And in between all of the shounen, mecha, slice of vampire life anime you usually see, there are actually quite a few amazing comedy anime shows out there! You’ve just gotta know where to look. And if you’re looking at this article then you’re in the right place for some side-splitting anime.
20. Good Luck Girl!
How often do you see a female character who’s basically perfect, rich, beautiful, intelligent… I could go on. In Good Luck Girl the protagonist Ichiko Sakura is such a character. But we finally have an explanation as to why. She sucks out the luck of everyone around her. This forces the goddess of poverty, Momiji Binboda, to confront her and try to suck some of her luck out. Then all hell breaks loose as the two constantly fight, usually in a needlessly over the top fashion. The pairing of these two is comedy gold since their bickering and insults just fly off the charts. There’s also the monk Bobby Statice who is a comedic genius in his own right.
19. Hinamatsuri (Hina Festival)
From the very start, this show is something else. When else does a Mob-esque metal egg girl teleport and fall into the head of a yakuza member? Like seriously, who came up with that pilot? The yakuza member, Nitta, then has to take care of the all-powerful previously-a-robot-egg Hina. Who happens to possess psychic powers. How do you think this powerhouse combo is going to end up? Personally, this show lives on and thrives within the whacky humor genre. Nothing seems too farfetched. The visual gags, the animation, and especially the voice acting is just amazing. Definitely give it a watch.
18. Tanaka-kun is Always Listless
I think I just ruined the show by putting Tanaka on a list. Oh well. If you often feel like taking a nap after just waking up, this will be a very relatable anime. Tanaka really cannot be bothered with anything. The man just wants to enjoy his peace and quiet and lazily go through life. But of course, there are all of these evil beings called “friends” that keep making him do stuff! The backbone of the show is simply how people react to Tanaka’s level of sloth and his ambition to avoid it. Think Saiki K. but no superpowers and a very calming art style.
17. Detroit Metal City
No, Detroit Metal City isn’t the mecha version of Detroit Become Human. Rather it’s a death-metal indie group that is the main focus of this anime. As far as the plot is concerned, think Hannah Montana but darker, louder, and with more pelvic thrusts. The lead singer of Detroit Metal City is Johannes Krauser II, an absolute madman whose angry live performances captivate his metal loving audience. And sure, on stage he acts the part of a Satan spawn. But in reality he is just a soft-spoken college graduate who’s in the band for the money. He doesn’t even like metal that much! But a man has to do what a man has to do. His desperate attempts to live this double life lead to all kinds of situations, and his performances get crazier by the second.
16. Asobi Asobase
Asobi Asobase centers around three very odd friends Hanako, Olivia, and Kasumi, and their honorable quest to um… not be bored. So they create the “Pastime Club” where they just horse around and play all kinds of games. It’s a normal high school comedy but it’s far from dull as the creators of the show really had fun with each episode. The most mundane activity suddenly becomes the perfect plot device to set up a good gag, or leave the girls in a compromising position when the teacher inevitably walks in. I haven’t been this into rock-paper-scissors since that short green haired kid beat up those ants. The art style and visual gags are my favorite part of the show though, as they’re just ridiculous.
15. Shimoneta
Terrorism is bad mkay. But what about sex terrorism? You see, in the world of Shimoneta, all pornographic content is banned and chastity is enforced, leaving sexually frustrated teens to roam the earth and make do with what they can. So it’s the job of our “terrorists” to once again spread the law of the lewd across the city. They all wear underwear over their head and throw obscene pictures in public places. That’s the kind of show you’re getting into so be prepared. Also definitely do not watch this with your family or newly acquired friends. Although the show is primarily a comedy, it still got an R rating for a reason.
14. Ore wo Suki Nano wa Omae Dake ka yo (ORESUKI Are you the only one who loves me?)
It’s hard to tell what comes first with this show, its romantic/drama elements or its comedy. Because as you can guess from the title, the pursuit of love is a pretty big theme throughout the show. But it also has some amazing recurring gags and over the top reactions. The protagonist is somewhat of a Nice Guy™, especially in the beginning. So his flirting methods and mentality make up a big chunk of the show’s humor. The show also portrays the weirdest and yet somehow most powerful antagonist ever to hit the medium: Bench-kun that sly bastard. Overall it has a good mix of laughing tears and sadness tears, so whichever you prefer you’ll find in this show.
