Kumatanchi (Japanese: くまたんち, "Kuma-tan Zoo") is a life simulation video game co-developed for the Nintendo DS by Vanillaware and doujin studio Ashinaga Oji-san.

The music, composed by Kimihiro Abe and Mitsuhiro Kaneda of Basiscape, was meant to break away from the company's traditional sound.

[2][3][4] The game takes place over two weeks in real-time, during which time the player must raise Kuma-tan's standing in the zoo by interacting with her as much as possible.

[1][7] It was part of an attempt by Vanillaware to develop two games at the same time; Kumatanchi was in production alongside Muramasa: The Demon Blade.

Due to this and the tight production schedule, development was tiring and discouraged Shiga from taking on a directorial role again.

[8] Speaking about the potential broad appeal of Kuma-tan, Shiga commented that while the game was intended to be a family-friendly experience for all ages, he admitted that the character and gameplay was comparable to an adult-oriented edgy style.

The team considered several titles for the game, including one based on an earlier product of Ashinaga Oji-san before settling on Kumatanchi.

In a 2009 interview, Vanillaware director George Kamitani said that the game was denied localization due to its portrayal of training people who resembled small girls.

[17] Joystiq commented on the game's visual style, which they felt was a departure from previous Vanillaware titles, also calling it "cutesy".

[3] Mathias Oertel, during a review of Dragon's Crown for German website 4Players, noted Kumatanchi as having inferior artwork to the rest of the developer's titles.