Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why Don't I Find Anime Comedies Funny?
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Blackiris_
 Posts: 535 |
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There are many different styles of comedy in anime. Recently the really crazy, occasionally wacky types seem to be popular. If you don't like them, try something with a different kind of humor. Like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. Or GTO. Or Ouran High School Host Club. Or Trigun. Or Samurai Champloo. Or Space Dandy. Or My Neighbors the Yamadas. Or Mr. Osomatsu. Or Golden Boy. Or School Rumble.
If you don't find any of those funny, chances are the jokes in other animes won't entertain you either. |
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MajorZero
Posts: 359 |
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I once watched Japanese program where they will punish famous comedians if they gonna laugh at whatever idiocy happening around. I only laughed at the part where guy who supposedly teach English wasn't capable of reading simple sentences. As Justin said, Japanese humor is very culturally specific and, frankly speaking, outdated and primitive. I'm not sure if japanese audience will understand concepts of stand-up comedy or satire.
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WashuTakahashi
 Posts: 415 Location: Chicago, IL |
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This is such a silly question. I'm sure the person who asked it doesn't find every single american show funny. I like Family and Futurama too, but SNL, Whose Line, and The Office are snore-fests for me. Some anime I find really funny, and then others are just meh...(personally stopped Otosmatsu-san after episode 2, didn't find it funny) It's all a matter of taste. No one is right or wrong
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FenixFiesta
Posts: 2581 |
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Puns and other meta style humor (liking going with a comedy bit with a blatant tsundere character) won't work on a person that simply doesn't find the punchline funny.
The other part is "Seinfeld" type humor that presents character that are supposed to be "not so different from us" get into an unusually bad situation that would make the viewer sympathize and laugh about it in a "oh, I've been there!" type of moment, this might not work if say the set up is too culturally sensitive in presentation and a gag involving chopsticks doesn't come through to a Westerner. Most comedy shows will be quick to reveal how there comedy works, if the series run isn't having you at least somewhat smile by the end of episode one then probably the show will likely never have you chuckling out loud at any point. |
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rizuchan
 Posts: 974 Location: Kansas |
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Japanese comedy is very dependent on slapstick. If you oon't find 3 Stooges type stuff funny you probably won't care for much of it.
Also "t3h PeNgU1N oF d00m!!!!!!!!" "so random!" type humor, which shows like Cromartie are especially fond of; it almost reminds me of British humor in that regard. Which really does show that it's a cultural thing. There's a lot of people that don't 'get' British humor either. Personally I find that humor in Anime works for me because it's animated. When the same over the top physical, exaggerated expressions occur in live action Japanese films I find it very cringy. |
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Lemonchest
Posts: 1771 |
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There's a fair few anime comedies I enjoy, but from experience there are a few mainstays of anime comedy that I don't like:
1) Boke - Tsukkomi gags. I like fool & foil gags because they usually take the form of setup > fool says something silly > foil says "that's silly, lets do this" > foil is ultimately proved the equal/bigger fool. Japanese comedy though tends to be more setup > fool says something silly > foil shouts a long list of reasons why the fool is wrong > end of gag. There's no payoff because the "joke" is the put down, not the catharsis that comes from seeing someone who thought they were superior being humbled. 2) A general fondness for a character to shout the explanation for why a situation is funny. This one especially is why I don't watch Gintama. I flatter myself that I'm not so dumb that I need someone to tell me why something is funny before I can laugh, thank you. 2) Repeating the same joke ad nausium in quick succession. Because if it was funny the first time, it'll be funny the next ten times, right? 3) Parody "gags" where they faithfully reenact a certain trope/cliche/gag etc, then have a character say something like "isn't that silly?" Saekano was full of it & One Punch Man is doing it a fair bit this season. Simply saying something is funny isn't funny. |
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4469 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Isn't comedy about the most subjective form of entertainment in the world anyway? You either find something funny or you don't, and, if you don't, you can read an explanation as to why a joke is supposed to be funny but having a joke spelled out for you is the antithesis of comedy.
