(CR) Aiura

[FredFriendly]

Originally Posted by Tempester

You really shouldn't have picked a KyoAni show for your example. Most anime studios cannot afford the time and money to animate as beautifully and consistently as KyoAni does. And even so, I think Hyouka has exceptionally good visuals even by KyoAni's standards. Hyouka is one of my top favorite 2012 anime, by the way.

Nazo no Kanojo X is another anime with exceptionally fine animation, particularly in the dream sequences, on par with, perhaps even better than, those in Hyouka. Although I was very impressed with the animation quality of Hyouka, in the end I just didn't like the show. I was actually more impressed with the exceptional animation sequences in Nazo no Kanojo X.

Yes, there are countless full-length episode anime that are better animated than Aiura. One example would be Kamichu. But do you really think that this anime could maintain this level of quality animation if the episodes were 24 minutes long and aired weekly? I doubt it.

Since Aiura is, in reality, only two and a half minutes long per episode (at least, so far, the one and a half minutes of the OP and ED have not changed), with the current budget they certainly couldn't maintain the level of cuteness the show has now. The staff would need a budget that was ten times greater than what they have now, and then they should be able to maintain the same quality. Many shows do.

Then again, if you would rather sacrifice animation quality for cohesiveness between episodes and a more satisfying feeling at the ending of each episode, I can understand your argument. We really haven't gotten any further than the character introductions. There's hardly even any slice-of-life so far. I personally don't have a big issue with this right now, but I can sympathize with anyone who does. I made my first post to highlight the positives that I believe the short episode length has brought us.

Would I "rather sacrifice animation quality for cohesiveness between episodes and a more satisfying feeling at the ending of each episode?" Probably. High Score certainly shows that you can tell a complete story in two and a half minutes (with, at best, mediocre animation quality). Aiura, so far, has been very cohesive between the episodes, so that's not really an issue. I am still willing to give it the benefit of doubt over the course of the series to see how it fairs.

Indeed, I will continue to watch this, as I do enjoy it for what it is. With the exception of the OP (which I will certainly skip past), it's a very relaxing two and a half minutes.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

It's a shame, because I could see this anime being very appealing to me if it was just a bit longer. Half-a-normal anime episode length could easily work for me. Even chopping out that OP could make a difference.

I gotta agree with this. Even 12 minutes per episode would do wonders. Mahou Shoujo Tai Arusu comes to mind. It told a very complex story, as well as very well animated, in "half-length" episodes. Just think what they could do with Aiura given the same episode length.

I could almost convince myself that some executive at the studio told an up-and-coming animator, "Make a pilot episode. We'll split it into a dozen segments and air them weekly. If it goes over big, I'll let you have a second season of half-length episodes. If that goes over well, I'll let you have a third season of full-length episodes."

[chaos_animagic]

Actually, to me, this is like an opposite approach of "Boku no Imouto wa Osaka Okan"

While "BokuImou" (yes I shorten it) features cut-board style graphic and animation, it gave us fun Humorous and moderate length approach.

Aiura gave us great graphic and animation.


Tho, I think instead of having 2 4-koma shorts like how some past series have done (IE: BokuImou is made up of like 3 shorts)

Aiura is only made up of 1~2 per episode.

However... Puchidol is also made up of 1~2 shorts per episode and have similar length as Aiura (but with shorter OP and ED).

[Midonin]

That's one of the more esoteric methods I've seen of deciding on who the class representative will be. It should be noted that Mei is the only character besides the main three to get a character song CD (this show has those), so I suspect she'll be the most major recurring character. I haven't talked about this yet, but I like the ED theme to this show. It's peaceful, and got a nice little melody going for it. Kanakana's sense of nicknaming is still a force to be reckoned with (I kind of like "Yukon"), and Saki is a lot like Yuyushiki's Yui, but a little scarier. Everything's flowing together really nicely.

[Random Wanderer]

...This show really makes me feel that it's meant to be a longer show. (character CDs? These characters barely even exist yet!) The way the scenes play out feels like scenes from a normal-sized episode, but it's in this tiny package instead. So strange...

I approve of Saki's reaction to Kanakana's nicknaming. I adopted that approach in school myself.

Mei is cute.

[Lord of Fire]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

...This show really makes me feel that it's meant to be a longer show. (character CDs? These characters barely even exist yet!) The way the scenes play out feels like scenes from a normal-sized episode, but it's in this tiny package instead. So strange...

I approve of Saki's reaction to Kanakana's nicknaming. I adopted that approach in school myself.

Mei is cute.

It reminds me a bit of the Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita shorts: one big story, told over several shorts episodes.

