Anime comedy is a widely popular style of storytelling that uses satire and humor.
The humor and satires in anime comedies are often overshadowed by actions or fighting scenes, as well as passionate romance. Anime comedies contain comic elements that mainly revolve around a serious subject. Some of them are overused anime cliches, while others are blended with wit, action, and adventure.
To know what are the topmost anime comedies so far, you have to dive into the list given below.
Ghost Stories (2000)
Where to Watch – Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime Video, VRV.
Director – Noriyuki Abe
Story Line: Satsuki Miyanoshita moves with her family to the hometown of her deceased mother. Satsuki, along with her companions, visits an abandoned school building adjacent to the new school complex, where they discover that the building is haunted.
It has been revealed that the mother of Satsuki has been responsible for sealing several ghosts who used to haunt the school as well as the town. Satsuki’s mother has left behind a book where she has detailed how to exercise the ghosts.
Satsuki confronts a demon called Amanojaku, who is later sealed within Satsuki’s pet cat, Kaya. Later, with the help of Amanojaku, Satsuki and her friends finally become able to exorcise the ghosts.
FLCL (2000)
Where to Watch – Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, HBO Max.
Director – Kazuya Tsurumaki
Story Line: Naota Nanda is a 12 – year – old boy who belongs to the working class. He lives with his widowed father and grandfather in the city of Mabuse.
The city is interrupted by the arrival of a Vespa – riding maniac whose name is Haruko Haruhara. Haruko runs over to Naota and revives him with CPR before hitting him on the head. She proceeds to stalk him. Naota finds that Haruko is weaseling her way into his life.
He discovers that the injury Haruko has created in his head makes an N.O. portal. Haruko tells Naota that she is an alien investigator and her presence creates danger for Naota.
Great Teacher Onizuka (1999-2000)
Where to Watch – Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll.
Director – Hiroshi Akabane, Satoru Nakajima
Story Line: Eikichi Onizuka, who is 22 years old and is an ex-gang member, peeps up girls’ skirts at a local shopping mall. He meets a schoolgirl, and the girl agrees to go out on a date with him. Onizuka wants to sleep with her, but all his attempts fail as the current boyfriend of that girl shows up at the hotel they are in.
The boyfriend, who is also her teacher, asks her to return to him. He was an old and ugly man but a man with sufficient influence over the girl. The girl leaps from a second-story window and lands in the arms of her boyfriend. After this incident, Onizuka decides to be a teacher himself and earns his teaching degree at a second-rate college.
Full Metal Panic! (2002)
Where to Watch – Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, Funimation.
Director – Koichi Chigira
Story Line: Full Metal Panic! shows the story of Sousuke Sagara, who is a member of a covert anti-terrorist private military organization, Mithril. This military organization is given the task of protecting Kaname Chidori, who is a spirited Japanese High school girl.
Sousuke Sagara moves to Japan to study at the school where Chidori reads. He is assisted by his comrades Kurz Weber and Melissa Mao. Before this, Sousuke has never experienced any kind of social interaction. He is seen as a military maniac by his friends or schoolmates because he always interprets every situation from a combat perspective.
Chidori, who is being targeted by different organizations, realizes that Sousuke is protecting her.
Azumanga Daioh (2002)
Where to Watch – HIDIVE, Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll.
Director – Fumiaki Asano
Story Line: This is such an anime comedy that revolves around the theme “cute girls doing cute things”. This movie paves the way for movies like Lucky Star and School Rumble.
This anime comedy is an amazing movie as the humor in this movie flows naturally from characters who are totally grounded in reality. It hardly includes any surre or outlandish element. Rather, it focuses on the cast’s charming and hilarious banter. Though this movie is almost two decades old, it is still as outstanding as ever.
This movie shows the everyday life of six students of a Japanese High school and two teachers. Chiyo Mihama struggles to fit in with girls who are five years older. Sakaki is reserved and obsessed with cute animals. Ayumi has a skewed perspective on the world.
Cromartie High School (2003)
Where to Watch – Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll.
Director – Hiroaki Sakurai
Story Line: Takashi Kamiyama is an above-average student. He decides to enroll at Cromartie. Everyone at Cromartie thinks that Takshi is the toughest kid in the school. Takashi has ambitions to change the school to make it better.
