A polar bear has fallen in love with a seal, but the seal is terrified of being eaten! To make matters worse, a rival for the bear's affections arrives just as the pair go on their first date...
It's a sweet, pure and cute love story/one-sided love between a male Polar Bear and a male Seal! It's a one-sided love because Lil' Seal is fearing for his life (he doesn't want to get eaten by a Mr. Polar Bear, not at all!) all the time.
It's just creative and cute, especially when the massive Polar Bear is saying all those Pure Love styles of sweet-nothings and love confessions. Yeah!
PS: I did find this manga in the children section of the public library, my goodness is the society finally getting progressive after all!?
I think this could have been just a cute, weird book.
However, it feels too creepy to be enjoyable. I appreciate that the tiny helpless seal pup is male and not female, but the peer dynamic is still too terrifying to find sweet. I wanted to adore this series, instead it reads almost like a horror story.
I pick up this series (among others) to begin adding manga to my classroom library. Although I'll need to read the last two books before making my final decision, I can say that I really enjoy the first two volumes. If the finish is as strong as the start, I'll definitely be adding it to my library.
The art work is a major draw for me; it's so crisp, clean, and bold. Perfect for representing the two main characters, Polar Bear and Seal. Yes, of course, the fact that we're dealing with black and white creatures via a black and white medium may seem like it's almost cheating, but I disagree with that assumption. Had the creator chosen a fussier drawing style, the art and text never would have meshed as well as they do.
The story line seems almost silly at first, but Koromo pulls a surprising amount of depth from the plot, and I must confess to tearing up several times while reading. Ultimately, I'm very happy that a cute art style lead me to a darling, little exploration of love, friendship, and found families.
The second volume is about polar bear trying to convince seal that theirs is a real romantic relationship. This volume explores the feelings of polar bear towards seal and seal’s feelings (still the feeling of fear - prey - predator relationship) towards polar bear is changing after his first encounter with love.
Polar bear is tested when they came across a Miss polar bear. Miss polar wants a relationship with polar bear, however he’s given his heart to seal. Miss polar bear than returned to her mother.
Polar bear teaches seal how to swim and encourages him on the sideline.
Seal meets a female seal. He falls in love but she sees him as little bro. Female seal falls in love with another seal and then leaves. Seal is heartbroken.
The images are simple but conveys a lot of meaning. It’s well drawn. I’m not seeing this as a gay or transgender relationship. More as a trans-species relationship (ie - the vampire and werewolf stories)
Mr. Polar Bear is adorable, while Mr. Seal is so funny!! The story’s so sweet…! I grew to like those two goofs! Lil’ Miss Polar Bear’s dad used to often say: “I have a kind little brother. I bet he’s doing just fine, wherever he is. I hope I get to see him again someday.” I have a theory that her dad is Mr. Polar Bear’s older brother, the one that is supposed to be dead…but is not apparently. Mr. Seal is kinda warming up to Mr. Polar Bear…kinda. It’s still a work in progress, LOL! I probably shouldn’t have, but I died laughing when they both cried over their heartbreak together... Now that Mr. Seal experienced getting rejected by a female seal, he understands Mr. Polar Bear’s feelings much better.
I still am not sure what to think about this series. I feel like there was growth for the characters in this volume. I feel like Seal has a tendency to voice his opinions more, and Polar Bear almost seems a little more aware of the subtle messages Seal gives, but there is still some behavior that seems iffy to me. I cant full figure out the direction the series is going, nor the direction I want it to go. The illustrations are cute. I guess I will be giving this series another try with one more volume
I am really enjoying this series! The focus on you don't control who you fall in love with and we are all creatures here so why would it not be okay to fall in love with someone unconventional. Again though my library has this categorized as a juvenile book and when the young polar bear girl tells us her ribbon from her mother started out as white when her mother and father went out on a date, it is now red because they ate an animal together and the blood stained it red. Seal thinks 'death ribbon'. Just not how I would explain the food chain to a young child.
this book is so so so cute!!! although, i am constantly confused by lil seals state of mind with polar bear. there are times where he finds friendship and happiness in spending time with polar bear, then there are other times where he is yet again terrified by polar bear. it can just be hard to keep up with a bit. but the ending was very very cute. lil seal getting a formal rejection and understanding that it’s helped him move on. so he gives polar bear the same thing so they can both be happy. i hope in the next book they can truly be happy together, even as friends.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I keep seeing words like sweet, pure, and cute get thrown around about this.
For reference, and adult waiting for child of any species or gender to grow up so they can marry is not unrequited romance. It's not pure. It's grooming, pure and simple.
This book is gross and I hate that it is labeled as a children's book. Do not give it to your children.
As a person who has watched anime in the past, it never occurred to me to read a manga, especially since a lot of those shows are based off of those Japanese graphic novels. Recently, I read my very first manga series, "A Polar Bear in Love" by Koromo, and it’s a cute story that’s great for beginner readers, but it’s best to take it with a grain of salt.
Not sure what to make of this story. I hope the overarching story is building to a larger point about there being different kinds of love, but it feels like a lot of the story is interrupted with seal worrying about being the bear's next meal. I guess that's the main conflict, but it gets a little tiresome after two books.
The story at the end about heartbreak was a decent one.
A polar Bear is in love with Li'l Seal, but Li'l Seal is scared of bear as a predator
3.5 stars The art in this was clean and striking and Mr. bear and Li'l Seal were both adorable. But there's just enough of a squicky feeling about the seal both liking and fearing the bear that I don't think I'll read another volume.
If possible, I am even more confused after volume two.
It’s got a little bit of everything: surprising new characters, vengeful, unrequited loves, first heartbreaks, and a cliffhanger that will go unresolved until I can get my hands on volume three.
Again, somewhat horrified, but certainly entertained.
This bizarre tale of unrequited love is still too out there for me to really get into. The conclusion does upset the weird limbo of fear and love between predator and prey that has gripped the first two volumes, leaving me almost curious enough to try a third.
Polar Bear is still in love with Seal, but another character competes for Polar Bear's affection. And leaves Seal with even more confusing thoughts. Still fun, but I found the first more endearing. 3.2*
Messages about acceptance and love in all its forms are definitely better (and better articulated) in this volume, but the overall uncomfortableness with the romantic relationship dynamic still holds. Unlikely I’ll ever finish out the series.
More sweet awkwardness as Seal finds him self liking another seal and Polar bear realizes loving someone also includes feeling okay if they find love elsewhere. I love the sweet art style of the book and the way the stories play out.