Tag: anime shorts

Shibainuko-san

(?? 2-minute episodes)

What’s it about ?

A middle-schooler who looks like a dog. Adaptation of a 4-panel gag manga (if you couldn’t tell by the one-joke premise).

Characters

Shibainuko-san, the middle-schooler who looks like a dog. She’s a bit clumsy.

Chako, our straight-(wo)man narrator girl. She’s there to explain the jokes and be befuddled by the whole situation.

Napolin, their dumb classmate. She’s dumb.

Production Values

This also comes courtesy of eyebleed-o-vision, but it’s obvious there’s no real budget here. Heck, I said it was 2-minute-long, but if you remove the opening song, the advertisement for the Recorder & Randsell DVD, and the announcement about the producers filling time with random internet fanart, there’s less than a minute of actual content here.

Overall Impression

Oh, look, it’s another of those unfunny one-joke no-budget shorts. Disregard with prejudice.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 2.

Gokujyo.

(6-minutes episodes)

What’s it about ?

Raunchy “comedy” set in girls’ high school.

This series became infamous when the network refused to air the first episode ; the producers also pulled the third one off the air due to “self-restraint”. Quite frankly, it sounds more and more like a publicity stunt.

Characters

Aya, our protagonist. Self-centered, rude, abusive to her “friends”, and often downright stupid, she has no redeeming features whatsoever. (Well, unless you’re into huge, fake-looking melons.) Most of the series revolves around her histrionics.

Konatsu, Aya’s best friend chewtoy. Innocent and pitiful, she makes for an easy target.

A few other characters show up, such as their bland third friend, the resident pervert, Aya’s delinquent sisters…

Production Values

Not very good, but hey, it’s a comedy, it doesn’t matter. I do like a bit how Aya’s face constantly changes artstyles depending on her mood.

It’s obviously very fanservice-y, what with Aya constantly spilling out of her blouse or spending most of the first episode without panties on… But it does feel like the creators are just baiting the censors in a bid for controversy. (The next two episodes are way tamer, aside from a gratuitous short scene of Aya and Konatsu’s butts at one point in the third.)

Overall Impression

Oh, dear. A comedy series that ain’t funny. What’s more to say ?

Well, that may be overstating it a bit : there are a few jokes that do work. The problem is that the show proceeds to drive every one of them into the ground with no subtlety whatsoever. Also, while Aya could work in small doses, a whole show about her (even in 6-minute shorts) just makes her unbearable. I get that we’re supposed to hate her, but there’s too much of her here.

Also, the censor-baiting got on my nerves after a while. Especially when it became clear that the show was way more comfortable recycling Azumanga Daioh’s hiccup skit. It just feels forced.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2012 – Page 12.

Winter 2012 capsules

Some quick notes :

Amagami SS Plus basically resumes where it left off : each of the 6 main girls gets 2 more episodes set after their original arcs. We start off with Ayatsuji (the verbally-abusive class president). Frankly, at first it’s more than a bit self-indulgent (a perverted bath scene that turns out to be the MC’s erotic dream ? Seriously ?), but it does pick up after that, and the new plot is actually a lot of fun. Got me worried for a while, though.

I’d gotten the impression that Nisemonogatari would star the Araragi sisters, but that’s only in the loosest sense of the term ; this is really a straight sequel to Bakemonogatari, with new arcs focusing on said sisters. Well, “focusing” may be too strong a word ; the arc is titled after Karen, and she doesn’t even show up this episode (while Tsukihi gets less than 5 minutes). The bulk of the episode is devoted to an extended prologue that I fail to see what it’s got to do with anything, and a long talk between Araragi and Mayoi that often makes me uncomfortable whenever he’s making a joking pass at molesting her.

Don’t get me wrong : the direction is still as impressive as ever, and the dialogue is on fire ; but this isn’t quite gelling together yet. (But then, I’ve never been that impressed by Bakemonogatari ; it’s good, but there are huge chunks that leave me cold.)

And maybe I should say a few words about Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki, a series of 3-minute shorts where a round cat gets adopted by a family. I’m getting the impression those shorts aren’t for me, because there’s barely any meat there ; although this one gets point for being faster-paced than most and managing to get in quite a few jokes. But that’s a few chuckles at best, and I’m not going to bother with any more of it.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2012 – Page 4.

Recorder & Randsell

(3-minute episodes)

What’s it about ?

