I finally saw Pom Poko recently, since the connection at home is better than at my apartment, and it was SO funny, but also bittersweet and the many tanuki deaths made me cry. They were too idealistic to integrate into human society, as the kitsune did, until their numbers had already dwindled... at least by the end, there was some compromise with humans...

..... naturally, my Pokemon-obsessed brain taught of Buson a bunch too, especially when the tanuki matriarch gave one fatigued tanuki-posing-as-human sunglasses (to hide his black rings) and an energy drink, ffff.

Or the moral behind their little kamishibai/paper play about the tanuki posing as a tree branch, who kept changing which way he pointed based on a human's comments (Wasn't the branch to the left? Actually, wasn't there two branches?), until the poor tanuki fell down, and the tanuki listening called him an idiot and said it was because he let go.

We're smart, we wouldn't fall for that!

So the tanuki matriarch sings a children's song: "Won't You Come and Play, Mr. Tanuki?"
... ALL the tanuki students sing back in reply, fff, as she feared, she'd fall for human tricks, because tanuki are too good-natured and eager-to-please.

They couldn't commit to waging a violent war because completely ridding the place of humans would rid them of tempura, pizza, hamburgers...!

The one kitsune in that scummy human's company was easy to recognize, he had a very fox-like face (the angle of his eyes, long and narrow face, and the androgynous appearancetransformed kitsune are women or beautiful men!The makeup is part of his transformation for some reason, ffff.--)

Even before he transformed, also, some of his poses look like how kitsune are depicted in old artwork...

His plan was very cynical and necessitated abandoning those of his kind who could not transform, to fend for themselves in the dwindling wilderness, with those who can transform integrating into human society, but the tanuki refused it at first... it's tragic.

I never watched Pom Poko so I had no idea it got so sad, gosh... 🥺

It is very, very sad and somewhat futile. Tanuki trying to oppose human progress, but their illusions aren't enough to stop urbanization and the tanuki who cannot transform, fight for scraps. One father got hit by a car bringing food for his children and you later see the widow and her kids

with his funeral photograph in their two-legged, more anthropomorphized form.
It's an environmentalist film with painful realism, despite the youkai transformations and how fun-loving the tanuki are despite everything.

Gosh I don't think my heart could take watching that 🥲

They're goofy and loveable and the young & adult, named characters survive to the end, but undeniably... yeah, it gets bleak. It ends hopefully, but their habitat is now just small parks. A golf park is where theu celebrate at the end.

That is so bittersweet.... 🥺

I remember vaguely about the movie since i've watched it a long time ago, but the takeaway i got is that it was a little bittersweet...!