Milky☆Highway

This short film is pure eyecandy-- adorable character designs, fantastic animation, great background and worldbuilding design...not only that, but it also includes a super catchy song! The dialogue between the two characters flows naturally and gives you a very solid idea of their personalities and their friendship in just 3 minutes. Dialogue and personality-wise, they are shockingly realistic in that sort of way where you can imagine meeting them in real life. To be honest, there is not much to the story at all. It's short and sweet while giving you a lot to chew on through the setting. I've never been more impressed by a short animation. I highly recommend checking this one out...after all, it just required about 3 minutes and 40 seconds of your time!

Unlike the episodes of the "sequel"/main series, this one is not English dubbed and doesn't even have good captions. There is a separately uploaded by fans "english subtitles" version which you should look for in case the algo did not give it to you in the sidebar. While "prequel" is technically correct, you should treat this as a fun little extra or a bonus episode and watch it at the end of the main series, just like the youtube algo/next (shift+n) button's ordering puts it. Watching it without already knowing the characters seems pointless to me and the part of the story it covers feels better revealed by its colorful description in the dialogue in the other episodes than by actually seeing it.

Milky☆Highway does little to accomplish much, mostly due to its run-time, except for establishing a premise that only benefits from a continuation of the series. Having said that, what is presented here is not bad, but simply not yet realized as a complete vision. The use of 3D animation was clean and the character designs and aesthetic setting were unique. Moreover, the communication in conversation seemed intentionally prioritized, with humorous banter, relatable bickering, and realistic interruptions. Though overall, its short three-minute length makes it quite difficult to become invested in anything presented. However, the foundation is solid, and additional content will benefit this project massively.