Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari

Taking a break from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, Souta Tawara returns to his hometown in Kagawa. Though his parents are no longer around, his former home and family-owned udon restaurant reminds him of the times his family was still together. Reminiscing about his childhood, Souta enters the udon restaurant and discovers a grimy young boy sleeping.

At first, Souta thinks nothing of the chance encounter and provides the boy with food and clothing. However, to his surprise, the boy suddenly sprouts a furry pair of ears and a tail! Souta soon learns that the nameless boy is actually the rumored shapeshifting tanuki that has been inhabiting Kagawa for many years. Thinking that the boy has been living a lonely life, he decides to take him in and name him Poko.

Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari follows the heartwarming relationship between Souta and Poko, and through the time they spend together, Souta recalls his own past, the place he left behind for the city, and the relationship he had with his father.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Poko Main

Kokido, Shiho Japanese

Tawara, Souta Main

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Gaogao-chan Supporting

Kuroda, Takaya Japanese

Nakajima, Shinobu Supporting

Sugita, Tomokazu Japanese

Ooishi, Rinko Supporting

Nakahara, Mai Japanese

Nagatsuma, Hiroshi Supporting

Tachibana, Shinnosuke Japanese

Fujiyama, Sae Supporting

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Kaeru Supporting

Kobayashi, Yuu Japanese

Momo Supporting

Kokido, Shiho Japanese

Souta's Mother Supporting

Inoue, Kikuko Japanese

Satomi, Tetsurou Producer

Hosoi, Shunsuke Producer

Inage, Hiroyuki Producer

Shiba, Hirokazu Producer

Reviews

Jan 3, 2017

wyvernwings

Recommended

The story of Souta and Poco is, to say the least, heartwarming. Over the course of twelve episodes, the relationship between the two unlikely pair, a web designer and a shape-shifting tanuki, unfolds as they interact with other characters from both rural and urban environments. The general message conveyed is that of familial love and bonds; however, this does not only pertain to conventional families but found ones, too. Though the plot lacks complexity, aside from the occasional drama that comes with exertion and exhaustion on Poco's part (as maintaining a human form is demanding), the story is compelling and certainly draws the viewer in ... with its music (most notably the fun op and soothing ed), its gentle art style, and its well-crafted simplicity. Poco's charm captivated me immediately (just look at those eyes!) and my affection toward him only grew with each episode and his childish antics. Overall, each episode brought a smile to my face, even though there certainly were moments where the story brought tears to my eyes, and the end was satisfying, albeit a bit heart-wrenching.

If you enjoyed series like Barakamon or Usagi Drop, you'll probably find yourself falling in love with this one, too.

~This is my first review, but I plan on writing more in the future.~

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Apr 21, 2018

freckled

Mixed Feelings

Poco's Udon World: Top 10 Anime Betrayals

Before delving into my reasoning for my rating, let me first state that Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari is honestly a delightful show, for the most part. But the ending of Poco has permanently coloured the entire series for me in a frustrating and less-than-flattering light. Most of the time if an anime has an unsatisfactory ending, I can still look back on my enjoyment of the journey. But Poco's ending left me feeling empty, like the journey had been pointless.

Art: The series has a nice clean style which fits the slice of life tone. I liked the ... soft rim lighting on all the characters which added a unique visual element to the series. Sometimes the way Poco's expressions were drawn were a little much (in a trying too hard kind of way) but for the most part he was very cute. The backgrounds weren't anything special, but they were soft and fit the style of the show very well.

Characters: The best part of this series hands down. All of the supportive cast felt multidimensional and were enjoyable to watch. Souta and Poco were, of course, the highlight of the series. Seeing their relationship grow and Souta embrace this fatherly roll he suddenly found himself it was heart warming. Which made the ending that much more bitter for me.

Story: This is ultimately why I gave this show a 6. It would of easily been an 8 for me if not for the last episode. Without spoiling anything directly, the show essentially throws away all the character growth that had been developed throughout the whole show. Since that growth was the focal point of the series, I can't look at the previous episodes without it feeling tainted. The characters reactions all felt so empty and the moral felt cheap. If literally any of the characters showed a level of grief or serious sadness, I would of probably given the show at least a 7.

I know my reaction is much harsher than others, and you very well may not mind the ending at all unlike me. But Poco's Udon World was a show I was watching as a feel good pick-me-up and the ending felt like a rug being pulled out from under me.


I still love Gaogao-chan though. Gao Gao!

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Nov 16, 2017

yuji_sasaki

Not Recommended

I won't write bad review often, but sometimes I feel I have to.
This Anime bears "Udon (Noodle)" in title and the story is set in Kagawa - known as "Udon Kingdom" in Japan. The main character SOUTA is just came back from Tokyo when his father passed away, his initial intention was to close down father's once famous Udon Restaurant. You may expect this Anime is SOUTA to find out charm of Udon and succeed farther's restaurant, right? Forget about it. Through the whole episodes, almost nothing happens about Udon. Almost nothing happens with his relationship with POKO - magical Tanuki creature - neither, until ... very last two episodes.
Not only about Udon or POKO - story is terribly thin. SOUTA goes to places with POKO, meets many people, but nothing happens at all. Side characters are also thin and unattractive.
I heard rumor that, there was very strong pressure from the Producer. He promoted his protege voice actor and screenwriter, fired the original director who opposed his staffing, bringing mayhem into already budget and time crunching production. I do not know if that rumor is truth or not. However if you watch this Anime, you will feel "Something is not right".
Despite those confusion, production seems tried to do best. Artwork is fairly good, reminds me wet-grassy scent of Kagawa countryside. But damage has done - I cannot recommend this Anime at all.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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