Seal continues with his swimming lessons, and although Orca isn’t much of a teacher, he gives Seal some solid advice.
But Polar Bear and Cathy don’t like being sidelined for long! After all the silliness, Orca warns Polar Bear about the dangers of predators and prey being together, and Polar Bear makes a dramatic decision. But the relationship between Polar Bear and Seal may not be the only one on thin ice…
Man, maybe Santa didn’t put his workshop at the North Pole to hide away from prying eyes. Maybe he just wanted a front seat to all the craziness and impromptu concerts.
While I am making jokes here, A Polar Bear in Love has been surprisingly touching despite its comedic setup. Polar Bear’s past still touches me whenever I think about it, and Seal trying to overcome his fear of being eaten to be friendly (or rather friendly-ish) is a goal more of us should try to achieve. Orca’s story about himself (or, as he says, “a certain guy”) ranks right up there. It has Polar Bear in tears, and Seal tries to distract Cathy when the latter appears on the scene.
Unfortunately, this leads to Polar Bear declaring he’s going to leave Seal alone. When I was reading, my immediate thought was, “Didn’t we do this already?” Orca’s story was an undersea version of a forbidden love, a contrast to the one-sided feelings of Polar Bear and Cathy. Polar Bear trying to stay away for Seal’s benefit has been done before, and even adding the conflicts between Cathy and Orca doesn’t give this a whole new spin.
But while Orca’s past was a surprise to me, I was in for another shock: Kenny and Julie broke up! Remember them? They were the human couple who were so lovey-dovey. Kenny does what any self-respecting broken-hearted man does: take pictures of adorable creatures — in this case, Seal — while sobbing. One of his pictures is hinted to be leading to some significant developments in the next volume, and I think this could be a fun setup.
And it probably will be more fun. There was just something lacking here, like it didn’t have the spark it usually has. The hopscotch games and Orca being the others’ cruise ship is nice, but that’s just it: nice, not very good or great. Even Polar Bear’s song just wasn’t as funny as Seal’s rap even with their bizarre dance(?) number. Orca’s chapters in the middle are very touching, but the comedic bits before and the story rehash after can’t match that quality and drag the volume down.