Poco's Udon World

After his father's death, Souta Tawara, a web designer who left his hometown in Kagawa prefecture to live in Tokyo, returns to the countryside where he grew up. His father ran a popular udon restaurant, but with no one to take over, the restaurant has closed down. Inside, Souta finds a child fast asleep in an iron pot—a shoeless, dirty, and absolutely starving child. But when Souta tries to take the lost tyke to the police, the rug rat grows an ears and a tail before his very eyes. This is no ordinary child—it's a tanuki in a human form!

Souta is freaked out by his encounter with a shape-shifting tanuki, but how could anyone leave such a lonely-seeming little thing to fend for itself? He offers the hungry crybaby some shoyumame to eat, and a bath to boot. After that, Souta decides to take the kid into town via the Kotoden train line for some much-needed clothes shopping. There he runs into his first love, Manabe-san, now the mother of two young children, and coincidentally enough, she has her own little ones in tow, too. Caught off guard, Souta introduces the tiny tanuki by the first name that pops into his head: "Poco."

Souta is sleeping with a tossing and turning Poco when his longtime friend Nakajima Shinobu shows up for an impromptu fishing trip... at 3 AM. The trio cast their lines under the Red Lighthouse, but the fish just aren't biting. With a bored Poco playing nearby, Souta and Nakajima have a heart-to-heart about their thoughts on marriage and the future. When Souta sadly reveals that he might sell his childhood home and restaurant, Nakajima presses him to take over the restaurant, but Souta won’t give him a clear answer. Will Souta go through with selling the house? And what about Poco?

Souta's big sister Rinko walks in on Souta, Poco, and Nakajima fast asleep after their fishing trip. Souta is frantic to stop Rinko from prying about Poco, but he’s not the only nervous one—Rinko says she's bad with kids, and Poco’s afraid of her. But on Rinko's suggestion, Souta and Poco join her on an outing to Yashima. At the tanuki-connected Yashima Temple, they pray with the pilgrims and enjoy a stroll. And while walking with Poco, the siblings find themselves reminiscing about one old memory after another...

Souta calls Nakajima out, saying he needs to ask him for a favor. Buttering his longtime friend up with some bone-in chicken, he asks Nakajima to go with him to shoot a video for a class reunion. The two return to their old high school, talk with a teacher they used to have makeup lessons with, and end up reminiscing about the good old days. Souta reveals that he accepted the video project because, after leaving for Tokyo caused him to lose touch with the people of his hometown, he wants to revitalize that connection however he can. That evening, it's Nakajima’s turn to ask Souta for a favor: to go with him to visit his father, who's been hurt badly...

Souta needs to go back to Tokyo urgently, but he can't leave Poco alone. What's he to do except for take the tyke with him? Naturally, when they step into the office, Poco becomes the center of attention. Souta begs his boss for an extension of his vacation, still torn about what to do. He wants to work, but what about Poco? Preoccupied, he doesn't notice that something's off about Poco...