What is the worth of Sakigake!! Cromartie Koukou
It is made of excellence and deserves to be on our Enlightenment list.
33.3%
7
It is too unremarkable to be on on either of our lists.
33.3%
7
It is vastly overrated and deserves to be on our Relations list.
0.0%
0
I have not watched this show because the jokes are overwhelmingly manly and I'm just too moe for that.
33.3%
7
21 votes
| Sakigake!! Cromartie Koukou is now up for vote. Decide if it will befriend the gorillas and robots of Enlightenment or if it will lose to Freddie in the Relations. RULES: 1. You can only vote for a title if you've finished watching/reading it. You must’ve read or watched at least 60% of the published content for unfinished titles. There might be exceptions for very long finished titles – they are decided on a case by case basis, but usually amount to more than half of the published content. 2. Write your vote at the very top of your comment. 3. Below your vote, give a substantial explanation to back it up. It doesn't have to be lengthy; it just needs to cover the points you want to make. 4. If you have only read/watched the adaption/source material of the respective nominee, please state so in your post. 5. It will take a minimum of 5 votes for either Enlightenment or Relations to make it into any of the lists as an anime (3 votes for manga). If it fails to reach that, it will be deemed Unremarkable. 6. The votes for Enlightenment will have to outnumber the votes for Unremarkable and Relations for it to be included in our list; the same goes for Relations. If it fails to reach that, it will be deemed Unremarkable. 7. Behave yourself. We accept discussions and debate, not flaming and incoherent fanboy/fangirl behavior. 8. The fate of the poll will lie in the hands of the officers if it turns out that there are more first time voters than regulars or the series cannot be gauged by both voting and discussions. This polling process will last 14 days. BEGIN!!!!!!!! |
Ducat_RevelNov 24, 2013 6:16 PM
| It is made of hilariousnessishtuf and deserves to be on our Enlightenment list. I'm not too fond of that many comedies (even my MalGraph says so), but Cromartie High is an anime that I've been able to watch multiple times, alone and with friends, and I've never come away from the experience without laughing. Now the amount of times I actually laugh, audibly, are quite low no matter the medium. Louis CK being the exception, but the man's a comedy genius. MUCH LIKE CROMARTIE. This show. This show is brilliant. I'm just going to go full fanboy here, because there is no other state acceptable when discussing Cromartie High. This is simply one of the funniest shows I've ever seen, anime or not. It does random humor successfully where so many others just aren't able to pull it off. Plus, it doesn't bombard you with a thousand gags a minute in an effort to overwhelm the viewer into laughing uncomfortably. It understands the crucial role that timing plays in visual and spoken comedy. Or unspoken comedy when it comes to Freddie. The characters do not rely on tropes to make poor passes at humor. They've got a robot who looks like a tin can and is mechanically challenged attending as a third year student. Please, point me to where that has been overused before. Anywhere. This series also showcases the largest group of non-threatening-so-manly-they-will-make-you-giggle-like-a-red-panda-in-terror-but-you'll-like-it-punks that has ever graced the screen. Each character is unique, funny, and endearing in a manor that you can't quite describe, but certainly won't forget. From the technical side, it looks like it was animated by cavemen imbued by the holy hands of da Vinci, and they decided to try their best. It's Production I.G. and it works. In regards to the music, well, did you know this show has an entire episode devoted to humming? Cause you do now. And it was excellent. Also, Cromartie has one of the best dubs ever produced in America. If you can't tell, I liked this show. I liked it a lot. It deserves the Enlightenment list for the following reasons but is not limited to: 1. Passing my test of being among the best in the genre. 2. Passing Aizo's test for being something everyone should experience. 3. Having Freddie Mercury. 4. Being wholly effective in achieving what it set out to do without the use of cheap gimmicks. 5. Breaking boundaries and implementing a style of comedy that is usually applied to cracked out web series and/or moe girls, and shoving that same schtick into the hand of testosterone leaking wannabe delinquents to forcibly beat people with, and doing it with style. 6. It has a gorilla AND Freddie Mercury. I rest my case. |
| It is too unremarkable to be on on either of our lists. Is it good? Yes. Will you laugh? Most probably. Is it enlightening? Eh... no, not really. As far as high school comedy and relativity goes, Sakigake Otokojuku and Sexy Commando run circles around it*. But even beyond having contemporaries that are better, I just really don't see anything that deems it as worthy on the list. That's not to say it should purely be categorized as high school comedy either (some gags go beyond this), but what I said applies to the series in general. Again, I do want to stress that I enjoyed the series. I chuckled throughout the whole thing and would recommend it to a specific group of viewers. Maybe comedy experts can correct me here. Some of the gags are particularly amusing but for the most part it's all very 101. Viewers versed in Japanese humor have seen all this stuff done a million times already. There isn't much to talk about as far as visuals go and there's not any audio that is worth writing about aside from the opening theme. The characters are all straight out of the playbook. You can pretty much predict what is going to happen in every episode, and yeah, just "very 101" is the phrase to describe this show. Nothing was memorable to me, not even Mechazawa as a mecha fan was enough to sway me in much of a direction. Maybe the manga is better. But the show pretty much underwhelmed me. I watched it with no real expectations and was shocked to see it was regarded so highly afterwards. *edit: I re-read this and thought this part was a bit dickish and "I'm stating fact" like. I didn't mean to come off quite that way and I've talked to some that feel the exact opposite. That's just my opinion on it and I realize others might not feel the same way. Comedy is just one of those weird highly subjective things that is difficult to critique. |
