Bear (2012 anime)

Bear is an anime released in April 14th, 2012. It uses a mix of CGI (backgrounds) and Traditional Animation (characters).

Season 1
The show follows Ohta and Katsura, two siblings, after being attacked by a bear known as the "Clad Bear". When they tell their mom, and show them their wounds, the mother calls over a man named Baiko who reveals himself as a Spectral, someone who can switch forms between human and an animal. Baiko drives them into a sanctuary, full of people with similar wounds. He tells them about the Clad Bear, and that every year anyone who goes into the light of a moon called Ursus with the wounds from the bear turns into a bear themselves.

The Ursus moon is supposed to arrive that night, and Baiko assumes a wolf form. He is supposed to bring people into a special part of the woods nearby, or the Clad Bear will tear him apart. He gathers everyone and brings them on a journey there. Once in that part of the woods, the Ursus moon arrives and everyone, Ohta and Katsura included and excluding Baiko, turn into bears.

Ohta and Katsura have second thoughts, but it's too late. One woman named Araya, who is a Jaguar Spectral, explains that once someone turns into a bear under the Ursus moon, they can't turn back into a human. The series follows Ohta and Katsura in their bear forms, having to fight spectral animals who are like Baiko. It turns out that Spectrals were actually people, but a curse was put upon them that turned them into the creatures.

At the end of the show, Ohta and Katsura find out that a crystal dropped by every spectral animal could be the key back to humanity. Araya and Baiko only find this out by travelling with them, and that they must go into the sanctuary and find a stronghold. Everyone who wants to become humans again follow. Baiko puts all 24 of the crystals down into respective places of the stronghold, but all the Spectrals come back. All of the Spectrals, excluding Araya and Baiko, merge together into a giant version of the Clad Bear. Ohta, Katsura, Araya, Baiko and every other bear eventually defeat the Clad bear, reverting every Spectral (again, excluding Araya and Baiko) into permanent human form. The pillars of the stronghold remain, and all of the former Spectrals chant a ritual which turns every bear in the stronghold back into a human.

Ohta and Katsura, back in their human forms, are bought home by Baiko (who was permanently turned into his animal form during the ritual), only for the siblings to find that their mother was took by the Clad Bear (shown by the marking on the wall akin to the Clad Bear's). Baiko explains the only way their mother could come back was if Ohta and Katsura turned back into bears again and enter another dimension where the Clad Bear originally came from, ending season 1. The special episode in Season 1 follows Ohta and Katsura trying to find another Clad Bear (since Baiko revealed there is two.) and succeeding (being scratched by it). Fortunately, there are two Ursus moons that year, and Ohta and Katsura find the second sighting and turn into bears again.

Season 2
TBA