What are Kirara Jumps, you ask?
Time for a shaky explanation, then. I’ll try to keep it short.
Well, there’s a Japanese manga magazine called Manga Time Kirara which is primarily known for serializing yuri manga. Such series would be classified as being under the Girls’ Club (sub)genre, or belonging to the Cute Girls Doing Cute Things (sub)genre.
Furthermore, there are “sister” magazines that generally follow the same “theme” aside from minor details such as, well, publication dates. From what I can they’re all monthly magazines which primarily serialize 4koma (or yonkoma or four-panel comic strips).
When a series which is being serialized in Manga Time Kirara (or any of its sister magazines) receive an anime adaptation, there is a very distinctive trend that is nearly guaranteed to happen.
For some reason(s), the group of girls are almost always going to jump sometime during the OP / opening song while the background is either the sky or some vibrant and colorful pattern. Most of the time the gals are airborne right before the song transitions into the chorus.
This is what I call the Kirara Jump.
On that note, I’m going to be ranking the Kirara Jumps. These are the 5 best Kirara Jumps!
…but before I get to that, please allow me to present the honorable mentions.
Honorable Mentions
Blend S – this Kirara Jump diverges from the common pattern by having the cast jump right after the opening lines and before the verse. However, around half of the characters seem to be apathetic in regards to this pivotal action scene. How can we get excited if the characters appear to not really care about such an iconic task? They’re disrespecting tradition!
Stella no Mahou – I don’t know much photo stuff, but it was kind of neat seeing this sort of camera effect show up in this Kirara Jump shot. On the other hand, it’s also distracting.
Hanayamata – the aforementioned camera effect has lost all of its charm and the glaring sun is now simply offensive. I sure do wish the girls were closer to us so we can get a good look at their obvious joy from jumping extremely high into the air. They’re so far away in this Kirara Jump shot…
Kiniro Mosaic – if the girls had actually jumped then this entry would have made the cut. As it stands, however, the girls just sort of slide into place. When did they learn how to hover in the air for extended periods of time like that?
Yuyushiki – the fact that the girls are holding hands is a good one. The fact that there are some credits which ruin the scene in particular, however, isn’t. We also can’t tell whether they’re jumping unless if we consult the quick shot shown right before this moment.
And with the honorable mentions covered, we’re now moving onto the actual top 5.
Comic Girls
We get to see the gang express their individual characteristics as they jump and we’re treated to an extended Kirara Jump shot (their airborne time is actually crazy long).
Urara Meirochou
Again, we get to see how these girls express themselves and I think they do a great job discussing and conveying their own unique quirks through body language. Koume seems open-minded with her arms spread out like this, Kon is always mindful of how she’s presented, Chiya jumps without much restraint which suits a wild child such as herself, and Nono assumes the Kurosawa Ruby pose due to being nervous.
Gakkou Gurashi!
Great example of a solid Kirara Jump shot. Distinctive poses, beautiful sky background, and it happens during an important part of the song (hai!).
New Game!
Your mileage may vary in regards to Aoba’s intelligence. But this Kirara Jump shot reveals so much about their personalities and characters. What’s not to like?
Anne Happy
Not only are there two Kirara Jump shots in this OP, but both instances are unique in how they are conveyed and are simply funny due to Botan’s condition and positioning. Well, it’s a riot as long as you’re into black comedy, I guess.
That’s about it.
So now I’ll turn this over to you. Which moments are your favourite Kirara Jumps? Why do you think they include this in almost every Kirara anime adaptation?
Thank you for reading.
The Lily Garden 
Excellent work highlighting the best that the Girls Club subgenre of SoL has to offer so far. Blesseth be this Yuri shipping and canon treasure trove.
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T-thank you! I’ll try to continue to provide interesting yuri content! These days I’m straying a bit too far from the one true path…
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Your blog is both about Yuri and Anime Community examination so it’s cool. It’s been working well for ya so no worries.
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Nice way to coin a phrase! I didn’t even realize this was a thing, but now that you point it out, it’s really obvious. It’s also interesting that it’s a pattern that’s persisted across so many different animation studios and creative staff, whether it’s KyoAni or Madhouse or Lerche. And yeah, echoing the others, it probably did start with K-On. The only Kirara anime I’m aware of that’s older than K-On is Hidamari Sketch, and that one doesn’t have any jumping in its OP.
For a little variation there’s also Gourmet Girl Graffiti, where Shaft opted to put a Kirara jump (and a few head tilts) in the ED instead of the OP. Although that show’s ED is animated well enough to rival most OPs anyway.
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T-thank you! Yeah, it’s just something that happens in OPs and we don’t really think about it despite it being less than subtle.
Great point about how so many different studios consistently opt for such a pattern. Gotta agree with you and them in regards to K-On, too.
Ooohh nice catch. And you bring up an interesting point (that has me thinking at least). Are EDs usually less animated compared to OPs? I think that’s generally the case.
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Historically, that’s generally been the case. EDs were and often still are made with either a series of still images or slow pans, or a few simple animation loops. It seems like there are more shows coming out in recent years that are putting more effort into their EDs though, and again we can probably thank KyoAni (and Hare Hare Yukai) for that, since it showed that an ED could actually be more than just a place to save money.
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Mmm, that makes sense. That’s also why the EDs tend to seem more low-key, I suppose. But the times, they are a-changing, sorta!
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Anne Happy’s two are funny. Although I’m surprised Hibiki isn’t jumping in the wrong direction.
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You have hand picked some of the best the Girls Club sub-genre has to offer. Nicely done Remy-kun!
Also be sure to update the post with K-ON! when able.
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T-thank you so much!
I have done so. Thanks once again!
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It’s all because of K-On! I’m not going to say K-On! was the first series ever showing characters jumping, that’s silly, but it elevated the Kirara shot to a new level and made it obligatory for the shows coming after it. K-On! is basically the holy grail for Kirara shows sales-wise, and on many different levels, so others imitate it as much as they can.
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I can believe it. K-On! definitely changed things.
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I didn’t know what a Kirara Jump was until I read this. I think they’re cool! The gakkou gurashi one is probably my favourte mainly because I don’t pay any attention to them.
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Oh, it’s a term I came up with to describe a somewhat common trend. The Gakkou Gurashi one is pretty great, yeah.
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I think really memorable ones for me were the jumps in K-On, more specifically in the MVs of NO Thank You! and I believe Cagayake Girls as well. HTT is such a fun group to watch lol
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Ugghhhhhhh I knew I forgot K-On.
Oh, those are great, too. HTT is terrific!
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I’m a big fan of this in anime, but am actually struggling to come up with specific examples.
Here in the UK, it’s now a cliche for the yearly national exam results days to be accompanied by pretty much every local newspaper posting photographs of teenagers (usually girls, ’cause girls are prettier) doing this jumping thing. Anime girls do it far better though.
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I hear you.
Ooohh? I can’t disagree with either of your statements.
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Yorimoi’s remain simply too majestic yet fun~
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It is pretty good, to be honest.
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Lol! I love this post!! Who knew the jump shot could be so technical?? I guess I should say Kirara so everyone knows I don’t mean basketball! 😉 I agree that the Kiniro Mosaic shot is WAY too far away and glaring! I mean, what was even the point if that one??
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Glad to know you liked it!
Ah, yeah, that particular shot is so unsatisfying…
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