Some Quick First Impressions: Aiura, Yuyushiki and Danchi Tomou

Aiura

Short Synopsis: Our lead characters are a bunch of random high school girls.
So… yeah. For those of you who didn’t know yet… allow me to share something. The series this season with the best line-up of staff members isn’t Shingeki no Kyojin. It is not Aku no hana. Nor it is Gargantia, Red Data Girl, Hataraku Maou or Crime Edge. Nope. It’s this one. Allow me to introduce to you the next work of Ryousuke Nakamura, the best director to emerge out of the past ten years. After doing Mouryou no Hako, Hashire Melos and Nerawareta Gakuen together with Mieko Hosoi… their next work is a 4-minute series involving a bunch of random schoolgirls. I really hope, along with Mappa’s recent Teekyu, that this is just a side-project in which they want to do something silly for a chance. And yeah, this pretty much was the best of its genre. No cliches, no stereotypes. It just does what it sets out to do: animate the daily life of a high school girls. The jokes are not forced and it also doesn’t try to be funny if it doesn’t have to (unlike Yuyushiki, for example), not to mention that it builds up its jokes, which is always a plus. The animation actually focuses on subtle movements, rather than looking cool or impressive. I mean, it’s clear that this was made by people who know how to bring characters alive. I would have just hoped that they would do something more… ambitious. These are people that can bring stories to life that nobody else can.
OP: Crab! Crab! Crab! Crab! Addictive song and something different~!
ED: An actually relaxing song, instead of overly J-Poppy.
Potential: 75%

Yuyushiki

Short Synopsis: Our lead characters are a bunch of random high school girls.
A bunch of high school girls at a high school club doing random things. I am NOT a fan of this genre, yet I do believe that everything has its exceptions. Yuyushiki was actually rather close to being that exception, with a bit more thought into its script and storytelling. Rather than just being random, this episode outlined the first two days at school: there was progression. The animation was good for such a series, it was sometimes relaxing, and it did sometimes get a chuckle out of me. That’s at least the direction I’m looking for. Unfortunately, what really killed this one for me is that most of the jokes just fell flat. I don’t know about you, but I personally hate sitting through bad jokes. For me, they’re worse than simple boredom, especially when there is so many of them. The blue-haired girl in particular just kept trying to force her stupidity down our throat with ditzy comment after ditzy comment, and the pink-haired girl really was hit or miss.
OP: Not the most generic opening this season, but nothing special either; at least it gives a good overview of what the series is about.
ED: A walking ED where the gimmick wears off fast.
Potential: 40%

Danchi Tomou

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a random kid.
I’ve stopped covering the kiddie series with these first impressions. One because of time restrictions, and two, because I can only say the same thing so many times (they all are really too much the same). The exception to this of course is the small collection of actually good ones, Danchi Tomou being one of them. Yeah, it is entirely done in cell shaded CG, that doesn’t earn it any points or something, but when you look beyond that you actually have quite an endearing slice of life series. What sets this one apart is its acting: Tomou is really bratty, but it’s one in a way that it’s enjoyable. His antics are varied, funny and not totally random. He really feels like a little kid. The rest of the cast has the same: They feel like actual characters, rather than cliches or stereotypes. The thing remains though, that I don’t really see a red thread keeping this together. The creators need to find something to make me continue watching, to keep me coming back. The fact that Tomou’s father is away is a good start, but not quite there yet.
OP: Awesome. You can see that this is from the same director as Space Brothers. Why do I feel the need to watch this over and over again?
ED: A walking ED. With a small twist.
Potential: 80%