Last season's Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku was an exhilarating battle royale type of narrative featuring a number of interesting characters (many of which don't make it past the third episode). Among that number was the popular kunoichi Yuzuriha, and her assigned Yamada Asaemon, Senta. Over the 13-episode series, it becomes quite clear that the character pairings have some kind of narrative purpose beyond the shogunate's desire to retrieve the Elixir of Life.
For Senta and Yuzuriha, this connection lay in their deception, more specifically, the fact that they're kindred spirits when it comes to how they have chosen to move in the world through hiding, manipulating or simply ignoring the truth, albeit from completely different perspectives. Both characters are referred to as animals, with Yuzuriha being referred to as a vixen and Senta, a tanuki.
Folklore
In the west, the fox is a known symbol of mischief, trickery and cleverness due to their resilience and ability to outsmart predator and prey. They have been anthropomorphized and characterized as chaotic tricksters, possibly due to the belief that they are pests – a threat to certain livestock and a general nuisance in certain parts of the world. Their trickery and mischief remain major traits attributed to the fox in the east; however, as anime fans would know, they've also been seen in a supernatural or divine light (much like cats). Referred to as kitsune in Japanese folklore, the premise is that these beings possess paranormal abilities that increase with age, including the ability to shapeshift into humans. The older the kitsune, the wiser, and this wisdom is also indicated by the number of tails this paranormal fox has. As seen in the obvious choice Naruto, as well as in the Vulpix Pokémon which evolves into the mystical Ninetales.
It is important to note that Japanese folklore features stories of both good and bad kitsune, with the "nogitsune" being the category name of the latter; however, the most prevalent concept of foxes is that of divine origin, again due to the relationship between the animal and early farmers who'd use them to control rats in rice patties. In Japanese mythology, the Bake-danuki is a shapeshifting creature much like the fox; however, their trickery is for the sake of humour and playfulness, while the fox is seen as a shapeshifter for the sake of tempting humans. The phrase "A kitsune has seven transformations, but a tanuki has eight" was used to illustrate the superior deceptive abilities of the tanuki while placing them in the same wheelhouse. This is reflected in Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku through the dynamic of Yuzuriha and Senta, the former having quickly gained awareness of the former's true thoughts and feelings.
Great Pretender
The fact that Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku draws the connections for viewers with regard to the animal metaphors used for Senta and Yuzuriha is important, because it cements the evidence of these connections being deliberate. Gabimaru uses the word "megitsune" (literally, "vixen") in his first encounter with Yuzuriha. The word choice elicits the idea that Yuzuriha puts on a seductive aura, and that having been not long after her cold deception of Makiya the Apostate. Evidently, Yuzuriha's position as resident femme fatale was cemented in her introduction in episode 4, and Gabimaru's use of the word vixen operated on several levels to describe the countless layers of deception that was Yuzuriha.
On the other hand, Senta's connection to the tanuki happens in a flashback during Episode 12 during his conversation with Sagiri about his feelings for Yuzuriha. As they approached the island together, Yuzuriha told Senta that she saw right through him, noting that he doesn't really care about his responsibilities or the Yamada Clan. As a fellow pretender, Yuzuriha became one of the few people who really saw Senta for who he was, calling him a tanuki in a playful, teasing way. These moments are important because not only does understanding the implications of the animal metaphors can they be effective in imparting the various attributes of the character in question.
Character Design
Yuzuriha's kunoichi outfit is a somewhat understated yet simultaneously bold look for what the garment allows to be seen. With no shoulders, and the middle part of the chest, and the outer thighs left open, the outfit reveals a lot of skin yet still covers a large surface area of her body. The outfit enables Yuzuriha the same movement as a standard ninja outfit would require, while also offering her a seductive edge that she uses in her line of work. Interestingly, the middle part of the chest, and upper front legs of vulpes vulpes (the common fox) are regions where the animal has white fur to accent the red for which they are known. In addition, they have dark "socks" (colouration of the paw/leg reminiscent of socks). The white parts of the fox correspond with the parts of Yuzuriha's outfit that are uncovered, and just like the fox, Yuzuriha's pants taper into a dark sock, giving her legs a fox-like appearance. When it comes to mannerisms, Yuzuriha's tendency to shut her eyes while smiling gives more weight to the association.
On the other hand, Senta's outfit communicates his associated animal a lot less given that he wears standard Yamada Asaemon attire; however, his cute round face and beady eyes enclosed by round-frame spectacles give Senta a very benign look. He also has very small, round ears (a detail in the manga skipped over in the anime). The round frames are the most damning part of Senta's design because they correlate with the circles seen around the eyes of the tanuki (a feature that has it associated with the raccoon despite being unrelated), not to mention the tufts of Senta's hair that form uniform spikes on either side of his small ponytail are meant to communicate the spiky tufts of fur that the tanuki has on either side of its face. With this much evidence, not to mention the widespread inspirations that have gone into the creation of Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, it may be safe to say that Yuzuriha and Senta look just like animals.
Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku is available to stream on Crunchyroll.