Personally, most single-camera faux documentary office sitcoms that "smart people" on the Internet rave about fall completely flat for me, but, on the flipside, the slice-of-life anime comedies I like such as Strawberry Marshmallow, Minami-ke, K-On!, and Non Non Biyori would leave most people not into that specific subgenre lukewarm (although most of the time they're rarely "belly laugh funny", or "Ha Ha Funny" as Nelson Muntz would put it, they're "having a fun time with characters you sympathize with" funny). Last edited by Tenchi on Fri Nov 06, 2015 2:33 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Themaster20000
 Posts: 863 |
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I don't see why the person bothered to ask thisquestion. Comedy is the most subjective genre out there. I personal find that most anime comedies try too hard with jokes,along with not knowing how to properly setup a joke.
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EricJ2
 Posts: 4016 |
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Leaving aside the question of whether someone of the right age to watch Rick & Morty and ATHF and find them hilarious would even like anime comedy to begin with (kid, if you liked those messes, try something with actual drug-test-approved HUMOR in it...)--
I'm guessing he's also from the generation that hasn't really had a truly funny funny anime comedy since Azumanga Daioh closed out the Millennium. There are current funny comedies (NouCome/My Mental Choices... springs loonily to mind, and I still haven't gotten to Gintama on my CR queue), but most are still hampered by the new "Otaku stereotype" pandering that there have to be panty shots, harems, stumbling into cleavage, etc. Once a long time ago, before you were born, kiddo, there was this mythical time when all anime was mainstream--Even the comedies. Comedy was based on best-selling manga, which means just about everybody got the joke, regardless of age, employment, or social standing. Ranma 1/2, Tenchi Universe and Slayers came from this time, and aren't we blessed that new technology has brought them back to enjoy? A little digging will also bring up Ranma's predecessor Urusei Yatsura--When I was your age, and anime was just hitting the shore, we had never seen anything like UY on the continent before, and it was one of US early-90's first anime Anti-Drugs. (But then, if you're watching ATHF, that probably might not be the right selling point to use.) If UY is too hard to find nowadays, that's okay, the first Project A-Ko movie is close enough. I'm not as crazy about Space Dandy (I don't expect comic discipline from any show with Hooters restaurants as a major plot point), but of Blackiris' list, My Neighbors the Yamadas has a Peanuts-like comic-strip quality to it, I'm currently giggling over the deadpan vocaloid/idol in-jokes of Miss Monochrome, and the Disney park-fan in me binged through the whole series of Amagi Brilliant Park. And if none of those satisfy...let's get back to the old Culture-War debate between Cartoon Network and anime. 
Last edited by EricJ2 on Fri Nov 06, 2015 7:08 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Foxaika
 Posts: 365 Location: Columbus, Ohio |
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Humor is one of those things that I think you have to understand as personal. Some things are going to make you laugh, but won't make other people laugh.
Thinking of it that way, this almost seems like a non-question really. The only way it becomes a question is if the humor is somehow language or culture dependent, but I'd argue most things are not. I think there's quite a bit of overlap at the end of the day. |
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DmonHiro
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Where the heck was the "grotesque use of underage fan service" in D-Frag! hiding at?
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Foxaika
Posts: 365 Location: Columbus, Ohio |
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I know! I think I missed out 
Might be talking about the jokes about Takao's breasts or something, I don't know. Or perhaps wasn't specifically referring to D-Frag! with the comment(the rest of the comment was fairly general). Honestly I don't quite know what they could be talking about regarding D-Frag!. It's really quite tame. |
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Paulo27
Posts: 400 |
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Considering how "conservative" Japan is (not with their fanservice though) I find it hard to believe they'd ever looks at all the sinners in the West and follow them in anything comedy-wise.
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Dfens
Posts: 459 |
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I guess since I've been watching anime for so long that I get the appeal of how the Japanese incorporate comedy into their shows. Personally I can laugh at certain western shows and movies while others I'm scratching my head at what others find funny.
One show I love to death and am saddened that has not been licensed is Seitokai Yankumidomo. This shows relies heavily on a straight man response's and sexual humor without fan service. I haven't met anyone who's seen a least a episode and didn't laugh. |
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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Mix it with the Kentucky Fried Movie and we will have something like "Is your funny bone broken, misaligned or lame? You are not alone, millions suffer from this non life threatening condition, please donate to the National Foundation to Cure Funny Bone Disease, call now to the number on the screen so that someday we can return the joy to their lives" 
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