Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari Series Review

The anime revolves around Tawara Souta, a web programmer who lives in Tokyo but is forced to return to his hometown in Kagawa due to family circumstances. Souta finds a boy living in his house, whom he eventually names Poco. What Souta probably didn’t expect was finding out that Poco has a very peculiar and unique identity. As a result, he decides to quit his job in Tokyo and instead protect Poco and his secret.

Synopsis

Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari is an anime about the feelings that family members have towards each other. It is a story of love, but not of romance. The love that a parent has towards their child. Yet, it is also a story about a child who did not understand what their parent’s feelings were in reality. Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari will fill your soul with warmness and will brighten your day.

Plot & Story

Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari is not your regular family slice-of-life anime. As already mentioned above, the story revolves around Tawara Souta and Poco. As the anime progresses we find out that Poco in fact is not a human but a tanuki who can shapeshift into a human. Souta and Poco bond with each other very quickly and become practically inseparable. Souta dedicates himself to protecting Poco’s secret and in the course of time probably forgets the fact that Poco in actuality is a tanuki. However the time that they spend together gives Souta a chance to remember his childhood, and relive all the memories that he had shut somewhere deep inside his head. In some sense you could say that being together with Poco helps Souta become a better person, appreciate the world around him, regret the things he had been unable to say to those that have passed away from out world.

Art & Music

Let’s take a moment to talk about the seiyuu-s (voice actors) of this anime. The cast is full of some huge names. Even the supporting and secondary characters are voiced by some of the most famous and beloved voice actors in the present anime production scene. The lead, Tawara Souta is voiced by an amazingly and unspeakably talented Nakamura Yuuichi. And some of the supporting characters are voiced by Nakahara Mai, Fukuyama Jun, and Hanazawa Kana.

Besides having a star-filled cast, Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari had a sweet and soothing soundtrack. Sometimes it gets dark, but the whole soundtrack fits the anime and the story perfectly.

As for the animation style, it was quite nice and refreshing. I must admit, that it wasn’t quite my cup of tea, but I do praise the animators for creating a very unique style for this show in particular.

I would like to write down a few cons and pros of the show and give my honest opinion about it. So bear with me for a bit longer!

Cons

With the anime ending, I had many questions hanging in the air. Especially why was nobody freaked out that Poco had a tail and ears? Why wasn’t anybody worried about his whereabouts when he disappeared? Why was Souta able to let Poco go so easily? How did the monk even figure out that Poco was a tanuki?
Gaogao-chan was pretty cute and all, but all the short cartoons with him at the end of the show were pretty redundant in my opinion. They could have been easily released as specials with the Blu-ray.

Pros

The anime was filled with jokes and gags which had me cracking up for hours.
The character development for both the main characters and the secondary ones was quite impressive. One could say that almost every character we met throughout the series underwent quite dramatic changes after meeting Poco.

Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari was a very sweet show. It is family friendly, and it can be a nice watch for both kids and teenagers who have problems with the world surrounding them. It will warm your heart, yet might fill you up with bittersweet emotions. I would highly recommend to watch this in times of stress or exhaustion. The show will help you relax and feel at ease, believe me! It was a nice ride! And thank you for tagging along with me through this journey. 🙂

If you have already watched Udon no Kuni, or if you are planning to watch it let us here on MANGA.TOKYO know what your thoughts are on this anime, and don’t forget to check our episodic reviews for Winter 2017! See you guys!! ^_^