The 25 Best Comedy Anime

What are the best comedy anime? 

Whether you’re a fan of toilet humor or sophisticated satire, the best comedy animes have something to offer everyone.

Popular genres such as Shōnen and Isekai are regularly lampooned, while daily life and high school provide the backdrop for more grounded anime comedies.

We’ve compiled this list of the best anime comedies, so whatever your sense of humor is like, there’s a hilarious anime series or movie waiting for you.

The Best Comedy Anime

Our ranked lists are created by researching and rounding up information from the most reputable web sources.

Here’s our list of the 25 best comedy anime:

25. Ouran High School Host Club

Ouran High School Host Club follows the antics of Haruhi Fujioka and his cohorts in the titular club and their efforts to entertain their all-female clientele.

This good comedy anime series is notable for how it playfully dissects gender identity, as the gang realizes the main character is actually female.

The show avoids any sense of preachiness with this theme, and this romantic comedy has plenty of fun exploring the nature of friendship, too.

Fans of the show have been calling for a second season since it first aired, and if you can’t wait for that to happen, there’s a live-action TV series and movie.

24. Crayon Shin-chan

One of the most popular anime series in Japan throughout the 1990s was Crayon Shin-chan, an adaptation of the manga which was a huge hit on Asashi TV.

Blending deliberately crude character design with equally crude humor, this anime series takes a scatological approach to comedy in more ways than one.

While some of the jokes are lost in translation with Crayon Shin-chan, on account of language barriers, this isn’t a problem with the irrelevant toilet humor.

Undoubtedly weird but full of charm, Crayon Shin-chan might not be the funniest anime of all time, but it’s a classic throwback to comedy anime from the 90s.

23. Space Dandy

Anime legends Shinichiro Watanabe and Masaaki Yuasa team up for Space Dandy, an outer space comedy following the titular alien bounty hunter and his unusual sidekicks.

Space Dandy eschews an overarching narrative in favor of one-off storylines, and in doing so, maximizes the potential for absurdity as it explores its reality-bending, multidimensional universe.

Watanabe and Yuasa are experienced at creating offbeat comedies set in twisted realities, and the level of inventiveness on display here is world-class.

Space Dandy is also one of the best-looking comedy anime series to emerge in recent years, with some eye-popping use of colors and effects.

22. One Punch Man

Shonen anime with a comedic twist is just what anime fans need, and in this regard, One Punch Man delivers this and then some.

One-Punch Man follows the adventures of Saitama, the titular superhero who is on a quest to find an opponent worthy of his incredible skills.

Action anime enthusiasts will cherish the genre parody elements, but the comedy here is so broad and entertaining you don’t need to be an anime junky to get the jokes.

With deliberately exaggerated combat and some ridiculous character design (in the best possible way), this series earns top marks for action and comedy.

21. Great Teacher Onizuka

Great Teacher Onizuka – often referred to as GTO – is another classic anime comedy that demonstrates the Japanese flair for bawdy comedy with a perverted undercurrent.

The story focuses on the exploits of biker gang member Onizuka, who becomes a high school teacher at a Tokyo middle school.

Running for 43 episodes, Great Teacher Onizuka is shamelessly – and hilariously – sexist and peppered with a liberal dose of cultural satire.

A live-action version followed but failed to replicate the charm and energy found in this great anime comedy series.

20. Detroit Metal City

Detroit Metal City takes offensive comedy and, to paraphrase Spinal Tap’s lead guitarist, “ramps things up to eleven” by joking about every taboo topic you can imagine.

Reserved and shy college student, Souichi juggles a double life that alternates between his mild-mannered student persona and the wild, no-holds-barred world of death metal music.

Most of the comedy is derived from this dichotomy, sending up the stereotypical image associated with metal and its interplay with conventional Japanese society.

With each episode of this short OVA only running at around 13 minutes, Detroit Metal City is a great comedy anime you can binge in a single sitting.

19. Urusei Yatsura

Rumiko Takahashi’s career stands as one of the most exemplary in the history of manga.

The creator of Inuyasha, Ramna ½, and a host of other legendary franchises, perhaps her most famous, is the science fiction comedy Urusei Yatsura.

Airing in Japan between 1981 and 1986, it’s hard to understate just how influential Urusei Yatsura was for an entire generation of anime fans, with the bulk of the series directed by Mamoru “Ghost in the Shell” Oshii.

Part sitcom, part love story, Urusei Yatsura was iconic of early anime pop culture and continues to work as a hilarious comedy many years later.

18. Good Luck Girl!

In Japan, Good Luck Girl!, known as Binbougami ga! ranks among the most outrageous animes available.

Blending parody-style anime with broad slapstick, the drama unfolds around Ichiko Sakura, a high school student who has always been luckier than her peers.

Momiji, the God of Misfortune, promptly arrives to set the world in balance, with much of the humor coming from these two opposing characters.

