Kujima: Why Sing When You Can Warble? Review: A Story About Acceptance

“Acceptance is not about liking, agreeing, or approving. It is about acknowledging that something is what it is.” 

Imagine heading home from work one day. Everything is as usual. It's been a long day: you got stuck in traffic, and you're too tired to cook, so you decide to grab some takeout from a local diner.

As you walk back to your car, food in one hand and your keys in the other, you spot a six-foot-tall Russian bird drooling as it scavenges for coins, desperately hoping to get a taste of the local cuisine.

Yeah, that's not gonna happen in this life.

But for Arata, a first-year junior high school student, that's pretty much how he meets Kujima—the cuter version of Punpun.

Arata meets Kujima in Kujima: Why Sing When You Can Warble

Kujima: Why Sing When You Can Warble? is a story centered around the Kouda family and a peculiar bird named Kujima.

Kujima is a migratory, flightless bird who spends the warmer months in Russia before heading south to Japan when the weather gets colder. He was raised by a man named Maxim in a heavily forested and isolated area following the death of his parents.

Kujima is not your typical bird. Aside from being tall as hell, he actually speaks both Russian and Japanese. His thick Russian accent is evident whenever he has conversations with the other characters. He also has a curious interest in the Japanese language, particularly Japanese proverbs.

Culturally, Kujima is fairly refined, being able to cook Russian cuisine such as borscht. He also dances ballet. His curiosity about Japanese culture isn't limited to language, either. He gets just as excited when indulging in Japanese cuisine.

Maxim looking after baby Kujima in Russia

Contrast Kujima with the Kouda Family

The Kouda family is composed of two loving parents. Miyoshi is the loving matriarch who juggles household chores with a career of her own. Masaomi, on the other hand, is the providing patriarch. He sometimes has to go on week-long business trips, but he still finds time to help Miyoshi care for the kids—for example, by finding a way to set up a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant at home.

The two kids in the family are Suguru, a high school graduate taking a gap year after failing to pass the entrance exam for his preferred university, and Arata, a typical first-year junior high school student.

It is this seemingly ordinary family that takes in the strange Kujima.

One potentially concerning factor when it comes to the likability of Kujima: Why Sing When You Can Warble? is its titular character. You see, aside from being a Russian bird who enjoys dancing ballet and immersing himself in Japanese culture, Kujima is quite demanding.

Within ten minutes of the first episode, this bird has the gall to demand Japanese food from Arata after being offered frozen pasta. And this happens after he was just scavenging for bugs in the riverbed!

Aside from being demanding, Kujima is quite tactless. He has no hesitation in shouting that Suguru is acting like a pill bug hiding under a rug. When he meets Arata's cousin, Ruiko, for the first time, she teases him, and Kujima doesn't react as calmly as any well-adjusted person would. Instead, he proceeds to loudly voice his displeasure for everyone—including Arata's grandparents—to witness.

Why would anyone want to watch Kujima for 12 episodes straight? Why would the Kouda family accept him for his entire stay in Japan? Cuteness can only get you so far. Why put up with this bird?

It's the absence of malice.

Throughout the show, Kujima is portrayed as a genuine soul. He just doesn't understand why people behave the way they do. He was raised by an old man in the dense forests of Russia, and he now finds himself living in a Japanese suburb. A clash of cultures is to be expected.

But even with this clash of cultures, the first episode is very telling.

“Everyone's off this Sunday. It's so depressing,” exclaims Arata.

“Why depressing?” Kujima asks.

“Because everyone's home, but hardly anyone talks. They're afraid of disturbing my brother's studying,” Arata explains.

And what does Kujima do after hearing this? He prepares the family's dinner and builds a flowing somen noodle structure for them to enjoy. He even has the structure start at Suguru's window, forcing him to participate by being the one to drop the noodles down to the family.

