Man up, Panda, and be the biker Panda you always wanted to be.
What They Say:
After breaking the slide at work, Panda has decided to lose some weight. His ideal body shape is far from his current look. To fit his new look, Panda wants to be wilder but he admits he was born meek.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While the show is entitled Polar Bear Cafe, it’s definitely a lot more about Panda than anything else. And that’s not a bad thing as he’s the kind of catalyst character that causes a lot of things to happen, either by his actions or by his attitude. With the way he’s working so hard lately, he’s definitely been busy but he’s also been eating more since that’s part of his job at the zoo. There’s a lot of bamboo leaves to eat, but it’s getting to the point where he’s causing a little bit of destruction because of his wait. And that’s got him now starting a new diet, or at least talking about it, since he wants to slim down.
Of course, his vision of what he wants to be is essentially human in shape but with the colors and fur of a panda. Which, when we see his dream vision come to life, is just plain creepy looking. Or as Polar Bear says, evil looking. Seeing him dream about it is very comical since he likens himself to Rocky Balboa and even calls out Adrian, a reference sure to delight just a few. His attempts at getting the diet going are fun to watch since it’s not something he’s really sure how to proceed and it even leads to some work issues where he foolishly says how bored he is there when he’s supposed to be providing service. Him and the older Panda both try to come up with ways to get more exercise, which doesn’t exactly fly well.
Things do get a bit better at the zoo eventually as they offer up some new ways for them to be active and provide service, though it’s not without its challenges as well. The slide is priceless if not for the fact that the Full-time Panda is too wide and gets stuck on it. Similar to his dream of being buff and fit, Panda also wants to discover his wild side and that starts off with him trying to be a bad guy, which means wearing a good Darth Vader getup that just had me laughing far too hard. Polar Bear wants to help him in th elong run though and opts to take him to the Grizzly Bar where the tough creatures hang out. It’s not exactly a dive bear, but those two definitely don’t fit in there with the other “beasts” that are there. There’s some fun conversations in there as Panda looks up to Grizzly and the way they all interact. Panda really does come across as a child though, but the whole thing is just priceless, especially as Panda ends up getting a good dose of whiskey by accident.
In Summary:
This show should not make me laugh anywhere near as much as it does. It hits all the right notes, plays the parodies well and doesn’t mind being referential to popular culture in a way that doesn’t date it. This episode lets Panda take the spotlight for the majority of it so seeing him shift from being all fitness conscious and actually trying to do his best to wanting to be all manly in the second half is great. The introduction of Grizzly’s Bar only adds to this world in a fantastic way with how we see all the tough animals hanging out, shooting pool and drinking alcohol. It’s the kind of expansion that really does the show a favor and shows it that it’s playing to both kinds of audiences in a very smart way. I could have done without Panda in all the leather though…
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
