Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「お後がよろしくって…よ!」 (Oato ga Yoroshikutte…Yo!) by Goku-Rakujokai
Watch the OP!: Streaming ▼
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「普段問答/ふく違い/叫び指南」 (Fudan Mondou/Fuku Chigai/Sakebi Shinan)
“Normal Dialogue/Different Clothes/Shouting Instructions”
Did you like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei’s coverage of random topics? Is Seitokai no Ichizon’s ‘skit in a room’ format in good taste for you? Are you alright with ‘cute girls talking about random stuff’ as a guilty pleasure? Finally, are you ecstatic when meta-humor is used? If so, welcome to the show that’s about Rakugo, but not really.
After some experience with other productions with J.C. Staff this season, I came into this a bit wary. It seemed like the lowly publicized type of comedy that was meant to be brushed under the rug. Granted, it has staff credentials, such as the director who did Another and Ika Musume (Mizushima Tsutomu), the author who penned and inked the Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei manga (Kumeta Kouji), as well as voice actors from Yumekui Merry (Sakura Ayane), Haganai (Yamamoto Nozomi), and Yuruyuri (Goto Saori), but even then, I was still hesitant.
By the end of the episode, my brain was fried (in a good way) from all the metahumor. The opening was just like that of Seitokai no Ichizon’s own–both are self-depreciating–but it’s been so long and underused that it’s still a fairly fresh way to open.
However, just like its predecessor, the premise is a risky road that labels it as a hit-or-miss sort of show. When Seitokai came out, Divine expressed his doubts with episode one, whilst I immediately thought “this is a keeper.” The ‘antics-in-one-room’ format just doesn’t work for everyone. I considered writing a more in-depth post like I did for Nobuna, but after many attempts, I feel that the best way to decide is to note the following:
- Like I’ve said above, if you enjoy random discussions about random things in an enclosed dialogue-heavy setting, this is for you. If not…get out quickly. The show likes to use meta-humor, Japanese culture, and language puns to a high degree. Although they may be presented in a fairly rapid-fire fashion, if you are not able to get a chuckle out of say, the placement of the last stroke in 犬 or the implications of what direction you’re facing the sea when you yell “You idiot!”, this may not be the show for you.
- If you’re looking for any original characters, you aren’t going to find any here. The group of five basically consists of five core character templates: the curious cutie, the serious megane, the quiet introvert, the reactive idiot, and of course the responsible straight. If you enjoy the chemistry between these archetypes, then give it a shot. Otherwise, look elsewhere for groundbreaking comedy troops.
Although I encourage people to see this show if they enjoy random and dialogue-heavy quirk comedy, for everyone else, if you’re feeling curious and are not completely turned off by the above: give it a shot. Since the format allows one to stop at any time without missing any development, there isn’t any pressure plot-wise to complete, meaning the three-episode rule doesn’t apply here–the format the show will take has fully matured by the end of this episode. One episode should suffice for you to judge whether or not to add this to your watchlist.
Full-length images: 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 37.
ED Sequence
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ED: 「ニッポン笑顔百景」 (Nippon Egao Hyakkei) by Momoiro Clover Z
Watch the ED!: Streaming ▼
Preview
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Another generic show.
I have to say yes. Just look at how many shows we have this season that just about a cast of girls doing stuff or just talking. I miss the days of amazing anime shows that actually HAD A STORY!!!
BOOOORING..
How does it feel to be over a week behind the rest of the internet?
Feels bad man. Happy? ;_;
lol. Glad you’re covering it though, I know comedies are a bit hard to blog but it’s great to get your perspective on this show. Haters gonna hate.
It’s a bit hard to follow with so much cultural references, but I really feel that’s great in it’s own right. It give me a bit of insight of Japanese culture and it doesn’t hurt to have cute girls.
I think almost no one had any expectations for this show so it’s nice to see it get coverage so thanks Zanibas.
I was not aware someone subbed this.
*wanders off to obtain*
Watching it just now, I haven’t had a good laugh at such horrible puns for a very long time.
Feels good, man.
In a season with not that many good pure comedies, I’d say this is worth watching. It’s show where one can relax and not think about drama and whatnots. For me, this is more interesting than the other JCStaff show this season :p.
