Forum - View topicJapanese Comedy: Who Gets It?
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TranceLimit174
 Posts: 958 |
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Comedy series seem to be a hit over here, and recently I've been wondering why. Most comedy shows I watch, if they don't directly parody then chances are I won't really care for it (few exceptions being Azumanga and Cromartie). There are obviously huge differences in structure between Japanese and American comedy, and I'm thinking that Japanese comedy is simply one I don't understand. Most of the sight and physical gags in comedy anime just don't get any sort of reaction out of me. Sometimes I feel the look just makes characters needlessly goofy. So I was wondering if someone could explain Japanese comedic structure so that maybe I could appreciate it more. There are many times I feel lost in such shows and I think it's because there's a layer of humor that I'm just not seeing. Then again anime comedy could just be what it is and it doesn't resonate with me.
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11293 Location: Frisco, TX |
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I don't think I've seen too many titles that were strictly Japanese comedy, with the exception of Yakitate!! Japan and all of its wordplay jokes, but thank goodness for the liner notes. Azumanga Daioh, Kare Kano, and School Rumble could also qualify, I guess. But again, liner notes are a big help in understanding certain aspects of the culture.
I'm not sure what else is out there. Although, a friend of mine once told me to check out a live action show of this dude named Hard Gay. I've seen one segment in where he tries to help a struggling ramen shop guy get some business, but I think that was beside the point. For a guy named Hard Gay, it was funny in it's own way to see how he "got to customer", but I don't know if that's necessarily a Japanese-only deal. I did think it was funny, though. |
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Kidder
 Posts: 188 Location: Bat country! >.< |
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Lol, I saw a "Hard Gay" episode where they try to sell his hat in a Yahoo auction. He went to the Yahoo office and they set it all up for him. Some hilarious moments. Yakitate! Japan had a crazy amount of japanese wordplay. It got a little annoying during the competition in Morocco where the jester did a wordplay "reaction" at least once an episode, which could last almost 5 minutes before you got the punchline... Azumanga Daioh had a few Japanese "inside-jokes" about Osakans. It's probably like how the Americans have "inside-jokes" about Southerners/red necks. I found Pani Poni Dash a little bit confusing sometimes, because they sometimes parody a older japanese tv show or feature a Japanese celebrity that most gaijin will never have heard of. The type/style of comedy will vary depending on the audience the anime is aimed at. Shows for younger viewers will have more sight gags and goofier characters to help amuse the audience. Shows for more mature viewers rely less on sight-gags and maybe more on wordplay, hidden meanings or subtle reactions as well as comedic timing. |
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Keonyn
Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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I'm with you, I find it funny on occassion but honestly a lot of Japanese comedy that doesn't rely on universal gags I just don't find all that funny. Not to say it isn't funny as I'm sure the fact I don't live in Japan and didn't grow up with their culture has a lot to do with it.
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Azathrael
 Posts: 745 |
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Some basics: They don't find sarcasm to be funny. Making fun of emperor = bad idea of a joke. Humiliating celebrities is one form of comedy. A favorite talk comedy of mine is Downtown. They're the same two guys that do Hey Hey Hey. More information here |
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Hisdon
 Posts: 411 Location: Poquoson, VA |
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I notice there's not a lot of satire either.
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Raven Shinobi
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Anime has been my obssession ever since I was a kid, so I'm very used to and susceptible the JP comedy and maybe even prefer it over western comedy.
While the scene of someone sneezing because someone previously gosspied about him would elicit a chuckle out of me, some people, especially those who just got into anime wouldn't find it particularly humorous at all, because they are not familiar with the Japanese culture and that in Japan there's a superstition that whenever you sneeze it's because someone is talking bad about you. |
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God Gundam
Posts: 404 |
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Personally, I don't get Japanese comedy at all, but on the other hand, I doubt Asians know why everyone laughs when Peter Griffin says "douchebag."
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omar235
 Posts: 1572 Location: Florida, Jacksonvile |
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I get most jokes in anime except for the ones that talk about certain things that occured in other medians such as actors or movies I don't know. Most everyone gets slapstick humor its present in many diffrent countries even here, though it doesn't cater to everyones taste so you might not ever get a reaction from it. As far as play on words well it wouldn't really be funny for someone who isn't familiar of the Japanese language which is why I never got most of them, but there are some anime that have made me laugh pretty hard with those. Lets face it any comedy that comes from a language or culture you don't have a good grasp on won't make you laugh very much. Though I am curious about what God Gundam mentioned, does anyone know how popular American comedy shows are in Japan?
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omnistry
 Posts: 1015 |
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Some of the dry humor sosmetimes goes over my head, but I still laugh anyway. Like Pani Poni Dash. Some of the jokes I need the explaination to get; but other times I'm laughing my ass off watching it. Same goes with Azumanga; but I know someone whose from a town outside of Osaka, and she says that everything they joke in that show is true.
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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Everybody knows what I do, so I'll just say that to me it's better to see it in its original Japanese dub to really get what's being said with my experience in the field. When they translate the joke into the English version, either it won't be translated very well or they completely change the joke.
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Raven Shinobi
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I know there are some sitcoms dubbed to Japanese, but I don't know whether they air it on national TV or not. I think Friends was particularly a popular non-Japanese comedy at one time there. |
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Shonen Bat
 Posts: 382 |
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South Park is very popular in Japan. I know that. Not too sure about other shows. Could you imagine watching Beavis and Butthead in Japanese? Oh my god! |
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Spotlesseden
Posts: 3514 Location: earth |
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i got most of the japanese jokes/comedy, but maybe it has to do with that i'm Asian.
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daxomni
 Posts: 2650 Location: Somewhere else. |
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I can't deny that I'm probably missing all sorts of Japan-centric gags, wordplay and innuendo but comedic anime is still my favorite genre over all. Nine times out of ten if I hate some anime series it's because it's taking itself too seriously.
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