Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko

With the increasing need for Tokyo to expand as one of Japan's major cities, inevitable sacrifices must be made so that changes can take place. One of these sacrifices is that the room for nature and wildlife to flourish will decrease significantly over time. As this decline continues, many animal communities experience the brunt of urbanization. One such community known as the "Tanuki," a type of magical shape-shifting mammal, is caught up in a struggle to defend their beloved forest from being absorbed by the looming threat of an expanding Tokyo.

As more and more Tanuki find themselves with nowhere to hide and territorial fights become increasingly regular amongst the different factions of the community, the elder Tanuki Oroku decides that something must be done. For the sake of their home as well as the safety of their future generations, the Tanuki unite as one with the hope that together they may be able to repel mankind's construction projects and scare them away from the forests using their shapeshifting abilities.

But as they begin their first attempts at sabotage, the Tanuki soon realize the operation will be no easy task. Will they reclaim their forest as a united community, or will they be torn apart by a war against humanity, blinded by anger and pain after witnessing nature's destruction?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Shoukichi Main

Nonomura, Makoto Japanese

Okiyo Main

Ishida, Yuriko Japanese

Tamasaburou Supporting

Kamiya, Akira Japanese

Tsurugame Supporting

Gyobu, Inugami Supporting

Ashiya, Gannosuke Japanese

Ponkichi Supporting

Hayashiya, Shouzou Japanese

Hage, Yashimano Supporting

Daimyoujin, Kincho Supporting

Bunta Supporting

Takakemori, Gonta Supporting

Suzuki, Toshio Producer

Takahata, Isao Director, Original Creator, Screenplay

Urakami, Yasuo Sound Director

Pannetier, Jean-Marc Script, ADR Director

Reviews

Jun 9, 2010

Origami_Cyclone

Recommended

Pom Poko is one of my favorite anime movies, although that's not to say it's a perfect movie. The documentary-style opening , complete with uninspired narration, will lull most people into a false sense of security before the second half. If you can stay awake for the second half, prepare to be blown away.
The Tanuki's transformation prowess here makes for some of the of the most imaginative and unrestrained animation I've ever seen. A careful eye will notice Kiki, Totoro, Porco Rosso, and Galaxy Express 999 during the parade sequence. The tanuki themselves fluidly turn without restraint into hyperrealistic, humanistic, and charicature forms. ... (the third being a homage to a classic manga-ka)

The characters for the most part aren't very notable, more important is the interactions in the community.

Pom Poko is easily the most misunderstood movie put out by Studio Ghibli. While there is some environmentalist message there, I feel this movie is more about adapting. In fact, while the main characters are raccoons, they represent the Japanese society, and how it has to cope with tradition being overtaken by technology. The older raccoons wear traditional kimonos and plan to wipe out the humans developing on their land. The grand masters apparently inspired Japanese deities-(the oldest master being 999 years old.)

Eventually the tanuki learn to hide among the humans (modernize) but, not before one last battle. Most people view the battle as humorous, and it is indeed the most commented part of the movie (because of what, exactly the tanukis transform.) But I see it as an act of desperation, putting their very manhood on the line for one last hopeless push. The aftermath of the battle is all the warriors' dead bodies being dumped in a huge pile, more reminiscent of Auschwitz than a Disney movie.

Because of the overwhelming circumstances the main characters must fight against, I found this movie to be sadder than Grave of the Fireflies, Takahata's much more famous work. This isn't Fern Gully or Avatar however, the tanuki are full of flaws. When they steal a TV to learn more about humans, they become couch potatoes instead. In another scene, they feast upon stolen McDonalds hamburgers.

This is a very Japanese movie, it is filled with references to Japanese culture, mythology, yokai, folklore, and culture. This can make it dense and unappealing to some. They say that a truly good film is universal, but after seeing this film I disagree.

Truly a great movie, one of the best. However, it might take a little patience on the viewer's part to fully enjoy. One of the best- but you might want to watch it in two parts.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Apr 8, 2017

literaturenerd

Mixed Feelings

Overview:

Studio Ghibli is generally synonymous with quality. Led by Hayao Miyazaki and his lifelong friend Isao Takahata, Ghibli has come closer to batting 1000 then any movie studio I can think of. However, if you delve into the more obscure Ghibli films you can find some that while still good...are a little less than perfection. This is definitely one of those.


SPOILERS!


