Kuma Miko

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 live ... out 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.

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 show ... sets 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.

*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, pretty ... voices 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.