Polar Bear Cafe is an odd anime since almost everyone is an animal,which is not very common in anime at all so the anime already stands out on its own.
The story is about a white polar bear who is the owner of a popular cafe called the "Shirokuma Cafe" after quitting his boring job to start running his cafe near a zoo. Thanks to his personality the place is always packed with many regulars, animals and humans alike who are drawn in to the cafe. all of this sets the up the comedic sub plots common in slice of life animes.
the animation is very great during the opening of the anime,with a great use of color and lights,but nothing too special out of the ordinary,no fancy tricks are used. as for a comedic anime,really great animation isn't really needed at all,however others anime in the same genre have pushed the limits of animation before,which means polar bear cafe does lack a little in the animation. on the plus side being that the anime is about animals it is important to make the animals look and feel as if they were there and have that cute and detailed look that anime is known for achieving. the animals look great with a perfect mix of detail and cuteness.
The music and sound go very well together,and again nothing out of the ordinary,just the generic music and sound effects to accompany the jokes and sub plots.
First of all,i have to say the choices for the animals is pretty hilarious,as a kid i would call any animal by its name.if i saw a tiger i would say oh hey there mr.Tiger or hello there ms.Giraffe,so the anime wasn't too far off with that idea. this anime has a ton of side characters who aren't really important,but the ones that are can make the series fun to watch and they all have there niche to fill in in order to give life to the episodes.
Polar bear-the owner of the cafe and popular with animal and humans due to his personality.
Panda-a lazy panda who is in need of a job,because of his mother.he likes to talk about his cuteness and enjoys panda products.he may also be into yaoi but i wont spoil that
penguin- he is the "i dont give about" type of character,he usually "butts in" in many things and is the source for polar bear and panda's antics,he is also known to criticize a lot as well.
sasako-the main human character who works at the cafe helping out polar bear,she loves bicycles and is a friend of Mr.Llama
Polar Bear Cafe is a very unique anime that shouldn't be missed,if you love animals,and if you really love talking animals then you will enjoy this series. the humor can be hit or miss at times,but that still doesn't hurt the quality of the anime.if you have watched a serious anime or a sad one then this could be an anime for you to watch to cheer your self up or to watch something with happiness,the whole polar cafe experience is about that.as for others otakus out there,its just a typical anime with animals,and i honestly feel that if the anime was about humans instead of animals then it would be just another maid cafe series they may have been missed all together so it was a nice choice to use animals and it does work well.
