April Fools Anime Marathon!

Greetings Suckers, you've all fallen into the Trap set just for your benefit just for this holiday. So, with a new holiday comes another in the line of the Anime Vice Mods' Choice Marathons. Our last was for Valentine's Day, and I only regret that I couldn't think of a themed marathon for St. Patrick's Day. Though now that I think of it. We could of done a drinking game anime marathon. Well Damn, ......I think I just fell victim to an April Fools joke on myself just now. Let's move on. We'll save tat idea for next year.

Our romance-based marathon didn't have a lot of Anime Vice Mods submitting, but that really wasn't a problem here whatsoever. Perfect for the holiday for fools. We have gathered together to select anime episodes that are here to make you laugh. It's a marathon based upon some of our favorite comedy episodes, and anime is not short on comedies. Check out our list and we did our best to find links for you to be able to watch the anime episodes online and for free. I would of liked to of seen BLEACH be represented, but that series isn't as well known for funny episodes. Though, it makes up for it by those hilarious Shinigami Cups at the end of each episode.

Now, without further ado, here are our comedy picks.
 

Maria Holic

Maria Holic is perfect to set this marathon off. What really could be more perfect for April Fools Day that a Trap. It has everything you want. It misleads your audience to think something that leaves them shocked when the truth is revealed. That's what Kanako Miyamae feels after episode one. I wouldn't call this the funniest episode, but it's the only one you can watch for free on Anime Network. It's even getting a second season.

Maria Holic - Ep. 1: The Flirtatious Kiss (Sub)
Rating: TV-MA
Watch it via Anime Network: HERE
 
I was able to find a clip from one of my favorite episodes of Maria Holic.
  

Panty & Stocking

The anime series Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt is a wild and very raunchy comedy series. I really enjoyed it and found many episodes funny, but that makes it hard to really pick out a single episode that really stands out as the funniest. There is an episode that I've watched quite a few times. This is the introduction of Panty and Stocking's real opponents, the Demon Sisters Scanty and Kneesocks. The next one has more Scanty and Kneesocks, but with some great parodies of classic zombie movies.
 
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt -  Ep 6: Les Diaboliques (Sub)
Rating: TV-MA
Watch it via Crunchyroll: HERE
 
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt - Ep 8: ...of the Dead / 1 Angry Ghost (Sub)
Rating: TV-MA
Watch it via Crunchyroll: HERE

One Piece

One Piece is a great series for pretty much everything you could want in a story, and that includes comedy. I have a lot of favorite funny episodes in this nearly 500 episode long series, but I'm picking one from the Amazon Lily Arc. Luffy is the first man many of the Kuja Amazons have ever seen. The boy certainly isn't shy, and things go a little Austin Powers here. I would of really liked to select some episodes from the Thriller Bark arc, but FUNimation hasn't gotten to that point just yet. Instead, I picked one of the non-canon Feudal Era Side Story episodes. Great thing about this one is that you don't need to know anything about One PIece's long story to enjoy it.
 
One Piece -  Ep 409: Hurry Back to Your Friends! The Maiden Island Adventure (Sub)
Rating: TV-14
Watch it via HULU: HERE
  
One Piece - Ep. 406: Feudal Era Side Story - Boss Luffy Appears Again (Sub)
Rating: TV-14
Watch it via HULU: HERE

Soul Eater

Soul Eater is a series that I quickly fell for. It has that great mixture of shonen action and comedy that I get out of One Piece, and the design always makes me think that this is what an anime would look like if Tim Burton made one. A funny episode from this series is the one where they really hammer home that Shibusen is a school. You'd never think that watching people take a written test could be so funny. See if you can spot the Dragon Ball Z joke the anime added
 
Soul Eater -  Ep 14: The Ultra Paper Test – Heart Pounding, Reeling, and Restless, You’re Kidding (Sub)
Rating: TV-14
Watch it via HULU: HERE

My Bride is a Mermaid

Another in the line of romantic comedy series. The anime  My Bride is a Mermaid has a lot of really good funny episodes. It makes it hard to pick just one, so I went with two.In episode 19, the secret mermaid plot to try and breakup Nagasumi and Sun gets even bolder. The plan is to slip Nagasumi a drink meant to expose the deepest base desires of humans, but a slip up causes everyone to drink this potion but Nagasumi. In episode 11, Nagasumi is having a hard time dealing with school life. Sun's mom, Ren, gives Nagasumi a potion that will make him popular with the girls for a day, but it has a serious side effect on how men react.