He is an amateur comedian. He writes and sends jokes to be heard on special radio stations under the pen name of Honey Boy. Later, he becomes the boss in Japan after becoming the winner at the National Boss Championship.
He later wins a race by defeating the legendary biker Sadaharu. Kamiyama’s first friend Shinjiro Hayashida helps Kamiyama blend into the bewildering environment of the school, though he himself is dumb and does not even understand basic math.
Yakitate!! Japan (2004)
Where to Watch – Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, AsianCrush.
Director – Yasunao Aoki
Story Line: Kazuma Azuma is on a quest to create Ja – pan, which is the national bread of Japan. He wants to create this bread because many other countries have their own signature breads, while Japan does not.
He goes to Tokyo to work at the famous bread-making chain called Pantasia. He meets other bakers and learns from them a lot. Then he starts competing against them. The characters in this anime comedy bake their bread using their burning passion and anger.
Azuma possesses the legendary Hands of the Sun that are warmer than typical. This gives him an advantage in achieving his goal. He strives to create new and unparalleled bread.
Detroit Metal City (2005-2010)
Where to Watch – Crunchyroll, Hulu.
Director – Hiroshi Nagahama
Story Line: This anime comedy is about a shy young musician whose name is Soichi Negishi. He has a dream of being a pop singer. But somehow, he ended up as the lead singer and guitarist of the Detroit Metal City, which is a blackened death metal band.
He is rumored to be a terrorist demon from hell, Johannes Krauser ll, and to have killed his parents. The songs delivered by the Detroit Metal City encourage the audience to get involved in immoral as well as illegal behavior, like rape or murder.
Though Negishi despises the Detroit Metal City, he is not able to walk away from his role as a psychotic frontman of the band. He is envious of the popularity of the Detroit Metal City and his Krauser persona.
Ouran High School Host Club (2006)
Where to Watch – Netflix, Crunchyroll, YouTube.
Director – Takuya Igarashj
Story Line: This anime comedy features the escapades of Haruhi Fujioka, who is a scholarship student at the prestigious Ouran Academy. Ouran Academy is an elite private school located in Bunkyo, Tokyo, where only rich kids come to read.
Haruhi is looking for a quiet place to study when she stumbles upon the abandoned Third Music Room. It Is such a room where the Host Club gathers to entertain female clients. Haruhi unintentionally breaks an antique vase which is very expensive.
Haruhi has short hair, slouching attire, and a gender-ambiguous face that makes her appear like a boy. So the Host Club has mistaken her for a male student.
Gintama (2006)
Where to Watch – Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Funimation.
Director – Shinji Takamatsu
Story Line: The plot of this anime comedy is set in the late – Edo period. Humanity is attacked by aliens, who are known as Amanto or Sky People. Edo Japan’s samurai fights to defend the Earth, while the shogun surrenders after realizing the power of the aliens. He agrees to a contract with the aliens.
It is an unequal contract that places a ban on carrying swords in public and allows the invaders to enter the country. As a result of this contract, the samurai’s swords were confiscated, and the Tokugawa bakufu was made a puppet government.
This story is mostly episodic and has a few story arcs. It has a strange combination of comedy, action, and science fiction.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006)
Where to Watch – Crunchyroll, Hulu.
Director – Tatsuya Ishihara, Yutaka Yamamoto.
Story Line: Kyon, who is a student at North High School in Nishinomiya, is dragged along by Haruhi Suzumiya. Haruhi is a classmate of Kyon and an eccentric schoolgirl. She seeks supernatural phenomena and figures. Haruhi has founded a club with the help of Kyon.
The club is named SOS Brigade, an abbreviation of Spreading excitement all Over the world with Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade. The aim of establishing this club is to investigate mysterious events. Haruhi recruits three additional members to the club.
They are Yuki Nagato, Mikuru Asahina, and Itsuki Koizumi. They are all extraordinary characters that Haruhi seeks.
The Wallflower (2006)
Where to Watch – Hulu, Funimation, Crunchyroll.
Director – Shinichi Watanabe
Story Line: Sunako’s life gets changed after she is called ugly by the man she has confessed her love to. As a result of this incident, Sunako shuns all forms of beauty.
Her aunt, who is also the owner of a huge mansion, demands the boys who live in that mansion to transform her niece into a perfect lady. She also says that if the boys can do it, they can live in her mansion for free. But in case they can’t do it within the deadline, they have to either pay a lump sum amount of money or leave the mansion.
