You keep the same tropes, the same situations, and commonly the same outcome. That’s where parody anime comes in. Anime that’s aware of all the tropes of its genre, and uses them to get a few laughs in. We’re taking a look at some fine specimens of the parody roster as we count down some of the best parody anime to date.
15. WataMote: No Matter How I Look At It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Unpopular!
You’ve all seen it a million times: Geeky girl goes to high school and one day decides that she wants to be popular. She fails at first, but eventually she finds a few friends who accept her for the way she is. And they form a family-like bond where everyone looks out for each other. In WataMote, that entire second part is nowhere to be seen. It’s a brilliant cringe compilation where the protagonist just keeps taking L after L, never meeting that Prince Charming or reuniting with a childhood friend. Instead she just keep embarrassing herself, and sometimes her brother.
14. Senyuu
Senyuu tells a story as old as time: “Descendants of a hero need to fight off the demon lord”. But it’s done in the most brilliant way. The show has so much fun with the concept and takes itself so lightly, that even the opening sequence isn’t constant throughout the show. It’s a short anime, so I don’t want to give any of the punchlines away here. I’ll just say that literally nothing ever goes like you would expect. Not a single thing. Also someone keep an eye on that old guy.
13. Cromartie High School
Just think of your average high school anime. Okay, now add some JoJo-esque characters, some absurdist humor, and a hint of crack and you have this show. It’s a brilliant parody of all high school tropes, or at least the ones that were popular back when it aired, and commonly breaking the fourth wall and making jokes about itself. It even had a segment where the protagonist thinks about how the audience is going to complain about the casting choices for the show, or how they’ll notice that they use a lot of still frames.
12. One Punch Man
We’ve all seen our fair share of “overpowered protagonist” shows, as well as superhero shows in general. So One Punch Man just blew the masses away with how the handled the subject. With a protagonist whose main worry is that he’s too powerful and can never enjoy battles, to that oh-so-recognizable sidekick who keeps getting beat up every fight, this show is quite something. I’m sure you have at least heard of it, since it’s quite popular, but if you haven’t? I would highly recommend you give it a shot. Even if you don’t find the humor up to par(which I doubt) I’m sure you’ll enjoy the S-class animation.
11. Hetalia Axis Powers
Now this show is quite unique, as it doesn’t parody anime tropes, but rather literal history. Each character in the show represents a hyperbolized stereotype of a country, and the anime just follows them around as they go from day to day. The dub is especially peculiar as the voice actors pulled no punches when it came to how heavy their accents are. It might not be for everyone. But for people who like history jokes and also don’t mind stereotypes, there is no show quite like Hetalia.
10. Carnival Phantasm
If you’re one of those people who actually follows which game studio does what, the name Type-Moon should instantly spark an idea in your head. With a million versions of the Fate franchise as well as the less popular “Lunar Legend Tsukihime” and “The Garden of Sinners”, they’re quite popular. So, what would happen if we took some characters out of these anime, and then put them into a game show? Well, you’d have to watch Carnival Phantasm to find out.
9. Isekai Quartet
Since we’re already on the topic of “group characters from different shows and make it into an anime”, let me present Isekai Quartet. Like the name would suggest, it takes characters from the four, later five, most popular isekai shows… and has them all attend school. Since there are some big names at play here, like Kazuma or Subaru, it’s brilliant seeing them all interact with each other. There are plenty of jokes based on the original shows. And if you like isekai, this show is bound to make you laugh.
8. Mr. Osomatsu
The only way I can describe this show is like this: a TLC comedy created by old-school Newgrounds animators who ate some shrooms. It’s centred around six identical twins who just kind of chill out and get into situations they probably should never get into. It’s an absurdist comedy that has a childish art style, even though it’s very much targeted towards adults. There’s no logic anywhere with people getting enemas on the ocean, the gang going to space for some reason, and Obama making an appearance as well.
7. FLCL
Fooly Cooly is a weird one, as it honestly feels like a parody on not only anime, but a parody on your sanity as well. It barely even feels like a show, and more like an art piece that you don’t fully appreciate until someone explains it to you. It constantly breaks the fourth wall, switches up its animation, introduces plot points so weird that you question the meaning of life, and an overall experience that’s hard to explain. It is definitely not for everyone. But the people who like Fooly Cooly will remember it for the rest of their days.
6. The Misfit of Demon King Academy
If you’ve watched One Punch Man and thought “this isn’t nearly ridiculous enough”, then The Misfit of Demon King Academy is the show for you. The protagonist is so overpowered that it’s hysterical. He nearly killed a man because his heart beat was so loud that it blew his eardrums out. He deflects oncoming spells by blinking a bit harder than usual. There are no words to describe how ridiculous he gets. So if you want a hyperbole of an already hyperbolized trope, you came to the right place.
5. KonoSuba
KonoSuba is a wonderful take on the isekai genre where everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. But not in a “The Rising of the Shield Hero” kind of way. The cast is simply ridiculous here. The male lead chose to take a goddess to his fantasy world instead of getting a superpower or a legendary item. Why? Because she was annoying him. At one point he even refuses to resurrect her because he got annoyed. The female cast is comprised of the said goddess(who’s useless by the way), a masochistic tank, and a mage who can only cast one overpowered spell a day. The show is truly out there and will do wonders if you’ve grown tired of the standard isekai formula.
4. Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto
Take everything I said about The Misfit of Demon King Academy, take out the magic, plop everyone down in a high school, bake it for 45 minutes and you have this show. It revolves around the titular Sakomoto and all the ways that he’s superior to all mortal beings. You want to bully him? Well now you’re in love with him, even though you thought you were straight. You bully his friend? He’ll use straws and seasoning packets to quickly get you on your knees. It’s ridiculous, it’s funny, it’s Sakamoto.
3. Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei
And now we go to the opposite side of things(at least as far as titular characters are concerned) with Setsubou-Sensei. The MC is a teacher so depressed that every little inconvenience has him writing his will. He’s constantly in despair, and the show even opens up with him trying to hang himself. However, there’s also his student Kafuka in the picture. This girl is optimism itself. She taught that Zetsubou was just trying to make himself taller. You can kind of see where most of the humor comes from.
2. Lucky☆Star
If you like old school anime, then you’re bound to get a few kicks out of this show. This is because it centers around a cast of characters who also like anime and manga. Because of this, the show constantly parodies or jokes about shows that were relevant at that time(around 2007) as well as generally poking fun at the otaku lifestyle itself. The art style is really cute and cozy, and if you’re a veteran anime fan you should definitely give it a go. Not only so that you’ll get all the jokes, but also because you’re the key demographic.
1. Gintama
Gintama is the king of all parody and comedy in anime. It’s a giant in the anime world with countless seasons, animated movies, live action movies, and probably a parallel universe. It parodies anything and everything. Trying to seek out any common sense or any thread to follow within the show is an impossible task. From characters watching their own movie, to complaining how they haven’t been featured in an episode for too long, the fourth wall is just a bunch of rocks on the ground and nothing more. So if you want to invest some serious time in a show and possibly bust a gut laughing, you know what to do.
