Category: Short Anime Recommendations

Wooper: Happy New Year, everyone! I hope your 2023 was safe and successful. Mine was more productive than usual, thanks in part to my greatly reduced anime-watching habits. I still stay abreast of what’s scheduled to air every three months, and tune into the handful of shows I’m likely to enjoy (your Frierens and Skip and Loafers and whatnot), but I’m not much for the seasonal grind at this point in my life. One thing that hasn’t changed about me, however, is my interest in short-form anime, so I’ve returned to recommend four such shows to start 2024 off right. They include a supernatural hangout comedy from China, a surreal trip into the imagination of an animal fanatic, and two long overdue adaptations of works by acclaimed mangaka. Let’s begin with the first one after the jump:

Continue reading “In Praise of 2023’s Short Anime” →

Happy New Year, everyone! As is tradition here at Star Crossed, our first post of the new year is a rundown of Wooper’s favorite shorts from… 2016? Yes, I’m breaking with tradition and going back a bit further than 365 days – back to the biggest year in the history of short-form anime, in fact. 2022 had a few bright spots in that department: an attractive Pokemon miniseries entitled Hisuian Snow, a new season of Pui Pui Molcar, and the always relaxing Cool Doji Danshi, the last of which will continue into 2023. But that’s peanuts compared to the number of noteworthy shorts that aired seven years ago, many of which were instrumental in raising the profile of this often overlooked anime format. They include a bite-sized Shounen Jump adaptation, an absurdist take on the male idol genre, and an ultra self-referential Trigger show, among many others. Let’s run them down in alphabetical order, starting with the most “literary” of the bunch.

Continue reading “In Praise of 2016’s Short Anime” →

Happy New Year, everyone! As was the case in 2019 and 2020, our first post of the new year is a rundown of Wooper’s favorite short anime from the past twelve months. There were fewer TV shorts in 2021 than in the recent past, but the number of web series increased yet again, marking the internet as the place to be for makers of bite-sized anime. Three of my four picks for 2021 debuted online, and so did several others I enjoyed, especially Mini Dragon (a series of two minute teasers for Maidragon’s second season). If I had to name my favorite short of the year, though, it would be one that aired on TV first, then made its way to streaming sites afterward, enabling it to gather as large an audience as its little wheels could muster. I’m talking, of course, about Pui Pui Molcar.

Continue reading “In Praise of 2021’s Short Anime” →

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope your January is off to a good start. Mine is about to be filled with writing, both for our Winter First Impressions and the AOTY mega-post, but before hurling myself into either of those projects I’d like to shine a light on four of the year’s best short series. I wrote a similar piece last year and felt good about recommending those shows, so making it a yearly thing felt right. Although short anime typically attract low viewership figures and even lower appreciation levels, I love them for their simple stories and thrifty production techniques. As a bonus, their episodes end quickly enough that my age-addled brain has no chance to wander partway through! Whether you’re a dinosaur like me or you’re just in the mood to finish an entire series in a single afternoon, let’s kick things off with one of 2020’s more obscure anime: Super Shiro.

Continue reading “In Praise of 2020’s Short Anime” →

Happy New Year, everyone! With 2019 in the history books and another season of anime in danger of beginning any day now, it’s easy to get swept up in the current of what’s, well, current. The volume of modern anime production is so high that it’s difficult to keep up, even if you attempt to watch only the good stuff. That’s why, before another landslide of First Impressions arrives to bury us all, I’d like to talk briefly about four anime series that you may have missed during the past year – all of them shorts. Short series are among the first to be discounted in the AOTY conversation, but several of these shows will be appearing on my year-end ballot (fair warning to my fellow writers), and I’d recommend checking out whichever one most appeals to you. All of that said, let’s start with my favorite of the bunch: Rilakkuma and Kaoru.

Continue reading “In Praise of 2019’s Short Anime” →