My Bride is a Mermaid - Ep 19: There's No Business Like Show Business (Sub)
Rating: TV-MA
Watch it via HULU:  HERE   
 
My Bride is a Mermaid - Ep 21: 10 Things I Hate About You (Sub) 
Rating: TV-MA
Watch it via HULU: HERE
 

Magician's Academy

I wonder if this qualified for Amazon's
The anime originally known as Macademi Wasshoi! is a series I fell for hard and was overjoyed to hear it was posted up on Crunchyroll. A hilarious comedy series that pokes fun of the anime/manga culture makes is incredibly hard to pick one or even just two episodes. I selected one that always had me laughing. It's where a long thought sealed curse has been released on the Magician's Academy and it's on a rampage. Trust me, no one deserves to suffer from "that". Always stay after the credits for their 4koma closing. Watch this episode, then go watch the rest of the 12 episode series. See if you can spot the Resident Evil joke.
 
Magician's Academy - Ep. 5: Somehow something was revived
Rating: TV-MA
Watch it via Crunchyroll: HERE
 

Naruto

Naruto is a major series in the manga and anime culture, and it has funny "moments" but not as many episodes that are based around goofy fun. The two I'm going to share with you are some that I got some good laughs out of for just how crazy they are. One is based around team 7 trying to crack the mystery of what's behind Kakashi's mask, and the second is one of the craziest things ever animated for TV (outside of GAINAX). Two weirdos try to invade the Hidden Leaf Village disguised as Might Guy and Rock Lee. Their impersonation is just so horrible that everyone in the village takes the day to torment them.
 
Naruto - Ep 101: Gotta See! Gotta Know! Kakashi-Sensei's True Face! (Sub)
Rating: TV-14
Watch it via HULU:  HERE
 
Naruto - Ep 161: The Appearance of Strange Visitors (Sub)
Rating: TV-14
Watch it via HULU: HERE

 

Lucky Star

This slice of life anime is basically about having a good time while growing up. Each character contains comedic aspects that are sure to captivate everyone. Personally, I enjoy all of the Lucky Channel segments with Akira Kogami and Minoru Shiraishi at the end of every episode. The sarcasm and dry humor balances well with the "kawai" and "moe" aspects of the rest of the episodes. 
 
Lucky Star- Ep 15: I Can't Suddenly Change (Ikinari wa Kawarenai) April Fools Episode
Rating: TV-14
Watch it via Crunchy Roll:  HERE   
 

Mitsudomoe 

This is a series I just began to watch recently. Crude humor is a must on April Fools and these little girls know about crude humor like no one else! The anime follows the Marui triplets on their success in making their teacher's life a living hell. Not only that, but it shows you how perverted and maniacal children can really be. If you ever want to play an April Fool's joke on someone, I suggest you follow the Marui triplets' example. (Just don't apply it on me!) 
 
Rating: TV-14 
Watch it via Crunchy Roll: HERE 
 

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya  

If you want humor then you how about watching the anime that makes fun of all anime! You've probably already heard of this anime (who hasn't) but I'll explain what it is about anyway. Haruhi Suzumiya is a girl who want more to life than given. She wants to meet espers, time travelers and aliens so she creates a club that focuses on finding them. What she doesn't know is that the club members are all of that she looks for, but they don't want to tell her. Haruhi has powers she is not aware of making her a higher being to all of the club members, and those powers manifest only in the strangest, hilarious, situations. 
 
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Ep. 4: The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya 
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Ep. 11: Day of Sagittarius 
Rating: TV-14 
Watch it via Crunchy Roll: HERE

Magical Witch Punie-chan

Magical Witch Punie Chan is one of my choices.

 

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 

Though I haven’t really liked many of the Shaft series, I enjoyed Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei a whole lot and it’s because it’s absolutely balls to the wall crazy and proud of it. And it uses all that craziness to make a genuinely funny experience.  The characters are insane, the world is bizarre and the references are brilliant. It’s one of the funniest shows out there and absolutely worth watching just because of how crazy and surreal it is. 

Baka to Test to Shokaju

Baka to Test is the most consistently hilarious series that I have ever seen. Kenji Inoue and Shin Onuma took a wonderfully inventive concept that in the wrong hands could’ve been just another shonen and turned it into a fantastic parody of not only the shonen genre but also trading card games and RPGs in general. It’s fantastic fun from start to finish and incredibly funny, there wasn’t an episode were I didn’t burst-out laughing like a maniac and I absolutely recommend it.

