Has anyone picked these up yet? I find them symbolic of Nintendo's commitment to let Miyamoto pursue whatever he likes regardless of profits. Pikmin 3 itself always seemed like a game made out of love, and it's sad that all that hard work will largely go unappreciated by many.
Back to the shorts, though, I finally received some impressions from someone who goes by the name "The Last Gogeta" on the interwebs, and I think I'm sold now:
To begin with, there are three main episodes ranging from 2 minutes to nearly 13 minutes in length which totals around 25 minutes which you may have heard. All of the premises are childish but effective cartoon-esque where it focuses on a small cast of Pikmin (large in the final episode) working or messing around and some misunderstandings. Olimar is around but you are watching the little guys. Fortunately, the longer the movie, the more surprises and shout outs the movie has time for so you will enjoy the longer episodes more.
You can access a series of sound effects when watching or pausing any of the videos with the d-pad, face buttons. shoulder buttons, start and select buttons which is probably intended for the storyboards but avaliable anywhere.
The 3D? It looks pretty good with this movie.
Those bonus features (Omake)? TOHO Cinema title shows with varying Pikmin gags. TOHO 3D Glasses trailer and RealD 3D Glasses Trailer. Two short storyboard with Flipnote (Not in 3D >_>).
It isn't the best spent 500 yen on the eShop I've made, but I've got a stronger incentive to give Pikmin a spin and I'll definitely rather pay for the 3D version than a HD one (Youtube too tempting).
And as Chris Schilling mentioned, "Miyamoto's short Pikmin movies go to some pretty dark places." See 30 seconds in on the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTnNdctBvtQ&feature=youtu.be&t=30s