Double-J

While it feels a little generous to call Double-J an anime, it's still a pretty good time, and succeeds in being the kind of comedy it set out to be. Beginning with the story, there really isn't much of one. A traditional arts club gets up to a variety of antics, providing casual examples of traditional arts, wreathed in frantic, upbeat comedy. As for the art, while it makes for an admirable display of multimedia experimentation, it feels more like an old-school flash animation than anything else. Like I said, it would be generous to call this an anime due to the general lack of ... any serious animation going on. Though, I don't really hold this against Double-J, as it pulls off a very funny, lighthearted experience even with this primitive technique. To take this point even further, the flash-style animation gives the whole show a warm, nostalgic sense of well-being. One major exception to everything I just said, however, is the ED animation. As the credits roll, the viewer is treated to a gorgeous, energetic explosion of color and animation, which is a real joy to watch every episode. Most anime don't have anything even half as good as this for an ED, which makes it all the more bizarre that I found it in this little sketch comedy anime from 2011. The sound is probably this anime's strongest point, due to some odd factors like comedic timing and emotive voice acting. I'm not sure what it is, but the lines were delivered really well in some understated way that made all the jokes really stick the landing. Another credit to the sound is the song they used for the ED, which is endlessly catchy and captures the spirit of Double-J nicely. The characters come off little flat, even with the fun VA work, but this isn't a huge issue either as they're less characters and more placeholders upon which situational comedy is often inflicted. Overall, this was a fun little romp, and there are definitely worse ways to kill time than giving this show a shot.

There's no real plot, which is proper for a comedy-centered 4-min anime. The jokes are well executed and you'll get some laughs here and there, but not everyone can appreciate it. It targets a certain niche, in which some people cannot understand the jokes, or it will be the other way around. The characters are really flat, but they're not really the focus of the show, its whole focus is about tradition and how silly it is.

All of the episodes seem like they're bottle episodes, and the anime recycles sprites a lot, but such is the nature of Flash Animation. If you ignore that part, ... however, you'll only see an anime that includes a lot of cultural humor.

Ultimately, I think it really depends on the person watching this show. I personally like this show's jokes and I'd say it's good enough for a 4-min execution.
If you like the cultural appreciation and jabs at traditions, you can watch this with no problems at all. Otherwise, you'll get bored.

Story 4/10
There isn't a story, but has a basis about 2 girls joining a Cultural Activity Preservation club. I do like plotless animes because it means it can have more creativity and more open minded on wacky adventures. Unfortunately, this isn't really the case, The two main characters learn about weird or interesting skills, and that's it. Nothing really builds on from that. What else is there to say but "oh, that's weird".

Art 8/10
I know some people say "The animation is lazy flash" or "it using real photos for backgrounds." But you know what? I like it. It is the good type of weird animation ... that works. It may be lazy, but it is visually interesting to me. It kind of reminds me of Tom Goes to the Mayor type of animation. I like the contrast of different animation, such as how Ichirou is lower quality and almost traditionally drawn compared to the flash drawn girls. I also like the ED animation. The style is overall visually pleasing to me.

Sound 5/10
The only memorable songs are any of the classical music, which I like. Nothing bad about that. But for the rest of the songs, they aren't too memorable. There is no Op, but there is an ED, which sounds okay.

Character 4/10
The characters are not too interesting. There are some unique and funny things about each character, but once that's out of the way, nothing much. The two main characters explore an old talent, and question it and make some comments, but nothing interesting afterwards. Ichirou and toothpick girl are both memorable, but everyone else, not so much.

Enjoyment 4/10
Every episode feels like a a very long setup of explaining "Here are the characters, here is the scenario, here's the talent", and then the last 10 seconds is the big punchline. The whole episode drags on long, and as mentioned before, nothing really funny happens. The last 10 seconds become a hit or miss. Though to be honest, the punchlines are usually funny. But aside from that, the rest of the anime is pretty boring.

Overall 4/10
Do you like listening to people over explain weird things in an uninteresting way? Do you like listening to really long setups for a joke? If yes, this is the anime for you. I made it halfway through the series until I got bored. Each episode is a different plot, but the formula is the same. Although I think the endings can be funny, the whole show doesn't really offer much appeal.