#kuma miko

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Kumamiko Girl Meets Bear · 2016 · Episode 1x12

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Kuma Miko Specials - Episode 2

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Kuma Miko -Girl meets Bear- Vol.18

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Anime Out of Context Pt.2

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Anime i’ve Watched

That begin with a K (Part 4)!

Yep this is how i’m going to bring over all the anime and manga i’ve watched and posted about on the old blog. It’s not so detailed but it will have to do. Anything new I watch or read from this point on will have their own posts.

Kono Oto Tomare!:

Genres: drama, music, romance, school, shounen

Synopsis:  Gen Kudou, a koto maker, believes that his delinquent grandson Chika would never understand the profoundness of the traditional musical instrument. In an attempt to make up for his naivety and understand the words of his late grandfather, Chika tries to join the Tokise High School Koto Club. Even though the club is in dire need of members, new club president Takezou Kurata is unwilling to easily accept Chika's application due to his bad reputation. Nonetheless, after seeing Chika's seriousness and enthusiasm, Takezou allows the problem child to join, along with koto prodigy Satowa Houzuki and three of Chika's energetic friends. Kono Oto Tomare! follows the merry band of musicians as they aspire to play at the national competition. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 9/10

Finished airing in 2019 with a total of 13 episodes. 

My Thoughts: A fantastic anime. The musical performances are breathtaking and the slice of life aspect is just perfect. Great characters and interactions. Love it. The artwork was nice though not my usual preferred style. 

Kono Oto Tomare! 2nd Season:

Genres: drama, music, romance, school, shounen

Synopsis: The Tokise High School Koto Club has courageously pushed through their fractured and unsynchronized performance at the Kanto Region Traditional Japanese Music Festival. Clubmembers Chika Kudou, Satowa Houzuki, Takezou Kurata, Hiro Kurusu, Kouta Mizuhara, Saneyasu Adachi, and Michitaka Sakai are devastated to learn the negative results of their performance, leaving them crushed. Nonetheless, the group recognizes their potential and enthusiastically agree to collectively sharpen their skills, improve their flaws, and develop higher caliber playing to succeed in the upcoming national qualifiers in winter.

With the help of their now willing club advisor Suzuka Takinami, the group's goal gradually becomes achievable as they begin to grasp the foundations of good music and refine their koto-playing abilities, with the suggestion of performing more often to gain what they lack most—experience.

However, as their journey to nationals is underway, the koto club members face challenges that obstruct their focus and progress. Not only does the threat of other powerhouse schools and musicians remain, but the high school issues of budding romance and soon-to-be-graduating seniors also begin to push the limits of the determined group of teenagers and the future of the koto club.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 9/10

Finished airing in 2019 with a total of 13 episodes. 

My Thoughts: A great sequel or continuation. Dives a bit deeper into the characters and the club while also introducing a very interesting new and important character. Amps up the romance a tiny bit as well which is nice! 

Kotonoha no Niwa (The Garden of Words):

Genres: film, slice of life, psychological, drama, romance

Synopsis:  On a rainy morning in Tokyo, Takao Akizuki, an aspiring shoemaker, decides to skip class to sketch designs in a beautiful garden. This is where he meets Yukari Yukino, a beautiful yet mysterious woman, for the very first time. Offering to make her new shoes, Takao continues to meet with Yukari throughout the rainy season, and without even realizing it, the two are able to alleviate the worries hidden in their hearts just by being with each other. However, their personal struggles have not disappeared completely, and as the end of the rainy season approaches, their relationship will be put to the test. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 10/10

A film released in 2013.

My Thoughts: Visually stunning. A fact that is immediately apparent as soon as this film begins. Also emotionally moving, if you’re anything like me you’ll be a puddle of emotions by the end. 

Kuma Miko:

Genres: slice of life, comedy, seinen

Synopsis:  What does a bear know about life in the big city? For Machi Amayadori's sake, hopefully a lot! The young shrine maiden has spent her whole life in the rural mountains with Natsu, her talking guardian bear. Now, at fourteen, she wants to take a chance and attend high school in the big city. Can Natsu really prepare her for city life? Or will his wacky trials be too much for even Machi to bear? (Source: FUNimation)

My Rating: 4/10

Finished airing in 2016 with a total of 12 episodes. 

