I've actually read some fantasies based on Japanese legends, but none were Own Voices books. They were all by Caucasians, and they were mainly martial arts oriented fantasies grounded in samurai films. Shadow of the Fox has a number of similarities to those books, but the biggest difference is that Julie Kagawa gave us a character who poked fun at the samurai and their values. The reviews I've seen don't even mention this character, but he was the one who stood out for me.
The protagonists also don't fit the formula I've seen in Japanese background fantasies. I've seen kitsune (fox woman) characters. They're usually destructive villains, not protagonists. Yumeko was trained to suppress her kitsune persona and powers at a temple where she was brought up. Then there's the samurai protagonist, Tatsumi. Samurai tradition contends that the soul of the samurai is in his sword. This is a metaphor for the samurai's total commitment to the way of the warrior. It isn't intended to be literal. In Shadow of the Fox, there really is a spirit in Tatsumi's sword, but it's a demon. This is a significant challenge for a protagonist. He had to fight that demon in order to maintain self-mastery. So both these protagonists had divided natures. They weren't entirely trustworthy.
My favorite character was essentially a sidekick. His name was Okame, and he's a ronin which means masterless samurai. Every ronin I've ever read about before is continually trying to find a master. They're never happy unless they've sworn fealty to a lord, and can be proper samurai. At first, I thought of Okame as a drunken fool who lacked ambition, but as time went on I realized that he was a subversive who had some really good dialogue.
I liked the fact that Julie Kagawa claimed the freedom to play with the standard figures of Japanese fantasy and move beyond formula. I am looking forward to finding out what she does in future volumes.
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