Three girls in the manga club, Ai, Mai, and Mii, battle with evil Earth invaders, face off against rivals in tournaments, and might not actually draw any manga. Oh lookie, another short-form show. It's like Japan's manga creators have suddenly realised as one that, if they want to promote their works on TV, a 3-minute short will do the job just as well as a full 25-minute show. Their gain, our loss. One I got past thoughts of strawberry eggs and stopped humming this to myself, though, I could settle down and watch what has probably been the least enjoyable of this season's shorts so far. It's a comedy, that much as clear, but when I went through the entire opening episode - twice - without so much a cracking a smirk (the second time was to make sure I hadn't missed something), the signs weren't good. The idea is fine - wannabe mangakas and aliens - but somehow it just didn't gel. Being animated on a showstring didn't help, either. THE GOOD: Decent idea, if only it had been implemented. It's short, so therefore so is the tedium of watching. THE BAD: Painfully unfunny. Which for something being pitched as a comedy is pretty much terminal. It's short, so I'll give it a few more episodes to find its feet. But Ai Mai Mi's prospect aren't looking good. Ai Mai Mi is streamed by Crunchyroll.
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