The ending is crazy addicting.
I agree with you bro.
The ED was awesome. It’s like the Lucky Star OP, but (I’m not sure) I think the wording was in a funky Raku style.
Agree with you totally there. The SD looks of the girls are really cute but specifically the first 17 seconds of the ending are the cutest of all. Looks like I’m not the only one who thought so too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NkJQneLyqg
“The group of five basically consists of five core character templates: the curious cutie, the serious megane, the quiet introvert, the reactive idiot, and of course the responsible straight.”
Not exactly. The episode didn’t do as good a job of showing off everyone’s personality as you’d expect. Gankyou has a fairly major sadistic streak and Kukuri isn’t so much quiet and introverted as dark and gloomy. And Tetora is just kind of there
Ah, gloomy, that’s the description I was looking for. Thanks for the clarifications on their personalities.
Ironically, Tetora is the main character and not Marii
This was a show that I had no virtually expectations for, and I walked away pleasantly surprised, it’s humor isn’t for everyone, as it caters to a very specific audience. Because of this, it’s wrong to call it “generic” since you don’t see a show like it every season. Definitely on my to watch list.
I’ve tried watching it, but the only somewhat funny thing was the inu-kanji skit; the rest of the show somehow was utterly strange and is indeed not meant for western viewers.
This show is DEFINITELY not generic, but you probably have to be Japanese to understand most of what was said here. I had no idea what on earth they were going on about when they talked about shouting ‘you idiot’ in different directions. Were they referencing the different countries they were facing?
Still .. even saying that there was a fair amount of good stuff that caused me to chuckle.
That was probably a not so subtle mocking of politics and popular opinion I suppose. Not that hard to understand if one is familiar with popular opinion in Japan :p.
It is got to do with Japan’s international relations with Russia, N Korea, China and Taiwan.
This Kouji Kometa’s trademark style of Satire and Meta Humor.
The shouting to the sea skit was basically a subtle middle finger to some countries Japan is having disputes with.
GIVE US BACK OUR LAND = Arrow points towards Russia. This about the decades old Kuril Islands conflict. Basically Russia and Japan are arguing about the islands that Russia took in the last few breaths of WWII. Tensions only rose again after Russia shut out negotiation attempts and reinforced missile defences in the occupied islands in 2011.
GIVE US BACK OUR PEOPLE = Arrow points towards North Korea. This about the various North Korean kidnapping incidents.
GIVE US BACK OUR TECHNOLOGY = Arrow points towards South Korea. Japan and SK has been in some sort of technological standoff and competition. Some badmouthing a image destruction have been going on in both sides for awhile now.
GIVE US BACK OUR SUBMARINE RESOURCES = Arrow points towards China. The 2012 dispute between Japan and China for the Senkaku Islands and their country’s respective territorial waters. Said area of water is under Japanese jurisdiction according to the UN, but due to the high possibility of submarine resources being found there, China refuses to back down on claims and is taking an aggressive stand.
GIVE US BACK OUR MONEY = Arrow points towards Tokyo. Self explanatory really. But also, take note of the White House silhouette. Interpret that as you will.
For the ‘give back’ shout to tokyo, the silhouette probably relates to the Diet building, though I also kinda agree if you interpret that way :D.
Well, in my opinions, you should, at least, pay attention to world news, especially those related to Japan, and knowledge about Japan’s cultural to understand this show’s comedy.
I tried telling people in IRC about the joke but the pun just dies. Translating it into english just nearly kills the pun(Not joking). I guess this anime wasn’t meant for people who doesn’t understand Japanese language and text. I salut [gg] for doing the best they can to bring the humor out for english translation.
I agree with Zanibas. If you guys don’t get what those jokes are then pass this series.
If you guys didn’t get the “nyanya(meow,meow) joke and nana(七,7)” presented by this girl.
Then drop it.
———————
If you guy’s don’t know that kanji or some chinese words was formed from shapes and if you play with them they can be actually be funny. Show Spoiler ▼
.
http://puu.sh/HfsO
http://puu.sh/H92O
http://puu.sh/H8JM
http://puu.sh/H8G5
____________________
The author of this manga is Koji Kumeta anyway.
