What does a bear know about life in the big city? For Machi Amayadori's sake, hopefully a lot! The young shrine maiden has spent her whole life in the rural mountains with Natsu, her talking guardian bear. Now, at fourteen, she wants to take a chance and attend high school in the big city. Can Natsu really prepare her for city life? Or will his wacky trials be too much for even Machi to bear?
(Source: FUNimation)
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*This review contains minor spoilers* Kuma Miko is a very cute anime. I quite enjoyed watching so far, but there are some reasons I couldn't feel but disappointment. And I'm just writing about this so people who feel the same towards the situation on this anime can already know about it. Art is amazing, trully outstanding. High quality animation, for real. I really loved the traits, the expressions, the background scenario, everything. I didn't had anything to criticize here, also because this special way to draw characters and animals are kinda my favorite ever. Sound is great, the endings and openings are cute as well, relaxing songs, prettyvoices dubbing. Just the way I also happen to love.
The problem begins with some parts of the story and some specific characters. And I can't talk about it without showing some minor spoilers. But don't worry, it won't exactly change anything on the plot itself. Here is where I NEED to be very straight about it. I rather be critical then fall into blind fandom.
The story is mainly around a cute young girl, named Machi, trying to go to a school in a town near her village. Ok, nothing wrong until here. But then, we have a first strange impression on the very first episode: Yoshio (the city tourist guide) starts telling a group of nine years old kids [saying they could already hear an uncensored story, wtf?] about the village and how talking bears appeared there from a bear that had sex with a... priestess? Eeeeeeerm... Starting to get bizarre, right? But yeah... I tried very hard to ignore it, but then it got worse.
After this, the plot falls often into lolicon. Blatantly. There's an unbearable number of scenes where old men in the village are seen talking openly about the beauty and the body parts of a fourteen year old girl, in a sexual and fucking disgusting way. But there were a particular scene when the protagonist's cousin (Yoshio again) falls purposely upon her half-naked body, holding her wrists tightly, forcing her to respond in a totally cringy scene why a bear could see her naked like that and he, a grown fucking man, couldn't. Needless to say, I was deeply disgusted (again) and outraged by that, because is something made to sound funny. What's funny about it, really? Made me sick... It's was sexual harassment, but made in a way to look cute and funny, and "critical" (he claims equality over seeing a child naked? Are you guys FOR REAL?). It doesn't matter if he is from the family, that just make things even worse.
Machi is a 14 year-old girl but looks confusingly younger, and again, that makes everything look worse. Also, Natsu, the bear, always have these long flashbacks with a quite gross and pedophilia-like scene. Yeah, I know, he is an animal and it's supposed to be cute and pure, but it is not.
To end with it: I made some effort to keep watching and it had it's funny momments, although I find the show decently enjoyable at best. But I definitely couldn't close my eyes to the problems I said before. Knowing how Japan handles pedophilia and lolicon, I felt sincerely uncomfortable.
I love slice of life, it's my favorite genre of all times. If Kuma Miko didn't had this problems, it would be one of my favorites for sure... Such a pity...
So, if you can't tolerate pedo jokes, child sexualization and this kind of stuff, be aware or be away.
EDIT with spoilers about the ending of the story:
It ended so much fucking worse than I thought It would. Irritating and SO frustrating. Yoshio is definetely the worse character I've ever seen, a stupid moron that places a huge burden on a little girl even though she does not want to, even if she panics and becomes traumatized. Natsu is a selfish friend that manipulates her mind until she gives up the one dream she had of being able to study in a bigger school. The poor girl had no will respected and were always discouraged until she let go of it only to fulfill other people wishes. Dis-gus-ting. This show pisses me off A LOT. I take back the "could be my favorite" part. This anime has too many flaws on the plot to be considered good or even fair.
tlst9999
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.
YabviMash
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!"
LeoPi
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.
Stark700
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.
ramenraptor
Honestly once they start getting into the idol stuff just stop. It starts off as this promising anime about a young miko girl, Machi, with ambitions to go to the city for high school. In this process she has to try to improve her social anxiety and her lack of knowledge of life outside the country. *spoilers* Machi gets better for the first half of the anime or so but then her cousin Yoshio who is in charge of village revitalization starts a project for her without her permission to make her an idol to bring popularity to the city. She's pressured into doing idol stuffeven though it's causing her great anxiety her village community, her bear lifelong friend Natsu and Yoshio keep pushing her. She is just excessively taken advantage of at the end of the series. In the end her social anxiety causes her to give up on her dreams of going to school in the city to live with Natsu who she completely depends upon at this point and cannot live without. Natsu is super happy she is dependent on him and loves her ignorance in the end.
They let her believe her social anxiety that people hated her in her performances even though they loved her. As if her mental illness is some cute character flaw.
