Friday, July 1, 2011

Double-J - 1

Some serious color coordination there.

The beginning of the summer season: Double J! And with the Yuruani slot, it’s a short, four minute bit.

For a while now, short animations have started to pop up, like Fireball and Haiyoru (also flash), and so Double J follows in their footsteps. The show follows two students, Usami Hajime and Arima Sayo as they discover what is known as the “Traditional Arts Preservation Club” and the quirks surrounding it. Now, given that this is only a four minute part, there isn’t much to expect from it. It’s really all about the dialogue and the gags, so it’ll mostly be some quick humour, meaning it’s usually going to be hit or miss.
Fresh from the 8-bit realm.

Based on the first episode, the drawings are pretty nice, and the backgrounds (taken from real life photographs) are pretty refreshing. Seeing as it is a flash animation, there isn’t going to be anything fancy on the animation side, although notably, the ending sequence is pretty darn awesome if you ask me. Reminds me of a SHAFT ending, and the song is catchy too. (Wani to Shampoo by Momoiro Clover Z)
Some crazy dieting going on here.

Looking at the cast for the show, there are some interesting names like Omigawa Chiaki as the toothpick artisan Sassa Maria, Taketatsu Ayana as the rain gutter crafter Houjou Ema, and Katou Emiri as Sayo. Sadly enough, I wasn’t able to identify any of them, due to how short the whole thing was. Woe is me.
I'd be depressed if I forgot my hamburger too. Not to mention fries.

For me, most of the jokes were pretty much off target. While I do find the fact that toothpick carvers and rain gutter makers are part of the “traditional arts” (I like to think of other extinct practices, like jade carvers or blacksmiths or librarians), it just isn’t that funny to me. The drawing of the club president made me look twice, but otherwise even the punch line of the joke at the end was sort of lame.

It’ll be a bit interesting to see if they try to mix it up a little bit, but for now, it doesn’t seem like it’ll be different than any other of the short skits like Reibai Sensei. Seeing how it’s only four minutes anyway, it’s probably not too much of a commitment to make. Based on my previous experience, some of the episodes can be hilarious. Time to wait and see.

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