"OOF," I say out loud after wiping out trying to pull off a double backflip on my bike. Coincidentally, narrator dialogue says the same thing, adding insult to injury. That's OK though, because I'm a lazy tanuki with a big bouncy belly, and I hop back on my bike and rail-grind my way over to another ramp, this time using the sprint button and holding down jump to catch flight and give myself enough airtime to backflip twice and land safely with a satisfying flump. It's summertime. I'm applying for a job at the local yakitori restaurant. I'm delivering packages on a bike. I'm a freakin' tanuki. I'm playing Tanuki: Pon's Summer, and it really is Pon's summer.
I was sold on Tanuki: Pon's Summer within minutes after seeing its Steam page. Right behind black cats specifically, tanuki are my favorite animals. They're chubby little trash goblins, they hibernate by cuddling with other tanuki, and they're endemic to Japan, my favorite place in the world. You give that tanuki a bike and some sick BMX tricks, and my tail's a'wagging. You throw in grilled chicken yakitori, sushi, beer, and give that tanuki a job as a mail courier, and well, that is a video game I will very much want to play.