(And yes, it is social anxiety. I have social anxiety and I liked the series very much at the beginning because I relate to Machi).
Completely disappointing. Do not watch past when they start doing the whole Miko outfit contest.
PyraXadon
Amongst the generic shonen, the fantasy fanservice harem anime, and the hyped shows in every set of seasonal anime, there are a few shows that stick out at having a concept or idea for a plotline that is so out there that it bears watching due to just how absurd yet entertaining it may seem. Kumamiko fulfills that role by having a story about a country bumpkin girl who is also the shrine maiden of her tiny bear-themed village attempt to learn about the first world through the help of her talking bear caretaker. Yeah, you read that right. That is ourstory.
Story: As I mentioned above, the story of Kumamiko is about our main protagonist, Machi, a 14 year old shrine maiden for her village who yearns to leave her bumpkin life in exchange for a high school experience/life within the first world with the majority of such situations ending in failure and/or hilarity on account of how Machi lacks the basic education on how to use any form of 21st century technology while ironically, the bear known simply as Natsu (yes, Summer the bear, everybody) is able to not only operate such technologies, but has a surprisingly expansive knowledge of the first world despite not having opposable thumbs which you more or less need to actually use the devices that exist out there in the world.
So what we have here is your basic, paper thin comedy anime premise which only serves to create the form of comedy that the show wants to elaborate on, which is more or less pointing out how innocent Machi as a person is to the outside world and the sheer amount of joy she get out of completing such small tasks like buying clothes from a department store which, while not really all that special, has its own unique touch and proves to help the series despite the series basically restoring the status quo with every proceeding episode that does get stale after a few episodes, but it made sense. But that's really where the positives of the story end.
The majority of the series is more or less dedicated to the 'Kumade village revitalization project' which takes up the majority of the screentime, thus making the series follow a dedicated plotline rather than a sporadic episode by episode comedy series that you can watch on and off. (Which I personally think would've actually suited the series better) This overall plotline hurts the series and completely shifts not only what the series was about ever so slightly, but ends up failing to create a proper resolution to the series that more or less makes the entire point of the series pretty much null. Not only that, but it really just doesn't feel right to watch. The majority of this section isn't really comedic as so much as it is painful to watch due to the fact that this entire section has Machi posing as a dress-up doll and/or a figurehead for this 'project' that turns her into this extremely unlikable and timid individual that feels like her mind was just completely mentally broken by the end of the series. (Like actually, WTF?)
All in all, the story of Kumamiko fails hard at being able to hold interest due to its comedic styling of Machi failing to understand how the first world society works becoming stale over the course of a few episodes and especially due to the fact that the series tried to make an overarching story-like run resulting not only an end that was the most unsatisfying kind of end that would ever exist (which is basically making no progress in the series whatsoever), but also a sheer lack of sympathy for any of the characters because of what each of them do within this final 'arc', especially in the last 2 episodes.
Overview
+ Unique and interesting story idea
- Comedic styling gets stale after a few episodes
- The 'overarching' story idea with the Revitalization project
- Extremely unsatisfying (and somewhat disturbing) end
Characters: The characters in Kumamiko are what can only be described as...petty, I guess would be the correct word.
Our main character, Machi, is the 14 year old shrine maiden for the Kumade Village, or as I like to refer to her as, the dress-up doll for the Kumade Village. Machi's character more or less consists of her wanting to go to high school in the city and live the city life outside of her normal quiet and calm village life in the mountains. Of course that's all fine and dandy, but the show really tries to hammer in how incompetent she really is to an alarming and annoying degree. In short, Machi is unable to function as a proper human being to the point that the concept of buying something from a store or talking to people outside her village is a struggle and consistently retreats back into her own shell, never to come out or try to better herself which really leaves her to be this all bark no bite character. It also doesn't help that basically every other character except one in this series essentially forces whatever they want onto her (especially Yoshio...) thus creating a situation that really makes you shout "Well no wonder she can't do shit!" and turning her into what can only be described as someone who is mentally handicapped due to how haunted she is by her experiences and being told to 'not think to hard'.
Then we have Natsu, who is the 'Kuma' or bear of the show. As mentioned before, Natsu is the complete opposite of Machi, being the forest creature who would be able to properly function in human society as a touch of irony. Natsu comes off as a smart and intelligent character, as he is a freaking talking bear who can work all aspects of an ipad without problem. His role in series is to serve as Machi's opposite so they have a character dynamic going, as well as her educator on the first world, aiding her to help her fulfill her dream of living in the big city. Aside from that, Natsu acts as the voice of reason (aside from Hibiki) for the series as he, unlike many other characters, is able to read the situation and determine whether or not things will go awry or succeed. As the series goes on, Natsu's importance really diminishes and becomes almost nonexistent, especially during that Revitalization part. Not only that, but his character has some strange twists and turns with what exactly he wants to come of Machi, making a complete 180 on his opinion of the situation at hand which really doesn't make sense.
