What They Say:
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The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the fun of new years now fully in the past, the winter season is upon the residents and patrons of Polar Bear Cafe. And it’s definitely shilly out there, as we see from the start when the place closes for the night and everyone goes home. It’s rather interesting to get a look at how Polar Bear lives a bit, taking a relaxing ice bath in order to enjoy his time. Of course, a polar bear can fit into a tub only so well. And as we know from hanging around with Polar Bear for so long, all he needs is a glimmer of an idea to run with something that will be amusing and cause trouble.
When Panda and Penguin spend some time walking together the cafe the next day, which has its own series of amusing discussons to be had, especially in regards to the way neither can see the others eyes, they discover that the place has been closed for the day. It’s not something that they’ll just accept and move on from though, which leads to them finding Polar Bear out back. His ideas are coming up with more ways to relax that fit his body type, which includes a great hammock he sets up there that Panda just has a blast playing in. Even Penguin enjoys it more than you’d expect. There’s a lot of cuteness to it, especially the way it all draws back to the snow part with Polar Bear spending the night outside in the hammock, enjoying the beauty of the snow.
The second half goes for a more relaxed angle, at least after Polar Bear spends some time messing with Grizzly whose attempts at hibernation simply aren’t going well at all. The show moves around a bit and gives us some good time with Panda’s mothe as she works her pretty well maintained garden, though it’s not a place without problems. Panda doesn’t get to hang out there long considering the trouble he causes, so it’s fun to see him out and about, at the cafe for a bit or just walking with Penguin, who has an idea how he can fix things with his mother. Sad Panda is sad, and that can’t last too long. It’s one of those rare time when Rin Rin may actually be helpful.
In Summary:
With the stories we get here, there’s definitely plenty of cuteness to be had and the characters are all going about their lives as you’d expect them to in these situation. The fun is there, the quirks and smart comments from some like Penguin hit well. But it’s not a strong outing overall as it doesn’t do anything to really define it in a way that makes you laugh hard and just grin at the silliness of it all. It’s almost a bit more restrained than it has been at times recently. That doesn’t mean it’s not fun, and sweet as we see all the things Panda does in the second half to try and make amends with his mother, but for the most part it’s just pleasant and enjoyable while not stacking up as well against a number of past episodes.
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.