13. Prison School
There’s no good way to describe Prison School. It is in a category of its own, that category being NSFW. To cut the plot short, five perverted boys are thrown into prison for one month because they peeped on some girls taking a shower. And once they got to prison they somehow become even more perverted. The show is like boy’s locker room: the anime. So plenty of fanservice to go around, plenty of sexual innuendo to go around, and plenty of fetishes in your face. The show also tackles the burning questions of humanity. Like whether boobs or butts are the best. You know, the real questions.
12. To Be Hero
First you have an ordinary plumber. Pretty good looking, but lazy with a sprinkle of sleaziness. OK more than a sprinkle. He spends his days hitting on women and talking about his superpower: the ability to tell a woman’s hip size at glance. But wouldn’t you know it, now he actually does have superpowers… after pulling a Mario and going down a pipe(a toilet pipe to be more precise). The only downside is he is now a fat and ugly individual whose own daughter can’t recognize him. If “sucked down a toilet to gain superpowers” doesn’t sound like a grand old comedy then you we must have different taste!
11. +Tic Elder Sister (Plastic Nee-San)
Not looking for a long-term anime relationship? Do you just want to have a one night chuckle and never call back? Then Plastic Nee-San is for you! It’s a series of twelve 2-minute skits packed to the brim with laughs. The show is a master at quick-pace character building. In under half an hour you already feel like you know these characters. It also makes very little room for filler content. Everything is a punch line and there’s very little down time between laughs. The humor is far from subtle and the show doesn’t take itself seriously at all. Which you will notice after a minute or two.
10. Kiss Him, Not Me
This show is like a yaoi fangirl underdog story. You see our protagonist Kae Serinuma has always had two characteristics that defined her life. Being overweight, and wanting some Yuri on life, if you catch my drift. But one of those characteristics goes away as Kae loses a lot of weight fast. And wouldn’t you know, it now four boys want to date her! But her only character pillar remains. So she keeps trying to get the boys to fall for each other instead. The title makes sense now, doesn’t it? I’ll leave it to your imagination as to what happens when you try to ship boys who want to sail your boat. It’s gold.
9. Isekai Quartet
This is kind of cheating but shush. I really didn’t think I would enjoy Isekai Quartet as much as I did, as it originally seemed like a lazy cash-grab. But the humor in the show is actually really good, playing off a lot of tropes of the isekai world in general. But also playing on the respective crossover series that the cast comes from. And it’s basically high budget, high quality fan fiction. As we can finally see how certain characters would interact with other household names. The episodes are short, the art style cute, and there is generally no beating around the bush here. The only fault I can find is that if you haven’t watched all of the series, it features a lot of jokes around other plot points, so a few jokes might not land unless you’ve seen the other series.
8. Barakamon
Barakamon is the type of show you watch to get you into that giggly summer mood. There are no real out of this world tropes, twists, or plot lines. Just a truly funny character driven comedy. It also has somewhat of a different feel as there’s no high school, or basketball players, or video games. But rather calligraphy and the countryside. After losing his cool and totally sucker punching a veteran, Sei Handa is sent to the Goto islands to reflect on his actions. This is where the supporting cast comes into play as a plethora of cocky children, nosey old men, and everything in between come to hassle our protagonist. The backbone of this comedy is the overall dynamic between all characters in the show & their adventures together.
7. Daily Life of High School Boys
The best way to view Daily Life of High School Boys is as an ensemble comedy. Personally, no one character stands out as the center of the show. The humor is usually derived out of group tomfoolery and how the characters bounce off each other. And every time the wind blows near a certain river bank. The show centers around kids and the various things they might do for fun, like playing pretend with some sticks or wearing your sister’s underwear. We’ve all been there right? At its worst it’s a feel-good slice of life anime. At its best it’s just absurdly funny.
6. Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto
Sakamoto is just insane. It’s the most predictable and yet non-predictable show I have seen in a while. We catch on immediately that Sakamoto is perfection and that he will always come out ahead and win. But he does it in just the weirdest, most fabulous ways possible. The conclusion to every conflict just has you sitting there laughing, repeating “Of course that would happen”. It’s all so nonsensical that it makes perfect sense. Also everyone falls in love with this man, for God’s sake the bullies that wanted to beat him up ended up putting his picture as their phone background. And then there is Kubota’s mother, jeez louise. This anime is like Mission Impossible only it’s extremely possible, because he is Sakamoto.
5. The Devil as a Part-Timer
From the title alone you might think that it is just another seasonal power fantasy Isekai series, but oh boy. What it really boils down to is a hilarious slice of life anime with the most bizarre overarching plot. Like when you’re just minding your own business flipping some burgers so you can pay rent next month, but then Lucifer shows up and starts blowing stuff up. Only to become a shut-in neet an episode later. Yeah it’s really not gonna make sense till you check it out. And don’t forget your arch-nemesis who really just can’t figure out whether she’s supposed to kill you or not, but she also works in customer service. I don’t know man, this show just got me with its concept and never let me go.
4. Grand Blue
I feel like in order to get the most kicks out of Grand Blue you have to be a bit tipsy. Because man, it’s such a wild depiction of buddies going out for drinks, making fools out of themselves, getting into petty fights, and then doing it all again tomorrow. There’s an overarching plot of our protagonist getting over his fears and learning to love diving. But I find that to be secondary to the humor. Although it does have some blue-ass water, the real gem of the show is drinking with the characters. Or watching them drink when you’re sober. It’s great either way! And these guys look like they were ripped straight out of Attack on Titan when they get angry, which is a plus.
3. The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.
I already knew Netflix anime could be good from Devilman Crybaby. But Saiki K. made me hopeful that it can be funny as well. This is a gag anime so the overarching plot is non-important, although there are a few multi-episode arcs. Saiki is overall a very absurd comedy. I mean Saiki is like a nerfed state of Minecraft creative mode, so the possibilities are endless. There are a lot of little things that make me love the show. Kaidou’s theme song that plays whenever he speak of the Dark Reunion, Terukashi’s inner diva, and Nendou being Nendou. The humor is not as crude as some other entries on this list. And you can enjoy the show even if you’ve never watched anime in your life. It’s really made for broad audiences, hence why I think it’s on Netflix. Can we also just appreciate how Saiki is literally always complaining? Not in an Asuma screeching annoying way. I mean the guy is just so done with everyone, I love it.
2. KonoSuba
I love KonoSuba. Does that make me basic? Probably. Though personally, I think KonoSuba has one of the best ensembles in anime. Especially the core cast of Kazuma, Megumin, Aqua and Darkness. Their banter just never seems to get old. And although some of the characters are pretty one-note, the show avoids getting stale. Kazuma in particular is a gem when it comes to comedy. You can see how much fun the writers have with his dialogue. The recurring characters alongside the villains are also decent, never being in the spotlight for too long but still being memorable. Kazuma’s fight with Mitsurugi and the proceeding power of his creepy hand movements are my personal favorites in the show.
1. Gintama
It’s like if Family Guy was an anime, funnier, and had some amazing fights sprinkled throughout. Before you burn me for comparing it to Family Guy let me explain. This show parodies and references anything and absolutely everything. Which is its biggest strength and weakness. Because if you get the reference it’s like high-fiving the creator in slow motion, but if you don’t get it you feel like you’ve brought great dishonor to your family. Or you just turn it off and move on. Think of watching YGO Abridged without ever having seen the original Yu-Gi-Oh! It may be funny, but a lot will go over your head. The show also brilliantly breaks the 4th wall and uses meta humor, with characters complaining how they haven’t been in any episodes recently. Or the crew watching the trailer for their own movie. The show’s longevity itself speaks volumes to how good it is. Gintama has been going on for hundreds of episodes, with specials and movies, all of which are highly critically acclaimed. If you want a laugh riot anime then Gintama is a great place to start.