Then we have Yoshio. Oh...Yoshio. If this show had an antagonist, it would be Yoshio. Yoshio is Machi's cousin who's entire motivation for the series is to try and recover the village and help with its current problems. Not only that, but Yoshio as a character is terrible at reading people and the situation at hand, always assuming that people are ok with whatever he does and always gets himself in sticky situation due to his sheer stupidity and inability to understand the basic needs of a person. He's the main reason why the show went awry and the main person to blame for the majority of the show's problems.
The rest of the characters are more or less unimportant and/or side related. Aside from Hibiki, who doesn't really have much to talk about aside from her being the most competent person in the entire series, voicing her concern for problems before they even arise, everyone else is just a side character that has 1 trait to them. You got your town drunk, the timid office worker, and a whole host of really unimportant and not really special side characters that don't really do much in the way of character importance.
Overview:
- Machi's entire character
- Some uneccesary or unexplained shifts in character motivation
- Yoshio's entire character
- Side characters don't really even have a purpose
Art: The animation of Kumamiko features your standard comedic tropes. You have your standard artstyle coupled with some outlandish looking styles like over exaggeration in some aspects and facial changes to couple the current situation.
The actual art of Kumamiko isn't really anything particularly special cause it looks pretty standard. It leans towards a cutesy artstyle due to Machi having a very cute and child-like way of drawing for her and Natsu not looking threatening despite being a bear, all wrapped in bright and colorful surroundings within the actual show itself. It's good quality, there're no shortcuts with how it was made, but there really isn't anything special about it.
Overview:
+ Good quality animation
- Pretty standard animation. Nothing really unique about it
Sound: The music for Kumamiko for the most part leans towards a lot of village and/or traditional sounds due to its village setting. Using a lot of hollow flute sounds and traditional drums to make up most of its background music, it really lends itself to its setting, which was a really nice touch.
The OP and ED themselves are honestly quite catchy on their own. The OP is your cutesy, generic opening, and while that is the case, has some merit to it. The ED however is a very different story. Known simply as 'Kumamiko Dancing', the song is sung by both Natsu and Machi and just has this joyful and upbeat tone to it that was really something that I could look forward to after every episode finished cause of just how catchy sounding it is.
Overview:
+ Background music pertaining to its story setting
+ Catchy opening and ending themes
Personal Enjoyment: Kumamiko started as a series that hooked my interest simply due to how just out there that the story concept was. It was just so absurd, I had to watch it. Admittedly, the show started out relatively strong. It established what it was going to be about and had a unique quirk of having this duo of characters with a touch of irony since the wild creature could function in human society while the human could only function in the wild. But along the way, the show lost its touch and likewise, my interest. By the time we got to the last few episodes, the series had lost all of its momentum and gave us an ending that was more or less the final nail in the coffin in the way of determining whether this series was worth a watch or not.
Did I like this series?
The first few episodes (first 4 or so) are admittedly the best parts of the series. As mentioned before, the series started out decently strong and then went downhill pretty fast, thus leaving only the first 1/3 of the series to be what I describe as infuriating or annoying to watch.
What didn't I like about this series?
More or less it's my concerns and problems with the series strewn throughout this review. The majority of the characters are annoying or get to be annoying, the story took a HUGE nosedive, and above all, Machi's complete mental shutdown. That is what annoyed me the most. She basically has the mentality of a three year old by the end of the series due to what and how many things she's forced to do against her will despite her being clearly not mentally prepared for any of it. If that isn't scary, I don't know what is.
Would I recommend this series?
Though I would say that this show has a very unique concept to it, I would not really recommend Kumamiko. The show has a lot of problems to it that at some points made me doubt if I was even watching a comedy series due to how ludicrous and unfunny some of the things that were happening on-screen were. After finishing this series, I'm actually a little bit disturbed by really what we're shown in the final few frames of the series and left wondering why and how it went downhill so fast. My personal recommendation: This show isn't worth the time.
SakurasouBusters
Ahh Kuma Miko, what a disappointment you turned out to be. Do not let the cute description and picture fool you into thinking this is a completely happy go lucky type of series. For most of the first half it seems like that, but as each episode goes by, you'll start to see a reoccuring theme to almost all episodes. Episode starts off cutely, Yoshio gets a stupid idea on how to help the village that involves Machi Interacting and socializing with other, Machi says no, she cant do that, Yoshio forces her to do in a disturbing fashion, Natsu convinces her its a good idea, Machigoes and does the stupid idea and gets traumatized, episodes ends making light of the situation.
At first Machi being out of her element was kind of cute as they were playing off of the fact that she was a country Bumpkin, however, with each passing episode it becomes apparent that she has an actual problem that seems to be pretty serious, and the anime continues to play it off like a joke over and over.