Zanibas… I know covering a show like this must be difficult, so I have nothing but praise for trying. That said, I think it’d be a great idea to talk about some of the puns, since vale (as awesome as he is) can’t possibly do it justice without covering the screen with translation notes.
On another note, I think it’d be a great idea to learn Japanese then rewatch this to get all the jokes. It is lost in translation, after all.
Luxor its hard to discuses this kind of thing in english. ;A;
/me already tried.
Hence why this is a one-off. I don’t think I’m cut out to do the type of reviews that go through a joke-by-joke basis. The show is a good watch, but a tough thing to blog as you say. It conflicts with my schedule anyways :S.
I watched this just to sample the new season shows. I was definitely pleasantly surprised by how entertaining it was. Will add to watch list. =)
Instant pass on this. If you’ve seen one show with nothing but cute girls doing stuff and talking you’ve seen practically 60% of the anime for the last 6 years. There’s like over 6 shows alone THIS SEASON that’s all about cute girls doing stuff and talking too each other NO THANKS don’t need another.
easily best comedy this season
if… you understand the japanese culture
but this show is really not everyone
at least I say thank you for bring this on randomc
and DAT ED song! Hyadain never dissapoint me
That was simply amazing.
Delicious meta that makes you think.
This and the meta of Jinrui are like a two punch knockout.
I heard Japanese don’t get Seinfeld.
It’s quite strange to see combination between Kumeta’s humor with… cuteness and moe. For me, while it’s not as random as SZS, the show is still quite good.
And also, one trivia: the whole rap lyric at the beginning of the ED is one full name >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jugemu
I had no expectations for this show, but I was pleasantly surprised because it actually made me laugh. It may be a bit hit or miss at times, but I generally got most of the (political) jokes in the show and I liked how it took the piss out of itself, animation, bad exposition and fanservice for the ratings, among other things. Time will tell if this is a show that will either pick up steam with rapid-fire jokes, or lose it and starts getting boring. Well, I’ll watch it just in case. Definitely not a show for everyone though.
The OP is fun too, and the ED is addicting as hell!
I for one enjoyed this series. I didn’t have particularly huge expectation and I got what I wanted from this show. Also if you are familiar with this author, you pretty much know what to expect.
I bet Yui Funami(YuruYuri) would die if she watch this.
I think more than half of the puns and references just blew past me and the rest that I caught are thanks to context clues.
Still, its pretty enjoyable and I think I’m going to stick with this for various reasons.
And that ED is the cutest ED I saw this season. XD
That’s stretching it a bit to say that VA is from Yuru Yuri. Yes, she’s credited, but she just moves her lips and has someone else talk for her.
I absolutely loved the first episode of this.
Also, I didn’t notice until I saw this Full-lenght image, but isn’t that Lupin III standing next to Marii?
“The opening was just like that of Seitokai no Ichizon’s own–both are self-depreciating”
Self depreciating? They cause themselves to gradually lose value over time? 😛 (deprecating is the word you wanted there)
I’ve always liked this kind of show so even the unoriginal characters (let’s face it, they’re all basically walking tropes) won’t stop me from watching it. Just hope a fansub group comes along that’s willing to truly put in the effort a show like this needs. Hint: translation notes so people can understand the puns are a major plus.
gg is doing the show and their translator makes blog posts with all tl notes.
I learned something new today. Thank you for enlightening me on the subtle spelling difference 😛
It was interesting to watch however, when it came to political satire I just couldn’t laugh at it…
When they were shouting out “GIVE US…”, it was literally a fuck you to countries that is having disputes with.
I don’t know, maybe because my background is Korean and we have a tight tension between Japan so yeah…
It reminds me more of Lucky Star than Seitokai.
Out of the four points you mentioned, I’m game with two and half, but I guess these sort of shows will never have a cast properly gender balanced. Oh well. Still, this episode was really funny.
Well there is one thing I REALLY like in comedy and that’s when characters break the fourth wall, and they did just that to my enjoyment. I am sold, no matter what anyone says I’m gonna go through this entire series.