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!
