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Yuri Kuma Arashi. I’m going to be flat out honest, I utterly loathe this show for the sheer fact that I’ve fallen in love with it. Now I must caution you all, this show will alienate you if you haven’t seen Ikuhara’s previous works like Penguindrum or Utena so upon viewing this as a first title his style can be rather overbearing. But, back to the topic at hand, there are some anime out there that can only be described as otherworldly and Yuri Kuma is just that. Today I will be reviewing the anime Yuri Kuma Arashi so without further ... ado KUMA SHOCK.

Yuri Kuma Arashi is produced by studio Silver Link who created the best Fate in the franchise Fate Illya, and also created Strike the Blood… Yeah they done fucked up. It was constructed by Kunihiko Ikuhara who is the mastermind behind Penguindrum and Utena. It is a psychological fantasy seinen that consists of 12 episodes.

The story
Yuri Kuma Arashi is set in a futuristic world where an asteroid titled Kumaria explodes in space, and as the fragments rain down from the sky, this causes the bears from all over the earth like Yogi Bear to all initiate an attack on humanity. As a result a huge wall of extinction erects between the two societies to bring peace, kinda like Attack on Titan and the Berlin Wall. One day, academy student Kureha who despises bears is with her lover Sumika as the bear sirens sound. Bears are attacking the human world, and questions begin to arise, mysteries start to appear, and the yuri will yurinate all over your brain.

To begin, this anime is highly niche and isn't for everyone, especially those who take things at face value and consider Aldnoah.Zero a masterpiece. Before watching this anime I'd recommend seeing a past Ikuhara work like Mawaru Penguindrum or Utena so that you are familiar with Ikuhara's surrealist style of storytelling.

If you take the story at face value what you perceive initially is just women and bears rubbing their carpets together in harmonious motion while symbolism is being thrown, but Yuri Kuma is a more deeper anime commenting on religion, love and about conformity to the general public.

Yuri Kuma Arashi’s theme of homosexuality is often seen as face value rather than anything deeper, and I can’t blame the average anime watcher for only seeing sex because of how yuri is portrayed in the medium with animes like Sakura Dick. But the homosexuality is utilized as a method to convey a commentary on how people identify the gay vs straight argument, only in this anime it’s taken to the extreme with its themes. The bears being represented as corrupted for having homoerotic feelings while the females represent a type of religious purity that looks down upon those who have the qualities of the bear which is shown through an abstract method of storytelling. Despite the name, Yuri Kuma Arashi after its first 3 episodes lacks in yuri which is honestly a pro allowing the yuri to be perceived as more symbolic rather than fan service to the naked eye due to the non overbearingness of it. Funny thing is, the people who shun this anime for the nudity and it's sexual themes are the same people who will turn around and state that Elfen Lied is beautiful FOR THE SAME REASON. The homosexuality nods at biblical concepts stating that being with another person of the same gender is a sin, which is amplified to the extreme in the sense that being with the same gender or in this case have bearlike behaviors will cause you to be excluded and shunned by society paralleling to Puritan age customs like the Scarlet Letter only on a grander scale. Other interpretations on the work see the student body as a religion based government and the main characters as radicals.

This brings me to the symbolism, which at times can be highly forced to the point where it gets jammed down your throat like abstinence in high school. Ikuhara is a crazy motherfucker renowned for his symbolism within his fiction and this show is no exception. The show is like a puzzle piece, waiting to be solved by you the viewer and succeeds at being an interactive experience along the way. There is symbolism plastered everywhere, in the gardens, heck even the wall is symbolic, everything in this show is a physical representation of a theme, concept and ideal.

A gripe with the show I had was its pacing, specifically within its first 3 episodes which were repetitive in nature allowing little to no variation and was at times slower than deaf person using a Bop-it toy. Also, those first 3 episodes were extremely jarring and indecipherable which definitely hurt the series and in that regard very difficult to follow its themes. But luckily it improves upon the initial flaws and becomes more approachable to the audience.

Finally, a comment about the atmosphere and the world provided by the show. The atmosphere is uncanny and it works hand and hand with the show’s perplexing storytelling. As for the world, surprisingly I have varied opinions. On one hand, the world expands on a grander scale with the edition of the Kuma Kingdom, but on the flipside the human world seems to only consist of a school and Kureha’s house which is sad considering how the anime could have exploited its eccentric foundation to become something better.

