JK-Meshi!
Short Synopsis: Three girls banter and teach you how to make Japanese snack food.
As a comedy anime this show is laughably bad and clearly produced on a minimal budget. The characters do not move and the CGI is some of the ugliest I’ve seen. The writing might be even worse…but how is the recipe? Well I gave this one a try and can honestly say that miso soup with fried tomatoes and sesame seeds is delicious. Can I recommend this anime? Absolutely not. But if you’re interested in Japanese cooking you should skip the tv show and check out the recipes.
Potential: 0% (but worth checking out the recipes)
Hackadoll
Short Synopsis: Inept, moefied, androids cause mayhem in their laughable attempts at assisting humans.
So apparently this show is an ad for a Japanese news app, which is ironic, because this is frankly some of the best animation I’ve ever seen in a TV short like this. Of course Trigger are known for front-loading their work, both in terms of animation budget and writing quality, so I’m guardedly optimistic about this show. But the first episode was a lot of fun, both visually and comedically. I will definitely be following this.
Potential: 75%
Komori-san can’t decline
Short Synopsis: A school girl is unable to refuse requests and develops special skills as a result.
I found this show to be lacking in both humor and taste. Which is a shame because I love the art style and the voice actors seem to really be trying. But the comedy is just not very funny and what makes this show truly repellent is the overdone breasts fanservice that borders on fetish material. Maybe someone else will like this style of show but I found it dreadful.
Potential: 15%
Hakone-Chan
Short Synopsis: A shrine deity revives in the form of a child.
This is a pretty bland narrative about a shrine deity and a boy who is of course in unrequited love with the girl of his dreams. But I like how direct the narrative is and how capriciously Hakone-chan behaves. This is nothing ground-breaking but for the most part well-executed. But of course the creators have to go and throw in a stupid fanservice joke, which doesn’t bode well for the future but I think I will keep watching.
Potential: 45%
Magical Somera-Chan
Short Synopsis: Somera and her sister endure random acts of violence.
This is a screwball comedy, which I usually like, but I guess this just isn’t my thing. The animation and voice acting are great and I can’t point to anything specifically that I found problematic about the writing but this just didn’t make me laugh. The again, unlike some of these other comedy shorts, I definitely think this show will have a following. It’s just so bizarre that I think some people are bound to love it.
Potential: 35%
So a shorter time frame makes for softer critique. Hmm, I suppose, not being as much of a waste of time do leverage some quality issues. Or maybe some things are better suited for shorter run times. Like the Hanaukyo Maids
I will point out that this post wasn’t written by me. Ninjarealist wrote this one.
Still wouldn’t you agree a dumb idea could hit on a short than being drawn out for 24minutes.
Although to be fair, time’s relative. Some can feel longer and tiring and others like it has just passed 5 minutes.
Well it doesn’t necessarily need to be a dumb idea. Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories and Tonari no Seki-kun benefit greatly from the five minute format but I feel those are a rare exceptions.
One of the main reasons I don’t really do the five minute animes is that most of them are comedy skits which I I have pointed out many times isn’t really my thing.
Yes, as Aidan points out, I wrote this. However I strongly agree with your point that, for comedy, shorter is better. Shorts cut out a lot of the boring fat that can negatively effect pure comedy shows.
But I’m also more of a softie than Aidan.