Suguru is surprised by Kujima's somen noodle slide

Kujima's inability to conform to social expectations is actually his strong point. Instead of just sitting there sympathizing with Arata, he thinks of a way to bring the family together. He even goes so far as to trespass onto the neighbor's mountain and cut down a bunch of bamboo. It's not like you're going to convict a bird... come on. This is the first episode, mind you. He barely just met the family!

The show then pivots to its slice-of-life routine, albeit with the added peculiarity of Kujima and the challenge of keeping this otherworldly bird from becoming the talk of the town.

The introduction of Arata's childhood friend, Makoto, also takes up some screen time. Arata forgetting his workbook at school during winter break also leads to some shenanigans involving Kujima. A visit to the grandparents is also given some time in the spotlight as well.

But throughout the show, there is this subtext lying underneath it all. And it all starts with Suguru.

As previously mentioned, Suguru is in the midst of a gap year after failing to pass the entrance exam for his preferred university. This event triggered a change in Suguru. Arata explains that Suguru was once a more cheerful individual rather than the grumpy, hot-headed person we first meet.

Though Suguru remains cordial with others, such as Makoto and her grandfather, we are introduced to a Suguru who is irritable toward any noise and reclusive around his family at the beginning of the show.

Don't let the deeper voice and taller character design fool you. Suguru is a kid fresh out of high school. The pressure of getting into his preferred university is daunting. Add to that the unending support of his family, and it can only increase the weight on his shoulders.

Suguru is also portrayed as a pretty smart young man. Makoto once advised Arata to consult Suguru about a difficult assignment question. After some hesitation, Arata caves, and Suguru proceeds to answer the question with little effort. Suguru also helps Kujima, albeit in an annoyed tone, whenever Kujima misuses Japanese proverbs.

After seeing their loved one fail the most important examination of his young life and lose his mojo, the Kouda family started walking on eggshells around Suguru. They became overly considerate of him. As Arata had already explained, “Everyone's home, but hardly anyone talks.”

And then came Kujima.

Kujima is not one to walk on eggshells. He is the type to bust into Suguru's room and ask to take a selfie with him after discovering how a cellphone camera works. He is the type to call out Suguru whenever he is being too sensitive about the noise.

Suguru making Okonomiyaki for Kujima and Arata

Suguru's parents were visibly worried about him and simply supported his self-imposed educational reclusion. Arata was afraid that he had lost his once-more joyful brother, and his worry about Suguru failing the exam again stems from this. But Kujima? Well, all he saw was a grumpy guy who studies a lot. 

Kujima had no prior experience with Suguru. The only Suguru he knew was the one who had failed the entrance exam. And Kujima, being Kujima, didn't hold back from expressing his frustration with Suguru, regardless of who was listening.

And even through the conflict between Suguru and Kujima, when the family visits the Kouda grandparents, Kujima still earnestly wants Suguru to be there. And he doesn't keep that feeling to himself. That's not Kujima. Kujima hijacks a phone call between Arata and Suguru and tells Suguru himself.

And with Suguru dealing with the pressure of the exam and his overly considerate family looming over his head, maybe having a bird void of malice tell you off is exactly what he needs to stay grounded.

Kujima is not an easy bird to live with. He is tactless, loud, demanding, socially inept, and, oh yeah, a six-foot-tall flightless bird with a Russian accent. You can't exactly ask him to go to the supermarket without risking a bunch of scientists showing up to dissect him.

And the Kouda family, as typical as they are, were not in the best place when the show began.

But both Kujima and the family acknowledge what they are faced with and simply run with it.

Kujima: Why Sing When You Can Warble? may seem like a quirky comedy about a peculiar bird joining an ordinary family. But beneath its initial charm is a strong foundation built on acknowledging who is in front of you, imperfections and all, and simply accepting them for who they are.

If Kujima: Why Sing When You Can Warble? seems like an interesting show to you, With You and the Rain is another anime built around a peculiar creature entering the life of an otherwise ordinary human protagonist.

I wrote about it here:

With You and the Rain Anime Review: Finding Magic in a Story With No Goal