The boys manage to make Sunako physically beautiful. But they are unable to change her attitude. This anime comedy is a humorous tale that follows some unusual as well as ridiculous situations.
Lucky Star (2007)
Where to Watch – Netflix, Funimation, Crunchyroll.
Director – Yutaka Yamamoto
Story Line: This anime comedy portrays the lives of four girls attending a Japanese High school. They are Konata Izumi, Kagami Hiiragi, Tsukasa Hiiragi, and Miyuki Takara.
The plot is set in the city of Kasukabe in Saitama Prefecture. The main character in this anime comedy is Konata Izumi. She is a lazy girl who constantly shirks her schoolwork. She uses most of her time watching anime, playing video games, and reading manga.
In spite of her laziness, Konata is proven to be an intelligent as well as athletic girl.
My Bride Is A Mermaid (2007)
Where to Watch – Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll.
Director – Seiji Kishi
Story Line: The plot of this movie revolves around a teenage boy whose name is Nagasumi Michishio. Nagasumi has great inner strength. He is saved from drowning by a mermaid at the Seto Inland Sea. The name of that mermaid is Sun Seto.
As it is told in the law of mermaids that they will be executed if any human sees them, Sun’s family decides to save both Nagasumi’s and Sun’s lives. They two are to be married, though Sun’s father, Gozaburo, is not happy about this sudden marriage of her daughter.
Gurren Lagann (2007)
Where to Watch – Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, Netflix.
Director – Hiroyuki Imaishi
Story Line: This movie takes place in the future when the Earth is ruled by Lordgenome, who is the Spiral King. The ruler forces mankind to live in isolated subterranean villages that have no contact with the world or other villages.
These isolated villages face the constant threat of earthquakes. Some villagers are conscripted to expand their homes deeper underground. Among such villagers, Simon is ostracized by his peers in Guha village. He finds solace in Kamina, who is his best friend. Kamina inspires Simon to join his gang, named Team Gurren.
Kamina thinks it will help Simon achieve his dream of visiting the surface world.
Kureyon Shin – Chan (2006)
Where to Watch – Disney Plus Hotstar, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video.
Director – Yuji Muto
Story Line: The plot of this anime comedy is set in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It shows the adventures of Shinnosuke and his parents, sister, dog, neighbors, and friends.
He is a five-year-old boy, and the plot revolves around his daily life. The plot is often interspersed with a lot of funny as well as ridiculous elements. The comical elements in this series mainly stem from Shinnosuke’s weird, unnatural, and also inappropriate use of language. He behaves in a very naughty way. This series contains a lot of sarcastic jokes as well as stereotypical humor.
This anime comedy follows a comedy style that comes with many sexual innuendoes. This series has been made stylistically as family-friendly as possible. But it has a few darker episodes, also.
Bakemonogatari (2009)
Where to Watch – Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll.
Director – Akiyuki Shinbo and Tatsuya Oishi.
Story Line: Koyomi Araragi is a third-year high school student. He becomes a quasi-vampire after surviving a vampire attack with the help of Meme Oshino. Meme is a specialist in the supernatural.
Though he has gained superhuman abilities, Koyomi tries to live his life as an average student. Still, he keeps encountering girls who have supernatural problems. Koyomi notices a woman falling from the top of the stairs. He catches her and finds that the woman has no weight on her.
It seems unnatural to Koyomi. Having been determined to help her, Koyomi goes to Tsubasa Hanekawa to learn more about that woman.
One – Punch Man (2009)
Where to Watch – Hulu, Netflix, Crunchyroll.
Director – Shingo Natsume
Story Line: This movie shows a supercontinent version of Earth which has four Moons, super powerful monsters, and villains. Agoni, who is a millionaire, creates the Hero Association. This association employs superheroes who can fight against evils.
Saitama, who hails from City Z, has a hobby of performing heroic deeds. He is a trained hero who has the ability to defeat any enemy with a single punch. Saitama becomes a reluctant mentor to Genos. Genos is a cyborg who is seeking revenge against another cyborg who has killed his family as well as devastated his hometown.
Both Saitama and Genos join the Hero Association with the hope of gaining notability. Saitama becomes a C – Class hero, while Genos obtains an S – Class rank.
