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The thing I love about anime comedy is the inner monologue. It quickly and precisely presents the thoughts and feelings of a character, which allows for great scheming jokes like in Kaguya-sama or hilarious misunderstandings like in Nozaki-kun. In western media it's concidered lazy writing to use an inner monologue, but I think that's wrong. It's a ridiculous taboo on a very efficient and useful tool for comedy. Seinfeld used the inner monologue often and is arguably the best sitcom ever. The office used the clever trick of "the interview shot" to do the same. And I doubt anyone would claim that these shows have lazy writing.

words cannot express how much love I have for this show

I’m sorry but the fish-eye shot of shirogone’s face when kaguya asks why he didn’t bring his bicycle on the rainy day will get a cackle out of me literally every time I see it for the rest of my life

*explaining how Kaguya went and planned everything and exposing Shirogane* 'Checkmate Kaguya is on the verge of exposing Shirogane...' But then Chika comes in and ruins it all I swear this scene- no series had me dying of laughter

The thing that surprised me most about the show is the progression of characters. Every episode digs deeper into each characters personal arcs and it builds on what has come before even going so far as bringing in some social commentary on social status in Japan. By the end of the first season your rooting for the characters and even begin to see thier war as a tragedy of circumstances beyond their control.

A big reason Kaguya-Sama nails the comedy for me is actually because the jokes feel well thought out. There is rarely just one single punch line and everything always adds on to each other. In addition, the narrator adds an additional POV for the funny. It sounds like a stretch at first but this show has quite a few similarities to another extremely good comedy called Arrested Development.

There is an interview of Akasaka Aka explaining how he writes his story in Kaguya. Mainly, for the comedy (which isn't even his main focus as he says) he writes characters with a mindset to subvert the original settings he gave them so as to create contrasts and comedy. First the tropes, then the unexpected twist. "For example, since I intended to write Kaguya and Shirogane to be goofy idiots, I set them up as geniuses in the beginning. And for Miko (Iino), since she’s lewd on the inside, I made her an overly serious Discipline Committee member on the outside." And that's one of the main ways to write comedy, imo. Subvert expectation.

Using Kaguya as example is appreciated (it is indeed one of the best-written comedy manga out there), but I think you've missed a crucial detail of what makes good comedies work: the characters. This is especially apparent in something like KonoSuba where if you put the main four in basically any situation, the comedy would basically write itself just from their character traits and how these traits play into their situation. This is also how sitcoms do it: they establish quirky, colorful characters, so it basically doesn't matter what the actual plot of an episode is, it's carried chiefly by the character interactions. Other than that, there's of course the most basic comedic structure in the form of setup and payoff. The better a comedy is, the more effort is put into the setup so that the author can reap multiple payoffs off of the setup made early on. Every persisting trait of a character is potential material for a joke setup. Grand Blue is perhaps the textbook example of this; it's so good at utilizing its cast in this basic comedic rhythm that you start laughing BEFORE the punchlines even hit because the familiarity with characters makes you recognize where the jokes might be going as soon as you get the first hint, and it feels deserved and clever aside from just being hilarious. This is masterful writing.

For me personally I think its funny as long as its loud and exaggerated. Kazuma flying out of a window sometimes makes me laugh more than a fully elaborated but funny story line

I love the breakdown of the show's writing! Very concise and clear :D

kaguya-sama has to be my favorite romance anime ive ever seen 😭 the comedy always manages to hit with me. i don't normally like miscommunication tropes but in kaguya-sama it's done so well because they're so stubborn and annoying that you actually kind of root for them to win 😭

There's also the angle about how the character driven comedy lets any character play the POV/Straight Man character in any situation (Or the narrator, when all else fails). There's no resident serious character that reacts at the ridiculousness all the time (Not even Iino; she can be ridiculous too). On the contrary, any character can play the voice of reason on a scene, depending on how they fit in the dynamics of the scene. This lets every character have moments where they're perfectly in tune with the audience's reactions, AND lets the writer have more variety of situations and expressions to put them in.

Chika slapping Ishigami is the best scene imo

For the longest time I refused to watch this anime but am I glad I gave it a chance. The pink haired girl with the black bow is best girl especially after that dance she does at the end of s1 ep3.😂

True, i rewatched kaguya-sama atleast 4 times

My personal take from how Kaguya-Sama was written was basically broken down to: „Okay,we do have the story of these two highly-prestigious high school students who are in love with another,but the can‘t tell the other as the would be the submissive part of the story. What would make sense and would make the audience laugh?“ (exceptions:The longer episodes minus season 3 episode 2 and the first part of the OVA) Then they saw that memes are a thing and made sure to add that in as well

Found you via Reddit. Your videos are so high quality! The voiceover and edits to your real-life b-roll are great. I hope you blow up soon. Also the way you transition between OSTs is really nice, I appreciate the Death Note one at the beginning.

This was a really interesting watch! Keep up the great work.

Dude, this is top quality content. Watched both this video and the essay on Konosuba and well, now I'm a sub. Good fucking job mate, you deserve more subs.