The anime then has one of the most disturbing endings ive ever seen with Machi essentially turning back to having the mentality of a 5 year old.
Both the Art and the Music and voice performances are all solid, so no complaints there.
However where Kuma miko Truly Fails is with it's characters: In general terms... They are terrible!
Machi is adorable but she seems to have an extreme anxiety disorder.. the anime tries to play this off as being funny, but all it does it make me feel bad for her.
Natsu starts off as a fun and loving character but my opinion of him changes drastically in the last 2 or 3 episodes when we see his true colors, that he is manipulative and honestly has a creepy obsession with keeping Machi to himself.
At first i hated the character of Hibiki because of how rough she was with Machi, but she did seem to be the one who tried to help her the most, so while i still dont really like her as a character, she is far and above better than most of the other characters.
And finally: Yoshio! This character is just an asshole in the purest form, he makes machi do all of these things that she is clearly not comfortable doing and the way he makes her accept is by things such as: Pinning her to the ground, forcefully trying to rip off her clothes to get her to try on an outfit she is against wearing, and bending her over a table. He is one of the worst characters in any anime or manga ive ever seen.
So while this has pretty animation and music and a cute enough premise and start, the way that the characters and the story were presented made me slowly but surely despise this anime.
Final Rating: 5
jdam5798
Story: 3/10 Eh, it's unoriginal. A girl that's lived in the boonies all her life suddenly wants to leave and experience the big city. Art: 10/10 The art is beautiful. It's just the right amount of brightness and the animation is good, too. Although the characters wear simple clothing, it fits the series considering that they live in a village so I'm fine with it. Sound: 3/10 Is it just me, or was there a limited use of music in this series? Seriously, the only songs I remember are the opening and ending, which is disappointing. Character: 10/10 I love all the characters in this series. They make the series good.All of them are unique, but they mesh together really well.
Enjoyment: 7/10
I really enjoyed this series because of the comedy. Every episode cracked me up because they do a really good job with the comedy.
Final score: 7/10
Surprisingly, nobody is talking about this anime. It's an underrated comedy. Definitely recommend it to comedy lovers. If you're still deciding whether or not to watch it, my advice is to save it for a rainy day or a day where you have nothing to do and just binge watch it.
adventureflame
Story: 5 Art: 7 Sound: 8 Character: 4 Enjoyment: 5 Overall: 5 TL;DR: This anime is about an insecure, ill-informed shrine maiden and her constant abuses that lead up to an ending so odd that the manga's creator needed to apologize for it to ensure his sales weren't jeopardized. While the music as well as art are surprisingly decent, it's dragged down by the poor characters and lax story. Essentially, if you enjoyed the lip curling suffering of vulnerable youths such as in Watashi ga Motenai, then expect the same without as much payoff.Story: 5
Machi is a 14 year-old girl who lives with the large talking bear Natsu who is shown caring for her alongside aiding in development towards cultural plights. You see, Machi wants to move out of her village to the city nearby and rid herself of her 'bumpkin' ways, which seems like an adorable plot in itself. However - the introduction of Yoshio who plays the role as the village tourist guide sends the show in a disturbing direction. He starts by teaching some of the kids about the relationship between the previous priestesses and their bear partners. This eventually devolves into heavy pedophillic undertones as our good pal Yoshio manipulates Machi towards participating in various activities focusing on her body: This at one point involves her being straddled in an attempt to make her wear a 'sexually appealing' dress. What I assume should be considered funny moments fell into nervous laughter knowing how the events came to light, especially with Hibiki - a hotheaded biker - who despite seeming to care for Machi, usually gets confirmation by abuse. This is a often used method to create humor.
The ending can be summed as in one word: Catastrophic. To prevent spoilers, I'll leave the events surrounding the scene a mystery, but don't expect any development towards what was meant to be the key goal behind the series.
Characters:
First there's our main heroin, Machi, the cute girl with crippling social anxiety who wants more than anything to experience the city life, thus making something of herself. Her innocent personality is often the butt of many jokes, one being a cooking incident that's actually quite adorable. Sadly many of these are nullified by our next character - Yoshio. Yoshio's the cousin of Machi and helps advise of the village's development which usually leads to uncomfortable situations for our main character. While seeming quite genuine in his attempts to better the village, he more often than not uses tough love or emotional manipulation to succeed. If there was one crux to this show in our character cast, this is it.
Our last two characters of importance are Natsu and Hibiki. Natsu is a large talking bear who lives with Machi in addition to helping her in daily life scenarios, ranging from conducting dances to simply cooking food. While seeming to be the voice of reason, as mentioned at the start of the reasoning behind my review of the story, his decisions in the later episodes make you severely question his motivations, even giving a pedophilia-like tinge to previous flashbacks. Finally, Hibiki is the token cool girl with the tough personally who prefers to deal with situations head on causing many problems for our poor Machi. While not being a very large character, she causes quite a few panic attacks in her time, all while seeming to care for Machi's health.