The brother is 11 but looks 17. The sister is 17 but looks 11. “Comedy” ensues !

Characters

There’s really nothing to add to the high concept above. We get a glimpse at supporting characters, but none of them are worth noting.

Production Values

This looks decent enough… well, until the script call for a car to roll down a street, and we’re subjected to horrible CG. It’s obvious this barely has any budget. (It’s by the same studio as last year’s Miss Morita is Silent.)

The OP at the end eats a sixth of the running time, by the way. It’s mostly inoffensive, aside from a character who’s really going to hurt herself if she keeps running like that.

Overall Impression

Do you find “mistaken for a molester” jokes funny ? Well, I hope so, because that’s all you get this episode. This is obviously a series that’d live or die depending on whether it can extract actually funny jokes out of its bizarre high concept premise… and nope, sorry, there’s not a shred of anything but stale humour here.

Don’t bother with this one.

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2012.

Fall 2011 capsules

Just watched the first Chibi Devi! episode, although I don’t feel like making a full review. It’s yet another flash-animated 5-minute web-thingie. The premise : a bullied, lonely high-school girl suddenly gets a baby-devil dropped on her. Basically, Beelzebub without the delinquent angle… Frankly, there’s not much of interest there. The protagonist is boring, the jokes aren’t original (or funny), and it barely gets anywhere.

As skippable as any the recent similar stuff.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011 – Page 9.

High Score

(8 3-minute episodes, airing from late November to January)

What’s it about ?

Cheap-looking adaptation of a 4-koma gag manga about assholes in high school.

Characters

Megumi, our “heroine”, an alpha bitch who tramples over everyone else at her school, sometimes literally.

Masamune, her self-centered boyfriend, who devotes his whole screentime mentioning how handsome he is.

Endless scores of one-note victims complete the cast.

Production Values

Over the course of these review threads I’ve seen my share of shoddily-animated shorts, but this one takes the cake. Ugly character designs, barely any animation at all, this just looks awful.

Overall Impression

It is possible for this kind of shorts to be decently entertaining despite the shoe-string budget (Nyaruani was nearly okay on average, for example). There have been a few decent series about utterly unlikeable leads. And I usually like Eri Kitamura quite a bit.

But this is just dire. There’s absolutely nothing to like here ; presumably the lead couple’s antics are supposed to be funny, but there’s just no actual jokes there to be found. There’s jerks for three minutes, and that’s it.

This is not the Worst Anime Ever, because I’ve witnessed stuff where the very premise was loathable. This is just a terribly-looking comedy that utterly fails to be funny. But you shouldn’t really bother with it.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011 – Page 19.

Busou Shinki Moon Angel ONA

(5-minute episodes)

What’s it about ?

10-centimeter-tall mecha-musume fighting each other.

Characters

This series doesn’t even bother naming its main characters. I know screentime’s at a premium, but come on !

Anyway, our protagonist is a white-clad living action figure who escapes from a lab (and from the pursuit of a black-clad counterpart). Wounded, she’s eventually discovered by a loner grade-school kid.

Production Values

I was pleasantly surprised. Those 5-minute web-thingies are usually on the lower end of budget ranges, but this actually looks quite good. The fight scenes are very well animated, and much lower on fanservice than you’d expect.

What did I think of it ?

Well, it’s the first 5-minute webseries from the last couple of years that I’m considering watching on the strength of its first episode. (Fireball Charming doesn’t count.) I’m especially impressed by the pacing : none of it feels rushed, in many ways this feels like a proper anime series… but it’s still a complete chunk of story despite its short length.

It’s not particularly original, but it seems to have the potential to be fun, without outstaying its welcome. I’m cautiously optimistic about this one.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011.

Summer 2011 capsules

Two quick reviews, because those 3/4-minute shorts don’t warrant a full writeup :

Morita-san wa Mukuchi (“Morita is taciturn”)

This revolves around Morita, a high school girl who barely ever talks (although she’s got some interior monologue, which kills the effect a bit). And that’s it, that’s the entire joke. It was already outstaying its welcome at 3 minutes long, I can’t imagine watching anymore of this.

Nyanpire

Speaking of one-shot jokes that can’t be sustainable, even in 4-minute shorts : this stars a cat that’s been bitten by a vampire (as a way to save its life). This is even less entertaining than the previous series : it tries way too hard to hit the “cute cat doing cute things cutely” button, and fails spectacularly at being even a single bit endearing. It’s way too artificial to work, and the high concept wasn’t even promising to begin with.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 4.

