Digimon Tamers (season 3 of Digimon)- Renamon
Pokomon * Renamon standing * Renamon 3 views * Renamon and Rika * Kyubimon * Taomon * Sakuyamon * Rika alone
   One of the main character's digimon is based on kitsune. Rika/Ruki is the tamer/partner for Renamon, a yellow fox digimon who kicks butt. Her standard form is a large humanoid fox who walks on two legs, but she digivolves into Kyubimon, a 9-tailed fox who looks more like a normal fox. I think several of her attacks are based on fox lore (such at foxfire) but I'm not sure. Her other evolved forms are Taomon and Sakuyamon. I think Taomon's attack with the giant paintbrush is pretty cool ^_^. I like Rika and Renamon since they seem to be the ones that get things done the most in the series. They both tend to be rather serious and determined. The basic premise of the series is that a group of kids each get digimon and are fighting to preserve the balance between the Digital and Real world. Both Fox and UPN have shown the dubbed version of this show on TV, I don't know if its available on video or DVD. This season of the show has 51 episodes total and a couple movies. There is also a manga available for the series.

Hisei Gassen Tanuki Wars Pom Poko (Hisei Era Tauki War)- kitsune buisnessman (don't recall his name)
Kitsune and Tanuki in human form * Tanuki practicing turning into fox statues (image courtesy of Wndrkn's Anime Cel Gallery) * Kitsune in human form * Tanuki pair in human form
  This is a movie made by Studio Ghibli and directed by Isao Takahata in 1994. Most of the movie is about tanuki (raccoon-type animals with similar powers to kitsune) and their struggle to save their home, but later in the movie a kitsune (in buisnessman form) shows up to give them other ideas of what to do. I really like this movie because its from the tanuki's point of view and follows traditional notions on them while placing them in a modern world, but some of the ways the tanuki use their powers may surprise you. This is not available commercially in the US and I doubt it ever will be, so your best bet is to get a fansub or if you have a region-free DVD player import it.

Hyper Police- Sakura
Sakura aiming gun * Sakura and Natsuki
   This is a cute series about a group of bounty hunters, one of which is almost a kyubi (nine-tailed) kitsune- she only has 8 1/5 tails so far. Her name is Sakura and I like her a lot- she's spunky. She has silver hair and tails and brown ears. Her main goal is to get enough power to get her full ninth tail (she is chasing Natsuki, a cat-girl, to get her power for it.) Before she joins the bounty hunters she's pretty much homeless and a bit scruffy. Many of the other characters in the series are also half-animal and it is an entertaining and fun show. The main premise is a group of bounty hunters who try to defend the city against various monstrous criminals. It has been licensed commercially by a small new company whose name I don't recall and most of the DVDs are available. The show has 26 episodes total, and was originally a manga.

Inu Yasha- Shippo
Shippo sitting * Shippo with his father * Shippo with moon * Shippo jumping
   This is a fun and cute anime based on the manga of the same name by Rumiko Takahashi. One of the supporting characters who often hangs out with Kagome is Shippo, a cute little young fox. His father was killed by one of the demons Inu Yasha (a half-man half-dog demon) has to fight to get back a shard from a jewel. Small but still has some cute attacks and a couple of the usual fox powers (such as transformation.) Shippo has yellowish/orangish fur, a big fluffy tail, a bluish jacket and black pants. He shows up not too far into the series. Can't say too much else about him since I havn't seen too far into the series. The basic premise of the series is that Kagome and Inu Yasha are questing to get back all the shards of a powerful jewel that was shattered and all the demons want. Both the manga and anime are available in the US from Viz and Cartoon Network occasionally runs it on late-night TV. I think the show has like over 100 episodes total and a movie, not sure how many volumes of the manga there are total.

Love Hina- Konno Mitsune
Group shot with Mitsune and others * Another group shot * Mitsune and another girl * Chibi group picture
   Mitsune isn't actually a kitsune, but she is often called "kitsune" as a nickname. I think it quite fits, she's a pretty cool character and one of my favorites from that series. Love Hina is basically about a boy who's trying to get into Tokyo University to meet up with a girl he was in love with as a kid- except he can't quite remember what she looks like. He ends up being in charge of an all-girls dorm (which Mitsune lives in) where almost all of them look similar enough to have been his childhood girlfriend. This anime and manga are both commercially available from Tokyo Pop. The show is 26 episodes with 2 specials and a 3-episode OAV, originally a manga.

Naruto
Naruto and another boy * Naruto and 2 other characters * Naruto holding a scroll * Another group picture
   The main character is a punky blonde-haired boy named Naruto who was infused with a rogue demon fox spirit at his birth when it was vanquished (it was trying to destroy the village.) He lives in a world where everyone seems to have magical powers and practice fighting skills, and as he reached puberty his magic begins to manifest more strongly. People shun him because of the fox sealed in his body, but it grants him extra power. He's a rather standoffish goofball character who can't seem to do stuff right but things end up okay for him anyway. Neat animation and character design, can't really say how good it is yet since I havn't seen that much of it but I liked some of the powers they were trying to learn ^_^. This series in only available fansubbed but will probably be out soon since the manga is out by Viz in Shounen Jump. I believe the series is 26 episodes but I may be mistaken. It was also a manga.

