Boku wa Kuma

I'm a sucker for cute animals. When I accidentally stumbled upon the music video Boku Wa Kuma, I was delighted to find that it was about the cuddliest bear I've seen since the Care Bears. While the music video does not offer much in terms of character and story, it's a good waste of two minutes if you want to see a loveable bear do adorable things.

There isn't much of a plot to begin with; it's about an average day in the life of a bear. The problem is the bear's life is pretty mundane and boring – he doesn't do much besides sweep his ... room and wear buttons for eyes. In fact, the high point of the music video is when he uses milk and orange juice to grow a plant. This is a very easy-to-follow video. The only thing that is any bit confusing is why a baseball falls from the sky and comes crashing into the bear's window. Where did it come from?

Although this music video is short, you learn quite a large amount of important information about the bear. The bear's rival is a fried shrimp. He thinks he was a chocolate in a previous life. He doesn't like to fight. While this crustacean-hating pacifist with a sweet tooth isn't cleaning his room, he's playing his guitar that sounds remarkably like a piano. He's also very easily-entertained and has a broad imagination since at one point he draws himself being scorched by what looks to be Godzilla's long-lost cousin. Make of that what you will.

The music is the best part about the music video. Hikaru Utada's voice is very soothing. However, the lyrics aren't all that great – half the song is the bear singing over and over that he's a bear. No, really? There's also some bad French that was added in the middle of the song for no reason whatsoever.

The whole video is all in stop-motion animation. It was pretty well done, and the bear begs to be hugged to death. The only ugly thing is when his crayon drawings start to move – he can't draw worth a damn.

This is a simple music video for children. If you've had a hard day at school or work and want to relax, or have young siblings, I recommend this video to you. Otherwise, pass it up.