What They Say:
The café regulars display there not so hidden talents and while Polar Bear is on a New Year’s vacation, Penguin doesn’t know what to do without being at the café.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the series now entering its final run of episodes as this season will bring it to a close with fifty episodes, it’s a kind of awkward start to the new year since you know the end is coming. But at the same time, it means we get another season of these fun characters, which kicks off with everyone having a bit of a new years wishes ceremony in the cafe before it shifts into a talent show. Something like this could be positively scary and it’s made all the worse (or better) by having Grizzly awakened (again!) to come and participate in it. It’s no wonder he’s cranky throughout the rest of the year if this is how his hibernation period is.
The talent competition is amusing from the start since Penguin kicks it off and what he comes up with at first doesn’t impress, causing the others to insist on something better. And Penguin does not like to be criticized. There’s a lot of fun as it goes on, from Sloth trying to do a tablecloth pull that doesn’t go well to the two panda’s pulling off a bit of musical entertainment that’s comical. The biggest one that makes me laugh is Llama as he does a big dominoes gig and only causes it all to turn into an absolute mess. It’s a thing of beauty at first but it just falls apart and you really do feel bad for him. The gang as a whole bring some fun things to table and just runs with it without it becoming so big and out of bounds that you roll your eyes. Of course, it all comes down to the challenge between Grizzly and Polar Bear and that just goes comically well since they’re so competitive.
The second half shifts gears by going with a smaller group of characters as the Cafe is shut down while Polar Bear goes on vacation. That lets us follow Pand a bit, but it also gets to be about Penguin as he spends the time with Panda’s family since he’s at a loss without the cafe. This continually frustrates Panda who just wants him to go home since he keeps showing up in places around the house that has him getting in the way. It’s cute seeing how Panda does what he can to try and change the situation and how Penguin is just so well liked by everyone else, which makes Panda’s attempts to get him out hit so many more roadbloacks. Penguin continues to be one of my favorite characters here and his grumpy man routine never ceases to delight.
In Summary:
With the show back on track after a break, it’s welcome getting back into it and seeing what new opening and closing sequences are here as well. None are as good as the Penguin closing though. What we get in this episode is a good return to form with the talent competition that brings Grizzly into play in a great way and then a shift to smaller storytelling with a focus on the Panda family with Penguin causing plenty of trouble. It’s cute, fun and silly as we see how Penguin fits in so easily and how Panda just wants everything to go back to normal. The show hits some good notes here and uses the right cast to make it as enjoyable as it is.
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.
