Poco's Udon World

Poco's Udon World
	Cover of first manga volume
うどんの国の金色毛鞠; (Udon no Kuni no Kin-iro Kemari)
Genre	Comedy-Drama, Fantasy, slice of life
Manga
Written by	Nodoka Shinomaru
Published by	Shinchosha
Magazine	Monthly Comic @ Bunch
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	August 2012 – February 2019
Volumes	12 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed by	Seiki Takuno
Written by	Natsuko Takahashi
Music by	Yukari Hashimoto
Studio	Liden Films
Licensed by	NA: Crunchyroll (streaming); Discotek Media (home video);
Original network	NTV, RNC, BS Nittere, Sun TV, MMT
English network	SEA: Animax Asia;
Original run	October 9, 2016 – December 25, 2016
Episodes	12 (List of episodes)

Poco's Udon World (うどんの国の金色毛鞠, Udon no Kuni no Kin'iro Kemari, lit. "The Golden Furball of Udon Country") is a Japanese manga series written by Nodoka Shinomaru. It began serialization in Shinchosha's magazine Monthly Comic @ Bunch in 2012 and has been collected into twelve tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation by Liden Films aired from October 9 to December 25, 2016.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Plot

The series revolves around the complicated but normal life of Souta Tawara, a young web designer from Tokyo who decides to return to his hometown in Kagawa following the death of his father and to take a break from the city. Upon his return, he sadly learns that the family restaurant had gone out of business during his absence; while reminiscing about his childhood, Souta walks inside the closed down restaurant and discovers a blonde haired little boy wearing rags sleeping inside a cooking pot. Then, Souta realizes that this child is a shape shifting tanuki that has been inhabiting Kagawa for many years. Thinking that the boy has been living a lonely life, he decides to adopt him and name him Poco.

Each episode follows the heartwarming relationship between Souta and Poco, 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.

Characters

Souta Tawara (俵宗太, Tawara Sōta): Voiced by: Yūichi Nakamura^[7]; The main protagonist and the son of a noodle restaurant owner. Born and raised in the Udon Prefecture (i.e., Kagawa Prefecture), he had been living an uneventful life in Tokyo as a web designer. He comes home after his father's demise to find the restaurant having gone out of business and a young boy that he names Poco hiding there. He grows fond of him and decides to take care of him and constantly worries about what would happen to Poco once he leaves. He regrets leaving his home and his father because of his selfishness and mentions it to his big sister when she expresses her regret of being unable give their father a grandchild. His time spent with Poco often reminds him of how his father lovingly took care of him, which further adds to his regrets.
Poco (ポコ, Poko): Voiced by: Shiho Kokido^[7]; A young boy who is actually a magical tanuki (raccoon dog). He is adopted by Souta after he was found all alone hiding inside the closed-down restaurant.
Shinobu Nakajima (中島忍, Nakajima Shinobu): Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita^[7]; Souta's friend from grade school. He used to go fishing with Souta in the middle of the night before going to school. He is now an orthopedic surgeon.
Rinko Oishi (大石凛子, Ōishi Rinko): Voiced by: Mai Nakahara^[7]; Souta's older sister. She's terrible with kids, but interacting with Poco and Souta changed that. She can come off as intimidating but she cares deeply about Souta's well-being. She regrets the fact that she couldn't give grandchildren to her father even though it was her own decision. She expresses her regret that they have to let go of the house that they grew up and played together which probably left some impression in Souta. She seems rather close to Souta and constantly worries about him probably because they lost their mother early. Whenever she's together with Souta they reminisce their childhood and their regrets. She has a sad expression whenever they reminisce their childhood probably because of the memories of her mother whom she probably remembers better than Souta does.
Shunsuke Fujiyama (藤山俊亮, Fujiyama Shunsuke): Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama^[7]; Priest who initially warns Souta that if a child wanders around alone in the area a tanuki could bewitch them - after Poco runs off chasing Kaeru and ends up at the temple. Sae's older brother and part-time DJ.
Sae Fujiyama (藤山紗枝, Fujiyama Sae): Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa^[8]; Former customer of Tawara Udon, who visited often, she is devastated to find out it is no longer in business upon first meeting Souta. Her workplace is situated around the corner from the noodle restaurant. Shunsuke's younger sister.
Mai Manabe (真鍋舞, Manabe Mai): Voiced by: Yuko Minaguchi^[8]; Souta's childhood friend. Since graduating from high school, she got married and now goes by Mai Tanaka. She is the mother to two children, Nozomi and baby boy Eitarou.
Nozomi Tanaka (田中のぞみ, Tanaka Nozomi): Voiced by: Kaede Hondo^[8]; Mai's daughter.
Fumi Yoshioka (喜岡ふみ, Yoshioka Fumi): Voiced by: Kujira^[8]; Sharp-tongued granny from next door, at first she is critical of Souta upon his return and mistakes Poco as his secret love child.
Nakajima's Mother (中島の母): Voiced by: Akiko Kimura^[8]
Nakajima's Father (中島の父): Voiced by: Katsuhisa Hōki^[8]

Surgeon and Director of the local hospital, he operated on Souta when he sustained his leg injury as a teenager. He argues frequently with his son who works at another hospital in Ritsurin, raising doubts as to whether Shinobu will take over his hospital.

