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Here’s your One-Stop Shop to Season 1 of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, the Isekai Slice-of-Life series! Season 2 will be airing in April of 2023, so get ready and brush up on your Bear Knowledge to be prepared!
The series began as a Light Novel, and also has a Manga adaptation.
Here’s how this article is formatted — each episode is hyperlinked with a more in-depth review of each episode — otherwise, you can enjoy this short recap of the whole season. If you are more interested in an opinion-based article reviewing the entirety of the season, check out my critique here!
Episode 1: Bear, Appears
Episode one of any anime has a tough job! You have to introduce the main character and give viewers a feel for what the series will be about. So, going into Episode 1, you have to absorb everything!
In Episode 1, we learn of World Fantasy Online, the VR game Yuna is seen playing. In the game, Yuna offers to help a young boy’s village that is being attacked by a Black Viper, a high-level monster, when no other high-rank adventurers are available. Despite being discouraged from going by Helen, the receptionist at the adventurer’s guild, Yuna sets out with the boy named Kai as her guide.
We are introduced to her two bear puppets that transform into actual bears called Kumayuru and Kumakyuu. We see Yuna’s unique attitude while fighting, where instead of yelling with high-intensity battles, she instead mutters to herself. Yuna soon successfully kills the Black Viper by fighting it from the inside. She then returns to the village to show them the carcass of the monster and the villagers hold a feast in her honor. Yuna earns money from the game in the real world, and we learn that despite push from her grandfather, she decides not to go to school.
Episode 2: Bear, Meets Little Girl
Episode 2 is a prequel to episode one. Yuna narrates about how she became addicted to World Fantasy Online. When she enters the game, we see her previous avatar looked completely different to what we saw in episode 1. She receives the bear outfit as a gift from the developers for her high playtime, but is then teleported into the game’s world with notable differences. Namely, the map is different, and can’t change out of the bear costume. Despite being reset to level one, Yuna manages to kill a wolf and saves a girl named Fina.
Fina introduces Yuna to a merchant named Gentz, who informs Yuna and the audience about Fina’s financial struggles due to her father’s death and her mother’s illness. Yuna agrees to hire Fina as her personal butcher, and signs up with the adventurer’s guild. Yuna saves Fina from a tiger-wolf and officially asks her to be her partner, with Fina handling the butchering and Yuna handling the hunting.
Episode 3: Bear, Goes on Rampage
In episode 3 of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Yuna has been hunting a lot of wildlife and monsters, overwhelming Fina with the number of carcasses to butcher. Helen advises Yuna to ease up on killing monsters, but Yuna is disappointed with the lack of quests available. Lanz, Debornay’s guildmate, confronts Yuna due to her punching Deboranay, but Gil and Rulina (his other guildmates) apologize for his behavior.
Helen pushes Yuna to help the party members with a quest due to Deboranay still recovering from Yuna’s punch. Rulina and Yuna set out and they defeat a nest of goblins. Yuna builds a bear-themed house and a butchery room for Fina using the money she gains from that quest. A new blonde character appears in the nearby forest peeking at Yuna’s home, hinting at their introduction in the next episode.
Episode 4: Bear, Meets the Feudal Lord
In Episode 4 of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Yuna receives the mana gem from Fina from defeating the Black Viper in Episode 1 and heals a wound on her hand with magic. Helen informs Yuna that a feudal lord named Cliff wants to meet her. Although Yuna is hesitant, she agrees to meet Cliff. Cliff’s daughter Noire is a fan of Yuna and wants to meet her, so they spend time together and Yuna agrees to exchange a goblin king sword for a future favor from Cliff.
Later, Fina comes to Yuna’s house in tears and tells her that her mother is ill. Yuna attempts to heal her with magic, but initially only gives her the ability to move. Yuna then realizes that she needs to visualize curing the actual illness and successfully heals Fina’s mother.
Episode 5: Bear, Raises a Bird (?)
Yuna uses her newly acquired ability, “Bear Gate,” to quickly travel to Kai’s village and buy eggs for Fina’s family, in hopes of the eggs helping Tirumina heal up faster and regain her strength. She also helps out an orphanage by purchasing chickens and building a coop, allowing them to produce and sell eggs for income.
Yuna learns that Lord Cliff withdrew funding from the orphanage, and after confronting him about it, he investigates and punishes a subordinate who pocketed the funds. Yuna is embarrassed by her outburst towards Cliff and is comforted by Fina.
Episode 6: Bear, Watches Over the Sisters
In Episode 6 of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Gentz proposes to Tirumina, Fina and Shuri’s mother, after she recovers from her illness. Fina and Shuri are happy for their mother and Gentz and congratulate them both. Later, Fina bursts into Yuna’s home, stating that Gentz and Tirumina are going to break up because they had a fight over ketchup. Fina and Shuri want to find a white flower that Gentz and Tirumina often reminisce about from their adventuring days. Yuna agrees to escort them to keep them safe.
