r/Kitsune

Is kitsune mythology being watered down by pop culture or is that just how mythology works?
I’ve been thinking about this and I just dont know.
Like the original kitsune mythology is actually complex. Shapeshifters, tricksters, tied to Inari, capable of real malice just as much as loyalty. The nine tails thing isn’t just a power ranking…it’s centuries of something else. There’s a darkness to it that most people just skip over.
But now every anime and game has a kitsune character and they’re almost always just cute fox girl who causes trouble. That whole deeper layer gets ignored.
But is that actually a problem? Greek gods are Marvel characters now. Norse mythology is a film franchise. Maybe the fact that kitsune are everywhere means the mythology is alive, not dying.
I just wonder if the original meaning can survive that kind of mass adoption or whether it slowly gets hollowed out??
Curious where people here actually stand…

I would say since roughly around last year, I’ve been having dreams that would show Shinto symbolism, and kitsune. I feel strange making this post because this is fairly new to me and I’m still navigating how to understand it better. I’ve always had a fascination with Japanese culture, not just anime, but also yokai, and the overall spiritual side of Japan. Last year I was in a very messed up situation regarding emotional domestic abuse, and it dragged on for almost the whole year. I wanted to be protected and asked if there was anyone out there, who could do that. Then one night I had a dream about, having a kitsune spiritual guardian. The strange thing is, I already knew this in my dream, and was familiar with it. Then, I found myself at a Shinto shrine and an invisible voice told me that the kitsune that was looking after me hadn’t done his job properly or had to return to other duties. In my dream I was upset about this because this kitsune and I had already been through so much together, and that it wouldn’t be fair for him or myself to be separated, the invisible voice who I now believe was a deity or something said he could stay. Since that dream, I would ask for things to happen, mainly regarding the domestic situation. And it did, things got better, and now I live in peace with my mother and younger sister. This kitsune has visited my dreams more then once, and doesn’t seem to like it when I can see through his disguise, he refused to tell me his name, so I gave him one after asking, he was fine with it. In the new year I had a dream where he took on a human form, of an alter boy, and I was a kid,
In this dream he was protecting me from bad things and seemed impatient about something. I asked what was wrong, then accused him of sabotaging my love life since he was acting possessive and frustrated, he didn’t really give a clear answer, I said if you want to meet me so much why not come find me in my waking life? He said I wasn’t ready yet, then pushed me through a door, and I woke up from that dream. I know he’s not completely gone because I still feel like I’m being watched over or protected, and sometimes see things out of the corner of my eye, but I was very skeptical. Saw some stories on this subreddit and thought maybe someone with more experience could help me understand what’s going on, and if this is serious, I want to thank them for helping me when I needed it most.