![[Commie] Inferno Cop - 02 [DC0C54FB].mkv_snapshot_00.46_[2013.01.03_22.51.11]](http://thecartdriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Commie-Inferno-Cop-02-DC0C54FB.mkv_snapshot_00.46_2013.01.03_22.51.11.jpg)
I’d completely forgotten about the new law in Japan that said that no anime was allowed to have over 5 minute episodes. That’s why Shaft shoved out Nekomonogatari on the very last day of the year. Everything else unfortunately is stuck trying to make a compelling narrative and engaging characters out of a couple of minutes and the animation budget equal to half a packet of hobnobs. It has been done before mind you. Kogepan is pretty fantastic, as is Fireball, although Fireball was working on a budget from Disney so that’s probably not a fair comparison. But the point remains that you can still have a great anime with episodes of less than 5 minutes. How do this season’s shorts compare?
Mangirl
![[HorribleSubs] Mangirl! - 01 [480p].mkv_snapshot_02.34_[2013.01.03_22.54.48]](http://thecartdriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/HorribleSubs-Mangirl-01-480p.mkv_snapshot_02.34_2013.01.03_22.54.48.jpg)
Being apparently the only person on the planet not to think this was going to be about the fusion of the sexes into one being, I wasn’t instantly disappointed that Mangirl was about a bunch of girls setting up a manga studio. The girls are all utterly brainless, which is where all the humour comes from, using the term ‘humour’ loosely. Mangirl doesn’t really bring me many answers about what goes on in the manga industry, but it does raise many questions.
For example, do people in Japan really enjoy listening to grown women singing out of tune with false cutesy excited voices like they’re 4 years old? I mean sure, Japan idolises youth to the point that their top selling artists are all a bunch of teenage girls dressed up even younger with a fanbase of adult men, but do they really enjoy this as music? Technically this is about a bunch of older ladies founding their own company in a daring display of entrepreneurship, but I swear this is actually taking place in a school. One of the girls is even holding a teddy bear.
Ai Mai Mi
![[HorribleSubs] Ai-Mai-Mi - 01 [480p].mkv_snapshot_02.18_[2013.01.03_22.53.00]](http://thecartdriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/HorribleSubs-Ai-Mai-Mi-01-480p.mkv_snapshot_02.18_2013.01.03_22.53.00.jpg)
More anime about a bunch of girls doing nothing really whatsoever. It doesn’t even have the grounding plot conceit that Mangirl has. I think they’re manga artists? I guess when manga artists are truly out of ideas, they just draw a bunch of cute girls talking about manga for a few panels, have something cute and/or random happen, cap it at 4 panels and then fart it in the general direction of a publisher. Where as Mangirl focuses more on being cute, Ai Mai Mi focuses on randomness for the sake of humour. If you like this kind of humour, you should probably just watch last season’s Teekyu instead because it’s far crazier.
However if you are the kind of person who finds this funny then you are terrible and need to upgrade your humour meter. It’s not that randomness can’t be used as a function in humour. Arakawa uses it to deconstruct Recruit’s vision of what constitutes common sense. Cromartie uses it to demonstrate the elephant in the room syndrome to utterly ridiculous degrees. If Ai Mai Mi is funny, then potato monkeys eating santa hats made of cheese and rainbows while farting double decker buses filled with children with no legs and tattoos of the 4th Doctor Who instead of faces is also funny. Which it isn’t.
Inferno Cop
![[Commie] Inferno Cop - 01 [F64D4E95].mkv_snapshot_01.39_[2013.01.03_22.50.06]](http://thecartdriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Commie-Inferno-Cop-01-F64D4E95.mkv_snapshot_01.39_2013.01.03_22.50.06.jpg)
2 episodes are out for Inferno Cop already, and I’ve watched them both twice. Partly because I wanted to show them to my sister, seeing as she’s a huge Gurren Lagann fan and this is by the same director, but also because I needed a second viewing to decide if this was the Best or the Worst anime ever. It’s one of those that are intentionally made to look bad, but does it fall under the category of Popee in being intentional to make a point, or like Abunai Sisters where it’s just terrible. Then I look at the scene where the bullet ricochets off Inferno Cop’s chest and I burst out laughing and reason that yes, this shit is totally intentional and legitimately funny.
The gist of Inferno Cop is that it’s a hilariously awful exaggeration of manly 2000 AD-esque cyberpunk cop bullshit, where the lead character is some hard-nosed brutal arm of the law in the same vein of Judge Dredd or Robocop. Much like how Popee plays on the idea that taking a step back from some children’s shows makes you realise how truly fucked up some of the stuff that happens in them are, Inferno Cop is taking a step back from these cyberpunk police shows and realising how silly they really are. Inferno Cop drives a flaming police car. That’s totally the kind of thing you’d see in those kinds of shows, but placed in the Inferno Cop setting is where you realise how dumb it really is.
Moe Mountain Climbing
![[HorribleSubs] Yama no Susume - 01 [720p].mkv_snapshot_02.11_[2013.01.03_22.56.23]](http://thecartdriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/HorribleSubs-Yama-no-Susume-01-720p.mkv_snapshot_02.11_2013.01.03_22.56.23.jpg)
Unlike the other shorts about moeblobs this season, this one actually has a narrative focus, albeit an incredibly generic one. Shy girl meets old friend who wants them to go do X again but shy girl has *gasp* a phobia of X! The way they played the phobia was pretty funny though, as were the flashbacks to the two girls time together as children. Having a narrative provides greater weight to the jokes, which makes them funnier. You have to tell seriously great jokes to have them work on their lonesome. There’s a reason why comedians work narratives into their standup routines.
