10 Second Anime - Kuma Miko - Episode 2

Natsu agrees to let Machi go to school in the city if she passes his tests. Machi's first test offers suspense and comedy.

Episode 2 - "A Hard Road"

Heh.

Natsu's trip down memory lane with his album full of a young adorable Machi gave us a few more scenes to add to the opening credits and first episode. Young Machi crying over Natsu going to hibernate hit me right in the feels. And now we have this drab teenager who wants to leave Natsu. Not happening!

I guess teenagers are the same all over the world. They're so cute and clingy when they're younger and then bam! Mixing hormones with the formation of an independent identity is pretty much universal in what it looks like.

I thought it was hilarious that all of Machi's relatives said "ask Natsu." And then Natsu said, "No way!"

Natsu is a very patient bear, until you hit him in the nose!

Hah! Cartoon violence in a cartoon!

This is a coming of age story, so Natsu figures he better make Machi come into this modern age quickly if she's going to go to high school in the city.

Every mountain god makes the avatar pass tests. That's just good folk story stuff.

Of course, I never heard of a mountain god tell a girl to go by a shirt at a clothing store, but the heroes get their trials uniquely set to their weaknesses, right?

One of those weaknesses is reading a bear's terrible handwriting...

Yes, Natsu, you should have printed that out in Word.

Machi has been pretty lazy. Her first big trial is figuring out what to wear, but she's basically a shut-in, only wearing her school uniform, gym clothes and miko outfit. This all fits into Natsu 's reservations for letting her handle the hustle and bustle of the fast paced city.

Man, I wouldn't want to ride Yoshio's bike either. What a weirdo...

Machi is pretty spry. I thought she sprained her ankle on that crash landing.

Was that Natsu's bear sense tingling? Showing off his mystic connection as the Mountain God's Avatar to the Kumade Village Shrine Maiden? Of course not. His back was just itchy.

I thought this joke worked pretty well for a second episode. The audience still isn't sure if there's magic or what-not associated with this bear and his miko, so why not tease that notion a bit?

Machi finally does what a normal girl should have done: ask her cousin for a ride to the store to buy an insulated undershirt. Machi had agonized over how to carry a space heater back up the mountain because the brand name was HEAT TECH, when a modern girl would have gone on the net to look this thing up.

Well, she was so proud of her mini-disc...

Instead, she had to endure a ride with the village drunk and the non-stop chatter of her older cousin.

Every rural village has to have somebody making moonshine, amirite? That Matsu guy just needs to slow down a little.

Natsu wasn't too happy about Machi deciding to cut across the mountain to get to the clothing store, but she did complete her first test. The lesson here is that many mundane things in the city require an individual to ask for help, whether that's a bus ride or asking for a ride from somebody with a car. Machi has the wrong idea that leaving the village for school means she had to become totally independent. There's a difference between doing things all by herself and being independent.

I loved the ending though. Everyone wonders how some rock or strange looking tree root becomes an object of worship in the forest. Sometimes, somebody just plants a weird looking bike seat in a place the sunlight can strike it. Pray on that serendipity.