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「半田さん改造計画/ラブラブドライブ大作戦」 (Handa-san Kaizou Keikaku/Rabu Rabu Doraibu Daisakusen)
“Mr. Handa’s Make-Over Plan/The Great Love Love Driving Operation”
Yup, Shirokuma is getting better and better with his impersonations. First his puns, then his various impersonations of inanimate objects, and now his foray into Shirokuma-chan have progressively become funnier as they increase the dials on the duo slapstick and double act comedy. Poor penguin…all he wants is his nice date with Miss Penko…but unfortunately the only people to help him with that are a trolltastic panda bear and a misinformed lazy panda.
The comedy theme of this episode was pairing up Panda and Shirokuma, which I found worked really well. While Shirokuma does most of the heavy lifting in terms of executing the jokes, Panda does a good job being as the sidekick, helping set up the jokes for Shirokuma to blow ridiculously out of proportion. Panda may still be a bit annoying as his attitude lingers, but it’s a subdued trait in favor of his pure childishness and playfulness. For example, set Panda on a ride that would obviously break under his weight, which is good for a smile, but follow-up with the Shirokuma’s ridiculousness and suddenly, it’s a perfect setup for laughs! I’m impressed that Panda is able to bring out this childish and more adventurous side of Shirokuma. Inside the cafe Shirokuma is pretty much tame with some dry humor, but take him outside on an adventure…and shenanigans are bound to be plentiful.
Concerning the first half…t’was alright. Not much really happened in terms of development, though I do pity Mr. Handa for being so plain. This half did have it’s moments, especially concerning the great images of ridiculousness it produced. I absolutely laughed out loud (at 3:00 AM mind you) when Shirokuma decided to crash the photo with that outfit of his. To each his own I suppose, though I’m surprised once again at Shirokuma’s ability to change quickly. I still stand by my alt-text claim that he used to work in theater before working at the cafe!
The second half could probably be summed with this gif I made. Let it speak for itself. The ending was a bit of a letdown, but if that means the Penko dilemma will be resolved in a future episode, it’s forgivable. Next episode though has Grizzly coming back, of which I’ve wanted to see more of his interactions with Shirokuma ever since his debut last episode! Here’s to next episode’s…fish?
Preview
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I liked the second half of the episode more. Just cuz:
Polar bear with his examples of things that can go wrong with driving. Polar bear and his nails and wig/hat. Penguin’s practice of his date with Penko. Actually polar bear was the highlight for me in this whole episode. I enjoyed his screen-times the most.
Speedobear OMG XD
Anime logic: A penguin reaching the pedals in a car. \o/
Is… is it wrong that I enjoy the front page screenshot mural more than the actual episode screenshots?
Pics 15 and 16 kind of makes me uneasy, and not because of the weight part 😛
The first segment with Handa was a bit meh but the second segment with the date practice was just pure gold. Balances it out I guess.
Better not think about Penguin and how he can drive a car. Less headache for us all.
And yay G-Rock ED!
Stilts would be so proud of Shirokuma’s wig 😉
Again another episode that me lol in the middle of a deafening silence of the night BUT I feel like shirokuma cafe will suffer from recycling sequences like most anime comedies. let’s hope it wont.
and does konpeitou really looks like that in Japan? O.o (wahahaha shirokobato)
It’s ‘trolltastic polar bear’, Zanibas, but we already know that.
As usual, rabu rabu that front page screenshot set-up! Glad to see Penguin-san back in the fray. It’s been awhile since I’ve felt such awkwardness when seeing two characters interact, but damn, those were some pretty convincing shounen-ai scenes. Made the whole thing all the more hilarious to watch. Kudos to the VA for Shirokuma-san for sounding as surprisingly feminine as he did when he started voicing for “Shirokuma-chan”.
Btw, how many episodes does this series have?
Loving those excerpt, Zanibas!
And lol. Don’t you know what you’re supposed to say when a girl says they’ve gained weight, Mr. Penguin? 😛
Shirokuma’s punning tendencies are starting to rub off on Panda-kun. I laughed too hard at Panda’s mistaken belief of what makes one popular.
Shirokuma jumping into those pics was freaking hilarious. I agree that Panda is becoming much better or a character, and he definitely shines when he has Shirokuma playing off of his childishness rather than just doing annoying things when they’re in larger groups.
Gotta love how Shirokuma always finds ways to enjoy himself to the fullest at others’ expense (literally!). “100 yen, 100 yen!” “I didn’t bring my wallet.” “Hmm…make it your treat, and you pass.”
This fluffy lovable bear. Grizzly, yeah! The only hint we got of his return (besides the wonderful ending song) is the preview title, which, granted, is a fair bit more informational than the spoken lines. Yay!
Shirokuma for Shirokuma Cafe lead main character 2012!!!