They spend hours searching for the flower but are unsuccessful. Shuri believes that finding the flower is the only way that Gentz and Tirumina won’t break up. They find a glistening bird trapped in vines and free it, leaving behind a small, glistening feather. After returning home to Gentz and Tirumina, they present them with the feather, which they encase in a picture frame to commemorate Roy, Fina and Shuri’s father, who oftentimes carried one around his waste. Gentz asks Shuri and Fina if they’ll allow him to join the family as their new father, which they kindheartedly accept. The episode ends with Yuna basking in the potential of the future, as this is the mid-season finale of the series, with only six more episodes to go.
Episode 7: Bear, Goes to the Royal Capital
In episode 7 of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Yuna, Noire, and Fina travel to the capital for the King’s Birthday. During their journey, Noire becomes jealous of Yuna’s relationship with Fina and declares herself Yuna’s “Bear-rival.” They meet other characters along the way, including Lord Cliff’s wife and Noire’s mother, Ellelaura, and Noire’s older sister, Shia.
Shia challenges Yuna to a fight, but Yuna emerges victorious in every round. Yuna impresses the family with her cooking skills and makes Hamburgers and French fries using uncommon ingredients. The episode ends with a large horde of monsters and an unknown man with an evil smile watching the capital from a distance.
Episode 8: Bear, Lays to Waste
In Episode 8 of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Yuna visits the King’s Castle with her friends and meets Princess Flora, who becomes infatuated with her bear outfit. Meanwhile, Noire creates a Bear Fan Club and the girls overhear news of an attack in the Northern forest. Yuna offers to escort Noire’s father, Cliff, to the capital safely after Noire expresses her concern. On the way, Yuna encounters 10,000 monsters which were rounded up to attack the capital on the King’s birthday, but she defeats them easily before meeting Cliff.
The King learns about Yuna’s heroic deeds and invites her to the castle, where he praises her and informs her that she saved the capital. Yuna is content with seeing her friends happy and doesn’t want any reward.
Episode 9: Bear, Opens a Shop
In Episode 9 of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Yuna invites Morion and Karin to her home after she learns their bakery was forced to close down. After having them help make items like Hamburgers and Fries, she offers to help them open a restaurant in Crimonia so that they can continue cooking. Yuna provides them with a space to run their restaurant, covers all the necessary fees, and even hires orphan children to help with the easy tasks. On opening day, the restaurant is filled with customers, and Yuna sees the people she’s helped come together to make the restaurant a success.
Lord Cliff informs Yuna that the bakery’s debts were shady, and he hands her the deed to the bakery. Morion and Karin decide to stay and make the restaurant their home. Yuna reflects on her new home, filled with the people she’s helped.
Episode 10: Bear, Goes to Sea
In episode 10 of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Yuna crosses a mountain to get to Millela, a town known for their seafood, only to see them suffering from a food shortage due to a kraken. On the way, she saves two people buried in the snow and helps them warm up. Upon reaching Millela, Yuna donates most of her wolf meat to help the people, but the leader of the Commerce guild, who is known to be greedy, is not pleased.
Atla, Millela’s Guildmaster, warns Yuna of nearby bandits, and when two intruders try to rob Yuna in her room, she captures them and learns that they were sent by someone who wanted to steal her goods. Yuna then burns down the bandit hideout.
Episode 11: Bear, Fights a Squid (?)
In this episode, Yuna defeats the bandits who were after her goods and exposes the corrupt leader of the Commerce guild. She then receives fish and rice from the locals, which reminds her of the food from her old world and reignites her passion to defeat the Kraken.
After struggling with how to defeat the Kraken, Yuna decides to encase it in a circle and succeeds in defeating it, with the help of Atla. The town rejoices, and Atla carries Yuna to bed, since fighting the Kraken caused her to pass out.
Episode 12: Miss Bear and Fina
Yuna wraps up a bit of conversations with the citizens of Millela. Yuna helps connect Millela to Crimonia through a tunnel at the request of Atla and Lord Cliff. Yuna and Fina visit the seaside town of Millela so that Fina and Shuri can see the sea for the first time, but the citizens of Millela are enamored with Yuna, causing Fina to feel left out. Later on, Fina opens up to Noire about feeling lonely since Yuna is always out and about, and Noire tells her to be more assertive.
Fina then decides to take a break from traveling with Yuna and return home to improve her butchering skills, because she feels that Yuna may no longer want to hang out with her unless she’s useful to Yuna. After a heart-to-heart conversation, Yuna takes Fina to a beautiful sunset spot and tells her that she’s glad they met, even though Yuna never planned to settle down or meet anyone. The season ends with the two girls sharing a hug.
Conclusion
Well, that about wraps up each episode of Season 1 of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear! For more information following its second season’s release, you can check out the following articles:
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! Premiere Date is Confirmed
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch New Trailer
Or you can check out our recaps of other series! See you next time!
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