It's almost as if the producers want us to wait till it has fully aired before we see the whole story. Not sure if this such a clever way of doing it, though...

[Triple_R]

To be fair, Aiura does strike me as being well-written. Episode 3 was pretty amusing and interesting with the creativity it displayed with its wordplay and neat in-class developments.

It might be nice if, once this show is finished airing, somebody spliced all the episodes together, leaving only one OP (at the very start of this compilation) and one ED (at the very end). I suspect it would make for a very tight and engaging standard-length SoL anime episode.


On the other hand... Character CDs? I'm really struggling to wrap my head around this.

I mean, if these characters are popular enough to warrant character CDs, then why aren't they also popular enough to warrant a standard-length anime show? Or are they actually banking on this anime making the characters popular enough to sell Character CDs?

[Chiaki_chan]

My god THE surprise tests, very easiest in the world's history

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I mean, if these characters are popular enough to warrant character CDs, then why aren't they also popular enough to warrant a standard-length anime show? Or are they actually banking on this anime making the characters popular enough to sell Character CDs?

According to MangaUpdates, the manga started in 2011 and currently has one tankouban volume out. If this information is true, that means that the manga is released at a very slow pace relative to content, similar to weekly newspaper comic strips. The anime feels like the episodes end too soon, but I bet the manga is even worse for its up-to-date followers.

Adapting one manga volume with 12 full-length episodes is conceivable (it happened with A-Channel), but it demands padding with original content, and exhausts the available amount of source material easily. Aiura's approach may be unsatisfying for many, but it leaves more of a chance of a continuation within a year (unlike A-Channel). Not like I'm counting on something this low-profile to sell or get a second season, though.

[jeroz]

I'll just treat this as a wonderful appetizer so that when there's more materials later on in the future they will compile everything up for a full length series.

Think Nyaruko (yes i know nyaruko is a LN than a manga, but fingers crossed that Aiura will still get something in the future)

[SQA]

Random question:

Does anyone know why sketches of Steve Jobs is in the OP? Am I missing something here?

[Random Wanderer]

I don't think anyone knows why anything is in the OP. The entire thing seems to be a non-sequitur.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by SQA

Random question:

Does anyone know why sketches of Steve Jobs is in the OP? Am I missing something here?

Maybe Apple and Red Lobster are the primary sources of funding for the show. That would explain most of the OP at least.

[Midonin]

Saki's got good aim, being able to hit Kanakana from her window like that. We also found out they've been friends for some time, not sure if Ayu's also been with them for that long or not. Her screentime was limited to one scene, but I like Wakatsuki already. Not just because she has Yukarin voicing her, but she was cute and her idea of wearing a school uniform is something I haven't seen with a teacher before. The way the teachers are kinda reminds me of A Channel, minus the forehead fetish.

[Random Wanderer]

Wha... tha... she... geh... For the love of all that is holy, you have Yukari Tamura voicing a teacher who dresses in a student uniform, and you're wasting it on a two-minute-episode series? ARG!! DO MORE WITH THAT!

not sure if Ayu's also been with them for that long or not.

It seemed pretty clear they didn't know who Ayu was in the beginning. She even had to introduce herself to them, after all.

[gaiar31]

lolicon teacher!!!

[teja208]

Loli teacher cosplaying as student and acting like one is a new trap for me. Don't know why, but gives me the same reaction as seeing a cute convincing crossdressing boy. Mental dissonance needs to be readjusted.

[demonkevy666]

The intro is LONGER then the ENTIRE EPISODES @_@!

[Shyni]

Not really. Intro is only one minute. There's about two minutes of actual content, plus OP and ED.

I wonder what the creative decision-making went.

"How do we set this apart from all the other schoolgirl 4koma shows?"

"Maybe we should make a really memorable OP. Any ideas?"

"I know, lets put in Steve Jobs and lots of crabs!"

"o_O"

"Well, that's certainly hard to forget"

[Midonin]

Kanakana's got some strange decision making going on. Though Saki saw right through it - these two must have quite the history. Between that and the speaking in English on the cell phone first thing in the morning. The main thing I got from this episode, though? KANAKANA UPPER!

[Random Wanderer]

Kanakana's a nutcase. Or rather, immature. Her behavior would be perfectly normal for an elementary school student with an overactive imagination and no impulse control. Not that I dislike it, or anything. She's amusing.

Poor Ayu is getting dragged into their pace. I agree, that's a good reason to have killed Kanakana.

Hmm... white blood dripping from the knife. I guess this is one of those shows where it wouldn't do to show real blood. It's not like it's really suited for it anyway.

When I saw the eyecatch I was kind of hoping Mei would have a part in this episode. Alas, it was just a tease.

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