Shirokuma Café – 12

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[HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_02.20_[2012.06.21_11.05.55] [HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_09.45_[2012.06.21_11.13.59] [HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_21.21_[2012.06.21_11.25.35]

Was that a romance flag I saw proudly waving there at the end?

[HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_01.48_[2012.06.21_11.05.24]There’s a definite trend here – Polar Bear’s Café seems to trending less ironic and more heartfelt as it races towards the end of its first cour.  Whether you view that as a positive or not depends on what you want from anime comedies in general and this one in specific, I suppose, but as long as there’s a certain irreverence that’s always in the mix I like a splash of earnestness with this show in particular.  “Panda-kun’s Night Out” from last week was a highly successful example, and this week’s “Panda’s Advice Room for Troubles” a modestly successful one, but it’s good to see the show isn’t stagnating or becoming a prisoner of formula.

[HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_02.42_[2012.06.21_11.06.17]The first chapter this week was “Panda, Tired of Boredom” and it was pretty much in-line with the default troll comedy mode for Shirokuma.  I’m proudly uninterested in idol trends, but Panda-kun’s allusion to “Yama Arashi” had me scratching my head and wondering just how out of touch I was, since I thought it was a judo move (if such an idol exists, Google can’t seem to find her).  It takes a certain amount of commitment to dedicate an entire segment to animals time-wasting on rainy days at the zoo – playing mahjong, drinking tea, skeeving off in the office…  Who knew Full-time Panda-san was a models otaku?  And that Mandrill-san likes to pop bubble-wrap (I keep looking for a joke or pun there I must be missing, but I think it’s just random weirdness).  And what was that with Pando-kun’s remark about idols saying they don’t go to the bathroom?  Does that really happen?

[HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_03.38_[2012.06.21_11.07.52]As with last week, the second chapter is the warmer of the two.  It’s all about sad-sack Handa-san, a nice guy who even lets animals walk all over him (and pity him).  Well-liked by “animals, kids and old people” but luckless with girls.  I’m not a huge Handa-san fan, but this was certainly a good sketch for him as his earnest schlubbery comes off as somewhat endearing.  For humor we did have Penguin-san’s “Gehehehe!” laugh when talking about Penko-san (sorry, Penguin, you really did) but mostly it was about what a lovable loser Handa-san is.  I rather liked the moment when Polar Bear-san gave him a cup of coffee on the house and he shared a “moment” with Sasako-san.  As the two main humans in the cast it sort of makes sense that they might get shipped together, especially as neither is romantically linked with anyone else. 

[HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_04.48_[2012.06.21_11.09.02] [HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_05.43_[2012.06.21_11.09.57] [HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_06.14_[2012.06.21_11.10.28]
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[HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_10.25_[2012.06.21_11.14.39] [HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_11.22_[2012.06.21_11.15.36] [HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_11.41_[2012.06.21_11.15.55]
[HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_11.49_[2012.06.21_11.16.03] [HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_11.56_[2012.06.21_11.16.09] [HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_14.24_[2012.06.21_11.18.38]
[HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_16.50_[2012.06.21_11.21.03] [HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_17.41_[2012.06.21_11.21.55] [HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_18.05_[2012.06.21_11.22.19]
[HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_20.56_[2012.06.21_11.25.10] [HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_21.37_[2012.06.21_11.25.50] [HorribleSubs] Polar Bear Cafe - 12 [720p].mkv_snapshot_22.21_[2012.06.21_11.26.35]
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6 comments

  1. d
    doodle god
    June 21, 2012 at 8:25 pm
    Reply

    Say it isn't so~~~! Has Polar bear café the anime just ended and there would be no more? I don't know how much manga materials (with the recent suspension and all) they covered and how much demand there is for this show, but hopefully there'll be more of Polar bear café yet to come. Doubtful, though.

    Surely, it's missing moe girl thing (the $$ formula) when comparing to Sankarea, Rinne no Lagrange, and Chihayafuru, but geez. An all-star voice cast on animal comedy show? Never have we had such show before and probably won't for foreseeable time to come!!

  2. admin
    June 21, 2012 at 8:49 pm
    Reply

    This is going at least one more cour for sure, don't worry. I've heard some say a full year but haven't seen any hard evidence of that.

  3. b
    belatkuro
    June 22, 2012 at 4:34 am
    Reply

    Well I'd like to ship the two humans together but I feel that Sasako-san is just too good for Handa. And well, I don't like Handa that much so yeah.
    Panda and Full-time Panda combo made this Handa-centric episode a bit better than that group date episode but still a weak episode for me. I'm starting to notice that when Handa is involved, the episodes are just not that interesting to me. Oh well.

    I dunno if Penguin’s schedule about visiting Penko is funny or just downright creppy(stalker-ish even).

    P.S. Them pandas have the best jobs ever: sitting, playing around, sleeping and getting fed. Real nice.
    Though is the pay worth it? Full-Time Panda's family is gonna increase now.

  4. K
    Kentaiyoshimi
    June 23, 2012 at 12:50 am
    Reply

    Ii thought this episode seemed a bit slow. The comedy didn't really work for me, although I agree with Full-Time Panda's, "plamo is a man's passion".

    I don't ship Sasako and Handa at all, and I agree with belatkuro in that Sasako is too good for Handa.

    I feel that the comedy really shines when all three of the main cast are together. Episodes with only Panda-kun tend to be a bit boring.

  5. K
    Kim
    June 23, 2012 at 3:31 am
    Reply

    I just posted about Sasako/Handa over on AS & then came to see that you saw it too. Glad I am not alone.

    And contrary to what some posters think, I don't think Handa is a loser at all. He comes off as a very sweet guy who is just a bit shy & awkward.

    Go figure I'd be talking about the humans in a show about animals.

  6. A
    Anonymous
    June 23, 2012 at 6:08 pm
    Reply

    GO MR. HANDA! I'M ROOTING FOR YOU!

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