Sound:
Now here's where this show shows some promise. Disregarding the tone of the previous points, the ED shows an adorable game-like display with a catchy tune featuring the whole cast - a big fanfare to celebrate the daily life of Machi, this partnered with an OP showcasing the wonderful Maki Hanatani. The OP features all the characters we meet along the show with the fragile, yet endearing attitude of our main character as she completes a few of her daily tasks. This, followed by the daily lives of those around her with a soothing song sets up for a nice tone to what could've been an interesting slice of life anime. Voice acting for the characters is exactly what you would expect: They're adorable. With a nice singing segment, they showcase how good their ranges are, but at no point does an individual stand out as special. Despite all this, I must commend them for having a bear voice that doesn't sound like chalk scrapped across gravel.
Art:
This seems the selling point to most people, as it was for me. The visuals are colorful and show off the studios production vales to their fullest. The backgrounds elevate the spiritual nature of the show with expressions that show off all the characters traits to their fullest. The animation quality is very impressive, utilizing interesting choices of colours to show off emotion. While not being the most dazzling thing out there, for a slice of life this is a big nod from me.
Enjoyment/Overall mark:
I do like a good slice of life, but the problems showcased here really put me off. Most jokes land in a cringe-worthy way, just without the laughs of dark humor afterwards. The selfish, manipulative cast send messages that are rather disturbing; So much so that it took away from the art at some points, instead making me focus of the strange choices in writing. To summarize, I'd say it was as mediocre show that just flat out disappointed me, even being a big fan of shows with similar dark humor like Watashi ga Motenai.
Even if you don't enjoy what's mentioned above, why not at least give the art a go with a few episodes. It's far from the worse show in the world, even with all the flaws mentioned above. Who knows, maybe this might be your cup of tea?
nanakox21
NOTE: This may contain spoilers! STORY (7/10): Machi's goal of going to high school in the city while integrating into their way of life is very interesting to watch. I find it cute to see what her goals are and what lengths Machi is willing to go through (thanks to her friends). CHARACTERS (7/10): Machi is an elementary school girl from countryside. She is very ambitious, shy, cute & sometimes stubborn. Natsu is a grizzly bear living with Machi. He is very protective, but also very caring and selfish (due to his wish of wanting Machi to stay in the village). Yoshio works for the villagecommittee. He is very caring and passionate of his hometown. Yoshio can also be dense at time during some difficult situations. Plus, you can see him being manipulative to others in the anime. Hiiko is friends with the main characters. She is cool and tough. She rides a motorcycle and has a crush on Yoshio.
OVERALL ENJOYMENT (7/10): I find this anime cute and adorable. I always enjoy watching slice of life & comedic animes. It is interesting to see how Machi reacts when it comes to society and the modern world -- It always makes me laugh. Looking back on the episodes, I felt that take a lot of things for granted (i.e.: laptops, cell phones and etc.) & it makes me feel guilty. The close friendship of Machi & Natsu is explored. The anime also reminds me of K-On! due to the artwork of the characters & Tamako Market (same reason for the artwork too) but also seeing the unity of the village & how well the neighbours know each other so well.
cognite
The story revolves around a kuma miko, a miko that talks to bears, her kuma companion and her goal of going to high school in the big city. The major problem though is that she is a country bumpkin and has no skills or the dedication in most cases to see the goal though. Her dedication waivers due to how the challenges are presented, they constantly throw her off a cliff and hope she flies. She is a scared insecure little girl with no real support structure, making these challenges almost impossible and generally end up scaring her instead of teaching her the lessonor skill.
The supporting cast offer no real support and all have alternative motives. You would think the friends and family of a sheltered child would be supportive or at least think of their well being, in most cases it isn't her well being thought of. With so few recurring characters you would hope for more development but it rarely happens. The characters just suck, the indium "with friends like that, who needs enemies" works well for these characters.
I feel both the animation and sound are good but nothing extraordinary. I really enjoy the ed song and to a lesser extent the traditional Japanese music, while the op is forgettable. The animation is good, you can't really complain about it.
The enjoyment I received from this anime is from the music and opening sketches, the rest leaves much to be desired. I felt the sketches at the end of the episode were added on due to the episodes running short and they barely had any time or budget left. The plot went too fast and far, instead of taking the stairs down they decided to jump off the building.