The conclusion to the show is very hit or miss depending on how a person interprets what happened, all I have to say though is the ending is satisfying. Every loose end of the story comes together and wraps up with a nice little bow.

Now it’s time to move on to the characters.

The Characters
Yuri Kuma Arashi struggled in the beginning with characterization, but towards the conclusion it repairs these issues and the characters differentiate themselves from others. However, this doesn't stop it from being weakest component of the show, and as a result of their symbolic meanings the characters halt in characterization

Kureha's initially is portrayed as having blind hate towards bears, desiring to witness their destruction. But as the series progresses you learn through backstory on the reasons why she despises bears, and how she became the person she is in the anime. She represents individualism as she acts outside of what society considers normal which causes her character to be shunned by others showing a great deal of growth as she copes with society rejecting her. Though her character I feel her character lacks depth.

Ginko is a bear who appears to have her own agenda, and though unrelatable and bland in the beginning, she results in being unique and relatable. Seeing her on her endeavors on screen is hilarious, and watching her grow from her experiences and develop as a character truly fashions her as a well written character. She gets proper backstory, and as witnessed sticks insanely to her motivations being revealed as a determined character.

Lulu is also a bear that follows Ginko on her journey and along the way provides for some zany humor. She’s highly outgoing, and is portrayed as the genki archetype. Receiving some backstory she’s not the most developed character but by the end is characterized properly.

The rest of the characters arguably aren’t characterized conventionally which to a certain extent is true and can be perceived as a flaw. But the fact of the matter is each character holds a purpose in the plot, mostly a symbolic purpose. Some characters represent desire, others have a more religious purpose, but in conclusion they all hold some sort of purpose. Though I do agree that the characters are the weakest part seeing how anyone outside the general cast have a lack of characterization.

The Art/Animation
Yuri Kuma Arashi's art can be described in 3 words, abstract as fuck. The use of color to convey symbolism and to show importance on certain elements within shots is astounding, and adds to the surrealist nature of the story. From the school's color of period blood red, to the lush forests of booger color green, the colorization is on point. The character designs for the humans are somewhat bland but as for the bears, they all look eccentric and really eye catching like an ISIS member at a Protestant Church. But though bland, the facial expressions on the characters are constructed extremely well emphasizing the emotions each character feels. Lighting is something this show nails, with high key and low key lighting occurring at the right time generate some wallpaper-esque gorgeous scenes. But, where the flaw lies within its magical art is the horrendous looking CGI in some areas, especially the bear claw which looks worse than a girl who is depressed about Zayn Malik leaving One Direction.

The animation however is very inconsistent, with some areas appearing to be smooth but in other areas looks like Microsoft PowerPoint which is a real shame considering that this is a psychological anime. The movements in the background characters are minimal to the point where it seems lazy. But, there are two sides to one coin as Clinton showed us, where one side the animation is ugly, but on the other side it sparkles and improves over the course of the show. All and all though, the art is presented in a unique fashion while the animation though lazy in the beginning slowly begins to improve by the end. But shall I make note that I appreciated the nods to Penguindrum, Utena and even The Shining, because incorporating those references were cool.

The Sound
The ost of Yuri Kuma Arashi can be described with 2 words, ominous and unique. This is an unusual show, and the music highlights its unconventional nature by being extremely different from ordinary soundtracks. There are a sufficient amount of songs ranging from slow music for the passive melancholic scenes to swiftly paced haunting music accompanying intense scenes, the music is composed brilliantly, and is reminiscent of sci if horror esque soundtracks. It also in some instances creates clever hyperboles, playing intense music over an event that is presented in a non serious way is genius. The opening and ending themes fit the show with the opening being slow yet gets you immersed upon watching it. As for the voice acting, ughhhhhh, it's varied. On one side Ginko and Kureha's voice actresses represent the characters wonderfully, presenting emotions and confidence. On the other hand, you have the voice actress of Sumika and other characters who sound more annoying than North Korea watching the Interview or just standard.

In conclusion Yuri Kuma is a very niche show that I’d only recommend to 2 types of people.
A person familiar with a work of Ikuhara’s and has seen either Penguindrum or Utena.
A person who can look beyond the sexual aspects of the show and see the deeper underlying meanings rather than what’s at face value. Yuri Kuma Arashi is not good anime as a piece of social commentary as well as entertainment and I believe that this anime is a cult classic.