Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari – 09

When you hit puberty and hair starts growing in new places

Pocooooooooo ;w;

So it turns out that I really do like this show quite a bit more when it embraces what makes it unique – the fact that’s about a transforming tanuki in hiding. There were still some shaky parts, but overall it was a bit more exciting, and even a little bittersweet than usual. Things got particularly exciting when Poco suddenly couldn’t control his transformation, and ended up reverting to a tanuki against his will. Watching him helplessly clamp down on his furry ears with tears streaming down his face was hard to watch.

Part of what makes it so sad is that Poco knows he can’t live comfortably with Souta if he doesn’t maintain his human form around others. He also places great importance on the promise he made with Souta, and to disobey would feel like a huge betrayal for him. The worst part about Poco’s gradual loss of control is what it could mean for his future with Souta. He got away with it this time, but this is a sign that staying together is going to be difficult. What if he turns back into a tanuki for longer and longer periods of time? What if one day he doesn’t turn back? What if his ears and tail pop out in public again and everyone finds out? This event was basically a flag for a potential parting between the two, which made Poco running away in full tanuki form seem all the more upsetting.

Poco knows how to make udon more than Hiroshi…did this kid used to live in the udon shop?

There is one downside to Poco’s unstable transformation that’s emphasized a bit too much in the show, and that’s Souta’s duty to hide Poco’s true form. The thing is…I still don’t think it’s necessary. While it may be best to keep his secret away from crooked scientists, he has a loyal circle of friends he could trust with this information. Hiroshi explicitly says he doesn’t care if Poco had fuzzy ears and a tail! The only reason he drops the tanuki investigation is because he’s so heartbroken that he doesn’t want to mull over any complicated issues. Although he doesn’t find out in the end, the way that whole scene played out felt like it was setting up Hiroshi as the ideal person to confess to. He relates to being “different” like Poco, so he’s accepting of people who are also a bit odd. It would have been perfect! Now my only hope is that the monk with tanuki mania figures it out.

 Hiroshi is an outcast tanuki himself (dunno why they say he dresses strangely though)

If that wasn’t enough to shake up the tanuki adoption process, Rinko calls Souta later on in the day and tells him that he will have to eventually give Poco back to his parents. I assumed Poco didn’t really have a family to go back to, but now that she mentions it, Souta doesn’t really know about Poco’s situation. If he has a mom and dad out there somewhere, then maybe he should go back to them if he gets the chance. It’s sad, but this relationship may be a very temporary one.

On a side note, this episode not only addressed some problems with raising a tanuki (like I wanted), but they also made udon (ALSO LIKE I WANTED)!! It was…unfortunately kind of a dry process though. Oh well. At least it gave Souta a chance to finally think about his father. Like Hiroshi says, he’s actually surprisingly well-versed in way of making udon. Just ignore the fact that his first attempt was more like mochi.

Who needs a dakimakura when you’ve got a tanuki?

About Overcooled

A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.