The hilarious comedies of anime are often overlooked in favor of the more dramatic or action-packed storylines. However, most shows have at least a few funny moments that make you laugh even during serious situations such as intense fight scenes and complicated romances. And in between all that shounen anime you usually see, there are actually quite a few comedy shows out there-you’ve just gotta know where to look.
It’s a serious world out there, with so many problems and not enough time to solve them. Sometimes it helps just for some fun from the comfort of your own home! Comedy is diverse with many different styles, from satire to wittiness mixed within an adventure genre. No two comedy series are alike because they each bring something unique to stand up against other common genres like drama and romance films; it only takes a handful of episodes before viewers fall head over heels laughing!
Here are our top picks for best comedy anime:
30. Is This a Zombie?
Is This a Zombie? Follows the daily antics of the human-turned-zombie Ayumu as he begins his new, ludicrous life where the supernatural becomes the norm. Ayumu starts unlucky: with his life taken; turned into a zombie; cut in half by a chainsaw-wielding magical girl; and turned into a magical girl as well.
29. The Way of The House Husband
The famed “Immortal Dragon” Tatsu, who is best known for his skirmishes against rival gangs in the past, now spends his days as a modest househusband. He has apparently given up being yakuza and can be seen wearing an apron while cooking dishes or making sure to tidy around the apartment when he’s not outside picking vegetables with his wife. With such impeccable skills on all fronts—from cooking delicious meals to maintaining cleanliness within their home—Tatsu does everything short of running errands himself!
28. Cool-headed Hoozuki
“Hell is a bureaucracy, and business has never run smoother than ever thanks to the demonic efficiency of Hoozuki. He’s known for his micromanagement skills that are worthy of Wall Street. This anime series follows bad and level-headed Hoozuki as he spends his daily life troubleshooting the nether region. With an abundance of familiar faces from popular Japanese legends working middle management positions this referential, yet anachronistic dark comedy brings new meaning to the phrase “employer liability.”
27. Welcome tofallen angel School! Iruma-kun
Fourteen-year-old Iruma Suzuki is unlucky, having to work for money and support his irresponsible parents. But when he finds out that they sold him to thefallen angel Sullivan as a slave, rather than worrying about what will happen next in life–he’s relieved! To make matters even better: Sullivan wants him like a grandchild! Iruma is enrolled in afallen angel school, and he now needs to hide his identity as a human. To make it diffi, Sullivan himself is the headmaster, and he draws attention to Iruma.
26. Uzamaid!
Misha Takanashi is a young second grader who has lost her mother at an early age. Now she lives with that same father in Japan, but Tsubame Kamoi comes to live there. Tsubame Kamoi, formerly a Japan Air Self-Defense Force officer, is now working as the Takanashi’s new housekeeper. She is a hardcore lolicon and always tries to get near Misha.
25. So I’m a Spider, So What?
The day is as normal as it can be in high school until an unprecedented catastrophe strikes the school, taking the life of every person in its wake. Guided by what seems to be a miracle, only a handful of students are fortunate enough to reincarnate into another world. One girl was not so lucky as she was reborn as a weak spider. Now, the premise is dramatic, and it screams retribution. Still, this spider has an upbeat otaku personality, a genius that sees everything as a learning experience yet is sometimes oblivious that she is now a monster in a parallel world.
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24. Good Luck Girl!
In the anime series Good Luck Girl, we are introduced to Ichiko Sakura. She is rich and beautiful and has a wealth of intelligence; however, she sucks out all luck from those around her leading goddess Momiji Binboda to confront Ichiko to make some good fortune back. This leads them into continuous fights as they battle each other over trivial matters that usually go overboard with overdramatic fight scenes.
23. Hinamatsuri
What starts as a metal egg girl teleporting and falling into the head of Yakuza member Nitta quickly escalates to an all-powerful previously Robot Egg Hina possessing psychic powers. How do you think this powerhouse combo is going to end up? This show lives on by thriving within the witty humor genre; nothing seems too farfetched. In addition to creative animation paired with amazing voice acting, the visual gags make for one excellent watch!
22. Daily Lives of High School Boys
Daily Lives of High School Boys is not just about the mundane moments in life. This slice of life comedy will have you laughing with the hilarious situation that these wacky characters put themselves into in their daily lives of high school romance, drama, games, and not smart jokes.
