3 Episode Rule – Days of Urashimasakatasen

I’m making a conscious effort to watch as much as I can this season, within reason. And a bitesized anime with a five minute run length might seem perfect for my case here. Getting a whole article out of just 15 minutes investment. But sometimes, even those 15 minutes are time I could be using to do something else. Like waiting in a game queue…

I don’t want to be the guy who belittles some forms of art and entertainment just because I don’t get it, or it’s not made for me. But in all honesty, I cannot fathom why Days of Urashimasakatasen even exists, like at all.

A extremely short form show, the intro takes up a full quarter of the show’s entire length. It focuses on four boys who all transfer into a new class at the same time, made distinct by their hair colour and the fact that one of them has a raccoon on his shoulder. From there, they hang out and form a club. That’s a summation of the entire first three episodes.

The show is presented in an extremely deformed chibi style, with all the characters appearing sporting giant heads within a pretty barren setting, at least artistically. That, and there isn’t a whole lot of in-betweens in the animation either. It’s a minimalist approach that tends to see more use in situational comedy shows in which the characterisation and writing does all the heavy lifting.

In theory anyway, because this show doesn’t really have the writing chops to justify it’s cut back animation style. I find myself wondering who this show is for, the intro shows the four boys in a series of situations through a variety of fan service-like lenses. So I thought it might be a show for teenage girls, but once the show gets going, it’s deep into ultra deformed cute grounds.

Due to its reduced length, the show is pretty fast with delivering dialogue and exposition. And yet, it doesn’t do enough with the time it has for me. The exposition of the boys joining class, then starting their club, then filling their club room with junk is shot at the audience with a rapid pace, but it lacks impact. I’m assuming the “cuteness” of the characters might be the what’s carrying this forward, but the events within are so mundane and lacking in charm that I’m kind of glad I don’t have time to get bored.

I feel like, the less time the show has to work with, the more extreme is needs to be in order to make a lasting impact. Nothing about Days of Urashimasakatasen sticks in my head. None of the characters really have a defined personality to differentiate themselves from the group, aside from the “main” boy whose constant exasperation with the other three offsets their blank smiles.

Verdict: I cannot think of a single reason to continue watching this

There’s recognising and acknowledging that a show isn’t for me, and then there’s me questioning why a show even exists in the first place. I know it might sound really harsh of me to say, but I don’t see any value in this one. It’s short and sweet, sure. But it doesn’t do anything outside of the bare necessities. You could argue that with such a short run time per episode, it’s limited to what it can achieve.

But that’s nonsense, there is another show this very season that manages to do everything Days of Urashimasakatasen fails to do in the same amount of time. I’m sure we’ll get to that in the coming days. I don’t even recommend this one as a time waster, it’s mindless dross.