?/Sankaku no Rhythm/Trump no Arasoi

What to expect from a title called "?". it could be anything, ANYTHING! WHAT'S BEHIND THAT "?"? I WANT TO KNOW! Well, nothing much, if you are not a freak obsessed with the history of animation, I recommend you to pass from this short created way before the concept of anime series was a thing.

The beginnings of animation were of course waaaay too different to what we see today, with many movies like this having just an experimental purpose rather than to be shown to a massive public. "?" is a perfect example of this. In summary it's just three shorts showing whatever could be ... done with animation in 1932, which might have seen impressive at the time but nowadays, 90 years later (at the time of writing) has been forgotten and just seen by people interested in such niche stuff.

Of all the three shorts, Trump no Arasoi is the only one that had at least... something noticeable to tell, some sort of romance with poker card symbols and a fight? I suppose.

This interesting vintage animation was confusing to watch Firstly, there is a shadowy opening that reveals a puddle being crossed by different kinds of wheels and shadows of various shoes. Then the next scene features a playing card, the spade, competing with the heart card, but ultimately overpowered by the club. The club then proceeds to attack the spade and wins the heart. I won't be able to tell you the point or plot of this animation. I don't recommend this one unless you're curious about how animations were in the 1930s. It's honestly confusing and boring but it's only four minutes so it ... won't take a lot of your time if you decide to check this out!

Whilst these simple shorts would likely have been an interesting watch for the time, in the 21st century, they are four of the most boring things you could choose to watch. It's essentially some shapes moving about. A proof-of-concept that would have been mind-numbing enough to watch in 1940, let alone the 2020s, it'll at least help the next anime you watch seem that little bit more impressive. Attack on Titan...Death Note...Legend of the Galactic Heroes...surely you've got better anime to spend your time on than some black and white shapes moving across grainy film?

At the very least, by focusing on shapes, this anime avoided ... the racial stereotypes that permeated early anime.