Ponpoko 4-Kyoudai World Tour

**Ponpoko 4-Kyoudai World Tour** (*Kanji: ポンポコ４兄弟ＷＯＲＬＤ　ＴＯＵＲ*) was the final OVA produced by Studio XYZ.

It was directed by Akihide Akimoto and features music by Shunya Asano and Waku Hoshino.

## Plot

The OVA starts at the Hanazono Kindergarten, where a teacher asks one of her students to mention their favorite place in the world. It's here that Hiroshi, Fukuya and Mitsuru raise their hands, they name their favorite locations: the Roman Colosseum, the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal, respectively.

The teacher congratulates the brothers, brings out a slide projector and uses it to show her students the Big Ben, the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids and Sphinx and the Statue of Liberty. The brothers are marveled by these pictures and after classes end, the brothers yell that they want to see the world.

Maruo is seen sweeping around his house as his brothers come running to hug him. They tell Maruo about what they saw at kindergarten, and how they want to travel the world. Maruo claims he always wanted to see the world too. As his brothers ask Maruo if they can go travel, Maruo says they need to ask their father first.

At home, the father is exercising to a workout video featuring female rabbits. As he overhears his children calling him, he rapidly turns off the TV. Hiroshi asks about his father's sweatbands, to which he replies that he has decided to start a diet.

Maruo proceeds to ask his dad about his children being the first tanuki to travel the world. Dad replies that it would be great, but reminds them that world travel requires a lot of time, and that there are oceans to cross and skies to fly through, albeit telling them that if they want to, they can just go. This encourages the brothers to start their world tour, before their dad trying to explain that he had said it sarcastically, only to find a sign reminding people that they had already set off.

The brothers' first destination is France. Fukuya and Mitsuru try to read a sign in French, which they don't understand. Maruo tells them that the sign says "Welcome to Paris!"

The brothers are marveled by the sights they're seeing, but Hiroshi, Fukuya and Mitsuru are petrified by a mime. Maruo tells them that mimes are nothing to worry about, and asks him the way to the Eiffel Tower through miming, the Mime leads them the way.

They arrive to the Eiffel Tower and Maruo thanks the mime, again through miming, as the mime goes away. Mitsuru notices a red balloon flying, and the brothers try and catch it. Hiroshi manages to catch the balloon, but ends up flying all the way to the Eiffel Tower. Maruo goes to save him and tells him that it's okay to be afraid, but that everyone can overcome and learn from their fears. Hiroshi takes his hand and they come down safely. Maruo hasn't forgotten about the balloon itself though, as they try to look for the owner of that balloon.

This is where the brothers meet Louise, a beautiful female cat who Maruo falls deeply in love with. Maruo returns the balloon to Louise and she rewards him with a kiss. A montage shows the brothers being ignored by Maruo as Louise snatches all his attention from him. Later at a cafe, the brothers talk about breaking Maruo and Louise up, with Mitsuru fearing that Maruo might get married and forget about them completely. Maruo comes in and his brothers yell at him: "WE NEED TO TALK!"

Hiroshi and Fukuya accuse Louise of being a "bad girl who ruins everything for [them]" Maruo denies the accusations, claiming that Louise is more than a girl, and begins to praise her for a lot of things, visibly flirty. Hiroshi then asks him rethorically: "Then why don't you get her an **ENGAGEMENT RING?!**" Maruo goes red with embarassment and Mitsuru breaks into tears, imploring Maruo to not get married. Maruo tells them that even if he gets married, his brothers will always hold a special place in his heart, and they hug it out. Maruo then asks the clerk for one of the roses on a pot as they leave the cafe.

Maruo plans on giving the rose to Louise. On the way, Hiroshi tells Maruo that they could give Louise a chance. Maruo then tries to tell them that they can always trust him, only to find Louise with a male rabbit named Jacq. Heartbroken at the belief that she's betraying him, Maruo bursts into tears and breaks up with her. Hiroshi tries to comfort his older brother, attempting to convince him that Louise regrets her "affair", only to be shut by Maruo, as he had given Louise all his love, and she "threw it in [his] face". His brothers try to comfort him and Hiroshi claims that he knows what might cheer him up.