Gorou Hamada (浜田吾郎, Hamada Gorō): Voiced by: Takaya Kuroda^[8]; Nicknamed Dahama, Souta's boss at 'team satellite', the web design company he works at in Tokyo. He first encounters Souta when visiting a hospital where Souta, as a teen, was a patient due to a leg injury. Seeing his enthusiasm for building Nakajima's fishing website, Dahama invites him to Tokyo after his recovery.
Hiroshi Nagatsuma (永妻宏司, Nagatsuma Hiroshi): Voiced by: Shinnosuke Tachibana^[8]; Souta's younger colleague at 'team satellite' who looks up to him. Hiroshi is the one that calls Souta back to Tokyo, after he has spent two weeks away in Kagawa, when the company is in trouble due to being right up against a project deadline.
Manabu Saeki (冴木学, Saeki Manabu): Voiced by: Kōsuke Toriumi^[8]; President of 'team planet', an advertising agency in Shodoshima, introduced to Souta by Dahama when he becomes a freelancer.
Yukie Saeki (冴木雪枝, Saeki Yukie): Voiced by: Yū Shimamura^[8]; Works at 'team planet' and Manabu's wife.
Souta's Mother (中島の母): Voiced by: Akiko Kimura^[8]; Souta and Rinko's mother, she died more than 25 years before the current storyline.
Souta's Father (宗太の父): Voiced by: Hiroshi Naka^[8]; Former owner of the noodle restaurant Tawara Udon, he is Souta and Rinko's father. Died recently - Souta is still in the mourning period when he returns to his hometown in Kagawa Prefecture.
Kaeru (カエル): Voiced by: Yū Kobayashi^[8]; Frog that lives near Tawara Udon and that Poco often chases.
Vice Governor (副知事): Voiced by: Jun Kaname^[7]; An anime-only character, Udon Prefecture Vice Governor Kaname Jun, a native of Kagawa who provides preview narration and facts about the prefecture.

Gaogao-chan and the Blue Sky

Gaogao-chan (ガオガオちゃん): Voiced by: Takaya Kuroda^[7]; A space alien from the Nebula M87 who crash-lands on Earth and comes to love it. Gaogao-chan is Poco's favorite TV character.
Mimi (ミミ) and Momo (モモ): Voiced by: Yui Makino and Shiho Kokido^[7]; Two kind mechanics who Gaogao-chan comes to live with.

Media

Manga

The original manga by Nodoka Shinomaru began serialization in Shinchosha's Monthly Comic @ Bunch magazine in August 2012.^[9] So far, twelve tankōbon volumes have been released by Shinchosha under the label Bunch Comics.^[10]

Volume list

No.	Release date	ISBN
1	December 8, 2012	978-4-10-771688-0
2	June 7, 2013	978-4-10-771709-2
3	December 9, 2013	978-4-10-771727-6
4	July 9, 2014	978-4-10-771759-7
5	December 9, 2014	978-4-10-771790-0
6	August 8, 2015	978-4-10-771838-9
7	February 9, 2016	978-4-10-771876-1
8	October 8, 2016	978-4-10-771925-6
9	January 1, 2017	978-4-10-771947-8
10	November 9, 2017	978-4-10-772025-2
11	September 7, 2018	978-4-10-772117-4
12	March 9, 2019	978-4-10-772167-9

Anime

A 12-episode anime television series adaptation was announced to air in October 2016.^[11] The anime was produced by Liden Films, directed by Seiki Takuno and written by Natsuko Takahashi. Eriko Itō handled the character designs and Yukari Hashimoto composed the music.^[4]^[6] It premiered on October 9, 2016 on NTV^[a] and later premiered on RNC on October 16, 2016.^[8] The opening theme is "S.O.S." by Weaver^[12] and the ending theme is "Sweet Darwin" by GOODWARP.^[8] Crunchyroll streamed the show as it aired, while Discotek Media released the show on Blu-ray on May 26, 2020.