My Though: Ugh.... just no. Trust me don’t bother. 

Kuragehime (Princess Jellyfish): 

Genres: slice of life, comedy, josei

Ever since her late mother took her to an aquarium when she was young, Tsukimi Kurashita has been obsessed with jellyfish, comparing their flowing tentacles to a princess's white dress. Now living with five other unemployed otaku women, 19-year-old Tsukimi spends her days as a social outcast dreaming of becoming an illustrator. However, her life changes forever when one day, a beautiful woman unexpectedly helps her save a jellyfish in a local pet store. From then on, the stranger—confident, fashionable, and the complete opposite of Tsukimi and her roommates—begins to regularly visit the girls' building. This trendy hipster, though appearing shallow at first, harbors some secrets of her own, starting with the fact that "she" isn't really a girl at all, but a wealthy male college student named Kuranosuke Koibuchi! [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 8.5/10

Finished airing in 2010 with a total of 11 episodes.

My Thoughts: Give me more Josei content!!! Seriously though I love Princess Jellyfish and all the characters but unfortunately the anime isn’t the whole story and is unlikely to ever get a full season. I highly suggest reading the manga (which is completed) and watching this as a little something extra! 

[okayto]

Mini-Review: Kumamiko: Girl Meets Bear

14-year-old Machi is a shrine maiden (miko) in a tiny village in the mountains where she lives with Natsu, a talking bear (kuma) she was raised with. Machi hopes to attend high school in the city, so Natsu attempts to prepare the shy, sheltered girl for the trials and tribulations of city life to varying amounts of success.

This was very different than most things I’ve been watching this year, being a slice-of-life comedy. It doesn’t take itself seriously, and it doesn’t delve much into character development, instead preferring to play with the comedic potential of characters as they are.

Machi and Natsu live in the village of Kumade, where according to a legend explained in episode one, bears and people live in harmony after an interspecies liaison hundreds of years before. Whether that’s true or not we don’t know, but Natsu can indeed speak, is known to the villagers, and keeps house with Machi (whose parents are nonexistent, and whose caretaker grandma remains offscreen). We don’t learn exactly when they met, but from flashbacks it was before both were about 5, and they have a sibling relationship.

Machi, for her part decides she really wants to attend high school in the city--two hours away. Natsu proposes various quizzes and tests to see if Machi can really “handle” city life, with varying results as the tests can be a bit out there, and/or Machi lacks knowledge of (and comfort with) a lot of contemporary Japanese society, from brands to dealing with store clerks to online shopping. Even simple electric appliances throw her off.

Most episodes revolve around either Machi doing something to learn about the modern world (and messing up), or her cousin Yoshio roping her and other villagers into some sort of PR attempt to promote the village, which is dwindling and prompting fears it could die out.

I liked Yoshio as a character for the most part, but while he wasn’t actually any more oblivious that any other character (a lot of jokes involved people misinterpreting others), Yoshio got beaten up a lot for it.

The series is only 12 episodes, which is probably for the best since the characters don’t change through the series. It’s interesting that such a unique base was chosen (tiny village, shrine maiden raised alongside a talking bear, possibly has mystic powers) and the story uses that to mainly follow comedy based on character idiosyncrasies.

Verdict

English dub? No

Visuals: Normal for a modern anime; not bad but nothing standout.

Worth watching? Sure, if you like light series with little commitment. It’s not deep, but sometimes you really do want something that takes little to no brainpower and isn’t going to cause complex emotions, y’know?

Of note, in the first episode 9-year-old village kids are being inducted into the knowledge of the village lore (and Natsu’s existence), there are jokes about what if Natsu and Machi did *it*; a recurring gag where Yoshio, being basically an older brother who helped raise Machi, tries to get her out of her clothes so she can try on costumes (and is oblivious why he gets punched), and a village woman who mutters “sexual harassment” basically any time someone makes a joke at her regardless of topic. (I think maybe the humor here is supposed to be that it’s not sexual harassment? Unsure.)

Where to watch (USA, as of November 2020): Funimation (sub); BR or BR/DVD combo

Click my “reviews” tag below or search “mini review” on my blog to find more!