have their own strange Kinokoinu-like creature named Plum. Marked with a white and purple design, Plum is described as Kinokoinu’s “sibling” who bridges a strong connection between Hotaru and the Ueharas. The mother, Tsubaki, is also a childhood acquaintance of Hotaru’s, who the latter loathes most of the time.
Despite his indifference, he takes kindly to Anzu’s attempts to connect Kinokoinu and Plum and learns more about their behavior, interactions, and personalities. The sudden presence of the mysterious Kinokoinu and Plum have changed their lives for the better by establishing a connection that wasn’t previously there. Through this strange shared experience, Hotaru and the Ueharas have been able to form a close, reliant friendship in order to support taking care of the creatures.
Kinokoinu isn’t really a spectacular anime, but I appreciated its simplicity and nuanced approach to dealing with grief. It shows the role pets can help people move on and find new connections within a community. If that doesn’t convince you, then maybe you’ll enjoy the show for the slow vibes and the strangely comforting zen-like stare of Kinokoinu’s face.
