English Dub Review: Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear “Miss Bear and Fina”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Yuna enjoys a meal of Wa cuisine. She’s delighted, and so impressed that she asks the chef, Miss Ans, to open a restaurant in Crimonia.

The talented young cook is wowed by the offer, but declines since the distance would make it difficult to see her family, and get fresh fish.

Yuna waves off her objections, promising to solve “the travel problem”. She gets ready to head back, when Atola stops her to ask for a favor.

Back in Crimonia, Fina is eagerly awaiting her return. But Yuna doesn’t have any time to relax. She heads straight to a meeting with Lord Cliff (Yung-i Chang.)

Noa (Amanda Lee) is delighted that Yuna’s stopped for a visit. Unfortunately, they’re not able to chat for long either before Lala drags returns the young Foschurose.

Yuna delivers the request from Atola (Amber Lee Connors) for Millela to be taken under the wing of Crimonia. Cliff understandably expresses concerns about travel, but Yuna assures him that’s taken care of.

In typical Yuna style, she reveals that easy travel between the two cities is now possible via tunnel. Cliff just that by carving a tunnel through the mountains.

Yuna, Cliff, and Milaine travel to Millela to meet with Atola and finalize the alliance. Afterwards, Yuna takes Fina and Shuri on vacation to see the ocean. Yuna is mobbed by people while there, and Fina looks on, sadly.

When they return to Crimonia, Fina asks Yuna if she can takes a break from harvesting. While she trains with Gentz, Yuna realizes how much she misses having Fina around.

The two are finally able to get a moment alone together. Yuna explains how much she appreciates having Fina in her life, and Fina’s able to say she feels the same.

Our take:

It’s finally the end of the season, and this show is ready to send things off in style. This episode is a visual feast, while also adding a surprising layer of dimension to Fina and Yuna’s relationship.

Yuna’s food seeking ways may finally have caught up with her. While her delighted wiggle while anticipating the feast and satisfied face after taking her first bite are adorable (and relatable), it seems for a moment that letting her stomach lead the way may actually have a downside.

But despite her foodie ways pulling her to exotic lands, making her immensely popular for solving seemingly impossible problems, and unexpectedly saddling her with some responsibility as the creator of the mountain tunnel, Yuna finds herself lost while wandering through town while Fina shadows Gentz to learn more about harvesting.

Her loneliness doesn’t come up much throughout the series. In fact, it’s easy enough to forget this is an isekai anime altogether, since it’s so rarely referenced that she hasn’t always lived in the world of the game. But moments like these show how rare true friendships and meaningful connections really are for her, and how easily they can be lost if not tended to properly (although thankfully, there’s no lasting damage.)

It’s great hearing from Ashe Thurman again as Milaine. Their character that could easily be relegated to a one-note NPC type of role, but their performance lends some dimensionality to the merchant guildmaster. Particularly when delivering lines about how Milaine’s “clearly in [her] 20s!” Hey, not every player can be a teen prodigy, Yuna!

Brianna Roberts (who fellow Fruits Basket fans recently heard as Machi’s mother in her flashback) also makes a brief appearance when Lala shows up to drag Noa back to her studies.

The most interesting performance, in my opinion, are Jalitza Chantel’s lines as Shuri. I didn’t notice it previously, but a slight touch of rhotacism keeps this baby sister’s voice appropriately youthful, without sounding too cloying.

It’s also great to hear from Tyson Rinehart again before the series ends, as his character Gentz grows more fully into his role as Fina’s Dad.

Overall, the voice cast remains perfect as always. Which is both a testament to the talent, and to Jad Saxton’s casting skills.

The soundtrack is also used to full effect. Or rather, the lack of background music during Fina and Yuna’s periods of respective loneliness, and wondering what the other person is doing. The silence is jarring, and really serves to underscore the feeling of missing something in their lives, before their reconciliation in this episodes final moments.

As the final episode of this season, this was a very satisfying end. There’s just enough “loose ends” to continue interesting food-centric adventures in season 2, but overall things end on a sweet and high note. I know I’ll miss tuning in to #KumaBear for a while, but I wouldn’t have ended it any other way.