4:48 BRO WTF ARE YOU DOING???? WATCH EM THEY'RE BOTH SO GOOD

dude I love your channel man

Great video keep it up 👍

Its one of my favorite comedy anime that i even read manga. Good thing is that is that they have progression. Not like other anime that just keep going.

A good video, I'm honestly surprised it did not receive more views. I hope it does in the future!

i love your channel man

BRO! like DUDE! this is so under rated idk why... everything about this was really good

I think a perfect example to prove this is the love is war English dub wail the dub has the same animation the voices, script, and even presentation of the scrip are different but the core plot of the jokes are still their and it works as well or sometimes better then the original mainly due to it targeting a different cultural market . Both shows use the same joke and plot but the delivery is different yet the joke still works that just goes to show how good the writing is.

Gintama is like half of both. Some arcs are serious but some of the arcs are based off of the jokes.

I happened to watch this anime on a whim but it’s one of my favorites at this point

yup, the ending scenes of who "won" the battle is genius

I will be bragging about being here before your channel ABSOULOTUELY blows up and how I've been here from the very start

I really like your review on those anime you've watched

The premise of the show itself is absurd but creative. The two MCs are both geniuses who are essentially playing a mind game against each other, so to execute the plot the writers need to come up with calculated dialogue and actions for Shirogane and Shinomiya against each other. The show's lore also unfolds naturally along the way showing the adventures of side characters like Chika, Ishigami and Iino and their daily life as students. However, what I think makes Kaguya-sama's storyline substantial was that it repackages classic love story tropes into a romcom anime setting: guy comes from a poor family and works his way up into a rich kids' school, and falls in love with a beautiful rich girl who is way out of his league.

I love the "light theme" and "kaguya-sama ost" playing in the background

Wait you haven’t seen gintama and grand blue yet? They’re both at the top of my list for comedy. You should check them out and hopefully make a video about them

Hey, great video. Love Kaguya-sama.

favorite character narrator

In addition to everything you just said, Kaguya-sama is also one of those rare shows that just keeps getting better with every damn season My head was in an odd place when I first started watching the anime about a year back, barely got through half a season before I put it on hold. Fast forward to earlier this year with season 3 approaching its conclusion, there I was binging the entire damn thing in the single free day I had at the time. Because as soon as I got in the rhythm of the comedy, I got sucked in as if I’d just crossed the event horizon of a black hole

really good video

This anime is like a romantic version of death note for me and its so damn brilliant. I'm glad I decided to try it.

I didnt watch a lot of this show, because its pretty hard for me to finish comedy shows (that doesnt mean I dont enjoy them) and the joke that made me laugh the most was during the lunch scene, when Kaguya oppened her lunchbox and I thought: "lol that piece of meat kinda looks like a Phoenix " and then the guy delivered this line: "I think you have a mythical bird in there" I literaly started crying because the timing on me spotting it and him saying it was absolutely perfect!

0:48 I will dispute this point. Though it is common it does not always have to be the case. In Puss in Boots 2 there is a joke about Puss throwing away his stick-sword and the Dog Companion going to fetch it. This actually advances the plot because this separates him from the group which leads to him getting captured and held hostage.

My favorite comedy Anime: Kaguya Sama, Grand Blue, Seitokai Yakuindomo

Its one thing if anime gives deep emotions like naruto backstories but its A WHOLE DIFFERENT LEVEL when the narrator is a valid option to be your favourite character. Man has 0 screentime but has better humor and character than slightly newer isekais. Also I am talking about english dub narrator for love is war

Nice ❤️❤️❤️❤️

So, I studied comedy. When I was extremely young I started learning improv comedy. And I sucked. I wasn't funny at all. 15 years later, I'm sometimes funny. And there is more to it than instinct. There are lots of reasons something is funny and how to come up with funny shit. I'd say that one way to do this is that is shown here: make a character premise, and then put them in situations that point out that premise. Premise: character thinks admitting they like some one is shameful/a weakness. Situation: put them in every situation where they are so into someone. There's a lot more to it, but great video. I figured maybe a comment and thoughts would be fun.

This has made me want to go and watch the entire series.

I analyzed the jokes to quantum level, and I found out that everything in the anime is basically jokes, things that you think are normal, I analyzed it, and found out that it's relatable and funny, everything the narrator said is relatable and funny, basically while you're watching it, some random jokes that you can't understand or relate to will run pass you, but some jokes will surely get your attention, basically it will never make you feel boring, new jokes keep coming like nothing, and love is war have every types of joke out there, references, a lot. edit: well combining with serious aspect with no joke at all, those arcs still being the best, you can relate to ishigami sport festival arc

I can't wait for next year when your a household name in KZfaq!

No anime made me truly heartfelt laugh as often as this one. And even then, it manages to hit the feels whenever it wants. I love it so much!

This is why sharknado (not an anime) is brilliant. The entire plot is a joke and it makes everything so much fun

This is my most favorite anime, IDK why. This show makes you think that you are inside the show, Its like your friends with the main characters, they are just relatable and the humor is timely. Comedy and Romance are well balance.

You reminded me how much talent and skill it takes to write good comedy.