Fast-paced yet not without its touching moments, Good Luck Girl! is a pun-packed supernatural anime comedy.

17. Love Hina

Love Hina tells the story of teenager Keitarō Urashima, who inadvertently becomes the manager of an all-girls dormitory and must contend between his heart and his loins.

Japanese comedy often revolves around a combination of burgeoning romance and lustful desires, and Love Hina exemplifies this form, balancing bawdy humor with moments of heartfelt sincerity.

The comedy moves from slapstick to situational with ease, held together by the creators’ obvious love for the various characters.

Love Hina is an endearing and whimsical anime comedy that occasionally tugs at the heartstrings without lapsing into cheesiness.

16. Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt

“Endearing and whimsical” are two words you’re not likely to hear anyone use when discussing the Hiroyuki Imaishi-directed Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt.

Resembling a car crash collision between every anime genre you can think of, then spliced with a hefty dose of Western culture, the result is as anarchic a comedy as you’ll find.

Conceived over one too many alcoholic beverages by the team who brought us Gurren Lagann, Panty and Stocking is a no-holds-barred comedy free for all.

With visuals paying homage to US cartoons (the central characters are obvious Powerpuff Girls rip-offs), this is as puerile and revolting as anime comedy gets.

15. Prison School

Adapted from the manga of the same name, Prison School is the kind of anime that gives the genre a bad name in all the best possible ways.

Raunchy and shamelessly naughty, Prison School is another Ecchi anime in the vein of Great Teacher Onizuka, which relishes in the perversions of its central characters.

To call them “protagonists” might be a stretch. The five teenagers at the heart of Prison School are borderline masochists who revel in their punishment, and it’s here where much of the comedy derives.

Prison School’s bawdy humor is about as subtle as a brick to the face, adopting a refreshingly no-holds-barred approach.

14. Shimoneta

The full title for Shimoneta is Shimoneta: A Boring World Where The Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn’t Exist, which is a bit of a mouthful.

Clearly a dystopian vision of the future, Shimoneta plays like an expansion of the verbal morality statute fines issued for swearing in the film Demolition Man.

Public morality soon bumps heads with Blue Snow, the perverted terrorist hell-bent on subverting society to her corrupting whims.

As with Prison School, Shimoneta’s appeal lies in its naughty and subversive sense of humor, which is another way of saying it’s full of silly dirty jokes. 

13. The Tatami Galaxy

Masaaki Yuasa’s adaptation of The Tatami Galaxy offers audiences an interesting riff on the repetition of life found in Groundhog Day’s classic comedy.

Here, instead of reliving the same day over and over again, protagonist student Watashi is doomed to repeat his college life, which unfolds differently in each episode.

Featuring rapid-fire dialogue, eccentric secondary characters, and a few surreal twists and turns, The Tatami Galaxy explores every humorous undertone of the concept.

If you enjoyed The Tatami Galaxy and want more anime of the same caliber, check out the semi-sequel, Night is Short, Walk On Girl.

12. Excel Saga

Some of the best anime comedies work by parodying the art form, poking fun at the tropes and conventions of anime while spoofing iconic series.

Few comedy animes succeed quite as well as Excel Saga, which takes its space opera premise to poke fun at everything from Astro Boy to super-deformed mecha.

Excel Saga’s tagline on its initial release was “quack experimental animation,” and the genre-hopping free-for-all mockery found in each episode is a testament to this ethos.

It’s raucous entertainment in which the jokes fly thick and fast, which makes repeated viewing a pleasure. 

11. My Neighbours The Yamadas

Isao Takahata concluded the 1990s with Studio Ghibli’s most charming and funny anime movies to date: My Neighbours The Yamadas.

A series of observational vignettes adapted from Hisaichi Ishii’s popular slice-of-life manga, it’s a wonderful insight into the daily lives of an average Japanese family.

While the scenario might invite comparisons with Family Guy and The Simpsons, My Neighbours The Yamadas is more subtle in its comical observations of family dynamics.

Takahata foreshadows his much later work, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, with his stylized aesthetic and beautiful minimalist character design.

10. Barakamon

If you’re a fan of anime shows such as Silver Spoon and Gekkan Shoujo, Barakamon will be everything you’re looking for in a comedy.

Firmly grounded in the real world, Barakamon’s comedy is drawn from the mundanity of daily life and the joy of friendship.

Perfectly balancing the slice-of-life format with well-balanced comedy and drama, Barakamon’s 12 episodes are a real pleasure to watch.

If you thought the life of a gifted calligrapher sounded boring, Barakamon is likely to change your mind in a heartbeat.

9. Isekai Quartet

Isekai Quartet represents a crossover between KonoSuba (more on this later), Overlord; Re: Zero, and Saga of Tanya The Evil, so if you’ve seen these, you’ll be in familiar territory.

As the title implies, this is another Isekai anime set in a fictional game world, this time set in the world of high school.

