Is it possible to make a comedy revolving almost exclusively around sex jokes, and not have it come off low-brow and immature, ala American Pie? The answer? Seitokai Yakuindomo!
Thanks to clever wordplay, good writing and actual punchlines, Seitokai Yakuindomo manges to craft a sex comedy that avoids the pitfall of simply being crass for the sake of crassness and is all the more funnier for it. No matter how many jokes about ejaculation they make. By taking their sex jokes down the path of wordplay and and humorous misunderstandings, (instead of making shallow references to dicks and expecting the audience fall over dead from laughter), Seitokai Yakuindomo almost manages to give itself a sense of class. Almost. But more importantly, this makes the gags actually funny. Funny in the traditional comedy sense where the jokes are funny because the audience is required to actually use their brains. But make no mistake, the subject of the jokes are lewd. By the time you`ve finished the series, you`ve seen jokes about fellatio, heard English swearing, jokes about menstruation, jokes about S&M, jokes about vaginas, jokes about pedophilia, and multiple instances of vibrator jokes. There`s even a gag about being molested by a deer. Needless to say, those who hate sex jokes, or the easily offended, probably won`t enjoy Seitokai Yakuindomo. And yet somehow, the show manages to not be ridiculously offensive, despite containing gags that would make South Park blush. I think this is combination of the way the jokes are presented in an innocent, serious way (sort of like the characters are unaware what they`re saying is inappropriate for the situation, if that makes sense) and the colorful cheery art style.
Seitokai Yakuindomo is a great way to learn almost all the dirty words the Japanese language has to offer
Moving on to the plot, Ousai Private Academy, previously an all-girls school, has just become a co-ed school. Takatoshi Tsuda is attending this year as one of the school`s first and few male students, not with the intent of forming a harem like many of the other male students, but because it`s close to his house. On his first day, his sloppy attire catches the attention (and ire) of student council president Shino Amakusa, whom is a stickler for rules, and as Takatoshi will soon discover, has a habit of making deadpan lewd jokes. Takatoshi next meets the remaining members of the student council. There`s Suzu Hagimura, super intelligent, but has the height and build of a grade schooler with a fiery temper about said to match. And rounding out the cast (in more ways than one), is Aria Shichijou, gentle, kind and air-headed upper-class girl but probably the most perverse of them all. Shino quickly ropes Takatoshi into becoming the student counsel`s vice-president, mostly as a way of getting a male`s perspective on school matters, but also because there`s only so much you can learn about the male body from sex ed class. But the plot of Seitokai Yakuindomo is nothing more than an excuse for jokes, so don`t worry too much about it. And being based on a four panel comic series, there are a LOT of jokes.
The cast of Seitokai Yakuindomo, clockwise starting from the bottom left, Suzu, Takatoshi, Shino and Aria
Seitokai Yakuindomo`s animation is nothing too special, it`s decently animated with an average-looking art style, nothing about it really stands out. Likewise, audio and music is average. However, the acting is top caliber, the actors put their all into the jokes and play a huge role in making the humor work. However, most of the characters are stereotypes, with the type of voice you`ve come to expect for these classic archetypes. Aria is the typical "My! My! My!" soft-voiced air-head. Suzu is short-tempered and shouts a lot. Takatoshi is the "straight man". However, there are two standout characters in Seitokai Yakuindo that are a little more unique. Ranko Hata (played by Satomi Arai) is the wannabe paparazzi from the photography club who has this hilarious dull monotone voice that makes every scene she`s in a real treat. The next is Naruko Yokoshima (played by Yuu Kobayashi) the lusty, man-eating female teacher, who speaks in a low, breathy seductive manner as though she`s continually attempting to seduce everyone in the room.
Even the Japanese find a guy being sexually harassed by an attractive woman hilarious!
This series makes no bones about what is is, that is, it`s nothing more than a platform for a rapid-fire series of sex jokes, and at this, I feel it`s a flying success. The show is absolutely hilarious, which is all it needs to be. As a result, there`s very little I can criticize it for. It`s only real flaw is the length, only thirteen episodes, which is average for most anime, but for Seitokai Yakuindomo, it feels like this isn`t enough and it has more jokes to tell. Thankfully, there`s a sequel, but the original series could have stood to have been longer. In conclusion, Seitokai Yakuindomo is an excellent comedy series, provided you don`t find it`s lewd subjects offensive, and you don`t mind that there`s very little story. Anyone who loves a well-written sex comedy should check it out!