Kioui
A (at first) slightly above average and original slice of life cute girls show with good (some would say questionable) fan Service throughout. The animation is good where it matters. Machi's expressions are lively and dynamic, backed by an equally good Voice Performance by Natsumi Hoika. Supporting Characters are serviceable and the charm of the show comes comes entirely from Machi's personality, who despite being shy, a social mess and constantly being taken advantage of, stays strong willed. - Resulting in a unique show that makes you simultaneously root for and laugh at the the main character. The Comedy is well executed, though not everyone will findthe constant exploitation of the main character and sexual harassment as comic relief funny; for those few who can laugh at such jokes and enjoy cute girls shows i would have wholeheartedly recommended this show if it weren't for the ending... a completely out of place poorly portrayed gut-punch that just leaves a sour hopeless taste in your mouth. A bad enough ending to warrant writing your first MAL review...
CatSoul
Kuma Miko caught my eye from the first time I saw it on the season chart. As a sucker for cute things and a good slice-of-life, this was one of my most anticipated shows for this season. Was it worth the hype? STORY (6/10): A simple slice-of-life story is always nice, especially after you've just watched something really dark or with a lot of crazy plot twists. However, not as much was done with the story as could have been. The story does make a slow progression throughout, which is very enjoyable to watch. However, without spoiling anything, it sort of...collapses on itself in the last few episodes. Charactersseem to be regressing, almost like they were fearful if they wrapped up the story there'd be absolutely no potential for a second season or something. I don't know.
ART (8/10):
Kuma Miko has lots of vibrant backgrounds that will make you wish you yourself could visit their little island. Not only that, but Natsu's facial expressions are always adorable. The small eyes really sell the cute factor.
SOUND (8/10):
There is no English dub at the moment, but if there is one I wish the best for it. It'd be hard to out-perform this Japanese track, which had plenty of great emotion and acting.
The OP and ED were pretty good, but nothing exceptional. Your typical slice-of-life-type music.
However, there is one piece of music in the show I'd like to comment on: the bit that is used at the eyecatch. It's an old man going "Hoooo, hey, hoooo hey, hoooooo!" That is going to be stuck in my head for days. Curse and thank you, Kuma Miko.
Also, props to the guy who did it, because I'd probably snap my vocal cords in half if I tried to hit that high.
CHARACTER (6/10):
The protagonist is a very likable character, and she's definitely relatable to anyone who has ever moved from country to city life or suffers from social anxiety. One character I noticed a lot of people disliked was Yoshio, as people interpreted his character as creepy/pervy. However, he has good intentions and I could take or leave him.
As I mentioned in the "Story" section, characters seem to regress at times, which was unfortunate.
ENJOYMENT (7/10):
A very easy show to watch. While it wasn't absolutely hilarious in terms of the comedy, there were a few solid gags in each episode.
OVERALL (7/10):
In conclusion, I would say this is worth a watch. Don't go into it expecting 100% satisfaction or anything remarkable. Go into it expecting a fun slice-of-life story with some forgivable flaws.
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CONTENT ADVISORY: This show is mainly PG-13 because of a risque gag scene in the first episode. The episodes after that are fine for most children, with the only issues being infrequent mild language and misinterpretation of Yoshio's motives.
ZippingJam0
Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear. The title doesn't let on much as to the true nature of the show does it? The Misadventures of the Girl and the Bear might be more helpful for those who weren't satisfied with the synopsis. Kuma Miko is in essence, a sweet and very cute anime which doesn't boast much aside from this basic factor yet it still is a fairly decent anime. The show is basically about Machi Ayamadori 14-year-old Miko and her guardian bear Natsu and the events which surround them as they live their lives in Kumade Village. Sounding a bit bland to you? Well, it doesn't get muchbetter.
The story may very well be the weakest part of the show despite being such a vital part of any anime. As mentioned it is about the lives of Machi, Natsu and those residing in Kumade Village including her cousin Yoshio, Hibiki who is an old friend of Yoshio's, and an assortment of other characters you meet as the anime progresses. We receive an over-arching plot arc towards the last third of the shows duration which if you didn't see if 12 episodes. But until then we receive stories of Machi in school, arguments with each other and people in the country discovering the outside world. Though at first this is kind of interesting but after a while it becomes stale.
The art in Kuma Miko consisted of a bright color palette and provides a warm and comfy feel which fits in perfectly with the mood of the anime. Aside from this there isn't much to say, it looks good.
Soundtrack can often be overlooked when the opening and ending themes are said and done. But, the background sound works hard to provide you with a sense of ambiance, but this can be said for the forest locations. From birds chirping to the rustling of trees and the whistling wind the sound makes you feel comfortable which complements the art. Outside of the forest the sound can be easily forgotten or missed if you do not pay attention to it, mainly due to it lacking a presence.
The OP and ED are like you would see in most anime so standard but the opening also helps set the mood for the 20 minutes which follow and the ending wraps it up nicely.
The characters are well voiced, that is to say their voices their appearances which is something that a large amount of anime are unable to manage properly and as such their dub counterparts succeed them in popularity. From young children to young adults to the elderly the character voices are great.