Isekai Quartet’s super-deformed characters and cute artwork is endearing, while the crossover elements transform the genre parody elements into a meta-comedy of sorts.

Viewers unfamiliar with the intersecting anime Isekai Quartet draws from might miss some of the jokes, so it’s worth investing some time in those series first.

8. My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia’s general premise bears more than a passing resemblance to One Punch Man, focusing on the dreams and ambitions of aspiring superheroes.

In this story, most of the human population has some kind of superpower (known as “quirks”), with the upper echelon split into Heroes and Villains.

My Hero Academia frequently plays the superhero genre for laughs, albeit with some more serious drama interspersed.

It’s a quintessential shonen anime comedy with a well-earned international fanbase.

7. The Devil Is A Part-Timer

When Satan accidentally finds himself in modern-day Tokyo, he’s forced to work in a local fast-food restaurant to make ends meet.

The Devil as a Part-Timer takes the concept of Satan bereft of his powers, forced to fit into society, and runs with it, executing the comedy with great timing.

While anime fans might view this premise and immediately assume Satan becomes a reformed character, The Devil is a Part-Timer avoids this predictable character arc.

It’s perhaps not the most innovative anime comedy series out there, but there’s a lot of fun to be had over its short and eminently bingeable runtime.

6. Daily Lives of High School Boys 

Comedy coming-of-age anime, Daily Lives of High School Boys, revolves around Tadakuni, Hidenori Tabata, and Yoshitake Tanaka.

Exploring the unrealized hopes and dreams of the boys – and the disappointing reality of school life – this Sunrise-produced series was directed by Mobile Suit Gundham veteran Shinju Takamatsu.

For good measure, Takamatsu intersperses the mundane elements of their daily lives with giant robots and serious romantic conundrums.

The result is a comedic slice-of-life anime that captures the painful/fond memories we all have of high school.

5. Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto

While One Punch Man is about a superhero who can do pretty much anything, Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto focuses on a similarly gifted protagonist.

Sakamoto trades superpowers for being cool. So cool, in fact, that the best efforts of his rival classmates to destroy his reputation always seem to fail.

Comedy often revolves around characters who make us cringe, so it’s refreshing to see a creator take on the challenge of making a “perfect” character funny and engaging.

While Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto can occasionally feel repetitive; there are plenty of laughs as Sakamoto swags his way through life. 

4. Grand Blue

We’ve already met the “lusty teenage boy” archetype often found in comedy anime in Love Hina, and he returns again in Grand Blue as Iori Kitahara.

The sun-drenched seaside setting of Grand Blue reflects the light, breezy comedy, which features plenty of blurred nudity as Iori gets swept up in the drama around the local diving club.

The trials and tribulations of adolescence are fertile ground for fun anime to watch, and Grand Blue is a fine example of the format.

Fans of Gintama will notice the similarity with Grand Blue’s sense of humor, which is frequently silly and pointless in the best possible way.

3. The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.

The best anime comedies are often set in and around the high school world; after all, this is the core demographic for many anime fans.

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. places its “hero” Kusuo Saiki in this setting, then gives him a long list of psychic powers to make his life, well, much more difficult.

With off-kilter ruminations on the downside to being able to hear everyone’s inner thoughts, Saiki desperately tries to conceal his powers even as he takes advantage of them.

High school hi-jinx ensues in a comedy that veers wildly between deadpan observation and unbridled silliness.

2. KonoSuba

KonoSuba’s lush background artwork and excellent character design mark this as one of the best-looking anime comedies you’ll see.

Adapted from the light novel of the same name, it’s also a thoroughly good-natured and charming series where character development is as valued as making audiences laugh.

After dying pointlessly, teenager Kazuma finds himself in a video game-like afterlife with a goddess for a companion, tasked with overcoming various challenges.

Poking fun at a laundry list of RPG tropes (“let’s gain some experience and fight lots of easy to defeat enemies!”), KonoSuba mixes geek fandom with buxom women to great effect.

1. Gintama

If you’re a fan of good comedy anime, then Gintama should be at the top of your viewing list, and there are hundreds of episodes to keep you going. 

Blending history and science fiction, Gintama explores the world of the titular samurai as he takes on aliens while delivering one-liners at a breathtaking pace.

The narrative plays second fiddle to the jokes in Gintama, with bizarre visual gags poking fun at all aspects of Japanese culture and a series of hilarious fake-endings.

While some jokes might go over the heads of non-Japanese viewers, Gintama’s jokes-per-minute rate is so frenetic you’ll be too busy laughing at the next one to notice.

Summary 

This list covers everything you can expect when diving into funny anime to watch, from anarchic spoofs to heartwarming romantic comedies.

Whether you’re a fan of Shōnen or prefer something a little more grounded, this article covers all the top comedy anime shows available to watch now.

What’s your favorite comedy anime? Leave a comment below.