George approves!
Thanks to clever wordplay, good writing and actual punchlines, Seitokai Yakuindomo manges to craft a sex comedy that avoids the pitfall of simply being crass for the sake of crassness and is all the more funnier for it. No matter how many jokes about ejaculation they make. By taking their sex jokes down the path of wordplay and and humorous misunderstandings, (instead of making shallow references to dicks and expecting the audience fall over dead from laughter), Seitokai Yakuindomo almost manages to give itself a sense of class. Almost. But more importantly, this makes the gags actually funny. Funny in the traditional comedy sense where the jokes are funny because the audience is required to actually use their brains. But make no mistake, the subject of the jokes are lewd. By the time you`ve finished the series, you`ve seen jokes about fellatio, heard English swearing, jokes about menstruation, jokes about S&M, jokes about vaginas, jokes about pedophilia, and multiple instances of vibrator jokes. There`s even a gag about being molested by a deer. Needless to say, those who hate sex jokes, or the easily offended, probably won`t enjoy Seitokai Yakuindomo. And yet somehow, the show manages to not be ridiculously offensive, despite containing gags that would make South Park blush. I think this is combination of the way the jokes are presented in an innocent, serious way (sort of like the characters are unaware what they`re saying is inappropriate for the situation, if that makes sense) and the colorful cheery art style.
Seitokai Yakuindomo is a great way to learn almost all the dirty words the Japanese language has to offer
Moving on to the plot, Ousai Private Academy, previously an all-girls school, has just become a co-ed school. Takatoshi Tsuda is attending this year as one of the school`s first and few male students, not with the intent of forming a harem like many of the other male students, but because it`s close to his house. On his first day, his sloppy attire catches the attention (and ire) of student council president Shino Amakusa, whom is a stickler for rules, and as Takatoshi will soon discover, has a habit of making deadpan lewd jokes. Takatoshi next meets the remaining members of the student council. There`s Suzu Hagimura, super intelligent, but has the height and build of a grade schooler with a fiery temper about said to match. And rounding out the cast (in more ways than one), is Aria Shichijou, gentle, kind and air-headed upper-class girl but probably the most perverse of them all. Shino quickly ropes Takatoshi into becoming the student counsel`s vice-president, mostly as a way of getting a male`s perspective on school matters, but also because there`s only so much you can learn about the male body from sex ed class. But the plot of Seitokai Yakuindomo is nothing more than an excuse for jokes, so don`t worry too much about it. And being based on a four panel comic series, there are a LOT of jokes.
The cast of Seitokai Yakuindomo, clockwise starting from the bottom left, Suzu, Takatoshi, Shino and Aria
Seitokai Yakuindomo`s animation is nothing too special, it`s decently animated with an average-looking art style, nothing about it really stands out. Likewise, audio and music is average. However, the acting is top caliber, the actors put their all into the jokes and play a huge role in making the humor work. However, most of the characters are stereotypes, with the type of voice you`ve come to expect for these classic archetypes. Aria is the typical "My! My! My!" soft-voiced air-head. Suzu is short-tempered and shouts a lot. Takatoshi is the "straight man". However, there are two standout characters in Seitokai Yakuindo that are a little more unique. Ranko Hata (played by Satomi Arai) is the wannabe paparazzi from the photography club who has this hilarious dull monotone voice that makes every scene she`s in a real treat. The next is Naruko Yokoshima (played by Yuu Kobayashi) the lusty, man-eating female teacher, who speaks in a low, breathy seductive manner as though she`s continually attempting to seduce everyone in the room.
Even the Japanese find a guy being sexually harassed by an attractive woman hilarious!
This series makes no bones about what is is, that is, it`s nothing more than a platform for a rapid-fire series of sex jokes, and at this, I feel it`s a flying success. The show is absolutely hilarious, which is all it needs to be. As a result, there`s very little I can criticize it for. It`s only real flaw is the length, only thirteen episodes, which is average for most anime, but for Seitokai Yakuindomo, it feels like this isn`t enough and it has more jokes to tell. Thankfully, there`s a sequel, but the original series could have stood to have been longer. In conclusion, Seitokai Yakuindomo is an excellent comedy series, provided you don`t find it`s lewd subjects offensive, and you don`t mind that there`s very little story. Anyone who loves a well-written sex comedy should check it out!
George approves!