I usually don’t say much about OVA or sequels, but I figured I’d say a few words about Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira, the first episode of which was recently released.

Now, the thing with Higurashi is that, while it’s a very good story, the plot got conclusively resolved at the end of the second season, in a way that leaves no room whatsoever for straight sequels. The first OVA series, Rei, got around it by featuring an interesting story hook that brings a new light over the wider picture, trying to tie it a bit more to the overall When they Cry franchise (probably as an tie-in to the then-debuting Umineko anime)… but in a way that’s self-canceling, and again leaves no room for further elaboration. Also, Rei was padded up with a couple of random comedy episodes that were kinda cute but didn’t bring anything new to table.

Well, the first episode of Kira makes it look like it’s going for the “random comedy” episodes route, except with even more fanservice. The first half of the episode is literally the male cast (Keiichi, Ooishi, Tomitake & Irie) fantasizing about “punishments” they could inflict to the whole female cast as part of the “penalty games”. Not only doesn’t it do much for me, but it gets quite uncomfortable when it reaches the younger members of the cast (Rika rubbing the windows with her ass ? Really ?). The second half is slightly more fun, not really because the female cast gets to retaliate (that’s nearly as tedious as the opposite), but because it actually makes an effort to tie the whole thing into the wider plot (however ridiculous that may sound). It doesn’t quite succeed in canceling out the bad taste left by the first half, but at least I don’t feel like I completely wasted my time.

Is this worth watching ? Well, no. It doesn’t look like Kira is going to add anything to the plot ; it feels like a cash-grab exercise, or at best an opportunity for the creators to have fun with the most lighthearted aspects of the premise. (The preview for the second episode certainly looks like it’s going to be entertainingly bonkers.) You can’t really put a clearer sign for “out-of-continuity zaniness” than featuring the Soul Brothers in a major role. I’m a die-hard fanatic of the franchise, so I’ll probably keep watching this, however pointless it is, just out of affection for the characters ; but you probably shouldn’t bother.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011 – Page 11.

Double J

(4-minute episodes)

What’s it about ?

A high school club where everyone is a representative of an inane, this-should-really-have-been-automated-by-now kind of manual labor (such as engraving toothpicks or gluing enveloppes).

Characters

Four minutes is a bit short for anyone to develop beyond stereotypes. We’ve got the newcomer girl, her brash friend, the solemn toothpick girl, the club secretary… and the club chief, a dude who gets drawn in a much rougher artstyle for some reason.

Production Values

By the makers of Haiyoru! Nyaruani: Remember My Love(craft-sensei) ! Which tells you everything about what to expect, really : barely animated sets of talking heads.

Overall impression

Well, on a writing level it’s somewhat better than Nyaruani : the jokes are funnier and the pacing has much more punch to it. On the other hand, it doesn’t have a killer hook like its predecessor… and it’s not good enough for me to care.

Avoid.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2011.

Spring 2011 capsules

I won’t bother profiling Suzy’s Zoo Daisuki! Witzy in detail. It’s a 2-minute-long preschooler’s cartoon where animals and teddy bears act cutely for the little children. Even the all-star voice cast (Mai Nakahara as the duck main character ! Maaya Sakomoto as the narrator !) can’t make me care.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2011 – Page 4.

I watched the first episode of Maria†Holic Alive. To my complete lack of surprise, it has exactly the same problems as the first season : (1) Kanako is very, very annoying ; (2) Mariya is barely a dick at all, despite it being a key part of the purpoted premise ; and (3) it’s just not very funny.

Now, this show is proof that SHAFT can animate the crap out of any old shit and make it visually interesting, but it clearly falls short of being actually any good. A well-polished turd is still a turd. I really should have known better than entertaining the thought that this sequel’d show any improvement.

I’m starting to reconsider checking out every single short kiddy show that gets subbed. Happy Kappi clocks in under six minutes, barely managing to outline its premise (grade school girl finds a plush toy that turns out to be a prince from a fantasy world, and has magic powers. Wacky hijinks ensue). It’s very cheap-looking, too.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2011 – Page 7.

Yesterday was the premiere of The World God Only Knows, Season Two. It’s basically more of the same, although on the upper range of the series : the jokes mostly work, and there’s some very good use of Keima’s genre savvy for comedic effect. The romance’s still as terrible as ever, but it’s not too annoying in this first episode.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2011 – Page 9.