Okay, so I got interested in the rest of the Gag Manga Biyori after watching the first episode of its fourth season, so I tracked down the first season (unfortunately, the complete second and third season are nowhere to be found). I’m glad I did, because it really is an awesome comedy. Good luck finding a series with more energy than this one.
To give a bit of an indication of the chaos of this show: imagine one of the fast paced episodes of Gintama. Make that pace twice as fast, and you’ve got your average episode of Sexy Commando Gaiden. Double the pacing yet again, and you’ve got an average episode of Gag Manga Biyori. It’s just insane in every single way. After watching this series, I actually tried watching an episode of Hetalia Axis Powers in between. While that usually was an energetic comedy, it suddenly became incredibly boring and slow paced in comparison.
Every episode is five minutes long and shows a standalone story that shows a bunch of random people doing something random. About half of them take place in the past and show famous historic people, while the other half takes place in modern times and parodies something to the extreme. Every episode is funny in its own way, and three in particular were absolute classics for me (the sticker, the end of the world and the death episode). There are a few episodes that drag on a bit too much, but the set of brilliant episodes more than make up for it.
This type of humour of course isn’t to everyone’s tastes, but if you liked Sexy Commando Gaiden then you’ll also like this, because it’s taken its randomness much, much further. I really urge people to at least not ignore the fourth season that’s currently airing. Somehow get it subbed, because it’s a unique comedy. I also loved how every episode has a different ED, where only the… um… lyrics… remain the same. I really wonder what mindset the performers were in when they recorded them…
| Storytelling: | 9/10 – Insane. Just insane. |
| Characters: | 8/10 – Nearly every episode has completely new and unrelated characters. |
| Production-Values: | 8/10 – Looks simple, but the animation is surprisingly fluid for a comedy. |
| Setting: | 8/10 – Instead of taking the more obvious historical figures, this chronicles the people that most western anime fans have never even heard of. |
Hmmm, I seem recall you saying that you don’t really like japanese humour (it was in a comment, don’t really remember where), but you have reviewed a lot of comedies (actually, I think only jungle wa itsumo hare nochi guu is missing) and you have generally rated them highly (well, the good ones at least), so I guess you do like japanese humour 🙂
If this is typical Japanese humour, then yeah: I like it. However:
1) It’s not my favourite type of humour.
2) A lot of anime just aren’t funny for me. Especially those moe comedies.
I think you’re referring to a response I made when someone asked why there were no comedies in my top 10. I do enjoy serious series more, especially the best ones, however I do enjoy watching a good comedy once in a while.
you can find most of the episodes on youtube. search the title. some of them may not be subbed.
Well it is typical japanese humour for me. At least I find this kind of humour to be unique and have only encountered it in Japanese media.
While on the other hand the moe comedies feel more… western-ized (for lack of better word), at least their humourous aspects. I kind of feel they are imitating other types of humour they are not really comfortable with and doing a bad job at it.