Mameshiba

Mameshiba is an anime with very short episodes that are meant to be fun and cute and as long as you watch this anime with the expectation that it's just a simple, silly show then you're chances of liking it are high.

It's not a groundbreaking short. Many of the episodes feel similar and some of the jokes do not make much sense in English. That being said, I enjoyed this short anime. It made me audibly laugh more than once and that's great for a show that has 30 second episodes. The art is kiddish and brings out the cuteness of beans with dog ... faces. The sound and songs are forgettable but not terrible. Enjoyment factor is pretty high, I didn't feel like I wasted my time with a show I would have never even picked up if it hadn't been so short. I look forward to new episodes of Mameshiba, that's what makes this short a winner.

The fact that all the episodes are free to view on youtube is also a plus!

The plot is the same in each episode so you won't miss a thing, but each has a different mood to match up with the punchline.

The art reminds me of a kid's show, which lets viewers know that it's just a short film and isn't too intense.

The sound is effective and helps elaborate the mood. The mameshibas are voiced by kids in a serious and matter-of-fact tone which amuses me every time.

Peoples' reactions to the talking mameshibas are pretty realistic. However, in the beginning everyone had the same reaction in the end, but later on it was different. If they wanted to ... do that, I wish they'd mix it around in the beginning so that each ending was unpredictable. But I guess they broke this pattern to surprise us.

Since the first few eps had similar endings, I'd crack up every time. The reactions later on were still amusing to watch, but I still liked the repetitive reactions from earlier, it fits in with the childishness of the story.

Overall, it was funny and creepy. I watched it all in one sitting not only because of the length of the episodes, but the hilarity kept me going.

Mameshiba, literally translating to "bean dog" in English, is a very fitting title for this bizarre and wacky anime. It's humorous, entertaining, and even educational to a certain degree with each episode consisting of an odd, gross, or disturbing fact which as a result, disgusts or annoys the person about to eat the mameshiba.

The story of Mameshiba is pretty simple, considering it's episodic with each episode only lasting about a minute. Nevertheless, each episode is different in it's own way and doesn't get boring because of the change of characters, including the people about to eat the mameshiba, and the mameshiba themselves. Each person ... has a similar yet different reaction to seeing a piece of food talk to them; however it usually ends up in a reaction of disgust. As for the somewhat morbid "did you know?" facts these talking assortments of beans say, a lot of them were quite interesting, and I learned 20 new weird facts I didn't know before and can now gross my friends out with.

As for the art style goes, it's extremely unique to say the least. Each anthropomorphic bean-like food is different in it's own way, with each one being different each episode. For example, in one episode it could be a black bean, and the other it could be a peanut or jellybean. These adorable yet somewhat terrifying little "bean dogs" are unforgettable. The animation for the humans wasn't as appealing, but it didn't matter too much since they were not the main focus.

The sound was pretty decent, however it was hard to find a good quality version of this series since it's not very popular. That and it's hard to expect much of the music since each episode is so short.

I liked how all of the characters were different in each episode. Although the mameshiba were the main focus character-wise, the human characters could also be interesting at times. For example in some episodes, they'll show people in different countries, speaking different languages, and eating different foods relating to their culture. This was very creative in my opinion and helped keep the show interesting.

Overall, this show is pretty enjoyable; especially if it's 2 A.M. in the morning and you're bored with 20 minutes to spare. It can be really amusing at times, and there's even a few funny memorable quotes from the characters; besides all of the crazy fun facts. I definitely recommend this for some one who's bored or has some free time on their hands. However, this show may not be for everyone, considering how odd it can be. Some may find it pointless or a waste of time, but I personally love all the weird and creative shows Japan has to offer.