Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Kumamiko - Girl meets Bear
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4469 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Is Machi's social anxiety disorder transgressing into straight-up borderline personality disorder? I can't watch the episode until next week but that's what it seems like from the review (and some scenes in last week's episode as well as earlier episodes like the supermarket one), like Machi has full-fledge psychoses rather than just unfounded fears of being judged.
Kumamiko's approach to social anxiety disorder is a little more problematic than Watamote since Watamote plays it mostly straight (with a little comic exaggeration) and, while you're supposed to laugh at some of Tomoko's foibles, her anxiety is still generally treated more delicately and empathetically than Machi. (Plus, if you read the Watamote manga beyond what's been animated, spoiler[white Tomoko will never be "cured", she slowly learns to cope with her anxiety and becomes a little less petrified in social situations].) Even if you ignore the talking bear aspect, everything is more over-the-top and slapstick in Kumamiko's universe, so it's not necessarily a story style that's suitable for presenting serious psychological issues in a sensitive manner. EDIT: Sorry, I meant "borderline personality disorder", not "bipolar disorder". The one with some degree of psychotic delusions but not full blown schizophrenia hallucinations. Last edited by Tenchi on Mon Jun 20, 2016 4:08 am; edited 1 time in total |
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JaggedAuthor
 Posts: 981 |
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Yeah, the fact that we're supposed to regard this as a happy ending is almost insulting to the audience's intelligence. This show is awash with misguided messages and unhealthy relationships. If it was a dark comedy by design, I wouldn't be so put off by this, but I get the impression that the dark comic elements were more incidental than intentional, and they simply didn't mesh with the quirky slice-of-life series the show clearly envisioned itself as. Side note: Yoshio's exchange with the ramen shop owner has me definitively convinced that he's a full-blown sexual predator. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11340 |
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I was only a little kidding about this being a horror series. The more I look back at it with this ending in mind, the more creepy it all is. The clues have been there all along. This is a town where they believe women have ritual sex with bears. They discipline their misbehaving children by locking them in a cage overnight with an ostensibly ferocious bear. These traumatized children cling fixedly to their cell phones that they can't call anyone on, showing how they can't expect help from the outside. In a town where time has essentially stopped, the richest person sells clocks. She's not selling them to the non-existent tourists, so why are the locals buying enough to make her wealthy?
Machi is completely at Yoshio's mercy, but he never shows her any, and her presumed protector Natsu is well aware of what's going on and not only fails to protect her, but is complicit in her downfall. What character development we thought we were getting for Machi turns out to be a view of her gradual descent into madness. Note that every new "city test" she had to pass was accompanied by increasingly severe delusions of terror until she was finally broken. And even Hibiki, who seemed to have escaped, was drawn back in by Yoshio and her concern for Machi, whom she also failed to protect. In the end, she looks on adoringly as he rants about his plans for the village, not even questioning his story about being stoned himself. Yes Hibiki, Machi was right, the outside world is a terrifying place, stay here with us... Something about those exterior shots of the temple at the end and the incongruously cheerful music made me as uneasy as the whole vibe in Shiki. The comedy facade of the series is emblematic of the serene and simple face this village of the damned shows the outside world. This episode makes me unable to look at this series in any other way now, because if I did I'd have to really despise the writers. If they truly intended a comedy and thought this is what a happy ending looks like, they are indeed sick and twisted people that should never be allowed around children, especially their own. |
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vonPeterhof
Posts: 729 |
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@Gina Szanboti
So basically we've just had a season whose best comedy masqueraded as horror and whose best horror show was pretending to be a comedy 
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Merida
 Posts: 1945 |
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It's no coincidence that the best horror stories take place in rural villages.
While the series wasn't quite as disturbing to me as to some other commenters here, the "moral" of the story which basically seems to come down to "Machi will live for the rest of her life in this village because she'll never be able to be independent (let alone live in the city), yay~!" was puzzling, to say the least... |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11340 |
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One other bit of fridge horror I forgot to mention is sexual harassment girl. That woman knows the truth and she's living in constant terror, but too afraid to break free on her own, knowing all too well what would happen...
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JaggedAuthor
Posts: 981 |
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At this point, I'd honestly like to believe that this was intentionally designed as a psychological horror series, but I think the horror elements stem from the original author (assuming this is a faithful adaptation) having no credibility on the subjects of social anxiety and healthy human relationships. I mean, the entire series can almost be viewed as an extended study on child abuse.
