Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! - Season 2 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! - Season 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! Season 2 is a charming and sweet-natured action-adventure comedy anime series. Created by Kumanano and featuring original character designs by 029, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! features animation production by EMT Squared (Beast Tamer, Rainy Cocoa in Hawaii). The series features theme music performed by Azumi Waki (opening) and Maki Kawase (ending).

Produced by Atsushi Aitani (The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World, Riddle Story of Devil), Hideaki Miyamoto (I'm Quitting Heroing, The Princess and the Pilot), Hiroyasu Taniguchi (Komi Can't Communicate, The Rising of The Shield Hero), Junpei Yamaguchi, Kotaro Horiguchi (Juni Taisen: Zodiac War), Noritomo Isogai (Aria the Scarlet Ammo AA, Chivalry of a Failed Knight), Sachi Kawamoto (Gourmet Girl Graffiti, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess), Takuji Wada (The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior, The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess), and Yasuhiro Nakajima (The Rising of The Shield Hero, Hi Score Girl). Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! Season 2 was broadcast in Japan on AT-X, KBS Kyoto, Nippon BS Broadcasting Corporation, Sun TV, and Tokyo MX. The series featuring voice performances by Maki Kawase and Azumi Waki. Fans of lighthearted and charming anime will find plenty to enjoy with Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch!

Yuna (Maki Kawase) continues her adventures in a magical fantasy world where things are bristling with excitement. The bear-dressed girl finds life her full of adventure as she continues her days restauranteering. Life is good and sweet, indeed!

Yuna helps her friends out left-and-right. Yuna even works to mend a myriad of important issues as the hero everyone around her needs. The Queen also ends up giving Yuna a new job helping with students. Feels good to be a hero, doesn’t it? Yuna is great in the heroes role – if only everyone would accept it. Sometimes being dressed as a bear can have some drawbacks, too – and it’s more trouble than she expected to get everyone to “bear” it.  

The characters are charming and therein lies a lot of the fun. The charming cast helps to carry the bubbly and sweet-natured series forward. Yuna is a compelling lead character and her bear attire certainly adds a sense of whimsy and charm to the series. The character designs by Yūki Nakano (A Destructive God Sits Next to Me, I'm Quitting Heroing) are excellent and add so much to the series aesthetic. The character designs are certainly Kawaii and add a lot of fun the production.

The animation is cute and full of energetic charm. The animation on Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! is vibrant and provides a fun aesthetic that works great with the tone of the series. Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! features art direction by Katsufumi Hariu (Cardcaptor Sakura, Sister Princess). The animation is excellent and there are a lot of wonderful elements to the production aesthetic. The animation looks splendid with superb art that adds a lot of charm to the entire production. The animators clearly had lots of fun with the series style and with making a colorful world.

The cinematography by Youichirou Satou (Fairy Tail, The Life of Budori Gusuko) works well alongside the series animation. The cinematography by Satou helps to highlight the animation with beautiful colors – crisp, engaging, and mesmerizing. Satou is an excellent cinematographer and someone who brings a great aesthetic style to the visuals.

The original score composed by Shigeo Komori (From the New World, High School Fleet) is enormously charming. The score is a highlight of the series and adds a lot to the anime. The music is a wonderfully charming and essential ingredient in the series. Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! has great score music which highlights the series characters and the vibrant world in which the characters reside. It adds to the sense of whimsy.

Written by Takashi Aoshima (Beast Tamer, Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!), Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! is a delightfully fun and energetic series with a lot to offer anime fans who enjoy cute kawaii anime. The series is a nice diversion compared to darker anime series with grittier tones or aesthetic qualities. The charming tone of the production and the writing helps make it a fun series with a nice style perfect for a rainy-day afternoon.

Directed by Hisashi Ishii (Rainy Cocoa in Hawaii, I'm Quitting Heroing) and Yū Nobuta (Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, A Good Librarian Like a Good Shepherd), Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! impresses and delivers what fans of cute anime series want. The series is laidback fun and anime audiences looking for something to delight them will find a series that is well worth checking out. Entertaining fun for the right audience.

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! - Season 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Crunchyroll, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! Season 2 is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high- definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The series has bright and colorful animation in spades. The animation looks great. Outstanding color reproduction. Clarity and detail look superb on the release. A terrific encode.

Blu-ray fans will cherish the superior video quality offered on the physical media format compared to streaming video services. Streaming platforms provide video with lower bit-rates and more video compression. For home theater enthusiasts and videophiles seeking the best possible picture presentation, Blu-ray rewards with a superior image quality that surpasses streaming services.

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! - Season 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! Season 2 provides English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (with English subtitles). The sound direction by Hiroto Morishita (The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter, I've Somehow Gotten Stronger When I Improved My Farm-Related Skills) is well reproduced on the release. Dialogue is well reproduced and sounds crisp on the release. The English subtitles are well done and are free from egregious spelling or grammatical errors.

One of the best things about the Blu-ray format is the superior audio quality compared to streaming video services. Streaming video services only provide audiences with lossy (non-lossless) audio quality. For audiophiles and home theater enthusiasts seeking the absolute best sound quality possible for the experience, the physical format provides superior results with better depth and clarity. The lossless audio helps the soundstage sound even crisper and more robust.

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! - Season 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The first print run of the release includes a beautiful o-card slipcover. The slipcover artwork features unique key art that is different from the artwork highlighted underneath the slipcover. These design elements add an extra degree of collectability to the packaging and it makes the release something rewarding and even more special to own. The special packaging elements make the release all the more unique and worthwhile for collectors.

On disc supplements include:

NEW Mini Anime – Beabeabeakuma Panchi!! Big Sports Day Edition (HD, 1:45)

Mini Anime – Beabeabeakuma Panchi!! (HD, 3:09)

Promo Videos (HD, 1:24)

Commercials (HD, 1:06)

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:32)

Textless Ending Song (HD, 1:32)

Even though it is nice to see the inclusion of the short mini anime episodes (running a few minutes each), it is a bit disappointing that the set still doesn't have a more robust supplemental package. Expanding the supplemental package with audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, interviews, and photo galleries might have added even more value to the package for fans. An underwhelming assortment overall.

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! - Season 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! Season 2 is a sweet and charming production with a lot to offer anime fans who appreciate kawaii series. The animation is beautiful and the aesthetic is wonderful to see. A wonderful sense of style.

The Blu-ray provides an excellent high-definition video presentation and lossless audio. The release also includes a small selection of bonus features including the mini anime Beabeabeakuma Panchi!! and Beabeabeakuma Panchi!! Big Sports Day Edition. Unfortunately, the extras are still slim. Fans of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! Season 2 may still wish to consider adding the release to their anime collection. Recommended.