The quality of all entertainment is subjective to some extent, but the case for comedy can get especially contentious. What is uproariously funny to one person can fall firmly flat for another; it's why "know your audience" is such a central tenet of the craft. This applies especially so when it comes to cultural context, hence anime comedies being seen as such a hit-or-miss proposition for us in the western sphere, and even more so in the case of 'traditional' Japanese comedic institutions. The earnest execution on display dictates whether a product ends up a fondly-recalled cult curiosity (like Joshiraku) or nearly-forgotten (like Maesetsu! Opening Act). This past season's Teppen—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, if I'm being generous, seems to fall somewhere in the middle.

To be clear, I'm not out to try to 'reform' the lukewarm reception Teppen—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! received by the majority audience. The show was continuously scraping the bottom of the barrel in the weekly rankings on this very site, only momentarily boosted by the premiere of its previously-delayed second episode. That entry would seem to be the most notable thing about the series, an episode-long joke about political assassinations which would have initially aired only hours in the wake of the killing of Shinzo Abe. As irreverent as Teppen—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can be at times, it would seem they at least adhere to minimal standards of good taste. But despite the seeming disinterest from the English-language streaming crowd, I think there is something compelling, something unique that can make Teppen—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! worth taking a look at apart from simply ricocheting off its hyper-specific cultural context.

The 'rules' of manzai comedy, even in the case of Teppen—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'s three-person groups compared to the more well-known duo structure, can be a key driver of indifference to the form. Comedy in general is presumably all about subversion, so having to so strictly adhere to rigid dialogue structures wouldn't seem to fit those sorts of freewheeling mechanics. The big trick to Teppen—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'s distinction, especially early on, is that it uses the manzai performances themselves more as a frame for its presentation. These routines generally center around the telling of some kind of story, after all, thus this show deigns to explore the kinds of experiences these comically-inclined girls would draw their material from. Those opening episodes can begin with the trios starting to tell their story in the traditional manzai format, only to cut to their antics back in the Takakoso dorm which reflect that story, with plenty of manzai-styled, but not necessarily routined, dialogue between the characters throughout.

And the characters in Teppen—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! generally make that action work. Comedy is not just about material, but also delivery, after all, and one gets the impression that at least a few of these girls are the kinds of performers who really could make reading the phone book funny. Their reactions, and the rapport between their vocal performances, sell so many of the incidentally-stylized dialogue or escalatingly-absurd sitcom situations. It's complemented by character animation that plays effectively loose with all their designs, to better let their personal chemistry flow and play off of each other. That calculated inconsistency can itself be inconsistent, with later episodes like the ninth experiencing more off-model shots and stiffer action compared to those energizing opening episodes.

Presentational goodwill can only take you so far, after all, and even if you're receptive or understanding of its stylings, the characters of Teppen—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and the bits they're performing can still be exceedingly hit-or-miss. The crowd of fifteen main characters (one for every exclamation point in that ridiculously-rendered title) never feels too overstuffed, thanks to the tried and true system of cordoning them off into themed sub-groups. You might struggle to recall the name of any given girl, but there's almost always a handle on who goes with who in which performing gimmicks. Alongside their aesthetic signifiers like being The Normal Ones, The Rich Ones, or The Alien Ones, each trio also nominally represents a different region of Japan, though only the group from Ibaraki especially incorporates that into their schtick. Still, it precludes plenty of regional Japanese humor being generally integral to Teppen—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! throughout, just one more barrier of entry which might cause others to struggle with its notably niche subject matter.

Teppen—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thankfully isn't a show that entirely coasts on references; as I said, there's a real sense of practiced timing and delivery powering the presentation of the comedy craft at the heart of this show. Sometimes that heart gets distracted in being too indulgent or experimental, such as a fifth-episode excursion playing with a time-loop gimmick which is interesting, but probably didn't need to be an entire episode unto itself. But then you have instances like the seventh episode or the eighth, which play further with the ideas of stories within stories which might motivate more stand-up material even as that initial presentational gimmick is deployed less and less. Teppen—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can be extremely funny in a general way when it wants to, but it's spaced out between toying with its own delivery and equalizing earnestness, and as a result I'd suggest spacing out your own viewing of episodes if you choose to take this one in. Its style is distinctly not one well-served by the binge-watching model.

Still, that earnestness is an encouraging factor. The ending episode stands out in this regard, confirming the whole exercise of the season as but a prequel to the titular comedy competition, and hinging on the sort of hail-mary miracle performance you can see communicated in idol show song-and-dance numbers, but in this case hinging on what we're told is an astonishingly brilliant incidentally-improvised manzai comedy performance. I don't know if I was laughing at this point at the actual jokes and dialogue, or simply at the sheer absurdity of the way the situation was presented, but credit where it's due: It got me laughing. As well, the show flirts with denser analyses of comedy as an institution, such as a producer in episode 3 positing the old chestnut of female comics not being particularly funny, suggesting the stories therein can be sold on the presence of the cute girls themselves. It comes around to a fairly scathing teardown of that marketability formula, made even more surprising coming from a project that is a Bushiroad joint itself. Teppen—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! never reaches for those heights of commentary afterwards, but the effect still lingers, even as its engagement with the actual act of manzai slowly drops off until that aforementioned ending.

It all means that while a lot of Teppen—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'s jokes and specific characters are not, themselves, especially memorable, the presentation and particular stylings stick with you after you watch the whole thing. That opening theme could be a factor, being a delightfully-animated rap number by the entire crew of fifteen girls that's as pointedly unlike-anything-else as the show itself. And special recognition must be given to the localization team for the subtitles on this show. They pull off rendering so many of the labyrinthine puns and references powering the schtick of this show that even if a joke was falling flat, I generally couldn't presume it was due to some poorly-communicated part of it going over my head. They even adapt that aforementioned opening theme in a way that rhymes virtually the whole way through, and definitely deserve the credits that Crunchyroll so unfairly denies that part of the presentation (If you're out there, get in touch with me, and I'll see about editing this review with the named shout-out you deserve!).

Having gone through and analyzed this whole weird little show, it's definitely understandable why Teppen—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'s efforts didn't click for a particular audience. It can be exhaustingly inconsistent, and without an appreciative ear for characteristic delivery of routines and dialogue, there isn't a ton else to recommend it for apart from bursts of uniquely expressive character animation. It is, on a technical level, an odd but overall average anime series. But I still encourage those whom it might have passed by to give it a shot. Different forms of comedy aren't for everyone, they can't be. But what this show has is definitely for some people, and I hope they get to find it.