Pokemon- Vulpix, Ninetails, Eevee and its elemental-based evolutions (Jolteon, Flareon, Vaporeon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, Glaceon)
Vulpix * Vulpix again * Ninetails * Eevee
  Pokemon is basically about a boy named Ash (or Ashitaka) and his quest to be the best "Pokemon Master." He catches different pokemon and trains them to fight. If you havn't heard of the show I'd be really surprised. Anyway, there are a couple very fox-like Pokemon. Brock ends up getting Vulpix, although I don't know if anyone actually keeps an Eevee there are episodes focusing on each of them. I think Vulpix is a very kitsune-like pokemon in that its element is fire and it has attacks like foxfire. Eevee is just kitsune-like in its ability to evolve into many different pokemon of different elements.

Samurai Pizza Cats/Kyattou Ninden Teyandee
Big Cheese talking * Big Cheese * Big Cheese puzzled * Big Cheese dressed as Geisha * Big Cheese dressed as a samurai pizza cat * Big Cheese character sheet *  Ninja Crow
  This is a cute older cartoon that ran on US TV in the 80s. The main bad guy was called the "Big Cheese," but was actually a fox (yeah, name doesn't really make sense, I guess the US producers mistook him for a rat?) He seems to like dressing up as other people a lot, and commands a horde of ninja crows. Then there were 3 cats who work at a pizza parlor and of course transform and go out and fight crime in Little Tokyo. All the other characters in the series are animals of one sort or another. I don't know too much about it since I never saw it at the time it actually aired, I've only seen a couple dubbed episodes I managed to hunt down and download. I think there were over a hundred made, as well as being a short manga. Good luck finding any now, I know there isn't much of anything ever released over here, and I doubt you can even find much in Japan. Its a pity tho, it looks like a pretty nifty cartoon and I like all the character designs.

Sonic the Hedgehog- Tails
Tails waving * Tails standing * Summer Tails with ice cream
  Okay, this was originally a video game, but its been an anime and comic too ^_^. Tails is really cute, I never liked the game much and really sucked at it but he's one of the cutest fox characters I've seen. He's just a little orange fox with two tails he can use to fly helicopter-style. He's Sonic's buddy and is usually seen hanging around him. He's also a supporting character in some of the Sonic games, at the very least appearing in them.

Yu Yu Hakusho/ Poltergeist Report/Ghost Files- Kurama Yuko/ Minamino Suuichi
Kurama close up and with whip * Kurama fox and with rose * Kurama fox and with whip * Pretty Kuramas * Fox Kurama standing
   One of the main characters, Kurama, is a reincarnated kitsune of sorts. His normal appearance is of a cute red-headed man, but he also has a silvery form with many tails. His weapon is the rose thorn whip. The basic premise of the series is a group of guys (him being one of them) try to restore order in the Spiritual World by taking down renegade spirits. Pretty good and funny snow, tho a little heavy on the combat. Kurama was a rogue fox who caused a lot of trouble. When being chased by a spirit hunter he entered the body of an unborn baby and was reborn as him- Shiori. The child's mother taught him to be more compassionate as he grew up so now he is a better character. Kurama, in human form, appears fairly early in the series. His Youko form doesn't appear until much later, I'm told the "Legendary Bandit" episode is the first but I don't know what # it is. This series is commercially licensed and out on DVD by Funimation. The manga is also being released by Viz. I'm the series is 112 episodes, not sure how many volumes the manga is.

ZOIDS- Shadow Fox
  Zoids is a show basically about some kids and anmal-based robots/mecha. I don't really watch it so I don't know the overall plot, there's several seasons. Anyway one of the robots is a fox, called Shadow Fox. I just thought I'd mention it since you don't often see fox mecha.

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Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure- 9-tailed fox
Ninetail illustration from booklet
The foxes play a very minor role in the game, primarily as randomly-encountered monsters, but they actually are part of the plot as well. As part of your quest you are recovering stones, and come to a problem with some foxes in a tower. You end up with the choice of taking the stone, which will kill them, or leaving it and failing to save a kid in a village (its actually better not to, you get something else instead and the villagers don't hate you.) At least that's what I think happens, its been a while since I played. This game is incredibly cute, and I love the design they have for the foxes, so I had to include it. The basic premise is you're a tomboy girl with a little puppet who looks like a fairy as a companion, who can talk and move. You are also the only one who can hear other puppets talk, whom you can recruit in your party. You can recruit monsters as well (I tried really hard to get a fox but was unsuccessful.) You have a crush on the prince, who is kidnapped, so of course you have to go and save him! Not much to the game, but it is really cute and funny. 

Starfox Adventures- Fox McCloud and Krystal (does she have a last name?)
Group shot 1 * Group shot 2 * McCloud aggressive stance * large McCloud standing * McCloud with arms crossed * screenshot Krystal riding pterodactyl * large Krystal basic pose * large Krystal back pose
AFAIK Starfox is an older game that has had many incarnations. The main character of this outer-space game is a fox! He's a typical-looking fox, albeit in space garb. The one I really like from this though is Krystal, the blue female (princess?) from one of the more recent releases. McCloud just never interested me (I think he needs to lose the gruff look, at least he ditched his headgear.) I don't know much about this game, I've never played it. As an aside, you can also play McCloud on Smash Brothers, and he has an accompanying stage. Now if they included Krystal, that'd be cool!

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