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Hey, Answerman! [2009-03-06]

ikillchicken wrote:

Character falls, inexplicably lands amongst other character's massive breasts. I know American comedy has it's own share of repetitive jokes (Homer does/says something stupid) but at least there is some variation there. There's room for it to happen in a creative or especially funny way. These Japanese slapstick gags are so simplistic and interchangeable though that it's just the exact same thing every time. I agree with you 100% on the Simpsons. It's one of the most consistently funny shows of all times. It's begun to slump in the last little while though. You should try and give Spongebob a chance though. Admittedly it's a bit high energy at times but beneath that it's actually often quite clever.

Wow, see, I haven't watched the Simpsons in years, ever since it started getting "preachy"...

Humor is a very culturally-bound phenomenon. What's funny in one culture won't always be funny in another. I think you're massively overgeneralizing with Japanese comedy, of course, focusing primarily on the humor of heavily shounen shows. (Having watched the pathetic attempts at humor in "Shikabane-hime," I know what you're coming from...) And as for American animated comedy always being superior...for every original show, there's a ton of crap too, much like anime. And I gave up on the Simpsons when it started being preachy several seasons back.

Anime comedies (as in, ones with no real drama) I've liked?
1) Hare+Guu and Hare+Guu Deluxe (not Final... wow that was unfunny)
2) Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu
3) Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
I prefer my shows to actually have a mix of comedy and drama. And in America the best examples of that are generally live action.

I don't know about that. In my experience there just doesn't seem to be much to get. That's the problem. There are a handful of very simple running jokes and they are repeated over and over with next to no variation. Character says something stupid, other character hits him with something. Character says something strange, other characters fall over with their legs in the air. Character falls, inexplicably lands amongst other character's massive breasts.

I know American comedy has it's own share of repetitive jokes (Homer does/says something stupid) but at least there is some variation there.

There's room for it to happen in a creative or especially funny way. These Japanese slapstick gags are so simplistic and interchangeable though that it's just the exact same thing every time.

I agree with you 100% on the Simpsons. It's one of the most consistently funny shows of all times. It's begun to slump in the last little while though.

You should try and give Spongebob a chance though. Admittedly it's a bit high energy at times but beneath that it's actually often quite clever.

...and the last episode was awful as well. I knew they were obviously building to something which meant it couldn't really be appreciated genuinely. However, it was gloomy enough that it really nullified the jokes and makes it hard to really enjoy them. For that matter there weren't even that many. It was a massive amount of set up for just one not especially funny jokes. It was this series actually that was sort of the final straw for me with anime comedies. I figured that if I didn't enjoy it even though it received very favorable reviews and was based on a series I did like then anime comedies just weren't going to do it for me.

It was this series actually that was sort of the final straw for me with anime comedies.

ikillchicken wrote:

I know American comedy has it's own share of repetitive jokes (Homer does/says something stupid) but at least there is some variation there.

Because Simpsons doesn't open with the same theme with the slight variation in what Bart's writing on the board, etc. We don't see the same jokes played in endless cycles.
Don't you believe you're being too generous to American stuff & too hard on the Japanese?