That said, Moe Mountain Climbing isn’t great or anything. It’s no Inferno Cop, that’s for sure. It’s very much like the funnier segments in K-ON. You know the scene where Yui reasons that she’s good at playing musical instruments because when she was a kid her kindergarten teacher praised her enthusiastic castanet playing? That’s the level we’re talking about here. It’s cute and harmless without being insultingly so. I’m unsure how much actual mountain climbing nerding out we’ll get here. My impressions from what little I saw of the manga suggested loads, but there was little on display in this episode. Then again, the entire series will be less than 40 minutes long.
30 Comments
Mangirl > Inferno Cop > Ai Mai Mi > Girls und Bergsteigen > Dat flash incest animu you left out
And only one of them didn’t suck. Fantastic.
Mangirl? Seriously? That show is utter shit, you clearly watched something different to me
Admittedly I’ve only watched the first episode, but that flash thing seems to be a rare care of a series with “imouto” in the title that doesn’t feature any incest whatsoever. Such novelty !
It’s still terrible, though.
It’s an adaptation of a guide book, what were you expecting?
I’m going to be watching it anyway though – series like this will eventually pay off when watching other anime, since they feature nuggets of Japanese culture that are harder to pick up through plain ol’ osmosis.
Mangirl > Ai Mai Mi > Imouto from Kyoto > Inferno Cop > Noone-is-climbing-anything.
AT least Ai Mai Mi is better than previous “things” by the same studio. Also can’t really call Inferno Cop and anime – it’s more like these Picture Dramas.
I only watched Inferno Cop yet….
The nd show convinced me that it’s really hilarious !
>Crunchyroll subbed them
>I HAVE TO WATCH AND COVER THEM
Pretty much
I actually had to go back and watch Mangirl again after reading this post to double check because I legitimately thought it took place in a school. These are supposed to be grown women?
INFERNO COP: SAVING CHRISTMAS, NEW YEARS, AND ANIME.
INFERNO COP IS EVERYTHING I HAVE EVER WANTED FROM ANIME
“I’d completely forgotten about the new law in Japan that said that no anime was allowed to have over 5 minute episodes.”
…Are you sure about this? I haven’t heard about Jojo or Shirokuma Cafe having to get broken down into 4 minute episodes.
Yep, they are. Didn’t you wonder why there’s been such a long break since the last episodes, including Psycho Pass? They have to cut them down to 5 minute chunks now. Takes time you know
Not gonna lie, I burst out laughing when I read your reply. xD
I don’t keep up with anime news, so I had no idea if what you said was serious or not… until now. xDDD
Inferno Cop more like BEST SHOW OF THE SEASON let’s pray to the manabi line and hope some magic happens
I watched ManGirl and I really liked it. I thought it was quite frantic and exciting. (I know the premise is ridiculous, but meh.)
I also watched Inferno Cop a few minutes ago. It is incredible.
Three short moe anime? I’m not complaining. Well I have to be honest, Inferno Cop is way better and funnier than those moe anime. I’m going to watch all 4 and enjoy all of them.
Oi, oi, mangirl is totally pandering shit.
I bet that all 15 mangaka who joined them are moeblobs as well.
Nah, I bet all 15 of them are Inferno Cop + 14 Inferno Cop villains
Manferno girl?
I finally understood that Manga+Girl = Mangirl ! I’m a genius !
So, I saw it and… Well, it’s nice, cute, innoffensive. It’s viewed fast and forgot almost as fast.
Well, I’ll probably continue to watch it untilnew series begin.
…Nothing can beat INNFERRRNO COPPUARGHH, anyway.
“If Ai Mai Mi is funny, then potato monkeys eating santa hats made of cheese and rainbows while farting double decker buses filled with children with no legs and tattoos of the 4th Doctor Who instead of faces is also funny. Which it isn’t.”
Probably not, but a part of me would still like to see it. At least it’s only 5 minutes long; Noel Fielding gets half-hour shows for his bullshit.
Also, so Yama no Susume seems to be about a girl who develops acrophobia after falling off a climbing frame at a young age: talk about making a mountain out of a moe-hill!
I’ll be here all night folks!
INFERNO COP’s flames of justice are carrying me through the dark days of this early season.
BTW, did you feel that Inferno Cop resembles Hell Rider? Cause after I saw that I was like, “OH NO!” (Hell Rider just is immortal, you know?)
Finally, someone else understands that INFERNO COP is only ever to be written in all capital letters.
It’s better if you ad more “R” :
INFERRRNO COP !
It’s better of you say it like Wakamoto: INFERRRRRRNO COPPUUUMMMMMMMMMMMM
Ai Mai mi was really disappointing. And the graphism is hideous.
Of al of these show, it’s the one I’m the more likely to drop.
Moe Climbing is… really moe. I will wait for the future episodes before giving my opinion.
So for now, my choice is INFERRRNO COP >> Moe Climbing > Mangirl >> Ai Mai Mi.
Ai Mai Mi had some punchlines that amused me, so I’ll keep watching it – I’m not trying to pad my MAL anime numbers or anything!
…
The only one I really like is Inferno Cop. The moment where the water broke in the first episode and the ‘reflects bullet attacks’ in the second had me in stitches.
Speaking of Abunai Sisters, where the next terribad video man?
Oh Scamp-sama, I don’t know why I ever doubt your superior taste, even for a nanosecond. Indeed, Inferno Cop is the greatest.