Episode list

No.	Title ^[13]^[b]	Original air date
1	"Bukkake Udon" (Japanese: ぶっかけうどん)	October 9, 2016 (2016-10-09)
Souta Tawara returns home to Kagawa Prefecture and finds a sleeping child inside the closed udon restaurant Tawara Udon owned by his family. Souta decides to bring him to a police station but during his encounter with customers looking for Tawara Udon, the child transforms into a shapeshifting tanuki. Gaogao-chan and the Blue Sky #1 – "Gaogao-chan and the Blue Planet": The alien Ipalnemoani Gaogao has its spaceship crash landed on Earth near the mechanic shop owned by Mimi and Momo.
2	"Kotoden" (Japanese: ことでん)	October 16, 2016 (2016-10-16)
Souta returns home terrified after leaving the tanuki but the following day, he saves it from an old lady in their neighborhood who has gotten angry due to the fields it destroyed. Souta and the tanuki, who is revealed to be a boy, then bond over eating shoyumame. Souta brings him to a clothing shop near Kotoden and encounters his old classmate and first love Mai Manabe with her two children. Souta then introduces the boy as Poco. They dine in a sweet shop, where Manabe's daughter Nozomi and Poco become friends. Gaogao-chan and the Blue Sky #2 – "Gaogao-chan and the Kind Mechanics": Mimi and Momo fix Gaogao's broken spaceship and begin to call the alien "Gaogao-chan".
3	"The Red Lighthouse" Transliteration: "Aka Tōdai" (Japanese: 赤灯台)	October 23, 2016 (2016-10-23)
Souta's childhood friend Shinobu Nakajima drags him and Poco on a fishing trip early in the morning near the lighthouse. Nakajima mentions his mother nagging him about getting married, while Souta brings up the plans to sell his family's house and restaurant. Nakajima then suggests Souta lead the udon business, causing him to recall the past when he told his father about going to Tokyo instead of taking over the restaurant. Their fishing trip ends when they have caught an octopus. Gaogao-chan and the Blue Sky #3 – "Gaogao-chan and Earth in Danger": Mimi and Momo bring Gaogao-chan by the sea to persuade it to reconsider its plan to conquer Earth. Suddenly, Octopus abducts the two mechanics but is later defeated by the alien.
4	"Yashima" (Japanese: 屋島)	October 30, 2016 (2016-10-30)
Souta's older sister Rinko visits her brother to assist him in cleaning the house before it goes on sale and is introduced to Poco, who then becomes afraid of her. She brings them to Yashima, where the siblings used to visit with their father in their childhood. Poco's leg slips in a crack at a vine bridge, but Rinko saves him, earning his trust. Gaogao-chan and the Blue Sky #4 – "Gaogao-chan and the Taste of First Love": Mimi and Momo help Timid Flower-san and Gaogao-chan on their first date.
5	"Chicken on the Bone" Transliteration: "Honesuke Tori" (Japanese: 骨付鳥)	November 6, 2016 (2016-11-06)
Souta asks Nakajima to tag along with him and Poco to their old high school after accepting Manabe's request to create a film for teachers that cannot attend their class reunion. Following the meeting with classic Japanese teacher Sonezaki and a regular customer of Tawara Udon named Sae Fujiyama, Souta and Poco accompany Nakajima to his parents' house. Nakajima and his father get into an argument so his mother invites them to an open-air bath. Souta convinces Nakajima to reconcile with his father. Back at his parents' residence, Nakajima finds his father's greenhouse growing pineapples, his favorite fruit. Later, Souta receives a phone call from his colleague in Tokyo informing him about the trouble they encountered at work. Gaogao-chan and the Blue Sky #5 – "Gaogao-chan and the Friends-Again Magic": Mimi and Momo get into an argument so Gaogao-chan digs a hot spring as a way to make the two reconcile.
6	"Tokyo Tower" Transliteration: "Tōkyō Tawā" (Japanese: 東京タワー)	November 13, 2016 (2016-11-13)
Souta returns to his Web designing company in Tokyo along with Poco. He asks his supervisor Gorou Hamada for an extended leave, while his colleague Hiroshi Nagatsuma meets Poco. Later at night, Poco is feeling sick when Nagatsuma suddenly pays a visit to Souta's apartment. Nagatsuma discovers Poco's tanuki form, but Souta dismisses it as his hallucination. The following day, Souta decides to stay in Kagawa and offers his resignation, but he decides to finish the project that has been assigned to him and Nagatsuma. Hamada then invites Souta, Poco, and Nagatsuma to the Tokyo Tower. Hamada then tells Souta that he has a friend in Shōdoshima with whom he can get in touch. Gaogao-chan and the Blue Sky #6 – "Gaogao-chan and the Resignation": Gaogao-chan returns to his home planet and offers his father the resignation from conquering Earth.
7	"Ritsurin Garden" Transliteration: "Ritsurin Kōen" (Japanese: 栗林公園)	November 20, 2016 (2016-11-20)
8	"Shoudo Island" Transliteration: "Shōdoshima" (Japanese: 小豆島)	November 27, 2016 (2016-11-27)
9	"Dried Sardines" Transliteration: "Iriko Dashi" (Japanese: いりこだし)	December 4, 2016 (2016-12-04)
10	"Reservoir" Transliteration: "Tameike" (Japanese: ため池)	December 11, 2016 (2016-12-11)
11	"Takamatsu Festival" Transliteration: "Takamatsu Matsuri" (Japanese: 高松まつり)	December 18, 2016 (2016-12-18)
12	"Kakeudon" (Japanese: かけうどん)	December 25, 2016 (2016-12-25)

Notes

^ The series premiered on NTV at 25:55 on October 8, 2016, which is equivalent to 1:55am on October 9, 2016
^ All English titles are taken from Crunchyroll.