Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

After fanatically playing the VRMMO World Fantasy Online for almost a year, the shut-in yet relatively affluent 15-year-old Yuna receives a bear costume from the game's administrators. The outfit, while somewhat embarrassing to wear, turns out to have overpowered stats and effects that make her character significantly more powerful. After accepting the bear equipment, she finds herself transported to another in-game world that prevents her from returning to reality.

Confused and unable to log out, Yuna sets out to explore this new environment. She rescues a girl named Fina from wild wolves, who then guides her to the city of Crimonia. With her eccentric bear attire, however, Yuna stands out wherever she goes, and alongside her boosted fighting prowess, her reputation quickly rises—to the point that people give her the nickname "Bloody Bear."

Undeterred by this change in her life, Yuna decides to take on the role of an adventurer and fully enjoy herself in her new world.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yuna Main

Kawase, Maki Japanese

Fina Main

Waki, Azumi Japanese

Kumayuru Supporting

Miyajima, Emi Japanese

Kumakyuu Supporting

Kurose, Yuuko Japanese

Foschurose, Noire Supporting

Hidaka, Rina Japanese

Shuri Supporting

Tomita, Miyu Japanese

Foschurose, Shia Supporting

Minase, Inori Japanese

Farrengram, Misaana Supporting

Amano, Satomi Japanese

Lurina Supporting

Aoyama, Yoshino Japanese

Sanya Supporting

Lynn Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Ogata, Mitsuhiro Producer

Isogai, Noritomo Producer

Kawamoto, Sachi Producer

Reviews

Dec 23, 2020

Stark700

Recommended

With the global pandemic going on around the world right now, there’s one form of entertainment that is satisfying for millions and millions of people around the world: video games. Specifically, RPG of the MMORPG genre are real time sinks. We find out the easy way once 15-year old Yuna is introduced to the show. As an adventurer in the online game, World Fantasy Online, she is best described as the typical nerd at home.

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear is exactly what it sounds like. What it advertises is what you get and that is our main character dressed up in a bear outfit. It may ... seem like a peculiar trend but with the countless amount of fantasy shows in recent years, nothing surprises me anymore. Coming into this anime gave me the impression of playing a video game as we follow Yuna on her fantasy adventure. And here’s the catcher: Yuna enjoys her life in this new world more so than the real world.

World Fantasy Online is perhaps the most generic sounding game I’ve ever heard of. It’s taking the three most oversaturated words of the isekai genre and put them all in one basket. And as expected, the game itself has a colorful world setting of creatures, NPCs, characters, and of course, Yuma in a bear outfit. Despite the anime seemingly throwing everything to you at once, it’s actually pretty easy to figure out where Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear is headed. The premise follows the plot and doesn’t take deep understanding to figure out the show altogether.

First off, there’s Yuna, the 15-year old poster girl who is carrying this show in her bear outfit. Like most teenagers, gaming is part of her hobby but she takes it to an obsessive level. There’s charm about her character despite this unhealthy hobby because let’s face it, she’s nerdy on the outside but adorably cute on the inside. Watching Yuna solving problems such as dealing with roaming monsters in the wild, discovering treasures, or collecting certain objects reminds me of modern JRPGs. Only here, Yuna doesn’t have a main questline to get through to beat the game. At least from this anime’s plot, she’s free and builds her own life in this virtual world. And because she is so free, Yuna has come to love World Fantasy Online and the gaming culture.

Make no mistake. Yuna’s no pushover when getting work done especially when judging on her combat skills. It’s actually amusing once you witness her feats in the show. Fighting monsters seems more like an annoying chore for her than an actual challenge. The anime built her character to be powerful, and by powerful, she is pretty much unrivaled throughout all her fights. I could go on to list her achievements but you’ll have to see to believe it. The bottom line is, Yuna is more than just unbearably cute. She’s a selfless girl that has the personality of a teen but also with heart of gold. She even forms some important relationships with others such as Fina and Noire. While on her adventure, you can see more of Yuna’s real personality when she interacts with these characters.

