Sakigake!! Cromartie Kôkô

I didnt laugh at the jokes because i felt they were too forceful and honestly even with the amount of "wow" references they used, it still didn't work for me. In fact, Gintama is way better than it in my personal opinon....

Cromartie is an aburdist, short-form comedy (roughly 10min episodes) which parodies of the Japanese 'Juvenile Delinquent' genre, that was extremely popular in Japan, in the 80s and 90s- in anime and manga, as well as live-action TV and gloriously cheesy, cheap b-movies.

If you ARE a fan of the JD genre (stuff like Sukeban Deko, Yu Yu Hakusho, Baki the Grappler, Initial D, GTO, or even Stardust Crusaders-era Jojo) you should enjoy this series, but you don't really have to know the genre, to appreciate the glorious, played-completely-straight absurdism of Cromartie.

It's hard to describe Cromartie; Other reviewers have mentioned britsh comedies like Monty Python, and although Cromartie has some huge differences, being a satire, set in High School for delinquent teenage boys, the overall style and quality IS comparable (which isn't a comparison I'd make lightly. Monty Python are some big shoes to fill). The Mighty Boosh and The Young Ones also have similar appeal.

It can be very hard to pull off this kind of absurdist comedy, without lapsing into forced, painful-to-watch, "lol so random" cringe. But Cromartie does it beautifully.

I've seen literally hundreds of anime series' (sad, I know), much of it goddam terrible, especially comedies, which can be hard to translate, across cultures- But Cromartie is in my all-time top 10, and has as much re-watch value as classsics like Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, or Evangelion.

Different people like different humour, but Cromartie is a solid 10/10, in my book (and I score shows pretty harshly)

Also, Cromartie has arguably THE greatest opening theme music, in all of anime... (well, on par with Bebop's... and Eva's.... and Space Battleship Yamato's... and Science Ninja Team Gatchaman...)

First of all, for as many anime parody series as there are in existence, nothing even comes CLOSE to the wackiness factor of Cromartie High School. Absolutely nothing. For those anime fans with no sense of humor whatsoever, avoid this show like the plague, because it's very likely that you just won't appreciate it. You have been warned.

If you do have a healthy sense of humor, though, read on.

Take one serious high-grades high-schooler from out of the respectable school system and throw him into a school full of delinquents, robots, gorillas and aged rock stars. And that doesn't even scratch the surface of what you're about to get yourself into. Cromartie High School is quite possibly the funniest show, never mind the fact that it's anime, that I've seen since Monty Python's Flying Circus. Clocking in at an average of ten minutes per episode, this would be a perfect fit for the Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network, but alas, you'll only find it on the very exclusive Anime Network (how many cities carry the actual network? Two!?) and their On-Demand service. As far as I know, there are three (soon to be four) DVDs on sale from ADV Films, each carrying an average of eight episodes per disc. But I'm straying from the point...

The point I'm trying to make is that this show is flat-out hilarious. Imagine if you will: A punk sporting a mohawk with a mind of its own. A smart-mouthed robot that looks like an over-sized coffee can. A blonde-haired student whose mom you'll swear is a guy. An intelligent giant gorilla. An enigmatic Mexican-style masked wrestler. A scary-looking bear of a man whose only weakness is motion sickness. And to top it all off...Freddie Mercury. That's right, the guy from Queen, all the way down to the mustache, suspenders, bare chest and killer theme music. It's all about the ten-minute adventures they go on, often with disastrous results. Intrigued yet? To be honest, I didn't know what to think when I first started watching this show. I did, however, find myself laughing uncontrollably during around the 3-minute mark, and it kept up the pace for the full 10. Any anime that opens up with a disclaimer has to be good, or maybe that's just my opinion. I get so happy to see it On-Demand when the new episodes come on that I start to hum along with the theme song. Seriously, after watching 3 episodes I started to laugh at key points in the show's opening song/montage/what-have-you. It's just that infectious.

The show itself takes its visual style from old Shonen anime and manga from the 80's, with high school gangs fighting for turf and respect. Everyone looks older and more mature than they really are, and there are more than a few instances that you'll be reminded that all of the characters are supposedly 16 year-olds. It takes repeated potshots at the very pillars of time-honored anime stylings, such as using limited frames of animation for movement or very static backgrounds with an explosion-of-light-like effect to punctuate a character's serious sounding line. After those pillars give, the mighty structure crumbles into rubble, leaving only dust and rocks. Most parody series would build it back up in it's own whacked-out image, but Cromartie just pees all over the remains, laughing all the while. And you'll be laughing right along with them, guaranteed.

This show is so goddamn funny and clever that it saddens me that more people haven't seen it. I would highly recommend watching it because its really good. The only reason why you shouldn't watch it is if you are somehow not a fan of comedy.

Visuals - This show has what would technically be considered bad animation. Instead of actually walking across the screen or face each other when talking, characters slide and bounce across the screen and character models are enlarged to show who is talking. Though this may seem somewhat lazy in something else, here it just adds to the comedy. Think about it, if the producers of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" could have afforded a real horse for the movie, imagine how many brilliant jokes would've been lost. The bizarre backgrounds and jerky movements just add to the show's hilarity. Ignoring the "poor" animation, the character designs and sets themselves are all actually pretty good. Everyone from the human characters to the gorilla to the robot has an interesting and unique character designs. Like I said, the places where the people are bouncing across the screen in hilarious mockeries of walk-and-talks are well-drawn.

Sounds - I don't speak Japanese, but the voice acting on this show is pretty good. All the voice actors have distinct and funny voices that appropriately fit their characters. The soundtrack is also very good. Probably the best thing in the audio department regarding this show is the sound effects. When things are moving in an unnatural way (like one dude's sentient hair) there are sound effects to accompany each movement. Whenever there is a mother vehicle or explosion, the sound used is somebody verbally imitating an explosion or engine. Most of those scenes are played to be extra melodramatic, making it all the more funny when you hear some voice actor going "vroom vroom" in sync with the motorcycle revving.

Plot - This show doesn't have much in the way of an ongoing plot. Most episodes will feature self-contained events. A lot of these events will be something very mundane and relatable like trying to figure out the name of a song stuck in your head or being stuck in a cab with a driver who has no clue what he's doing, and hilarity always ensues.

Characters - Despite not having much of a plot, most of the characters are developed at some point. They all have mostly consistent personalities that subtly change over time. There's even a whole episode devoted to telling the life of the gorilla.

Humor - Ignoring what I've already said about what makes this show funny, there is a lot of other stuff it does. The writers who wrote this are pretty much experts on comedy. Jokes never outstay their welcome, and scenes only last as long as they need to. Once they are out of material for a setting, the story quickly changes to a new location with new characters. Running jokes are only brought up when there is something to be done with the material. The overall structure of this show is a bit bizarre as the writers are more focused on making you laugh than telling a story, and it really works.

If i had to watch only one anime series over and over again this is that animated series