Ever heard of this riddle?
“Why don’t polar bears eat penguins?”
The answer is, of course, that polar bears live in the Arctic and penguins in the Antarctic – opposite sides of the globe. So I wasn’t expecting any penguins in this series, but if you’ve ever seen my usual online avatar image, you probably could guess I wouldn’t mind.
Still, though, after seeing a penguin on the cover, I assumed this penguin was a bit of a dunce to end up on the wrong end of the Earth.
Well, Catherine (nickname: Cathy) isn’t here to play the role of the ditz. Instead, Cathy is kind of a mentor to Seal and Polar Bear. A mentor who goes from advising Seal to look for his next love to Polar Bear x Seal fanbird. We later learn that Cathy is having love troubles with Sweetie (real name unknown), and let’s just say the whole situation caps off with Seal doing a rap.
Yes, an actual rap song complete with the traditional rapper’s garb: chains, a hat, and sunglasses. Suddenly, a penguin in the Arctic may be the most normal part of the volume.
Since Cathy and Sweetie are just visiting, I don’t know if they’ll stick around for a long time. I hope they will, as they add some fun dynamics to the story. Cathy and Sweetie have their own relationship issues, but I don’t think they’ll take away from the central characters of Polar Bear and Seal. Polar Bear gets someone to understand his feelings, and Seal is finally ready for some species-appropriate swimming lessons.
What I really can’t believe is how well Koromo can get readers’ emotions to run the gamut. At one point, I thought Cathy was going to be just a yaoi fanpenguin, but then I felt my heart squeeze as Cathy recounted being told to give up the dream of flying in the sky. Polar Bear bravely faces “the demon of the underworld”, and yet Seal accidentally discovers a way to make bubbles in the ocean — and not from swimming. The author includes a few visual gags, but even in the serious or scary scenes, I enjoy Koromo’s art.
There’s an awkward part toward the end of the main story when Seal ponders his gender and asks Polar Bear to check. Luckily, it’s limited to one panel, and Cathy shuts down the idea. In addition, Sweetie is introduced late in the volume, and his character feels more like a standard manga archetype than the others. He’s very much the exasperated, annoyed pragmatist (and probably a wanna-be loner) dealing with an overly-affectionate love interest. We learn he must have a secret, so I’m hoping the next volume will show another side of him. The volume also wraps up with a dream sequence where Seal imagines himself as a big brother. Readers know it’s a dream, so it wasn’t especially fun or moving.
Still, though, with the arrival of Cathy and Sweetie, the story may be entering a new phase. A few missteps isn’t enough to bring A Polar Bear in Love volume 3 down.