Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Episode 6

“In which our heroes go on a cute (yet pointless) adventure.”

Now that we're halfway through the series, one thing has become quite clear to me: I am not the target audience for this series. Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear is light, happy fluff. It wants to revel in cute girls doing cute things as they overcome only the smallest of conflicts. But more than that, these conflicts are almost always resolved in the happiest way possible.

Take this episode for example. Now that Fina and Shuri's mother, Tiermina, has recovered from her long illness, her former party member Gentz asks her to marry him. Instead of saying “I will” or something similar, she thanks him—which her daughters take as acceptance. The next morning, however, Tiermina and Gentz have an argument about him putting butter on toast and ketchup on eggs, which convinces the two daughters that the new couple will break up.

In another story, this could have gone so many ways. Perhaps, as her daughters were watching, Tiermina felt put on the spot when he popped the question so the fight could have been her looking for an excuse to break off the marriage. Or perhaps the fight is indicative of the fact that, while they were friends and had traveled together, they had never lived together and so were taking things too fast, and that maybe they should date before jumping right into marriage. Or perhaps Tiermina had been caught up in the euphoria of the moment—having been so recently cured—and agreed to the marriage before thinking things through. Or perhaps she agreed to the marriage not for love but out of a mixture of gratitude and guilt for all Gentz had done for her children while she was sick... You get the idea.

Any of these options could have made for a compelling narrative that uses the trappings of a fantasy world to explore real-life relationship issues and their complexities. But that's not what this anime is about. Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear wants the happiest possible outcome. Period. So not only was the fight not really a fight (both Tiermina and Gentz forget about it almost immediately) but Fina and Shuri's adventure on their behalf brings back an item that pretty much explicitly states that Tiermina's dead husband Roy is blessing their union. Of course, even that's not idealistic enough for Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear so the scene ends with Fina and Shuri deciding to call Gentz “Dad.”

Now, let me be clear. None of this is inherently bad. There is nothing wrong with wanting to escape into a world so much simpler and happier than this one and just forget about the complexities and the troubles of the real world for thirty minutes. If that is your jam, more power to you. However, I am not one of those people. I want my media to challenge me—be that intellectually or emotionally—as well as entertain me.

Therefore, I find the straightforward narrative on display in Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear predictable and boring. The conflicts are so superficial that any possible drama (be that personal conflict or physical danger) is devoid of tension. This in turn makes it hard to become invested in the characters—after all, they have nothing that they need to struggle to overcome.

That is not to say that I don't enjoy some things about this series or even this episode. I love that the newfound easy access to eggs is having an impact on society in general. Without eggs, much of what we'd consider “basic baking” is unknown in the kingdom—or at least to any but the highest of high society in the capital. It's fun watching Yuna (perhaps unknowingly) exploit this.

I also enjoy getting to know Shuri as a character—especially in contrast to her sister. Shuri, frankly, knows no fear. Despite never having left the city, she hisses back at a (poisonous?) snake, walks across a dilapidated bridge, and pokes a beehive. It's an interesting mix of naïveté and bravery that makes her feel more like a unique person instead “anime little sister trope #2.”

And despite the weak impetus for the adventure, it's great to learn a bit more about Tiermina, Gentz, Roy, and their adventures long ago. Not only does it give them a bit of development as characters, but it also helps to show us where Fina and Shuri came from and what shaped them into the people they are now.

All in all, this is a typical episode of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear: low stakes adventure with cuteness and happy endings. It's got a few funny moments and a bit of character development but there's just not much to be invested in. Maybe things will change next week when Yuna hits the royal capital, but I highly doubt it.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Let's be real peeps: with such a lack of danger-sense and self-control, Shuri isn't going to see another birthday.

• Honestly, Yuna's advice at the start is spot on: don't meddle in other people's relationships.

• Man, if you, like me, thought that Yuna making soft bedding out of rock with bear magic was crazy, that's nothing compared to the BEAR MAGIC CONVECTION STOVE she casually uses this episode. It is powered by a bear magic electric generator? Moreover, why would Yuna, financial genius though she may be, know the inner workings of a modern stove to the point where she could recreate one in the first place?

• Look, if we're gonna make a big stink about the rarity of eggs, I want to know about the rarity of sugar. In our world, it was a super-expensive luxury item even up until the 1500s. How does this world manage to produce enough that Yuna has some for her pudding?

• Again we see Yuna's lack of empathy for those outside her sight. Sure, she doesn't miss her parents but she never even considers they might be devastated by her disappearance/death/ coma.

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear is currently streaming on Funimation.

Richard is an anime and video game journalist with over a decade of experience living and working in Japan. For more of his writings, check out his Twitter and blog.