Man I love your voice

6:30 thanks for the answer!! whenever I watch any comedic show/anime I always wonder how does the author write it... my answer was always the same as your but just needed confirmation.. you know whenever I think of comedy anime the first thing that comes to my mind is KAGUYA-SAMA... the author knows very well about how and when to make a joke that is actually funny and how to attach it to main plot itself , he knows when to make the story a little story and then when to lighten the mood not to mention the VA's are god tier!!! they are insanely good... I have watched a lot of comedy animes now and with that I can conclude the VA's of this show are best many comedy anime fail just becuz' the VA's fail to express the joke which kaguya-sama does perfectly.... the animaters are perfect at their job too...

Amzing

WAIT, BRANDON HAS ONLY 23.6 THOUSAND SUBS? YOU ARE SO UNDERRATED MAN, I THOUGHT I WAS WATCHING JUST ANOTHER CHANNEL WITH 2 BAJILLION SUBS. KEEP IT UP!

good content

*I raised that boy.* - Chika Fujiwara

Yeah grand blue does this too making the comedy the plot

“the plot is a joke…. but in a good way” I couldn’t agree more on this assessment on what makes Kaguya-sama: Love is war one of the best comedy anime/manga/story ever written.

i recently binged the whole show and man it was awsome even after a rewatch its still got me and the manga is as funny as the anime (well and a bit dark :P)

This show is peak fiction, your videos are great!

you single-handedly got me to watch konosuba, nichijou and now kaguya-sama (not yet but im sure itll be amazing) thanks a lot, now im a weeb

This show is a masterpiece

My favorite part is kaguya saying “o kawaii koto” condescendingly every episode

Take my sub.

It’s just get better what can I say

I Fking love this show

The good news is there is still a lot of material that is still going to be covered in the manga. The movie is going to most likely cover chapter 138 to either 151 to 160. The bad news is that manga is wrapping up and will finish around chapter 281. At least there is the mangaka other work Oshi no Ko which essentially covers the underbelly of the Japanese idol industry and social media. The mangaka Aka Akasaka already is getting an anime adaptation of Oshi no Ko 2 years since launching the series. Will it be popular like Kaguya, I don't know, but what can say is that this series is going to be very dark.

The narrator in this show is the best

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS SHOW ITS SO FUNNY

The "the story has to stop for the joke, then continue" argument also applies to Ecchi, which is why Interspecies reviewers is my favorite Ecchi, because the Ecchi IS the plot. This is also why I could not stand "worlds end harem", because by trying to insert a plot into that show that was separated from the MC needing to bang chicks it made it so that any scene with Ecchi was interrupting the plot, and any scenes with plot were interrupting the ecchi.

Is it getting another season??

Lmaooo nice

The dub basically multiplies the comedy of the series. all thanks to the narrator

This video is grape!

I can't believe that team four star dragon ball was not used as an example of good comedy

Kaguya-sama: Love is War is the best anime. Change my mind.

Please watch grand blue

Kei Shirogane ~ "O nìchan, seems Kaguya-sempai is on to your little *dream date* plan. You know she was going to find out eventually. Baka!" Miyuki Shirogane ~ "Ah, Imõto, that *was* the plan. Now that Shinomiya knows of my plan, she will plan around my plan. Then I'll in turn plan around the plan that she's planning around my plan!!"

SO Close to 50 Subs! Not too long away now 😉

I do not need to watch this voice to love kaguya sama I love this fucking anime

What do I see that can make a joke funny? Perhaps hyperbole, absurdity, irony, sarcasm, twists, and the list goes on.

One of the funniest factors of Kaguya Sama is honestly the dub narrator. The sub narrator has the smoothest, calmest, most asmr-esque voice you will ever hear. The dub narrator is high. (everyone can have their preferences of course and I prefer the latter)

Love is war

Konosuba is Nikola Tesla of Comedy then

For me what makes Kaguya funny is indeed the execution, when I read the manga I was pretty bored, the jokes are fine on their own but they fell flat. The comedic timing, visuals and voice acting elevate this from kinda funny to hilarious.

It truly is 50% rom, 50% com.

An then Oshi No Ko….

Why do your videos remind me of an Asian hello future me? ...this is a compliment

The Seinfeld of anime

Yeah, Konosuba’s premise is itself a joke The good kind

I am morally obligated to mention that the dub of kaguya-sama is genuinely fantastic.

Kaguya sama comedy is great, guess author trying to make Oshi no Ko more dark comedy since there less comedic story in that story and more revenge plot

Comedy comes in threes

"The plot...IS the joke!" Yup. There's a reason why it's easiest to explain it as "Death Note, but it's a romcom." Cause it is. And if that sounds absurd, that's because it is. It knows the plot is actually quite moronic. Two hormone addled teenagers who clearly like each other but are too proud (and intelligent) to admit it and to just get what they want. That, and subverting expectations by it being a deconstruction of romcoms with more realistic outcomes. Guess what, when two people refuse to tell the other person how they really feel, the relationship doesn't go anywhere because now both people are doubting if the other person even likes them. Half the plot would have been avoided if Shirogane literally took his own advice and just asked out Kaguya point blank.

Dub is the best for this anime 😤

Kaguya-Sama is good, but Nozaki-kun take the win in this aspect.