Ranked #2149

Shirokuma Cafe

Although the Review Tips and Guidelines indicate that it isn't recommended to comment on other reviews, after reading another totally uninformative and incorrect review about this anime, I felt inclined to write another that actually considers the anime in the correct light. So, here is a first-impressions review of Shirokuma Cafe that will hopefully address your decision of whether to watch it or not.

Shirokuma Cafe is a strange but charming anime with little plot setup or development, as expected from a slice-of-life. Interestingly, this is the first slice-of-life I've heard of in which the protagonist isn't a human being. On the contrary, the setting of this anime is filled with literally personified animals extraordinarily doing ordinary human things. In spite of this, the anime maintains a calm mood in which it occasionally draws out a gag or burst of laughter every once in a while.

The voice actors that are in this anime are well-known and their voices fit the characters well; overtime if not initially so. The speech in this is slow-paced and calm, contributing to the relaxing feeling this anime generates. Although this could be a positive side to some, it may pose as a negative side to others, as it also can come-off as childish due to the slow speech pattern. In my opinion, the vocal expressions are not inhibited by this, in fact they enhance the character of some characters in the anime.

The OP animation is great, although the music seems to adopt a K-Popish feel to it, which would be either a pro or con depending on your tastes. The ED is intriguing but does not warrant any special commendations either.

The background music fits nicely with the scenes, with the moods they convey complementing the scenes in the anime well. However, there was one certain part in episode 1 where I personally felt that the musical complement to the animation was too 'empty'. In spite of this, the section wasn't significantly lengthy, and it shouldn't steal the enjoyment of the show away.

The ability to display character is more flexible in humans than in animals. This may be evident to you throughout your viewing of this first episode. Their personalities are displayed very well through their lines and voice acting, though with the majority of them being animals it is slightly difficult to establish anything simply by looking at them. Simply put, the voice acting supplements for the lack of detailed emotion in the animals, but not the humans.

The first impressions that you get from the display of the characters and their antics are coherent, unconfusing and straightforward to their actual personalities. However there were a couple of moments where the characters could have been introduced better, and not simply pulled out from the middle of nowhere.

Artistically, this anime succeeds in generating a relaxed atmosphere with its carefully selected color palette, character design (of the humans mainly) and details. It is aesthetically pleasing and works well with the voices and soundtrack to create the relaxed atmosphere mentioned above. The animation is not to be overlooked either - it maintains a perfect balance between detail and simplicity, and complements the overall mood of the anime perfectly.

There is, and probably will remain, a lack of plot development, just as you would expect in any other slice-of-life anime. However the lack of plot development does not degenerate the viewing experience in any sort of way, as the interactions of the characters with events and things occurring around them are interesting and entertaining to watch. These interactions are covered quite nicely, and enhance the overall viewing experience of the show.

I apologise for the rather template-like review, though I felt it was the simplest and most effective way to convey the important aspects of the show. These complement each other very well, and if they are kept up this will be one of the highlights of the season. If you're looking for an charming anime to kick back and relax to each week, this is something you should consider watching. Also, Pandas. That is all. read more

Shirokuma Cafe is a slice of life, comedy anime and it doesn't try to be anything else. It does its job well and in appealing ways.

When talking to a couple of my male friends they were surprised to find out that I watched Shirokuma Cafe and I was surprised in return. I always thought of it as a kind of cute show with catchy tunes that was fun to watch. My friends watched it for the humor (it wasn't like I didn't, because I did, I just didn't think that would be their number one appeal).

Shirokuma Cafe is targeted at a wide variety of audiences and because of this, many can appreciate its strengths.



Story:
Shirokuma Cafe doesn't have an amazing plot and to be honest, it's not about the plot or the 'development'--it's about the characters, how the characters interact with each other, fun and the humor it presents. It simply wouldn't be fair for me to judge it based on story. Overall, I'd give it at a 7 or an 8, though.




Art:
Shirokuma Cafe presents a muted and refreshing palette with a surprising amount of care placed in backgrounds (ex. pay attention to the backgrounds in the opening). Scenery is very pretty and while character designs are basic (come on, they're animals) they are presented in such a way where they can stand out through other methods (shoujo sparkles for Panda, anyone?).

The ending seems to be made of some sort of stop motion thing starring panda. To be honest, I thought they were cupcakes, but considering the fact that they used the stop motion for the whole thing and did it on that area, it's pretty cool. My only issue is that it took me a bit to figure out what was what. Once you get it, though, it's enjoyable. I gave this section a 9.


Sound:
The opening surprised me. It was very pop and while it wasn't what I expected (something cutesy and more bright) I certainly enjoyed it.

The ending is where I got cutesy. The ending (Bamboo Scramble) sung by Panda, or Jun Fukuyama, is cutey and holds a lot of personality. While it's catchy for the most part the effect does wear off after a bit. Overall, for this section, 8-9.


Character:
This is where Shirokuma Cafe really shines. Each character has a distinct personality and while much of the humor is based on running jokes or puns, each character is distinctly adorable with their humor and terrible logic. 9.

Enjoyment:
I check up on this anime every week. If you're looking for something cute and fun to watch (or if you simply enjoy pun based humor) Shirokuma Cafe is the anime for you. read more