Characterization is not just defined by the voice or the dialogue, the nature of the character is also part of the equation and this is an area where Kuma Miko does seem to succeed but, only with the main characters. Aside from the main four characters the 'side' characters are large in number and whether or not this is a result of the multiple characters the side characters get surprisingly little screen time and when they do there appears to be a wasted potential.
Most anime watchers will judge an anime's quality on the enjoyment they experience which they round down to the 'comedic' ability of an anime which, is something I cannot say I agree with but I see the reasons behind it.
Kuma Miko is an anime which is enjoyable at points but can be very hit and miss depending on how you react towards certain jokes and you might wonder what I mean and what I mean is child sexualization though it isn't severe and does (sort of) seem to have a point with the moments they appear, it is tolerable so don't let it deter you if you are considering watching it.
Well, to wrap up Kuma Miko is a nice sort of release anime with its warm and fuzzy demeanor. It's very easy to pick up and would work fantastically spread out over a period of time and look at the listed genres: Comedy, Slice of Life and Seinen which is fairly accurate. So if there is a small part of you which is saying "Oh uh maybe" just pick it up and watch it spaced over 2 weeks. It is well done despite the 6/10 which I am giving it.
danihadi
SPOILERS AHEAD I feel like most people give this show too much shit for the 'bad' ending and the whole social anxiety thing. I didn't mind the ending. It would be kind of wishful thinking if Machi were to suddenly overcome her social anxiety in the end, since nothing indicated that her condition improved. On the contrary: every experience that she had in the city (or in front of a crowd of people she didn't know) ended quite negatively. I also think that Machi's negative character developement, as I read someone describe it, is realistic due to what I mentioned above. As I myself suffer from anxietyand panic attacks during stressful social events I really understand why Machi doesn't want to go to the city anymore.
I do somewhat agree with everyone's consensus on Natsu. He is a shitty person, but I do not find him a bad written character. He wants Machi to succeed in life and tries to teach her about the modern way of living and to make her overcome her social anxiety (albeit a bit forcefully). However, it is understandable that he wants Machi to stay in the village with him. We could see in a few flashback scenes that he has been very close to Machi since they were little and he doesn't want to lose her. So in the end, he chooses the selfish thing to do and enables Machi's hikkikomori tendency. Is he a douchebag? Yes. But is it bad writing on the creator's end? IMO, no.
This show has been a pretty wild ride. It started off as a generic SOL cute girls doing cute things moe moe anime, but as it progresses it becomes more of a Welcome to the NHK/Watamote mix. I honestly would have dropped it if it stayed on the moe side, since it doesn't appeal to me. But because it adresses a real thing like social anxiety, which is a very rare thing in anime, and because it ends without any asspulls (Machi suddenly magically overcame her anxiety!) I rate this show a solid 8/10.
LegendAqua
Kuma Miko is about anxiety, life on the rural side as well as yearning for the urban culture. Kuma Miko is a slice of life, comedic anime about a high schooler/local miko of a local rural town Machi Amayadori voiced by Natsuki Hioka yearning to be a local "urban girl", her along with Natsu Kumai voiced by Hiroki Yasumoto a talking bear and childhood friend of Machi, well hilarity ensues. The comedic skits of Kuma Miko are either "go urban" or "go rural". The urban comedic skits is always about Machi wanting to be a urban girl and doing typical things of society and that is eithera hit or a miss (miss due to be repetitive but can hit if it's something new), the "rural" comedic skits has two other types, those being about the local idol skits and the miko skits and they can be refreshing let alone give character development offhandedly. The idol comedic skits though repetitive, it does get mileage in terms of plot and especially culminates into Machi's development's into wanting to be an "urban girl".
Natsu and Machi really brings in this anime because of their chemistry together through both their backstory together or just the comedic moments. The other two core characters in this anime, Yoshio Amayadori voiced by Kazuyuki Okitsu and the biker girl delinquent Hibiki Sakata voiced by Eri Kitamura gives Machi and Natsu more depth to them. Yoshio's personality is that of a ditzy genki and his oblivious intent to Machi is taken as either cruel or "comedic", Hibiki on the other hand comes off tsundere but she quickly gets better. Both Yoshio and Hibiki like Natsu and Machi do bounce off each other very well, not only comedically but personality-wise as well.
The animation by Kinema Citrus and EMT² do bring in a air of rural aesthetics using pastel, watercolored backgrounds in contrast to the sharper backgrounds of the urban side of things, as for character designs, they have a rather moe, simplistic character designs but that's not a bad thing as it fits in this slice of life comedy, the only character that is an exception is Hibiki as she's an outlier to the village and being a pseudo-deliquent, LA can see why her character design is alot sharper and obviously not as moe as Machi. The animation does get a special mention due to the many MANY MANY anime facial exaggerations especially used on Machi and using excessive detail to her reactions helped immensely during the comedic moments (a la her urban comedic skits).
