Kumamiko: Girl Meets Bear

Terrible ending and scumbag characters ruin an otherwise average slice of life series. Story: It's about a cute village miko who wants to experience city life. Unfortunately, she has crippling social anxiety which prevents her from interacting with strangers. Fair enough. That's an alright premise to go with. 6/10 Art & Sound: The art was good. The visuals were colourful and the choice of shamanistic BGM was unorthodox but fitting with the show. The studio did some good work in terms of audio and visuals. You can appreciate their high production values and the work they placed in the show. 7/10 Character: Machi's social anxiety gets increasingly worseas the show progresses. Social anxiety does that to you, and she needs help and loving support to overcome it. My bone to pick is with the supporting cast who aggravate it further with their insensitivity and selfishness. Her cousin is a static scumbag to the end and accelerates her regression by continuously forcing her to become the village idol despite her protests. The bear (Her sole remaining pillar of support) eventually also regresses from a parental figure who gives her tough love to become increasingly clingy, emotionally manipulative and wanting to maintain Machi's social anxiety and the status quo (I get that this regression is anime exclusive but it still leaves a bad taste in the mouth). 1/10 Overall: This show's dark humour is mostly derived from Machi's ignorance of technology, social anxiety and the many ways her panic attacks sabotage otherwise normal everyday situations. It's a mix of funny and cringe until a certain threshold. Some reach their threshold after a few episodes. Others reach it at the last episode (I reached it at the last episode). I'm giving it a 3/10 just out of sympathy for the studio people who tried their best to make it work. Otherwise, it's a plain 1/10 based on the characters alone.

Sigh... I hate to be doing this, but I gave this anime one of my lowest scores ever. In all honesty, I didn't hate this anime entirely, it was very cute and sometimes amusing, but unfortunately disappointment and general fucked-upness ruined this anime. Warning further ahead is spoilers, but I suggest you read on because it'll spare you the pain. In the final episode, After Machi has run away from the Idol contest, she eventually picks up the courage to compete in this competition, Quite a brave act from someone with country-bumpkin complex (where she believes everyone thinks she's nothing but a dumb country bumpkin, whenin actuality she really isn't). After she finished her dance, she is greeted by a crowd of cheers, but she believes them to be throwing rocks at her, etc. When she goes home, Natsu and Yoshio are sitting watching the TV. Machi says she no longer wants to go to the city, which makes Natsu so happy because he selfishly wants her to stay with him. So, instead of her friends clearing up the whole misunderstanding, they just let her believe it happened. This essentially ruined the entire message I think this anime was trying to send. Her complete fuck-up at the contest earlier was all because Natsu prayed that Machi would never leave the village again. An entirely selfish decision, that he didn't even bother rectifying. Some of the other things this anime does are pretty messed up. Machi attempts to go to a store in Sendai, which takes all her courage. When she goes to the store she was sent to, she believes it is a witches store, and the person with her doesn't attempt to ease her into it but instead keeps pushing her. She goes full fear more, breaks down and runs away. This anime exploits this a lot, often for the sake of a cheap laugh. There is a scene where Machi is trying to hand out samples of her villages food in a supermarket and is trying her darn hardest to speak up. Sometimes she does. An old woman comes up to her and tells her not to give up, and so do some other senior citizens. Mostly, In the end, this anime was ruined by the writer being horrible. The message of conquering your fears? Oh screw that, let's be a horrible person. Thank you, Kuma Miko, for giving laughs, but also screw you for being horrible. The message of this anime at the end was, "Live under the total crushing weight of your fears, never attempt to conquer anything!"

Here I am and cannot believe I have to do this. What could have been an uplifting story about a girl overcoming her fears ended up in a message that basically sums up to "It's okay to let someone's psyche break as long as you're happy." The ending has been recounted by other reviewers here already, but basically, it ends with Machi seemingly having regressed in mental age, due to the trauma induced by the warped perception of her surroundings caused by her serious inferiority complex. This girl needs professional psychological help, not an idol contest. And it's just infuriating how the three main characters around heract. Natsu, the bear, is happily living with the now mentally damaged girl, probably because she acts and plays with him like she was a 5 year old and showers him with attention. Yoshio, who has some seriously troublesome conceptions about how it's okay to sacrifice a little girl (in this case to the idol industry) for the sake of promoting his hometown and is so self-centered, that it's plainly not funny anymore. Hibiki, the one you'd hope would step in, since she seems to be the only one with a somewhat working brain and consciousness, doesn't follow through, mainly because of her infatuation with Yoshio, judging by the last scenes. All in all, what was a kinda nice show for most of the time has been completely ruined by the ending. The dialog between Machi and Natsu towards the end ( "You don't have to think about anything anymore." etc.) reminds me more of a bad end in a psycho-thriller VN than of a slice of life show. And that's probably what it is: a bad end.

