Kuma Miko

I watched Kuma Miko (including the OVAs). Here are my thoughts:

The anime takes place in a nice rural-Japan setting, which is complemented by the pleasant organic-looking background art when outdoors. Character designs are unremarkable, however the character animation is sometimes better than I'd expect from this kind of show.

Unlike so many other comedy-heavy SoL shows, this show is actually funny. I laughed out loud during pretty much every episode. There are comedic spins on traditional Japanese culture and folklore, plus a lot of lolruraljapan humour. I often dislike comedy-heavy anime but I really enjoyed this one. The humour is way better than the typical slapstick ... garbage that you might begrudgingly expect. A common theme in the writing is the clash between modern life and traditional Japan. In terms of plot, the show is mostly episodic.

Okay OST which uses traditional Japanese instruments. Suits the mood and themes of the anime, and sometimes enhances the humour. I liked the voice acting for the main character (Machi) and the bear (Natsu). The script also is sometimes thoughtful and is skillfully used to deliver humour.


My overall rating: 7/10
This is a genuinely funny and creative show that is surprisingly underrated. I'm glad I gave it a chance. It has lots of personality and consistently made me laugh.

As you might have heard already, this show caused some butthurt with a lot of people. There are two reasons for this, the first of which is that the humour is sometimes politically incorrect and perhaps in bad taste. The main female character is also commonly treated poorly just for the sake of some skit; it's always done in a lighthearted joking way, but I can see why some people wouldn't like this kind of comedy. The second reason for common butthurt is the ending of the anime, which a lot of people disliked. There is some truth to this -- the last two episodes were probably the weakest of the entire series, in my opinion. That doesn't invalidate my enjoyment of all the other episodes though. Supposedly the anime ending wasn't faithful to the manga, and there was a public feud between the mangaka and anime staff. I don't really know the specifics of the controversy so I'm not going to comment on it. Personally, these things didn't significantly compromise my enjoyment of the anime, but these discussion points are so common that I felt obligated to mention them. It seems like a lot of people complained about how Machi's character arc was handled at the end of the anime. As you can tell from what I've already written, I wasn't watching this anime for the story, so my enjoyment was fairly insensitive to the way that the characters' arcs were concluded. In theory I'm sympathetic to people being upset about an unfaithful adaptation, but since I haven't read this manga it had no effect on my viewing experience. That said, someone interested in this is probably better off reading the manga due to the alleged unfaithfulness of the anime adaptation.

Story

Kuma miko is a simple slice of life involving Machi and her bear, Natsu. The tone is a bit mean sprited towards Machi and it only gets worse as the series goes along. There are some nice wholesome moments, but if you are mianly looking for nice heart warming wholesome slice of life, please look elsewhere. The other characters treat Machi poorly and do not much to help her out with her extreme anxiety. This is unsettling especially because the show is much darker than it looks. The story goes at a nice pace, but some epsiodes are far more inconsequnetial than others.

Art

The animation ... and art style looks very "cute". Characters look younger than their actual age because of the very round faces.

Sound

The ending song is an earworm and can be mildy annoying at time. Not much else is bad really.

Character

Machi is a troubled girl with severe social anxiety and social issues. She wants to go to school in the big city, but her bear Natsu does not believe her to be ready for it because of her lack of intelligence. He can be passive agressive and manipulative at times, but her cousin is the worse. It is common for the other characters to care little about Machi's wellbeing in the series.

Enjoyment

Before starting the series, I heard about the mean spirited tone of the series despite the art style. I was not dissapointed, but at times, the story becomes more like a typical slice of life lacking in originality. If you like more dark stories, you might enjoy this. I felt bad for Machi at times and the other characters do not help her with her predicament, and it gets evern worse as the series goes along. The worse character is Machi's cousin. For the record, I enjoyed the darker parts of the series, the whimsical moments were boring to me.

Overall

If you want to watch a mean spirited show with mostly deplorable characters that is masequarading as a wholesome slice of life, this is the show for you. If you want nice wholesome slice of life, then definitely look elsewhere

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 find ... the 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...