As for voice acting, due to the minimal cast, LA didn't hear much however with two exceptions, that being the main two character Machi and Natsu voiced by Natsuki Hioka and Hiroki Yasumoto respectively. LA felt that both Natsuki and Hiroki had so much fun voicing and expressing their roles and their vocal expressions were over-exaggerated giving both of them a broader vocal range that they both stood out immensely (and being main characters it's a given).
Kuma Miko reminds LA of the last season Dagashi Kashi, what with the rural life with comedic moments with the cast as well as bringing in the culture of Japan, with Dagashi Kashi with it's traditional Japanese candy and Kuma Miko with it's Japanese Shinto culture.
The ending does get slightly dramatic due to the culmination of Machi's desire to be an urban girl through an idol spin to it and although the ending does wrap up this dramatic turn in a sincere way, the last scenes goes *ahem* status quo is god and that's a disappointment to LA as all that build up to Machi's desire was pretty much for naught.
Kuma Miko is a good slice of life comedy and sure it has repetitive comedic skits and takes a weird turn by the end with the idol plotline, nonetheless Kuma Miko is about Machi and her internal struggle between wanting to be an urban girl and residing her fate in being a local rural girl a la NEET. If you want comedy this Spring 2016, then Kuma Miko has it and if it can make LA laugh, which it did, then Kuma Miko did it's job (repetitive or not).
username5550123
A cute and overall enjoyable experience that fails to build much of an overarching plot. Story: 5/10 Trying to minimize spoilers I will immediately say this, the first 2 episodes do revolve around the plot mentioned here on MAL. Natsu the talking bear putting the young country girl Machi through trials that are meant to prepare her for life in the big city. However after episode 2 this entire concept is largely put aside for more episodic, slice of life style stories. This manages to work anyway, since the show does a decent job at being a very laid back, relaxing show. Art: 8/10 The show has verylittle in location variety, with most scenery being rural mountains and woodlands and simple village buildings and settings. Most of the show occurs at the shrine where Machi and Natsu live. Yet the show handles these limited locations with care, and I never found myself bored with the limited environment.
The show does a great job with characters expression and emotions. It was fun to see the different characters look and react to different situations.
Sound: 10/10
There isn't much in the way of music, but the background music sets the mood and helps create the atmosphere its supposed to. The OP is pretty decent and the ED was pretty catchy to listen to.
Character: 9/10
I found myself immediately fond of Machi and Natsu. Their relationship and how they interacted with one another throughtout the show was a lot of fun to watch throughout the show.
Yoshio is the typical dense male character and Hibiki the typical delinquent with a soft side. Not special, but it manages to work most of the time. I wont lie, Yoshio sometimes got to be annoying for me.
Overall: 7/10
While not without its flaws, Kuma Miko manages to be a decent slice of life comedy about the story of the shrine maiden Michi and the talking bear Natsu. Lacking an overarching plot, the shows laid back and relaxing nature carry the show and the fun character interactions made it an overall enjoyable experience to watch.
Vaenny
Let's talk about a bear and a girl, because that's what the anime's about, but with a twist. You may think it's just another show with a cute girl worshiping a bear in a small village, but it's much more than that. Machi is pretty much the main heroine of the story. Now what makes her different from other cute characters? She has a dream which might sound dumb to city girls. But for a country girl, it's a big thing. Despite her ignorance to city life, she wanted to go to high school in the city. Now there a few people who would rather liveout their lives in their peaceful village, but Machi's one who desire to see the outside world. Her name is ironic because it means city/town, yet she is mystified by that which she's named after.
You may argue that this dream is selfish, but in this anime, it's shown that everyone in the village actually supports her, to the point that she's not even sure if she's doing it for them or for herself. But in the end, she decides to stay.
A lot of people may argue that it presents a bad message of rejecting a person's dream by forcibly secluding them to an unchanging environment. But that's not how I see it. The way I see it, Machi decided to stay in the village by her own will, not because she was forced to. It was her fear of the city which made her leave, having her realize that plans can change. It looked like she only made that dream because of how Natsu's been shoving modern lifestyle in her face.
Speaking of Natsu, he's quite an ironic character as well. You wouldn't expect a bear (who's also a deity) to be knowledgeable about latest trends and stuff. This was the irony presented in the show. That which is supposed to live in forests is using tablets and rice cookers. We can say that he's the opposite of Machi: modern and trendy.
I'm sorry if I focused to much on the characters, but that's just what struck me the most. I recommend this if you're into comedy anime about simplicity in life and complexity of innovation. It's two opposite ideas creating a beautiful friendship. And that's what happens when bear meets girl.