This brings the brothers to their second destination: the Easter Island. Maruo questions how a trip to Easter Island could possibly help him get over Louise. Hiroshi then assures that absolutely no one lives there, only to be proven wrong by an Easter Islander who leads them to a very cheap house. When the brothers fall asleep, Maruo has a dream where a Moai explains how Easter Islanders had built Moai for people to remember them and their land. Maruo asks him what happens if he stays to live there, to which the Moai answers that he could meet the same fate as the inhabitants of Easter Island: death.

Maruo wakes up, and tells his brothers that they have to leave, without explaining to them. Mitsuru assumes that his breakup with Louise has finally gone over his head, which only makes Maruo cry. Fukuya scolds Mitsuru for reminding Maruo about her, and they run away.

The brothers' third destination is Italy, where the brothers watch a fashion show on a TV. They are then greeted by a clearly wealthy woman. This woman is Natasha Milano: the wealthiest, most famous fashion designer in the world. Fukuya's stomach growls, leading him to ask his older brother about the last time they ate. Natasha takes the brothers to a restaurant, where the chef is marveled to see her and the brothers naturally order pizza. As Maruo is about to take his slice, he sees Natasha and offers her a slice, before being told that she doesn't like pizza much, which leaves Maruo to throw his pizza down his mouth.

What Natasha likes is cannoli. Maruo tries it, but immediately finds it disgusting and attempts to swallow it. His brothers try the cannoli as well, only to spit it out after mere seconds. Maruo scolds his brothers, but soon admits that he doesn't like cannoli either. Natasha thinks the situation through, and eventually calls in the butler, to whom she whispers an order: spaghetti. All five enjoy it mutually, especially Mitsuru, who swallows the entire plate.

Later, Natasha and the brothers are found in a gondola in Venice. While Hiroshi, Fukuya and Mitsuru are fast asleep, Maruo begins to tell Natasha about Louise, alarming his younger brothers. Maruo then begins to cry his eyes out, his brothers take him out of the gondola and they go to their fourth destination: Brazil.

Maruo insists that world travel won't mend his broken heart, and that they should go back to Japan, but Hiroshi tells him that no country has more fun than Brazil. They see a young tiger boy named Marco kicking a football while doing commentary on himself (in portuguese, that is), and kicks the ball, inadvertently knocking Maruo out. Hiroshi scolds Marco for being careless. To the brothers' surprise, Marco apologizes in their language. Maruo regains consciousness and angrily kicks the ball, intending to get payback on Marco, but instead scores a goal. Marco is visibly impressed, and suggests them to play soccer with him. Hiroshi, Fukuya and Mitsuru tell their brother to play, but Maruo reminds them that they're four brothers against one player. Marco then decides to call in his friends: a female yellow cat named Maria, a romantic panther named Joao and a bulky lion named Francisco. After they introduce each other, the brothers and the Brazilian friends begin the game.

Maruo kicks off, with Francisco quickly snatching the ball away. The brothers block and quickly take the ball, and the three kick it together. Just as the ball is about to hit the goal, however, Maria, who acts as the goalie, catches the ball as the Brazilian team scores a goal and wins the game. While Maruo congratulates them, his younger brothers don't seem too happy. Maruo tells them that even if they lost, they had fun nonetheless. They overhear a Carnaval passing by, and a dance sequence takes place. Later at night, the brothers find themselves in the Amazon. Maruo takes a picture of a toucan and catches his brothers swimming and warns them that there are crocodiles around, but Fukuya reiterates that there aren't any on the part they're in. Hiroshi then tells Maruo to come and swim with his brothers, with Mitsuru saying it feels great, then saying they didn't just travel for him to get over Louise. Hiroshi and Fukuya scold him immediately, but Maruo goes through a bush, and then reappears in his swimsuit yelling "Who's Louise?" and dives in, implying that he finally got over it.

