Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Kumamiko - Girl meets Bear
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2517 |
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I'm not one to pick at technicalities, but I can't believe how badly the show seems to be paced with 10 episodes spent bumping around Kumade and in this one episode Machi is spoiler[off to Sendai and in an "idol" contest]! So much more happens here than in other episodes it makes me wish they had gotten to this point a few episodes ago to give more time spoiler[to exploring the contest and city.] Also, I was rooting that Machi would realize she shouldn't allow others to make her into a "made-up idol" but she should be appearing as the "Miko of Kumade". Still hope the show goes that way. Poor "Hiiko" can't seem to "catch a break" with people thinking she is some sort of delinquent. If it was the motorcycle, I'd understand but her dress looks fairly normal if a little casual.
And for all you free-thinkers I think I have cracked the code, Kumamiko is an allegory for international relations in the later Meiji and Showa eras! Yoshio is likely Emperor Hirohito, "Hiiko" represents Imperial Japanese supporters and Natsu represents the common people. The other "idols" are other nations, the "twins" costumes suggest Hungary (Austro-Hungarian and German Empires?) and the contest represents the "international stage" to see which will be most dominant. Put that in your Hookah. |
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4471 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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(Now that I've seen last week's episode.)
Where were all the other students at school? Why was it just the three 9-year olds and Machi? Wasn't the implication in the first episode that Yoshio introduces 9-year olds to the talking bear secret of Kumade village *every single year*? If that's the case, shouldn't there be at least a few more kids (the ones that would have been introduced to Natsu or his precursors) somewhere in age between the current 9-year olds and Machi? I mean, I know the animation reason why they probably didn't bother creating other kids just for the few minutes in the episode that Machi was in school (it saves them from having to create new character model sheets), but you'd think at least Machiko Tokuyama from the previous episode would also be there. |
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Hameyadea
 Posts: 3679 |
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I think that's the joke. In the same way the main cast of Higurashi is at different grade levels -- from elementary to high-school -- but due to the low number of students (actually, the main cast are the town's only students), they are all in the same classroom. |
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vonPeterhof
Posts: 729 |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11367 |
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Still, that's a very odd birth pattern. We've seen the 24 and 25 year old Hibiki and Yoshio, the 14 year old Machi, and 3 nine year olds. Everyone else in the village seems to be over 50, so who are the 9 year olds' parents and why so many kids (relatively speaking) in one year?
If the last children were really born 9 years ago, nothing can save this village short of a gold strike. Oops, I forgot about the clock-glasses grandchild. She must be home-schooled. |
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Blackiris_
 Posts: 535 |
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Personally I found Ep. 11 to be one of the weakest episodes so far.
It's been bothering me for a while that the show is centered almost entirely around one joke – Machi's bumpkin complex. And no one really seems to take her seriously. That worked better in Barakamon because it was light and fun, but Machi actually seems to suffer a lot, and even if this wasn't an issue, the joke would get stale after a while either way (in my opinion the rice cooker scene was way too much already). But that seems to be a general problem of comedy in anime. This happened more than once before, and there is no noticable progress in Machi's behavior or the reactions of the people around her. I really can't enjoy this show in a relaxing way as much as I'd like to. Well, one more episode to go. I can't really imagine this will be a completely satisfying conclusion. It will probably highlight the relationship of Machi and Natsu which is fine, but I hope there will be at least some kind of progress in terms of the storyline. |
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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This show has been pretty consistent for me lately. I typically enjoy the first half of every episode, and then the second half devolves into some way to humiliate and exploit Machi. I'm not really digging that at all. I like Machi, she's adorable. And I don't really want to see her being humiliated.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11367 |
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What's not for Machi is being an idol. She was doing just fine and having a great time until she was shoved on stage surrounded by total strangers to be the center of attention. Strangers who were there explicitly to judge her! Unless that's your thing, who wouldn't run away from that? One nice thing about city life over rural life is that you can be utterly anonymous if you want to be (which I don't think Machi completely does), something that you can't do in a small, close knit community where everyone knows everything you do. Once she learned all the ins and outs of city life and technology, it could very well be for her. Heck, in NYC she could probably keep Natsu in her apartment and take him to Central Park for walks and no one would bat an eye.
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Tenchi
Posts: 4471 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Yeah, I know the school is basically the same as the one in Non Non Biyori in terms of enrollment, it's just that the first episode implies that Machi also didn't dress up as a miko during the previous year's "bear introduction" ceremony either, so what happened to that group of now 10-year olds?
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JaggedAuthor
 Posts: 981 |
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I could be wrong, but I think there are a number of villagers the audience never sees - and likely will never see. The "clock and glasses" store was doing pretty well, and it seems like the village would need more than 20-ish inhabitants for such a niche business to thrive. (Although it's also possible the proprietress is independently wealthy.) |
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maximilianjenus
Posts: 2863 |
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you don't really need much depopulation, a friend is a teacher in rural mexico and he's got a small group just like that, by which I mean one classroom 5 or so kids all of various grades. a thing about rural places is not depopulaton per se, but low populatoin density, like for his school all teh kdis live at 30 minutes or so away form teh school, if he wanted to have more kids they would have to get the kids that live 2 hours away from the school's location. |
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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All cliches are like that. The only problem with cliches is that they've lost power through excessive repetition. If they didn't work in the first place they'd get used enough to get worn down. |
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JaggedAuthor
Posts: 981 |
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I think Rose's take on the ending was spot-on. From the beginning, I assumed Machi would decide to stay in the village, but I mistakenly believed the story would do a satisfactory job of reaching this conclusion. For example, Machi could move to a big city and discover that she's much better suited to urban life than everyone seemed to think before ultimately deciding to move back to Kumade Village to be with her friends and family. Sure, this would constitute hitting the "reset button" that animated comedies are so fond of, but at least there'd be some character growth thrown in. As it stands, Machi has decided that it's better to live a life with which she's comfortable - but not necessarily happy - than tackle new challenges that might require her to step outside of her comfort zone.
I guess I was also foolish for expecting some growth on Natsu's end. When Machi announced her intentions to attend high school in the village, I thought he was going to suck it up, put his needs aside and tell her that she had to move to the city. Nope! If things continue in this fashion, Machi will never grow as a person or become independent, and since Natsu's gone to great lengths to control her life, she'll barely be able to function should anything ever happen to him. I'm sorry if I'm reading too much into this, but the ending was a huge downer, albeit an unintentional one. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11367 |
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Episode 12
No you're not reading too much into it at all. I guess this is the series' idea of the modern version of sacrificing the maiden for the good of the village. When it looked like she might actually escape, they broke her mind to the level of a dependent 6 year old so she'd never try that again. Makes Mumei's brainwashing in Kabaneri look downright amateurish compared to this Machiavellian scheme. Turns out this isn't a SOL, or even a comedy. This is a psychological horror show, in the vein of Stepford Wives or The Wicker Man. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15466 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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As someone with social anxiety, I think the fact they let her believe that things went badly as to make her dependent, was a horrible thing. I don't respect what he did to her, or how it was framed with the cute music.
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