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21. Tanaka-kun is Always Listless
High School Senior Tanaka is always listless, and his best friend Ohta has made it his mission to get him more involved in life. The series’ comedic elements come from a cast of characters trying their hardest to convince the lazy guy those different activities are fun or useful for everyday living. Still, he’s not interested because they take time away from sleeping!
20. Gintama
Gintama is a gag comedy anime series that’s capable of making anyone laugh. Gintama features an episodic style of storytelling, and more often than not, they break the fourth wall with their antics in feudal Japan. The cast of characters: Gintoki Sataka, Shinpachi Shimura, Kagura, and Sadaharu scour the universe for thrills while breaking through boundaries set by society.
19. Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto
This is a story of an ordinary guy with impeccable skills. Despite not being perfect in every way (cough), he always seems to have the right answer at any given moment – no matter what situation life throws him into! The humour comes from how ridiculously flawless our protagonist appears even though he’s living his average everyday life.
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18. Arakawa Under the Bridge
Kou Ichinomiya seems like a pretty good guy. He is the son of an upper-crust businessman, and he lives his life so that he will never owe anyone anything. That was until one day when Kou accidentally falls from Arakawa Bridge! Luckily for him, Nino saves him! This leaves Kou indebted to her–not in a bad way, though, because she has only one wish: to fall in love with someone who also loves running around town just like herself. Here’s where it gets interesting; now Kou must live under the bridge like this girl’s boyfriend.
17. Mob mentally unwell 100
Mob mentally unwell 100 is funny anime that shouldn’t be ignored. It’s also about an eighth-grader who has psychic abilities yet has been afraid of becoming overpowered for most of his life and shuts off all feelings to prevent the incredible power from getting out of control. Mob mentally unwell 100 follows this psychic character in everyday situations as he now attends school, trains with false espers, and tries not to get too involved in anything or anyone so he can keep it together and, of course, his efforts to have a semblance of normal life results in funny situations.
16. One Punch Man
A comedy series parody of superhero stories. This caped baldy has easily defeated all the villains with his normal punch, but he doesn’t like being called “the strongest.” He wants to be recognized as a legitimate hero! This funny anime takes all the shounen anime tropes, turns them on their heads and treat them as jokes. One Punch Man‘s superpowered fight scenes between heroes and villains usually lead to absurd situations. It has an interesting cast of characters in the form of a powerful esper, overpowered cyborgs, strange martial artists, and normal people like the License-less Rider that sounds like an overpowered character in Japanese: Mumen Rider.
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15. Tonari no Seki-Kun: The Master of taking the life of Time
Seki-Kun is a genius when it comes to passing the time. He creates games whenever he comes upon a boring moment in class. He has the time of his life on his desk by playing dominos with erasers that includes a pyrotechnic display for a finale or an elaborate shogi battle with sinister betrayals, traps, drama and self-sacrifice. Sitting next to Seki is Yokoi; she gets distracted and equally immersed in all of Seki’s antics and annoyed that she can’t pay attention in class because of this.
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14. My Ordinary Life (Nichijou)
Nichijou is a show about three girls and their daily lives, but it’s so much more than that. It draws inspiration from classic anime like Dragon Ball Z or Tron to make every mundane event epic in some way, shape or form. The designs themselves are very relaxing with pastel colors everywhere; perfect for those of us who need comfort after watching Seki-kun instead of studying for an exam!
13. Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-Kun
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-Kun, aka Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun, is one of the most lighthearted yet funniest anime out there. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun pokes fun at shoujo anime tropes found and has a lot of comedy that comes from real-life events. Chiyo Sakura confesses her feelings to Umetarou Nozaki, but unbeknownst to her, he’s actually a shoujo mangaka which leads them down an awkward road with some misunderstandings along the way before they find inspiration in their school life together for his next work!
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12. I Can’t Understand What My Husband Is Saying
Every rom com anime has the same trope of a high school romance. Except for this one! The characters are already married by the time they meet, and their chemistry is anything but cheesy. You also get to learn more about them as people, which lets you connect on an even deeper level with two fictional beings that feel increasingly real over time.
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11. Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!
Chunibyo refers to people with the delusions of having special abilities and superpowers, usually seen in children. High school student Yuuta Togashi’ used to be a chuuni. When his neighbour Rikka Takanazaki, a fellow chuuni, moves into his class, he must face her. Hilarity ensues as Rikka, who still hasn’t outgrown her delusions of having supernatural powers, tries to drags Yuuta’s Dark Flame Master chunibyo persona out of him. She likes to call herself Wicked Eye, and he has no choice but to get involved with her life.