The brothers then travel to their fifth destination: China. They arrive at a temple, where Maruo tries to knock in, but to no answer. His brothers then agressively knock the door repeatedly, with Mitsuru knocking it with his own head, only to be stopped by Maruo. A dog named Xu-Xu opens the door and the brothers introduce themselves. When a rabbit named Mao-Mao scolds Xu-Xu for not training, he replies to them by introducing the brothers. Everyone is instantly shocked to see Japanese visitors in the temple. Maruo and his brothers introduce themselves to them. A ram named Mo-Mo, visibly afraid, scolds Xu-Xu as they can't let Zhang-Wei see the brothers. The entire temple is in complete shock when Mitsuru asks about Zhang-Wei, who turns out to be the temple's master. Hiroshi is visibly excited, as apparently they could become Kung Fu masters in less than three days if they study at this temple, only to be wished luck by an ox named Chou-Chou, who says that Zhang-Wei despises foreigners, especially Japanese, going to the extent of killing any Japanese visitor who comes in. Maruo bravely decides that he and his siblings will go visit Zhang-Wei. Despite being told by Xu-Xu that he could die there, Maruo talks back saying he doesn't care, as the Moriyama family are capable of anything for a better world.

They enter a nicely decorated room where they find Zhang-Wei resting in a corner. He seems to know about them being Japanese, and eventually he and Maruo engage in a fight. Maruo weakly punches Zhang-Wei's belly, before being snapped by Zhang-Wei. The younger brothers huddle, and Hiroshi tells his brothers about what Maruo told him earlier. The brothers decide to take on Zhang-Wei and successfully ambush him, but when they think they have won, Zhang-Wei is very angry and attacks the three brothers as well. While that happens, Xu-Xu recieves a visit and a kick in the face from a mysterious man, as he fears expulsion. The brothers are on the brink of being defeated by Zhang-Wei, and when he's about to finish them off, he's knocked down by the mysterious visitor, who turns out to be the brothers' father. They are happy to see their dad, who admits to not have known that they were there, and he just heard their screams from afar. He then claims to have put his massive weight to a good use, and that he doesn't need to go on a diet after all.

The father takes his sons to their sixth destination: Egypt. The brothers seem more thirsty than happy however, as they are literally in the middle of nowhere. The father then takes a picture of the Sphinx, only to find out that his sons are nowhere to be seen. The dad begins to worry a lot and begins to have a fantasy where the "ghosts" of his sons scold him for leaving them to rot in the desert and call him a bad father, until he overhears Maruo's voice, and sees a tent where he finally finds his kids, who are actually doing well, enjoying fresh fruit. A camel greets the father, who immediately berates him for taking his children away. The camel, whose name is Jamal, apologizes for taking the brothers without knowing they were his sons, but Maruo and his brothers thank him for the hospitality, and they begin to go. While their father apologizes for having brought them to Egypt, Maruo cheers him up by telling him that he did well to bring them to Egypt, as they have managed to see more of the world. Mitsuru comes up with an idea for their next destination.

The family's seventh and final destination is India. Maruo takes a picture of the Taj Mahal, only for it to come out blurry as a result of Mitsuru hopping into him. At a restaurant, they have curry, with Maruo warning Mitsuru that Indian curry is spicier than Japanese curry, but Mitsuru knows, as he ordered glasses of water for everyone. Fukuya is visibly spiced up and has his whole glass. Maruo finishes his glass, and asks his dad about what he thinks of Indian curry, only to have him breathe fire on him, burning his head up. Maruo finds a cow, and his father immediately thinks of having beef, only to be told off by Mitsuru. Maruo explains that cows are sacred, and that the Indian government forbids mistreatment of cows in any way.

The dad later crashes a Bollywood stage, and is told off by the director. Maruo apologizes and the brothers attempt to take their dad away, but the actresses agree to keep them in the studio, as they find the brothers very cute. A Bollywood sequence begins to play, the actresses begin to sing and dance, with the brothers quickly enough joining in.

