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Crunchyroll Adds Poco's Udon World Anime

Crunchyroll announced on Friday that it will stream the Poco's Udon World (Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari) television anime series as it airs in Japan. The first episode will premiere on Saturday, October 8 at 3:00 p.m. EDT.

The stream will be available in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, and Central America and South America including the Caribbean.

In Japan, the anime will premiere on NTV at 25:55 on October 8 (effectively 1:55 a.m. on October 9) and on RNC at 7:00 a.m. on October 16. The show will also air on Sun TV, BS NTV, and NTV Plus. An advance screening will be held at Tokyo's Shinjuku Wald 9 theater on September 22. Another advance screening will also be held in Kagawa (where the story is set).

Seiki Takuno (Sekkō Boys, Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches) is directing the anime at LIDEN FILMS. Natsuko Takahashi (My Love Story!!, Moyashimon, 07-Ghost) is in charge of series composition, and Eriko Itō (Sekkō Boys, Danchigai, Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches) is serving as both the chief animation director and the character designer. Yukari Hashimoto (Mr. Osomatsu, Yuri Kuma Arashi) is composing the music and Yota Tsuruoka (Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club, K-ON!) is serving as sound director. The "piano rock band" Weaver will perform the show's opening theme song, and the four-member pop band Goodwarp will perform the ending theme song.

The anime is based on Nodoka Shinomaru's "heartwarming fantasy" manga Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari (The Udon Country's Golden Furball). The manga takes place in the "udon prefecture" of Kagawa. The series follows Sōta Tawara, a 30-year-old man who was the son of an udon shop owner who has passed away. Sōta goes back to his hometown, but finds a strange lost child inside his father's old shop. As Sōta is taking care of him, the child, named Poco, suddenly grows ears and a tail. The manga follows the human Sōta and the tanuki Poco as they start to live together, meet and connect with others, and grow. The manga's first chapter is available for free online.