@fdmz
Nah, it looks more severe than it actually is, also when i was in japan some places sold "pudding" with the samee type of topping- it's been a few years since the last time i made either, but if i remmeber correctly the top layer is just sugar carmelised under torch/ high oven setting. In the pudding they are eating, the carmel is on the bottom, and then when you take it from the mold it moves to the top, giving it more glossy, solid texture. Personally i just did both, with carmel on top and bottom
@Nep
Assuming the one i got in germany and in poland are decent representatives, they seemed to add flour/starch to make consistency more... caky? Quick google search seems to imply use of gelatin.
After some research, it does appear that pudding is just far more general term, that can refer to many types of food, not only dessert food, while if you were to go to japan and buy "Purin" (and i did eat a shit ton of that stuff) it was always indeed as suggested, Crème caramel.
In general it annoys me, because when I came back from japan and tried to get some "Purin", i would get dessert that while sometimes tasty, was never what i wanted, making me even think for some time that it's some unusual japanese delicacy, unavailable in other parts of the world, until i did more research.