Finally, the Moriyama family goes back home, as they recall their favorite parts of the trip, they enter their house to sleep, as the OVA ends.

## Cast

### Major Cast

* MORE PEACH SUMMER SNOW as the 4 Moriyama Brothers.
	+ Chiwa Saitō as Maruo Moriyama, the oldest of the brothers.
	+ Ryō Hirohashi as Hiroshi Moriyama.
	+ Haruna Ikezawa as Fukuya Moriyama.
	+ Mamiko Noto as Mitsuru Moriyama.
* Yuzuru Fujimoto as the overweight father of the brothers.
* Yui Horie as Louise from France, Maruo's love interest for most of the story.
* Kōsei Tomita as a Moai who talks to Maruo in his dream at Easter Island.
* Yūko Kobayashi as Natasha Milano from Italy, the world's wealthiest and most famous fashion designer.
* Hōko Kuwashima as Marco from Brazil, a young tiger who the brothers play soccer with.
* Akio Ōtsuka as Zhang-Wei from China, a giant panda who despises Japanese visitors.
* Chafurin as Xu-Xu, also from China, a dog who trains in Zhang-Wei's temple.

### Minor Cast

* Miyoko Asō as the teacher in the Hanazono kindergarten.
* Unshō Ishizuka as the clerk in a cafe in France.
* Sōichirō Hoshi as Jacq from France, a rabbit who Maruo catches Louise "cheating" on him with.
* Masashi Ebara as an Easter Island rabbit.
* Kōichi Yamadera as the chef and butler in an Italian restaurant.
* Miyu Matsuki as Maria, one of the Brazilian kids that the brothers play soccer with.
* Katsuyuki Konishi as Joao, one of the Brazilian kids that the brothers play soccer with.
* Kenta Miyake as Francisco, one of the Brazilian kids that the brothers play soccer with.
* Ryūsei Nakao as Zi-Zi, a rat who trains in Zhang-Wei's temple.
* Shō Hayami as Chou-Chou an ox who trains in Zhang-Wei's temple, and the elephant director of the Bollywood movie.
* Takehito Koyasu as Yin-Yin, a tiger who trains in Zhang-Wei's temple.
* Keiko Toda as Mao-Mao, a rabbit who trains in Zhang-Wei's temple.
* Kaneta Kimotsuki as Chen-Chen, a lizard who trains in Zhang-Wei's temple.
* Akira Ishida as Si-Si, a snake who trains in Zhang-Wei's temple.
* Masaya Takatsuka as Mu-Mu, a horse who trains in Zhang-Wei's temple.
* Masaya Onosaka as Mo-Mo, a ram who trains in Zhang-Wei's temple.
* Tomokazu Sugita as Shen-Shen, a monkey who trains in Zhang-Wei's temple.
* Toshiyuki Morikawa as You-You, a chicken who trains in Zhang-Wei's temple.
* Tōru Ōhira as Hai-Hai, who trains in Zhang-Wei's temple.
* Rokurō Naya as Jamal, a camel who gives food and water to the brothers in Egypt.
* Mami Koyama as a waitress in India.
* Yūko Mizutani, Kotono Mitsuishi and Sayuri as Bollywood actresses.

## Theme Songs

*Lyrics and Composition by* Tomoko Sasaki
### Opening

* "Sayōnara Ichigo-chan (さようならいちごちゃん)" by Serani Poji
*Arrangement by* Naofumi Hataya

### Ending

* "EVE" by Serani Poji
*Arrangement by* Masayuki Kumahara

## Trivia

* Ponpoko 4-Kyoudai World Tour was the first Studio XYZ anime...
	+ To feature the studio's current logo.
	+ To have a guest animator: both the Carnaval and Bollywood dance sequences were animated by Kyoto Animation's Yoshiji Kigami, credited as Fumio Tada.

## See also

* Ponpoko 4-Kyoudai
* Ponpoko Sanpo - PC game based loosely on the OVA.
* Shin Ponpoko 4-Kyoudai