Is This A Zombie? (2011)
Where to Watch – Funimation, Crunchyroll.
Director – Takaomi Kanasaki
Story Line: Ayumu Aikawa is an ordinary high schooler who is resurrected by a silver-haired necromancer, Eucliwood Hellscythe, and becomes a zombie after being killed by a serial killer.
Ayumu meets a Maso – Shojo, Haruna, and becomes a Maso – Shojo. Ayumu fights a battle against Megalos with the help of Eucliwood, Haruna, and Seraphim. After that, Ayumu loses some of the associated negative effects, such as drying out in sunlight. He tries to figure out the mystery behind his own death.
He is almost invincible as he is a zombie. He is able to exceed the limits of the human body as he has gained great physical strength and the ability to absorb magic.
Nichijou (2011)
Where to Watch – Funimation, Crunchyroll.
Director – Tatsuya Ishihara
Story Line: This movie follows the everyday lives of the people in Tokisadame. The story centers around the energetic Yuko Aioi, Mai Minakami, who is quiet, Nano Shinonome, who is anxious, and a talking cat whose name is Sakamoto.
This anime comedy contains a lot of random as well as outlandish events with some mundane situations that each character of this comedy has to go through. Nano Shinonome receives the most prominent story arc among all the characters.
She has the desire to become a high school student, but he also has a fear of being exposed as a robot at school. This anime comedy is a treasure because of its unique blend of surreal yet funny elements. It has some heartfelt characters.
The Devil Is A Part-Timer! (2013)
Where to Watch – Hulu, Netflix, Disney Plus Hotstar, Crunchyroll.
Director – Naoto Hosoda
Story Line: The Dark Lord Satan wages a campaign with his four generals. These four generals are Adramelech, Lucifer, Alcatel, and Malacoda. They plan to conquer the continent of Ente Isla as well as annex the human population under the realm of the Dark Lord Satan.
A brave hero appears who leads the human armies against the Dark Lord Satan and his force. He pushes them back to their stronghold. Satan fights against the Hero, but neither Satan nor the Hero is able to defeat the other. The Dark Lord retreats, vowing to return and capture Ente Isla.
Satan and Alcatel are taken to the police station. Satan learns a bit about his new world and gets a new identity.
Kill La Kill (2013)
Where to Watch – Apple T.V., Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix.
Director – Hiroyuki Imaishi
Story Line: This anime comedy is notable for its genre-blending action-comedy, over-the-top silliness, and ridiculous fighting scenes. This movie is basically a social commentary on school life and social status. The stellar use of the characters’ quick wit has made it one of the best anime comedies ever.
This movie features Honnouji Academy, which is a fictional high school located in Tokyo Bay in, Japan. Some fearsome students dominate the entire school. Satsuki Kiryuin is their leader cum president. The students come to the school wearing Goku Uniforms which are constructed with Life Fibres that provide the students with superhuman abilities.
The high-ranked students of this school get more powerful Goku Uniforms. This system affects the social status of the student’s family.
Aiura (2013)
Where to Watch – Apple T.V., Crunchyroll.
Director – Ryosuke Nakamura
Story Line: This movie centers around three annoying schoolgirls with less motivation. These girls are Amaya, Iwasawa, and Uehera.
Amaya is the mood maker in this story who always wants to tease Saki and others.
Saki is an unmotivated tall girl, though she is very good at sports and games. Ayuko is the middleman who is constantly teased by Kanaka because of her shortness. Mei Yanase is the class representative and is very serious about everything. She has a very competitive nature.
Nao Manaka is Yanase’s friend, who enjoys Kanaka’s teasing of Yanase.
Daily Lives of High School Boys (2013)
Where to Watch – Netflix, Crunchyroll, Hulu.
Director – Daigo Matsui
Story Line: This movie shows the daily lives of three school friends of Sanada North Boys High School, and they are Tadakuni, Hidenori Tabata, and Yoshitake Tanaka. The movie revolves around various interactions of these schoolboys with other students as well as their coming-of-age endeavors.
Tadakuni is the straight man of this group who is involved in Hidenori and Yoshitake’s wild ideas. Yoshitake Tanaka has dyed hair, and he usually goes along with the schemes of Hidenori. He is also a Rubber Shooter and has fought against Habara. Hidenori Tabata wears glasses and is a student at Sanada North Boys High school.
