Characterization of a 5-Tailed Fox

Characterization of a 5-Tailed Fox

Recently I watched a cute animated film called Yobi, the Five-Tailed Fox. The star of this film is Yobi, a mystical 5-tailed fox that can transform and alter her appearance as she pleases. With this power, she tries to become close friends with a few humans in a nearby delinquent camp for students. She does this by transforming into a human and enrolling in this camp. However, in befriending a human, Yobi has the ability to capture their soul and fully become a human if she wishes. A device given to her by a shady "detective" tricks her into stealing her friend's soul and Yobi adventures to great lengths to get that soul back.

Yobi is seen here in teenage girl form. Technically she is a fox that is hundreds of years old, but she takes the form of a teenage girl to communicate with the humans. She sports short shorts and a loose tank top. Sometimes she plays the role of her own mother to enroll in the camp. Here she is seen looking into a mirror where we see a fox, her true form. Yobi is generally a shy, yet energetic individual. She enjoys the life of a human, yet if she expresses too much emotion, her tail shows and has to hide it.

Full Movie:

Starting at 1:07:20 is the scene I will portray in this blog post. Up until now Geum-ie has been hiding his real feelings for Yobi, and he begins to feel love and compassion for Yobi. This causes his soul to turn blue, causing the device to almost steal the soul. Instead the fox hunter stops Yobi, and Geum-ie saves her from the fox hunter. Geum-ie then falls into a lake that leads into some kind of "spirit-world" in which souls escape to. Yobi, believing this is unjust, follows Geum-ie herself and tries to get him back. An obstacle she faces is when leaving the spirit-world to return Geum-ie to life, his soul's place is already set, and cannot leave without replacement. As a result, Yobi offers her own soul and is forced to stay behind in the spirit-world. This feat itself is a great display of character, as she gives up her dreams of being with the humans in order to let this boy gain his life back. Yobi's love for Geum-ie causes her to give up her own life for his happiness.