With the show’s cour length being just 12 episodes, there’s concern about how the studio would handle the adaptation. Honestly, stuffing over 15+ volumes into a single cour is never a favorable impression when you know the juicy part of the franchise lies in the light novels. That being said, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear does have a smooth pacing and flows on its own as a story. With every episode, we discover that World Fantasy Online can be a dangerous place to other adventurers. There’s monsters, bandits, and other creatures roaming around that can kill, rob, eat, and commit all sorts of sins you can imagine. Remember, it’s a fantasy story and common logic is often thrown out the window. Yuna herself represents a defiance of common sense. I mean, just asking yourself this question: how can a little girl of her size in a beat outfit be so damn overpowered?

Limiting the anime to 12-episodes did set off red flags but thankfully is tolerable as you can enjoy the show for more than its length. Comedy wise, this show loves its recurring gags specifically with other characters making fun of Yuna’s bear outfit. She herself even realizes how ridiculous it looks despite the overwhelming stat advantages. Studio EMT Squared and the director designed her in such a way to sell the show’s appeal. It creates many moments of charming chemistry between the cast. The world setting itself is designed to reflect fantasy elements with the castles, dangerous creatures, and oversized bears. Even if you’re not a bear fanatic, there’s no doubt the show wanted you to experience its world.

I’m sure everyone can agree that we have way too many fantasy anime every season. Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear may seem like a clone with some added twist but deep down, this is still a charming anime. Without a complex story or characterization, we are presented with a show about a girl in a bear outfit enjoying her fantasy life. Life isn’t easy in the real world but Yuna makes it look like a piece of cake in her own world.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Dec 23, 2020

VertSang1

Mixed Feelings

So, first let's talk about the obvious:
-it's a show mostly for young girls
-it's an isekai without originality
-it's only 12 episodes

It explain why the first and last episodes are shaped that way.
It doesn't explain why the studio managed to make a bad adaptation to something they could not screw up.

The first episode will completely confuse you about timelines and if that's an isekai or a story about a game. It's really really not well made at all.
The last one is...well, something not in the novel they are adapting from (according to what others told me). Which explain well why it felt badly written and ... forced.

Anyway, if you manage to get past the first episode, the second one do a good job at starting the story and it's easy to follow after that.

Now, nearly all characters are very bland and the bad guys are comically obvious to guess but there is plenty of fluff for those it interest.

The whole reason i watched until the end is Yuna, our girl protagonist and the only character fleshed out of the whole show.
She is relatable and feel like she really is 15. She is Fun.
Her personality, chara-design and general demeanor are the highlight of the show.

The voice acting is really good too.

If you want a show to relax while you do something else, it's the one.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Dec 28, 2020

jaisan

Not Recommended

This show is basically 3 different shows combined into one. not in a good way.

It starts off as you expect. video gamer gets isekai'd to fantasy world with OP videogame powers. typical premise. the first few episodes are about her learning the world and her abilities. saving people by beating up monsters for the adventurer's guild. again, expected. The main problem in this part is that Yuna does it all with the soulessness of a puppet. Zero personality. Perhaps she's an autist.

After 4 episodes of that it devolves into a 'food tastes good' anime. I don't know how many times people need to be reminded ... that food tastes good, but this anime is here for all of it. Look, I get that Japenese people live lives intentionally devoid of most luxury and taste is one of the only things they allow themselves to become indulgent in, but jesus can we stop this trope already? almost the entire rest of the anime is her cooking food and everyone remarking how good it is. maybe they switch it up AND SOMEBODY ELSE COOKS and then everyone remarks how good it is. Occasionally you will get a "You mean if I go beat monster X, I can eat food X!?!?" type of scenario and it still sucks. the fights are completely lame considering she's so OP. literally never faces any real danger herself the entire time. She's also kind of a nitwit and not very efficient with using her powers. The only rule to them is she has to be thinking about bears and she doesn't even remember to do that most of the time.

But here is the kicker, at THE LAST HALF OF THE LAST EPISODE(!) it again devolves into a pure yuri anime out of nowhere. It doesn't make any sense. The show itself ends on a confession that really doesn't get resolved. Is the bear girl a lesbian with the other little girl now? I don't know. I don't care. I was honestly wishing they would just go eat some food and talk about how good it tastes again.

I find it rather confounding this thing isn't scoring in the 5 range. It's awful. Are people giving it 10s out of irony? has to be

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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