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10. Detroit Metal City
In the world of Detroit Metal City, Johannes Krauser II is a Lucifer spawn that captivates his metal-loving audience. He’s not just an angry performer on stage, though – he is actually pretty soft-spoken in reality and doesn’t even like metal all too much! But being as desperate for money, sometimes a dude’s got to do what a dude’s got to do.
9. Asobi Asobase
When the girls of Pastime Club get together, anything can happen! With a group that has as much personality and creativity as this one does, it’s no wonder they’re always having so much fun with each other. Horseplay is just their go-to activity when things start to grow stale around the school. The more the girls played games in their club, the funnier and wittier it became. Who would have thought that normal activities like badminton or chess could be so funny?
8. ORESUKI Are You the Only One Who Loves Me?
The show is both a romantic comedy and an absurdist satire on the Nice Guys™ in society. The protagonist has such ridiculous reactions to women yet somehow gets by with them all the time due to his witless charm- it drives me crazy! It’s hard to tell which comes first, the romantic/drama elements or the comedy. But as we all know from its title, love is a really big theme throughout the show and has some amazing recurring gags too.
7. Kiss Him, Not Me
Kae Serinuma is a sickeningly BL fangirl who can’t get enough of her favorite genre. But, after losing weight and four boys in school interested in dating her, she becomes more self-conscious about what they might think if they found out just how much time she spends fantasizing about them in BL relationships with each other. This anime has a lot of fantasy scenes that play out only in her head, and the reactions she gets with normal boy to boy interactions are hilarious.
6. Barakamon
The comedy of this anime focuses on the contrast between a stressed-out city boy and relaxed islanders. The story follows Sei Handa, who is sent to an isolated Japanese countryside village after he gets into trouble for punching his boss at work. He finds himself surrounded by kids that are constantly teasing him about how weird they think he looks, old men nagging him incessantly with requests from all over town–and calligraphy!
Against all odds, Sei actually starts enjoying life in Goto Islands and wants to stay permanently as people start coming around more often than before just because they want some company now that there’s someone new in their little hometown.
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5. The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.
Saiki Kusuo is a very absurd comedy. I mean, this show has so many creative opportunities that there’s just no limit to what you can do! Some things about the show make me love it even more than others—like Kaidou-san’s dark reunion theme song and Terukashi with her diva antics. There’s also this implied idea that Saiki Kusuo is so tired of the people around him and the situations they get themselves in that he goes “yare-yare.” The humor doesn’t have as much crudeness as other anime shows on the list either, which means anyone who loves watching TV or movies will enjoy it too!
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4. KonoSuba
The KonoSuba series has one of the best ensembles in anime. The core cast is Kazuma, Megumin Aqua and Darkness – their banter never seems to get old! Although some characters are pretty one-note, there’s enough variety that it avoids getting stale. Kazuma especially delivers on comedy, as evidenced by his dialogue which you can tell was written with a lot of fun from the writers themselves! Recurring villains alongside recurring heroes also add depth while not taking over for too long but provide memorable moments like when we see how powerful Mitsurugi becomes after fighting him or watching all those creepy hand movements he does afterwards.
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3. Space Dandy
Dandi is a space hunter with an alien spaceship. He loves to visit a questionable place on his adventures in outer space! Dandi and crew end up getting took the life of in every episode like Kenny from South Park, which seems weird until you get into it more. This anime isn’t for someone looking for deep plots or thought-provoking themes, but if you love Cowboy Bebop, South Park and psychedelic visuals, this show will be right up your alley.
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2. Great Teacher Onizuka
Great Teacher Onizuka, a satirical anime that pushes boundaries and subverts expectations through over-the-top jokes. The series follows Eikichi Onizuka, an ex-motorcycle gang member who is determined to become the greatest school teacher of all time. He somehow lands a job at an esteemed private school where he faces challenges from out-of-control students and conniving teachers, but not even these can stop him!
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1. Crayon Shin-Chan
The anime series blends the wonder of childhood with silly, offbeat jokes in an easy to laugh way. Crayon Shin-chan is one of the longest-running anime series, with over 1,000 episodes and dubbed in dozens of languages. The show follows a rambunctious boy who causes chaos and asks inappropriate questions to adults. This type of humor works best for anyone looking for an easy laugh without too much explanation.
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We’ve given you our top picks for the best comedy anime out there. Did we miss your favorite? Let us know what you think or if you know of other comedy anime to watch and enjoy! Leave a comment below, happy watching!
