Poco's Udon World

Episode 12

Poco's Udon World concludes on an infectiously sweet note in this week's heartwarming finale. At no point does the narrative feel rushed or manipulatively sentimental, and Souta's character arc reaches a satisfying conclusion. Although Poco's Udon World has never had trouble stirring up powerful emotions, episode 12 is arguably the biggest emotional powerhouse the show has given us. Despite cramming quite a bit of material into its 24-minute runtime, Poco's curtain call provides satisfactory explanations for most of the show's biggest questions and succinctly wraps up the series' main story.

In the wake of the tail-slip incident, Souta pursues Poco deep into the fairgrounds, where Poco uses his tanuki magic to show the young man scenes of his past. As Poco reveals, he's been watching the Tawara family for a long time, and since Souta once saved him from being run over by a car (which was the cause of his leg injury), Poco wishes to repay Souta's kindness by showing him just how loved he is. In addition to showing Souta images of his father being proud of his web design work, he arranges a short meeting between the deceased elder Tawara and his son. Before making his grand departure, Poco takes one last opportunity to tell Souta how much he, his parents, his sister, and his friends love him. Though saddened by Poco's absence, Souta puts on a strong face and decides to officially quit his job in Tokyo and move to Kagawa for good. After the credits warmly, we get a scene where Souta smiles warmly after finding his elderly neighbor on the warpath against a meddlesome tanuki, content with the knowledge that Poco will never be too far away. The fact that he chooses to stay in Kagawa—doing what he loves while maintaining udon-making as a hobby—is the perfect marriage between embracing one's roots but also paving one's own path.

Although it's not made entirely clear, it seems like all of Souta's friends saw the tail-slip and became aware that Poco wasn't an ordinary child—even though several of them may have suspected as much beforehand. (It seems like Mai bought the excuse that the tail was an accessory.) Shunsuke certainly had his suspicions all along, although with everything said and done, his character didn't serve any real purpose outside of explaining the shape-shifting tanuki phenomenon. This makes the revelation of Poco's true nature somewhat anticlimactic, but since the focus of the show has always been the bond between loved ones, this isn't really an issue.

Bittersweet and thought-provoking, this finale deftly brings Souta's story full circle. Since the show's parent manga is still being serialized, I can't help but wonder if this was an anime-original ending or simply the conclusion of a large story arc. The after-credits teasers gives us some hope that Poco will once again make himself known, so I'm inclined to believe the latter. Although a never-aging Poco popping back into Souta's life may present a few problems, (will he interfere with Souta's ability to move on and possibly start a family?) their relationship is so endearing that it's hard not to want them to be reunited.

Rating: A

Poco's Udon World is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Amy is a YA fantasy author who has loved anime for over two decades.