Since the manga is still being serialized, I suppose there's hope for a happy ending down the line, but I have a feeling the author's idea of a happy ending is at odds with my own. |
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Gewürtztraminer
 Posts: 1028 Location: Texas - Its like whole other country. |
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I share the opinion of most of the above and the review. That ending was not for me, and has made me question why I actually finished the show.
As the Funimation app went back to its menu, I could imagine Funimation's disappointment in licensing this. What audience here would find this enjoyable? A ghost stories type dub might help it, but I doubt the creators would allow it. Ugh. Let this fade away and us never speak of this again. |
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belvadeer
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I just can't be satisfied with this ending at all. It's like they couldn't figure out a way for Machi to come to a decision that ultimately comes as a result of her experiences throughout the series. Instead, they just want her to basically stay in her village and never expose herself to the city again, staying the good little ignorant miko Natsu initially wanted her to be. Yet this doesn't line up with her earlier sentiments on the matter. The previous episode made more sense; she came to the realization that the city's big crowds were not something she was ready for. If the ending was more introspective, like say Machi saying she needs more time before fully committing to city life, then that would have worked. I'm also bothered with Natsu doing this awkward 360 of his. First he's against it, then he supports her, then he's against it again; the fact he's happy that Machi will remain ignorant of technology (and the outside world) is actually disturbing because it shows indeed that he's a selfish bear, as he openly admitted in episode 11.
Between this and Gingitsune, the latter did the whole "human and servant of the gods together" theme better. |
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Tenchi
Posts: 4469 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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From what I understand from other forums (re: mainly Reddit), this "ending" is original to the anime and never happened in the manga so mangaka Masume Yoshimoto is probably not to blame (depending on how much involvement he might have had or didn't have with the anime story changes, I suppose).
It occurred to me that the story arc of the last two episodes is a bit like that of the 1998 British film Little Voice if you can imagine Yoshio (and, to a lesser extent, Hibiki and even Natsu) in the Michael Caine role of the manipulative manager coaxing one great performance out of a mentally-troubled girl. |
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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I would like to comment on something Yoshio briefly said to Hiiko in the last chapter. Mikos are meant as sacrifices. Machi was always meant as a sacrifice. It is quite common in anime/manga to have absent parents, but we are told (from the very start most of the times) they are dead (and we are shown a small shrine with their obscured photos) and/or they are traveling/working (they call by telephone directly or indirecly with their kids or at least send some package by mail). But the total absence of mention about Machi's parents make me think that her mother had an affair just so that she could have a daughter to take her place as a Miko and she could go to the city and do something else with her life. Natsu is a victim as much as Machi, since without her he would no doubt be really alone (there is no place for a castrated bear in the wild).
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11340 |
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At my most generous, which I'm not really feeling right now, this is still as terrible as The Wizard of Oz and Dorothy's declaration of what she learned: ...if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with. Is that right?" Another vibrant, adventurous girl persuaded to never set foot outside her comfort zone again. She even needs the elder's confirmation that she learned the "right" lesson, which apparently she did. smh
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harminia
 Posts: 1997 Location: australia |
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I've not been following this show beyond skimming an episode here and there, but even then I felt creeped out by the ending.
I don't know what sort of character development happened in the show, but any that may have happened seemed to be completely dismissed in favor of "Hey Machi, come and live a life completely dependant on Natsu and the villagers and don't ever dream of leaving ever again". I liked Yoshio's comment about how she's "a sacrifice", but I liked it for it's gravity and the concept behind it, and beyond that it's out of place in what appeared like a cutesy but odd comedy series. (In a different series, they could make a really good psychological drama with that concept of the "sacrifice" changing to modern times). Yeah. I don't know. I'm glad the ending doesn't sit well with other people too. I wonder how the manga will end, and what the author thought of the anime's end. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11340 |
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I'm curious as to how this was received in Japan.
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2512 |
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I agree with Rose and most here that this episode killed the series for me. I had high hopes and think Gina Szanboti may be a little worked up over this but I am no less angry that the darkness I saw and thought I might have been wrong about may have really been there! Especially with the ending leaving Machi the psychological equivalent of a drooling idiot is way too cruel. Yes Funi will make DVD's (please God don't let them make a dub) and we'll see the cute Miko and adorable Kuma in attractive poses with beautiful full color images and I hope no one buys this. I'm not.
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