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Answerman - Why Don't I Find Anime Comedies Funny?

Ever hear of a thing called cultural relativism? I find your statement outright insulting. Just because their culture and by extension, their average sense of humor is different, does not make it "primitive" or "outdated." Try not measuring everyone by your own cultural standards for a change.

Lemonchest wrote:

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.

This is essentially the basis for all tsukkomi humor. And while Gintama owns and frequently subverts this routine, it can be found - to an extent - in almost any anime comedy. I don't think most viewers need the jokes spelled out for them - rather, they're supposed to derive amusement from the straight-man's overblown reaction. Gintama actually provided me with a whole new appreciation for tsukkomi/boke gags. Still, I can totally appreciate why this type of humor isn't for everyone. I think you feel the same way about tsukkomi humor as I do about laugh tracks.

meruru wrote:

Ever hear of a thing called cultural relativism? I find your statement outright insulting. Just because their culture and by extension, their average sense of humor is different, does not make it "primitive" or "outdated." Try not measuring everyone by your own cultural standards for a change.

I'm sorry, when most of the developed world experienced and moved away from this type of humor very long time ago it is indeed outdated and primitive.

I'm not sure if japanese audience will understand concepts of stand-up comedy or satire.

Looking forward to reading your academic paper on how to factor a country's sense of humour into the Human Development Index.

This mass persecution in the period immediately following a time of great variety and experimentation, combined with Japan's strict defamation laws, might explain why Japan has much less variety in satire than do western countries, or why Japan's equivalent to the Onion is a lot more tame than its US counterpart, but Japanese audiences do have experience with satire.

Humor is subjective but a ton of anime is just plain not funny. There are many incenstuous otaku-culture jokes which are not funny but anime insists on using. Like the "hilarious" one where the MC walking in one the main girl while she's changing. This joke stopped being funny the second time it was used yet I see it in so many goddamn anime and I don't even roll my eyes at this point, I just shake my head. Count boob jokes and "haha he's a puerile pervert, ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS" stuff in there too. That shit is not funny unless you are 12 but by god it shows up everywhere.

Humor is a beneign betrayal of our expectations. If your "joke" has been done a million times before and the viewer can see it coming from a light year away it's not gonna be funny.

Anime, especially the more otaku-stuff, also is really bad with kairos. Oftentimes they'll throw in some cheap otaku humor in a completely inappropriate scene as if otaku are so shallow they'll drop a show unless it gives them some pandering book joke. Properly kairotic humor is so damn rare.

Granted, really funny anime is really goddamn funny--Nichijou, Pani Poni Dash, and Nerima Daikon Brothers are perfect examples of this. So it's not something endemic to anime as a whole.

Either we both have cold, dead hearts and our souls are sour, shriveled and desiccated shadows of what they should be... or we just don't have the same tastes as many other anime fans.