So, I recently found an anime called Lesbian Bear Storm (Yurikuma Arashi, but c'mon, knowing the other name no one's going to call it that) and binged-watched it all in one night (12 episodes). It was... actually really good.

Now! I'm quite biased, because I like both the themes the show deals with and the fact that it involves interspecies female/female relationships of sorts, but I really do think it's worth a watch even if you remove my bias out of it.

It reminded me a bit of Madoka Magica and Kill La Kill in some ways, though with less of a focus on fighting and more on lesbian bears.

Fair warning: There are both some not-terribly-graphic sex scenes and rather graphic innuendo-scenes... I definitely by no means would call it an hentai or erotic series (especially as it progresses), but... Well, you've been warned.

So anyway. Anyone else seen the show? Seem interesting to anyone? Or heck, found any other anime or other shows that are worth mentioning?

Yes...I vaguely remember watching a few episodes of this back in January I think...I knew it as Yuri Kuma Arashi at the time.

It was one of those strange plot animes that was so off the wall you had to at least try it. The animation was good and the voice acting was solid, but I got lost in a lot of the ecchi and veiled soft-H. Also the first few episodes seemed to try and fill in plot a little too quickly and then the character development fell flat in the second half. Also...the Bears are more like animal ear girls, which isn't bad...but the big pawpads and somewhat goofy outfits they wore detracted from the sense that these are characters who snuck into the human realm to eat people.

Its worth a watch if your into yuri or ecchi, just for some of the scenes. I'd probably give it a 7/10.

Pasiphaë said:]
Also...the Bears are more like animal ear girls, which isn't bad...but the big pawpads and somewhat goofy outfits.

I think that's one of a few of my biggest gripes with anime, they seem to have this deep rooted phobia of just having legitimate animal characters nowadays. Unless it's some super small/chibi mascot type thing, or vague alien, in which case it's a legitimate "animal", they always go with that neko bullshit and pass it off as an "animal".

Anywho, It seems like it severely lacks an actual plot, or likable characters, and just scoots by with lewd scenes and "cute girls", so pass.

http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/903/715/570.gif

SirBrownBear said:
Anywho, It seems like it severely lacks an actual plot, or likable characters, and just scoots by with lewd scenes and "cute girls", so pass.

I thought that's the direction it was going for the first couple episodes and then it turned around quite a bit. The latter half really doesn't have much at all in terms of lewd scenes.

It was strange still, but it was very apparent that they were at least trying something more: they tried to make a statement on the way female homosexuality is treated in Japan (the "invisible storm" representing societal pressure, "invisible girls" representing people who are in the closet, and bears representing out homosexuals).

SirBrownBear said:
I think that's one of a few of my biggest gripes with anime, they seem to have this deep rooted phobia of just having legitimate animal characters nowadays. Unless it's some super small/chibi mascot type thing, or vague alien, in which case it's a legitimate "animal", they always go with that neko bullshit and pass it off as an "animal".

Anywho, It seems like it severely lacks an actual plot, or likable characters, and just scoots by with lewd scenes and "cute girls", so pass.

http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/903/715/570.gif

Neko would be a full fledged legit cat. You're thinking kemonomimi.

Furrin_Gok said:
Neko would be a full fledged legit cat. You're thinking kemonomimi.

Oh. I forgot to mention... They do, for the record, have an actual bear form though and not just the animal-ears form. In fact, you see them in their bear-form much more frequently than their animal-ears form - though still less than the human form.

Clawdragons said:
So anyway. Anyone else seen the show? Seem interesting to anyone?

I heard about this, but that's all. I won't be watching it.

Or heck, found any other anime or other shows that are worth mentioning?

That's opening up Pandora's box.

Kumamiko: Girl Meets Bear should have some outward similarities to Lesbian Bear Storm, and I won't be watching it either. Seems its final episode aired today. I also want to mention Gingitsune: Messenger Fox of the Gods (e621, which I have seen and thought was fine, although I doubt it bears much similarity to the other two anime except for the kitsune's bulkiness seeming bearish.

I'll list the better anime I've watched since my original collection got wiped out:

• Showa and Genroku Era Lover's Suicide Through Rakugo - drama. Strong storytelling, flawed characters. First two episodes bored me. Subjective 4/5, objective 4.5/5.
• Overlord - trapped in MMORPG genre, great for binge-watching. Harem cliches, incomplete. Subjective 4/5, objective 3.5/5.
• Blood Blockade Battlefront - action/fantasy/supernatural/science fiction, Men In Black-esque, similar to Level E. Chaotic, the directing is either brilliant or bullshit, but I lean more toward brilliant. Can be hard to follow and incoherent. Subjective 4.5/5, objective 3/5. I was bedazzled.
• Baki the Grappler - martial arts, extreme blood sport. Gar fighting anime, mostly entertaining fights and their preambles. Dated, visually and otherwise. Subjective 4/5, objective 3.5/4.
• Zegapain - mecha, sci-fi. Deals with metaphysical and existential crises. Some of the later plot points seemed silly. Subjective 3.5/5, objective 4/5.
• Garo - The Animation - dark fantasy, action. Good villain, great fight choreography, visually appealing, mature. One deux ex machina left a sour aftertaste. A lot better than it could have been, yet could have been even better. I crave this kind of show. Subjective 4/5, objective 4/5.

I took a bunch of screenshots from Baki and Garo (http://imgur.com/a/K1YZx??? e621's linking doesn't handle those question marks... but clicking the link works) of scenes I found striking. I have a few other sets of screenshots from other anime. Obviously, there's major spoilers, but they probably won't mean much unless someone makes a point of remembering certain details.

Outside of anime, I watched two episodes of Roots) and liked that well enough.