Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear Review

Do you like bears?  Do you like middle-school girls?  Well, this is the manga for you.  This is Kuma Miko, where bears and middle-school girls come together.


Machi Amayadori is said middle school girl.  She is a miko, a shrine maiden, and lives in the mountains with a bear called Natsu.  This isn't just any bear, though.  No, Natsu is a talking bear.

So why is Machi living with a bear?  It seems to be some kind of diplomatic measure to keep peace between humans and bears.  In other words, they make it so people can live that area without getting killed and eaten by bears.  Seems fair.

Of course, Machi is at that awkward age where she's grown tired of living in the mountains and wants to live in the city.  Natsu decides to be a prick (or so it seems at first) and prove she can't by sending her out to do various tasks.  This is where the humor of the series comes from.  Watching Machi fail or succeed in such an awkward fashion, it might as well be failure.

There are some hilarious moments, like when Machi almost dies riding a defective bike.  Or when she almost burns down her home trying to use a rice cooker.  Or when she spazzes out the mall, punches cousin in the solar plexus, then faints on an escalator.  Her clumsiness and downright stupidity make her endearing.  This is where more humor is derived.  The bear is smarter than the girl.

The bear can watch TV.  She can't.  The bear can use an electric door.  She can't.  The bear has a cellphone with wifi.  She doesn't.  Yep.  A bear is more tech savvy than a teenage girl.  The whole situation screams LOL and WTF at the same time.

Kuma Miko is a solid manga.  It's not cover-to-cover laughs, but there's enough good stuff to keep you reading.  Check it out.

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