Plot:

The plot of this 1994, Takahata penned Ghibli film is that a community of magical tanuki (raccoon dogs) are being threatened by deforestation and must fight back against the loggers. Basically take the plot of 1992's Ferngully and add massive hairy balls. The tanuki around ... Tokyo are being driven from their homes, having to fight for food, and being killed by hunters and cars. Soon the various clans unite and start trying to chase away the humans using their transformation magic. The tanuki actually manage to kill several humans and celebrate their victory with a party...in this children's film! However, the humans just keep coming back and clearly a more drastic plan is needed.

The tanuki manage to gather ancient tanuki transformation masters from around Japan. The plan is to use a massive series of illusions so terrifying that the humans are driven away for good. However, the amount of magic this requires kills one of the masters and the tanuki retreat. The humans all immediately dismiss what they saw as a bad drug trip or dream. A theme park then claims responsibility and everyone just accepts it without ever questioning how they accomplished the illusion. None of the human characters in this film with the exception of 1 reporter EVER believe that magical tanuki exist. This is despite the fact that the tanuki don't exactly hide their powers. It is the same bullshit skepticism of the humans in DBZ or Seto Kaiba in Yugioh. TV Tropes calls it "Flat Earth Atheism", when a character refuses to believe in magic despite living in a world clearly filled with magic and personally see magic all the time.

Next we introduced to the Kitsune fox tribe of shapeshifters. The Kitsune have learned to disguise themselves as humans and live among them. The kitsune that couldn't shapeshift were killed off, but the shapeshifting kitsune simply accept this as survival of the fittest. It is revealed that the theme park that claimed responsibility is actually run by the kitsune, but then the tanuki steal back their money and the kitsune vanish from the plot without ever really serving a purpose.

It is at this point that different tanuki come up with different plans. One group of Tanuki pull a Lord of the Rings and sail into the afterlife. One group decides to fight the humans and we get easily the dumbest scene in the movie. Instead of using magic, the tanuki simply try clobber the humans with their massive scrotums. The humans don't enjoy being teabagged and start punching the tanuki in the nuts. The scene then fades to black and a narrator somberly explains that all the tanuki were killed...apparently by being punched repeatedly in the nuts. I think this scene was guest directed by Johnny Cage.

The surviving tanuki that can shapeshift are forced to disguise themselves as humans and live like the kitsune, who of course are never seen or mentioned again after their brief introduction. The tanuki that can't shapeshift continue to try live their lives despite the deforestation continuing to get worse and the problem never being resolved. While Miyazaki's films tend to have an emotionally cathartic climax in which the characters learn a lesson, this film by Takahata just kind of...ends. We are however given a moment in which the main tanuki breaks the 4th wall and tells the audience to care more about the environment. Thanks Takahata! We never would have figured out the moral without Tanuki Deadpool. The end!

Art:

The art is excellent and has that Ghibli beauty. However, I'm not sure this film needed quite so many giant balls. Given this IS a film about tanuki so some balls were expected. What we REALLY didn't need was tanuki titties. I'm not just talking Lola bunny in Space Jam boobs, but fully displayed, large nippled, furry boobs aplenty. Thanks Takahata sensei!

Music:

The music is mostly traditional Japanese folk music and is among the highlights of the movie.

Overall:

This movie had some very cute moments, touchingly sad moments, and tried hard to teach the audience a lesson about environmentalism. However, like Takahata's more famous work Grave of the Fireflies, he drives his points home with all the subtlety and grace of a sledgehammer. He tries to forcefully milk tears from the audience and guilt them into supporting his message, respecting and listening to elders in Firefly and conserving the environment in this case. For all its faults, the film still does have its strong suits and I feel it wouldn't be fair to give it less than a 6/10. i would recommend watching, but only if you've already seen all the Miyazaki directed Ghibli films.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jan 5, 2021

TristynAshley

Not Recommended

Funny

I have dedicated the past few days to watching EVERY Ghibli film. This was my third-to-last. I simply cannot believe that Studio Ghibli created this. Having now watched all of them, I know the studio had its share of problems and movie flops - not all gold. BUT THIS? THIS can't be Ghibli. I feel like I have been pranked. Have we all been pranked? This must be a joke.

This anime is about raccoon testicles. Two hours of raccoon testicles. And some raccoon breasts for good measure. They talk of them; they sing of them; they use them as parachutes and weapons and as a ... flying ship to transport the raccoon village to the afterlife. I'm sure there have been many poor ideas for anime, so how could anyone let THIS ONE through? Who? Why?
The overarching story could have been nice: raccoons defend homes from nasty human development. Great! I loved Fern Gully! But it strayed so far. Did not one person watch the final cut before sending it off?
The art wasn't even close to usual Ghibli standards. The whole thing seems like a joke of a project submitted by some dedicated students.
I just don't know what happened here...

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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