There’s so much slice of life content can offer for the anime medium. A simple bucket list would include slice of life about cute girls doing cute things, magical girls, countryside, or slice of life with daily cooking. The list goes on and on. But wait, what about slice of life with a girl and a bear? That’s what makes Kuma Miko rather unique and it stands out as a series that connects the character, a young girl named Machi with Natsu, a talking bear. It’s literally what the title sounds like Kumamiko: Girl Meets Bear. Now I have to admit, the premise of the showsets off initially sets off a red flag. It’s unrealistic because by logic, any human that chooses to live with a real bear is basically food sitting on the table for such an animal. However in this world, they are more like best friends. To start off, Machi is a shrine maiden at the Shinto shrine. Even for someone as young as her, Machi has a serious responsibility. Natsu is her guardian and serves as both a friend and mentor. As most would expect, Machi is also a curious girl at someone her age so naturally, she would want to explore the world. The city of the Toukou region serves as the fitting setting as she realizes the potentials of what awaits her. The series has a strange vibe. On paper, it’s pretty lighthearted because of the lovable interactions between Machi and Natsu. They have a natural chemistry and strong bond as we see how close they are throughout the series. On the other hand, the show also has some content with hidden mature content. Whether it’d be the awkward jokes or adult humor-like interactions, the show itself plays around with its themes quite often. However, the series is still quite charming with our main characters. Machi is a character that I think most will find to be easily likeable. She’s a kind girl although can be hotheaded with signs of immaturity and having to rely on others (mainly Natsu). And speaking of which, Natsu is the most interesting character as we see how an animal interacts with others in a human society. Oddly enough, the show neglects almost any effect that Natsu is a dangerous creature. With the exception of some minor characters, everyone seems to accept Natsu into society rather than locking him up in some cage. Occasionally, Natsu displays a side of his more fierce nature but most of it is played out in a rather lighthearted way. Even though Machi and Natsu are the main stars, there are also other characters that I think are noticeable worth mentioning. One such name is Hibiki Sakata, a girl with a tough personality and coolness. In essence, it’s easy to see her as the mature type of character although she can also be hotheaded. The relationship she shares with Natsu is quite different compared to Machi as they seem to be friendly and hostile at times. For her and Machi, their relationship starts off rocky but improves more as time goes on. Speaking of relationships, Machi’s connection with her family is also noticeable at times because how simple and realistic it is. The love she shares with her friends and family really can be an attractive appeal for this slice of life story. You may guess it by now but the story of this series is mostly nonexistent except for the daily SOL content. Don’t expect any sort of heavy plot emphasis because the show relies far more on selling its comedy. For most parts, the humor works but sometimes stumbles with awkward timings. A drawback of the humor may also be the length as it sometimes crafts far too much of it during certain segments. To make this easier, the series could work out better if it’s half-length. It sometimes just feels the episodes drags more than it should be. I can’t speak for everyone on this but at times, the series feels like it’s running too long for its own good. Kinema Circus helms the production of the show and on most parts, it captures the artwork well. It looks simple with colorful outlines of the main characters. Machi is designed with the feel of innocence, a contrast to Natsu’s animalistic features. Additionally, the setting gives off a natural feel with its mountainous regions, shrines, and atmospheric backgrounds. Other characters such as Hibiki is designed to match their personalities with good consistency. Soundtrack is one of the lesser noticeable parts of the show. While it isn’t bad, there’s not too much to go with it besides the creative OP and ED theme song. I do want to point out that Natsu’s VA did a terrific job at portraying the character. It’s not always easy to take on the role of a non-human personality but Natsu is genuinely fun to watch thanks to the voice of his role that makes him a life-like wonder of the world. What’s to really say about Kuma Miko in the end? It’s pretty much a relaxing slice of life story about a girl and a bear. Every episode embarks on their daily life adventures as they discover new wonders in the world. While the comedy doesn’t always work right, I think the show is on the right track for the majority of the time. It reminds us that how simple ideas can really bring some good popcorn entertainment. For all the series’ attempt at using its gimmicks, it’s fun to watch any day of the week.