Reviews

Episodes 4, 12, and 13 are the only ones worth watching. At my least critical, I might include episodes 5 and 11 with those on the account that they mildly amused me, though I will still likely forget them a week after I've written this review. If you've stumbled upon this series of comedy shorts because of the following the original freeware Ao Oni game has gained, that's really all you need to know. Those are the only episodes of this show that I might consider clever, and even then, not by much. Most of the humor in these shorts is very stale and predictable, and this problem can primarily be attributed to the characters, because they really aren't characters. They're each a single personality trait combined with a cluster of stereotypical horror character traits. In a freeware game where the focus is on the scares and the atmosphere, this characterization is forgivable. In a comedy series, it ensures that the punchline of each joke is heavily predictable and that the characters never form any meaningful chemistry. The story is largely just meant to be a vehicle for the comedy, and is thus also not worth talking about. The music is completely forgettable, the lone exception being the repeating strings that play whenever being chased by the titular monster in the original game. This track has been seared into the mind of anyone who has experienced the Ao Oni game. Even though it's really only a few seconds of music repeated over and over, it coneys a sense of panic well and manages never to get old or annoying. Thankfully, it's not overused in the series. It and the show's simple but effective art are the only things I can imagine remaining the same in the alternate universe where this show was a comedy masterpiece. Overall, if you REALLY have to see all of the semi-decent anime in existence, watch the episodes I listed above. If you're nowhere near that obsessive, skip this series. The good episodes aren't worth wading through the crappy ones, and even on their own, they never get more than a brief small chuckle. Just look up "Ao Oni Funny Moments" on YouTube and you'll probably get dozens of videos that will make you laugh more than all of the episodes in this series combined.