Polar Bear Cafe

I was recently recommended to watch this anime. I wasn't sure what to think at first. I do enjoy Slice of Life quite a lot, the theme seemed interesting and the art looked like something I'd enjoy watching. But I will admit that knowing that the main characters were animals put me off for a little while. I felt like it would probably be incredibly childish. In the end... I was half right, half wrong? The humor can be childish, at times. But I think it can also be incredibly smart, especially with Shirokuma's puns. They play with the Japanese language in a way thatmade me even more curious about the language that I already was. It was also refreshing to watch an anime that relies heavily on humor, but also doesn't hesitate to bring heavy subjects in a few episodes. As much as most of the tears I've had while watching Shirokuma Cafe were tears of joy and laughter, I did find myself crying in a few serious moments of the stories. That's something I couldn't appreciate more in a Slice of life/comedy anime. The art is, in my opinion, beautiful, and fits really well with what type of anime it tries to be. It definitely appeals to anyone part of their target audience. The soundtrack was incredibly enjoyable. By the end of the 50 episodes, I found myself humming and singing along some of the songs, especially the Llama one. Llamambo! And what to say of the characters! God, I loved them. All of them. Shirokuma, Panda, Penguin, Llama, Tortoise, Sasako, Sloth, Grizzly, etc. There is honestly no character that I disliked throughout the whole show. I felt attached to them, always happy to see any of them have screen time or even a whole story to themselves. I was always curious to learn more about them and see what they were going to do next. When they were sad or laughing, I found myself feeling the same. I might be pushing it a bit far, but my point is, they made a really good job of making you connect with the characters. They're probably the reason I binged on 50 episodes in a week. I always wanted to know what was going to happen next, what they were going to do next. Which is a surprising feeling to have for a Slice of Life anime. It's not as if it's full of action or fast paced. Nonetheless, I was always eager to see the next episode. Overall, I think this anime is awesome, especially for Slice of Life lovers. It is incredibly sweet, funny, smart and it will make you want to watch more, even after 50 episodes. I would recommend this to anyone!

If there was ever an anime which put "kwai!" to perfection and graced it with a significant degree of adorable charm, this one does. While I would go on and proceed about all aspects of this masterpiece, I find it would be a lacklustre review and would undermine the wonderful experience of watching this lovely anime. Nevertheless, some pointers are always best to mention. While there are some really nice aspects to this anime, the best thing which makes it sell and makes it viewable is that it isn't 50 FULL episodes, but 100 HALF Episodes (2 story events occurring per episode). Amongst the best aspectsof this anime are: The Characters: Panda, Polar Bear and Penguin, and Mr. Honda as well as Miss Sasako are at the helm in terms of screen time, yet everyone else (Anteater, Llama, Apacha, the other Penguins who become THE SOUTH POLE SQUAD, the boy band Yama Arashi, the Penkos, Panda's family, Full-Time Panda, Rin Rin, Grizzly, Sloth, Tortoise amongst them) delivers just as well. Personally, I think the highlight of the show is Polar Bear and his performance is - if not stellar - hilarious and really well thought out. And everyone compliment that performance with a grace that is adorable, and yet balanced out with an acute sincerity. Its hard NOT to like these characters, because they NEVER go out of character - in fact, you root for them and watch all 50 episodes just because the characters make the show what it is: adorable. The Art: The puns are the identifying hallmark of this show. Combined with the cheese in the later episodes of The South Pole Squad (SOUTH POLE SQUAD! PENGUINGER!!), the tension which is exhibited by the character arc of Penguin, as well as the character emotions when corresponding with each other, the art sells perfectly in this work and makes it worthwhile. Nothing less than well thought out, balanced with good humor, and really fun presentations of the episodes as they progress. The Sound: All the characters sounded exactly as they should, followed by the really fun soundtrack (mellow and sweet in episodes in which the characters accept each other, as is the case with Grizzly and Panda; brooding and yet laughable when Penguin interacts with the Penkos; cheesy and roaring awesome when introducing THE SOUTH POLE SQUAD! PENGUINGER!! - and as you can imagine, my personal favourite moment in this anime; and even sad when some of the characters have doubts over their minds - episode 45's first story, without adding any spoilers to it, is the emotional equivalent of being stabbed in the heart upfront and then bashed by a spade followed by having your legs chopped off, such is the sadness felt in it. Yet, it doesn't seem forced, but comes off naturally in this anime. Which is always a good thing and works to its benefit. In essence, this is the perfect "feel good" anime to watch when life gets you down. Panda is mischievous and evil, yet so adorable you squee inside (and feel crippled when he's sad. Period); Penguin is awesome - especially his interaction with Polar Bear which makes him a comedic riot; and of course, Polar Bear, whose puns are perfect, his observations are sharp and clever, and his wit makes the whole show standout and make everyone sweet, adorable, enjoyable, and amusing by association. The perfect light hearted 50 episode anime. And it does everything right.

There is probably no better anime than the one and only Shirokuma Cafe. I have rewatched this about a good 34 times and it never gets old for me. There are far too many legendary aspects in this single series for me to even begin to talk about. I wil leave you with an analogy instead. Meet Beareskinford. He is a rebel bear who has been fighting off the government for many years. He has been working with his trusty sidekick for about the same time. Fast forward a couple years... Beareskinford walks into a bar and meets a bison. Now he hasn'tseen this bison for many years after beareskinford took off one day. Naturally, beareskinford goes in for the brohug, but the bison has other ideas. The bison sneaks in a cheeky shank onto beareskinford's chest and the once great bear takes a graceful dive to the floor. It is revealed at this time that the bison was actually beareskinford's son in a freaky sex accident. He had been slowly bottling up rage from the countless years that his father had been absent. From the moment that his so-called-father entered the bar, he decided that it was finally his time. The forest took many, many weeks to mourn over beareskinford's death and one could only hope there was a light at the end of this dark tunnel. </analogy> Hopefully this left you with a good idea of what this masterpiece is truly capable of. I would rate this 5/7.

I watched the sub. It took a maybe 4 or so episodes to really get into the flow of it, but it became one of my absolute favorite anime (which should be obvious by my name). It's easy to be fooled by the style and some of the tone and think this is simply an anime for children. It's not. And by that I don't mean it's a complete trick, the way the opening to Asobi Asobase gives you a false impression. A lot of the humor in Shirokuma Cafe is puns and a lot of it (especially in thesecond half of the series) is absurd. But most of the characters are adults, so a lot of times episodes revolve around workplaces and adult friendships. The best example is probably with Shirokuma (who runs the cafe) who has been best friends with Grizzly (who runs a bar) since childhood, and while they have very different personalities you get to see how that developed and how much it means to both of them... neither of whom are great at expressing it directly in words but make it clear in their actions. At heart it's a show about relationships, with a group of imperfect but still good, well-meaning humans and animals who try to look out for each other. It's not all warm-fuzzies, though. A lot of the humor is great. But it is a lot of puns, a lot of absurd stuff, and a lot goes for "clever" or "well-crafted" more than slapstick or over-the-top usually. There's a lot of subtle and understated humor, and I'm sure I'm missing a ton of stuff and additional nuance that I'd get if I spoke Japanese as well. It's also definitely one you have to be in the right headspace for, too. If you're in the mood for Saiki-K style humor, this isn't going to fit the bill.