Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear

Spring 2016 anime about a talking bear, Natsu trying to prevent an overly-sheltered miko, Machi, from running off to the city, which would effectively ruin the show. Also featuring a happy-go-lucky teacher with not a lot of tact, a biker who hasn't appeared as of episode 2, and rural people who do rural things.

I can't think of a good description right now. It's funny and it has a talking bear, what more do you need? [tongue]

Wrong religion. Mikos are very different from nuns. ._.

Mikos are NOT nuns...

I know that, but bear nun sounds cool...-_-

Anyway, I don't know how to change it now.

edited 10th Apr '16 10:52:40 PM by Ruise

I can change it to Bear Priestess. Or Bear Miko.

The official title is "Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear" it probably should be that.

edited 10th Apr '16 11:25:58 PM by Memers

Done.

Well now, the anime is adapting the manga material on a good clip. So it's only a matter of time until we get to Yoshio's osananajimi Hibiki.

Thanks, dal.

Also has a page.

It's adorable, even though they Went There with the bear X human jokes in the first episode.

Well, the third episode was...very educational. Yes, Machi has spiritual powers and will bring down suffering with misremembered Kyary Pamyu Pamyu lyrics and exercise routines. Also, very, very fashionable. Machi is very kawaii. Also, that teacher really is tactless (but that's what makes him an interesting character.)

These old people with their shakey hands draw Nightmare Fuel that puts Chinatsu to shame!!

I guess Status Quo Is God after all. Oh and Ainu heritage stuff. I thought number one was absolutely darling though. And she should keep that stripey dress for casual occasions since she doesn't have any casual clothes. AND...she should go ahead and become a locodol too.

1 and 4 were nice, though 1's sleeves looked super flimsy and 4 exposed way too much skin for a miko outfit.

And I'm sorry Natsu, but 2's totally out. Like seriously what.

Note to self: Never use traditional rituals for exercise regimens. The fury it produces is astronomical.

Outfits 1 and 4 were the best. Natsu being tempted by 2 was amusing.

Episode 3 is just hilarious from start to finish. Dogakobo and Kinema Cirtus helped out in the making of this partticular episode, which explains why it's so animated compared to the first two.

Outfit 4 is the best.

That explains why it was so lively! Worked really well for the episode; I actually laughed out loud for a good minute or two when the exercise music started playing.

I get the feeling the last line of ep 4 is a reference to Pokemon.

You know, with how Ash/Satoshi says his dream is to become a Pokemon master.

And we have a Bland-Name Product store now; the original name of that store is Fashion Center Shimamura.

edited 24th Apr '16 5:31:37 PM by HanabiraKage

Episode 4: SHE WORE OUTFIT #1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And outfit #4!!!!

Now she's flattered by being considered cute. What a moody youth.

She forgot to save...

The delinquent biker appears...

Wow what a barrel roll!

Natsu wears glasses. For seeing a screen in the daylight, I guess. Neat.

Poor Machi...

That's an expensive jacket.

I think she really has been possessed by some sort of apparel god...

I don't even know what that was, but yaaay mission success?

Episode 6: 'nother quality episode.

I actually don't like going into small stores if I'm the only one there (stores where they greet the customer...-shudder-) Machi had a fit though. The scene where a passerby on the escalator picks her up and twirls her around was incredible.

She actually got sick from embarrassment. It's the brain-fever!

I like Natsu's "kumaaaan!"-ing. And Natsu cooking scene. Bear hair soup, yuck.

Machi has moved on from abusing Yoshio to Actual Animal Abuse (in reality though, she was just scratching his chest fur, I don't think it could have hurt much.)

I really wonder about Natsu's bear family and where they are. Do they have a house? Do they just live in the woods despite being talking bears? Aren't Natsu and Machi like distant cousins supposedly?

You'll notice the Kumai surname repeating over and over in the manga, and it's a surname shared both my Natsu's family of bears AND a family of humans in the town.

What. The. FUCK.

That ending was creepy as fuck and I have no bloody idea who the hell wrote the script for these last few episodes but that guy needs to get fired.

The last two episodes are apparently entirely anime original.

But yes that ending sucked ass and pretty much ruined the entire thing.

We'll find him, tie him to a post and pelt him with rocks.

Oh good, I wasn't the only one who thought that.

But the creepy undertone wasn't unique to the last few episodes. The series has basically been messing around with Machi throughout. First, you have Natsu setting her those tasks to prove she can live in the city that were obviously designed to fail. Then there's Yoshio who's the opposite, aggressively pushing her into things she can't handle to realise his own dreams without any consideration for her. Meanwhile her underlying issues have never been addressed, but rather encouraged especially in the last two episodes.

It all left a nasty taste in my mouth.

Some interesting notes relating to the ending:

• Yes the anime ending WAS Anime-original.
• Apparently it STUNNED even the Japanese watchers. People have been calling it on twitter Kumamiko: BAD END.
• The screenwriter for the last two episodes MYSTERIOUSLY deleted his Twitter account.
• And then the Japanese wikipedia entry for the show also MYSTERIOUSLY got its entry for the screenwriter deleted... By someone living in the same area as said screenwriter (Pierre Sugiura) based on the area IP...

So yeah, looks like someone screwed up, and is keen to burn all evidence of it.