Watch it via FUNimation: HERE

Lucky Star

Lucky Star is the Seinfield of anime: It’s a show about nothing. There’s not a consistent plot and the episodes don’t have a “story” per se as they only deal with every day issues, but it’s a joy to watch nevertheless, and that’s mostly thanks to how great the humor is handled. Deadpan is usually a hit-or-miss thing to deal with as sometimes it’s very hard to get, but there’s no such problem with Lucky Star because the dialogue and situations are hilarious and the references are fantastic too. It takes certain knowledge of anime to get some of the jokes which I can’t say it’s for everyone, but for those who know enough about this particular type of media then Lucky Star will hit all the right spots in your funny bone. 

Lucky Star- Ep 12: Let's Go To The Festival 

Rating: TV-14
Watch it via Crunchy Roll: HERE

 

Paniponi Dash

PPD is one of the funniest series I've ever seen, whether it be anime, US cartoons or live-action sitcoms.  The show follows 11-year old high school teacher Rebecca Miyamoto and her class full, really her school full, of misfits and the nonsense that they get into everyday.  The show is episodic and each episode usually has no connection to a prior one outside of maybe referencing a gag that happened.  The comedy is mostly satire and gag based and is incredibly random.  Things happen for no reason or explanation and it's not rare for the "story" of an episode to be completely ignored if something funnier comes along.
 
The first four episodes are available on Hulu [ here ]
 

Hayate no Gotoku

Hayate no Gotoku, like Paniponi Dash, this show is all over the place but is a bit more grounded and events from one episode usually carry over into the next, although I'd hesitate to say there is an overarching plot in the same way that say... a series like Gundam 00 pr Death Note has an overarching plot that.  The series follows the not-so everyday everyday life of super rich otaku/NEET Nagi Sanzenin and Hayate Ayasaki, a poor teenager who ends up becoming her butler, as they go to school and get into crazy adventures.  Like Paniponi Dash though, this series is enjoyable on a slapstick level but a lot of the humor comes from satire and anime parodies.  A newcomer to anime could enjoy it, but I'd really suggest holding off until you've seen a good amount of anime so that you can catch a good amount of it.

The entire first and second season is available on Crunchy Roll [ here ] and two stand out episodes for me would be #1 In English, "Unmei" Means "Destiny" and #25 Hearts Wavering.
 

Mitsudomoe

Mitsudomoe follows the day-to-day shenanigans of the Marui triplets, their teacher and the other students in their class.  The series is episodic in nature and each episode usually contains multiple short stories.  The style of humor in the show is often crude and tends to around a misunderstanding related to either bodily functions or something sexual, such as two characters holding a conversation where one is under the impression that it's a about a kids TV show and the other thinking that it's about underage girls.  The end result being awkward looks and accusations of pedophilia when the adult proclaims, "I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't watch them everyday!"
 
The entire series is a available on Crunchy Roll [ here ] and a standout episode for me would be #9 Santa Claus is my Sweetheart.

 

Mitsudomoe 

Despite it having been chosen twice already, I have to include Mitsudomoe in this list, I don't think a single episode has failed to keep me chuckling. As the others have said, it's very crude at times, yet still has an air of innocence to it. And the last part of episode 6 of the second season happens to be about April Fools, so it couldn't be a better fit.  

Rating: TV-14 
Watch it via Crunchy Roll:  HERE  
 

Oniichan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!!

While Mitsudomoe keeps me chuckling, Oniichan's comical moments are perhaps a little fewer and farther between, but, if anything, I laughed harder at this show. The comedy is outright perverse, usually having something to do with the main character's porn stash or the "A.G.E. (All Genre Ero) Explorers" group he belongs to. Don't worry about the weird art style or incestuous themes, it's actually pretty lighthearted and fun. If you find Mitsudomoe funny, you should find this funny too.

Unfortunately I can't find a legal streaming site for this, sorry!

In closing, I'd like to leave you with one completely accidentally funny screenshot I saw in an episode of One Piece. I swear that I have not tampered with this image in the slightest and this is not from a fansub site. This image to the right was from the official subtitles from FUNimation. If you don't believe me, go check out One Piece 417.

We hope you enjoy the marathon and get some laughs. Feel free to talk about some good comedy animes that we may have missed. No pirated links, please.

- article contributions by moderators: FoxxFireArt, sora_thekey, Sonata, Black Rose, sickVisionz, and Newten