Talk:Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls Online/@comment-25569977-20151215090515/@comment-25569977-20151215202921

To most people outside Japan, Tanuki as a word already carries the connotation of being mystical, mostly because them as actual creatures don't exist outside of Japan. Of course this will depend on your skepticism level and whether or not you are inclined to believe in spirits and the like. Same goes with foxes, people in Japan used to and some of the older generation may still show respect to foxes. There are even shrines dedicated to foxes mostly because they are seen as mystical or godlike beings with or without any other words added as connotation. Let's face it, if Youko didn't have nine tails, she would probably just be labeled as fox. The only thing that would change is how many tails she has, not what powers she wields.

tl;dr Technically yes, but the word tanuki itself can carry the sense of mysticism without using the bake prefix. To most people it will be the same as differentiating between saying "Undine" and "water spirit".