Isao Takahata’s 1994 eco-fable Pom Poko is simultaneously full of silly humor and morbid reflections on the fate of creatures affected by humanity’s destruction of the environment. As friend of the show J.J. DiUbaldi and Tristan discuss, however, the film doesn’t take the easy way out in its conclusion of these themes and its collective cast of tanuki represent utter joy and deep loss.