Pom Poko
As the human city development encroaches on the raccoon dog population's forest and meadow habitat, the raccoon dogs find themselves faced with the very real possibility of extinction. In response, the raccoon dogs engage in a desperate struggle to stop the construction and preserve their home.
3 wins & 1 nomination
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Pom Poko (1994) exhibits deliberately positioned plot construction, characteristic of Isao Takahata's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 12-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 59 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.1, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 2 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes The tanuki live freely in the Tama Hills forest, fighting amongst themselves over territory and food, unaware of the coming threat to their woodland home.. Significantly, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 15 minutes when The tanuki discover that human construction of the Tama New Town development is destroying their forest habitat at an alarming rate, threatening their food supply and survival.. At 13% through the film, this Disruption is delayed, allowing extended setup of the story world. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The Collapse moment at 89 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Gonta, the militant leader, dies in a final desperate attack on the construction site. The radio announces the development project is proceeding successfully. The tanuki realize they have definitively lost their battle., demonstrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 96 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. The remaining tanuki, led by Shoukichi and the masters, accept their new reality: they cannot stop progress, but they can adapt and survive by learning to coexist, preserving what they can while changing how they must., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Pom Poko's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 12 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs proven narrative structure principles that track dramatic progression. By mapping Pom Poko against these established plot points, we can identify how Isao Takahata utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Pom Poko within the animation genre.
Isao Takahata's Structural Approach
Among the 2 Isao Takahata films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 6.8, demonstrating varied approaches to story architecture. Pom Poko represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Isao Takahata filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional animation films include The Bad Guys, The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie and Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel I. Presage Flower. For more Isao Takahata analyses, see The Tale of The Princess Kaguya.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
The tanuki live freely in the Tama Hills forest, fighting amongst themselves over territory and food, unaware of the coming threat to their woodland home.
Theme
Elder tanuki state that survival requires adaptation: "We must learn the old transformation arts to fight the humans." The theme of balancing tradition, resistance, and survival is introduced.
Worldbuilding
The tanuki's forest society is established: their ability to shapeshift, their clan rivalries, their reliance on the forest for food, and the narrator explaining their way of life before human development began encroaching.
Disruption
The tanuki discover that human construction of the Tama New Town development is destroying their forest habitat at an alarming rate, threatening their food supply and survival.
Resistance
The tanuki debate their response: unify the clans, cease fighting each other, and commit to learning the ancient transformation arts. Young tanuki begin training while they send for legendary transformation masters from distant regions.
Act II
ConfrontationPremise
The tanuki escalate their resistance campaign with increasingly elaborate sabotage: haunting construction workers, causing accidents, and using their transformation powers creatively. They experience small victories and growing confidence.
Opposition
The initial euphoria fades as humans rationalize the parade as entertainment or hoax. Development continues unabated. The tanuki's resources dwindle, casualties mount, and divisions emerge between those wanting to fight and those seeking compromise.
Collapse
Gonta, the militant leader, dies in a final desperate attack on the construction site. The radio announces the development project is proceeding successfully. The tanuki realize they have definitively lost their battle.
Crisis
The surviving tanuki grieve and face their dark reality. Some choose to live as humans permanently, abandoning their true nature. Others retreat to shrinking forest patches. The community fractures in despair.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
The remaining tanuki, led by Shoukichi and the masters, accept their new reality: they cannot stop progress, but they can adapt and survive by learning to coexist, preserving what they can while changing how they must.
Synthesis
The tanuki adapt to their new world: some master human form and integrate into society, others find ways to survive in remaining green spaces, and they make a public plea for humans to preserve nature, accepting their transformed existence.
Transformation
Shoukichi, now living disguised among humans in the developed suburbs, spots other tanuki and they briefly celebrate together in their true forms in a remaining patch of green, having found bittersweet acceptance of their new reality.