He usually gets involved in crazy schemes. Hidenori has an elder brother who has been the ringleader of the group, but now he has gone off to college.
Space Dandy (2014)
Where to Watch – Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, Netflix, Funimation.
Director – Shingo Natsume
Story Line: Dandy is an alien bounty hunter. He is unaware of the fact that he is being pursued by Dr. Gel of the Gogol Empire. This series of anime comedies have lost continuity.
It is because there are so many episodes in this series that feature the protagonists and the antagonists dying, turning into zombies, or being trapped in different dimensions for periods of time.
The series is filled with a lot of references to older science fiction, music, anime, and internet culture.
Shimoneta (2015)
Where to Watch – Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll.
Director – Youhei Suzuki
Story Line: This movie shows a dystopian future of 2030 when the Japanese government is cracking down on immoral activities. All the citizens are forced to wear high-tech devices that are called Peace Makers.
This device can analyze every spoken word and hand motion of the person who is wearing it so that the government can be aware of whether the people are breaking the law or not. Tanukichi Okuma is a new high school student. He enters the Public Morals School to reunite with his crush and student council president, Anna Nishikinomiya.
Blue Snow, a perverted terrorist, kidnaps Tanukichi and forces him to join SOX in order to create and spread pornographic material all over the city.
Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto (2016)
Where to Watch – Netflix, Crunchyroll, HIDIVE, Apple T.V.
Director – Shinji Takamatsu
Story Line: Space Dandy has a lot of humorous elements in it. This is a well-known anime comedy series that balances comedy with other genres.
This series provides comedy fans with all the absurd jokes. This series features a flawless and genius boy named Sakamoto, who is quite popular among the students and the school faculty for his coolness. He is the titular character. Sometimes he finds himself in strange situations; it soon gets revealed that most of the situations consist of pranks set up by the envious male students of the school.
However, Sakamoto always manages to emerge in absolute perfection, which makes him more extraordinary than others. Though this is a short anime, it is so funny that it will make you re-watch it.
The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. (2016)
Where to Watch – Netflix, Funimation, Tubi.
Director – Hiroaki Sakurai
Story Line: A 16 – year – old boy named Kusuo Saiki has had many powers from the day he was born. He is a high school student who has powers like telepathy and telekinesis.
Though people believe that having such a superpower is good, for Kusuo, it is different. Kusuo does not like it at all, as these superpowers are not as good for him as people imagine. Kusuo tries to live a normal life and ignores the powers that make him upset.
He tries to keep a distance from other people in order to hide his psychic abilities. But his classmates gather under him. The casting of this anime comedy is very interesting. It contains Kento Yamazaki, Hirofumi Arai, Ryo Yoshizawa, Hideyuki Kasahara, etc.
Asobi Asobase (2018)
Where to Watch – Netflix, Crunchyroll, YouTube.
Director – Seiji Kishi
Story Line: This movie revolves around three girls in their second – year at an all-girls middle school. These three girls are Hanako Honda, Olivia, and Kasumi Nomura. Hanako Honda is a classmate of Olivia and Kasumi.
She is exceptionally energetic and encourages Olivia and Kasumi to play strange games at school. She is highly intelligent in academics and very talented in sports. Olivia pretends to be an American transfer student who speaks in broken Japanese. Kasumi Nomura dislikes playing games. She is awful at English.
She is extremely androphobic. They are the only three members of a club which does not have any official recognition, called the Pastimers Club. This club has many ambiguous goals.
Grand Blue Dreaming (2020)
Where to Watch – Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus Hotstar, Crunchyroll.
Director – Shinji Takamatsu
Story Line: Iori Kitahara prepares to start his college life on the Izu Peninsula. He is a first-year Mechanical Engineering student at Izu University. He has never learned how to swim.
He stays in a room above his uncle’s diving shop named Grand Blue. He meets the local Diving Club. He tries his best to lead an everyday life but is shocked to meet this group full of buff men. These men spend most of their time drinking, partying, and stripping naked. Iori attempts to distance himself from the group but gets swept up in their antics.
His cousins try to show him the splendors of diving under the water. The openness, as well as the earnestness in Iori’s nature, makes him able to win over several characters throughout this anime comedy.