KellhusNov 11, 2013 7:02 AM
| Option 1 - Enlightenment Let me tell you something about myself. I love Japanese delinquents. I love the pompadours. I love the gangs. I love everything about them. And Cromartie High School amplifies everything i love about them and makes it one of the most comedic anime I've ever watched. The humor, while random, is really well done, with many strange events taking place and them reacting to it in a humorous way. One example would be when they are talking about how boring their school life is when aliens, gorillas and Freddie Goddamn Mercury are in the vicinity. This is also one of the few anime where I love all of the characters, especially Mechazawa with his smooth way of speaking and overall attitude. Every character is given a moment to shine and no one made me feel angry that they were given attention. Tropes are pretty much non existent. Unlike many comedy anime nowadays, which make constant reference to other shows and media, Cromartie has an original sense of humor that will have you giggling for ages. This is amplified by a spectacular dub which rivals Bobobobo-bobobo as one of the most intentionally funny dubs ever devised. In short, Cromartie has top class comedy and I recommend it to anyone looking for a good comedy anime which doesn't rely on tropes or references to be funny. Also Freddie Goddamn Mercury is a Japanese High School student. What more could you want? |
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| Option 1 - Enlightenment This is one of the funniest series I've watched and it's also one of the most random. It's interesting that the randomness clicks so well. It doesn't feel like it's random for the sake of being random so there's appropriate timing to the craziness. The feel or attitude of this show was great. The creators seemed like they we're having a fun time and that fun transferred to the viewers. Watching this in English Dub is even funnier than the original because the sheer silliness oozes out from the voice actors. That's what this series is all about, having a crazy and fun time. The characters are downright ridiculous. This series has a sushi-making gorilla, a duo of strange cosplayers, a robot, and the man himself: Freddie Mercury. The delinquents are purposefully made to look like they're rough and tumble men but they're really all a bunch of softies that get into strange situations. The contrast between the way they look and what they actually results in funny situations. This series is a winner. Cromartie High School will make you laugh and make you smile. A good laugh is something that people need from time to time and this delivers. |
| Enlightening It's very hard to objectively view comedy. It's main purpose is to make one laugh, and if it's accomplished that with my friends and myself, that's the best observation I can make. Forgone made a really good point. I do recommend this to everyone. I've been showing this to friends since I was 13 years old (I'm 22, now), and none of my friends have disliked it. They always laughed, or, at the very least, smiled. I've shown this to over twenty people. I've seen the first few episodes more times than I can count. It never ceases to entertain me, especially with scenes like the one with "Banana no sushi?!?!" It's original, doesn't rely on the same jokes over and over, the characters are awesome, the references are well done, and I just can't say enough about how much it has made me smile. Of course this won't amuse everyone, but I think most people will love it. Also, we don't have enough about delinquents in the Enlightenment list. This is one step towards fixing that! So, take it from me, kids: it's one hell of a ride on the Mechazawacycle. |
| Option 2 Alabastre, sorry man. Humor per se is hard to analyse objectively. That much, I can admit. That's why I usually look for other elements in comedies that don't rely on making me laugh. SZS had its parody, GTO had its characters, and Jinrui had its social critique. Once I isolate that one aspect of the show, I'll weigh it over to see if it's strong enough to support the show and base my review/critique/opinion from that weighing. My only exception is probably DMC; a show that solely depends on how many laughs it can get out of you. Cromartie is also like DMC in that regard; pure humor. Not a bad approach, but one that forces me to be subjective. Now, did it make me laugh? Kinda. I chuckled every 5 episodes or so. It didn't leave my head rolling off my body like DMC did. I found the humor a bit repetitive, transparently structured, and too dependent on self-awareness. It's a demonstration of how tongue and cheek humor can be executed, albeit, a bit too obvious. Does this mean I didn't like it? Heck no, I still enjoyed it! Didn't make me laugh like it should've, but I still liked it nonetheless. Mechazawa was my favorite character in the show since I could joke about him having existential issues far deeper than Oshii's Ghost in the Shell. I also liked the randomness thrown in the show; made things livelier and more vibrant. But at the end of the day, I can't vote Option 1 for a comedy that didn't make me laugh and didn't have anything thing else in it to objectively (or at least critically) judge as outstanding. |
| Unremarkable I'm pretty sure that Cromartie is going to land on the Enlightment list. It is accessible, fun, flashy, manly and – most importantly – cult. It doesn’t matter that it has no substance at all. I mean it’s cult after all – other stuff that mostly depends on the fun factor (even though they actually have substance and great art) like Redline or Nichijou that aren’t cult and therefore not remarkable. I liked the humor a lot and had a great time watching it but “The humors is hit and miss”, applies to Cromartie like to every other random comedy. It’s the kind of series you go in expecting to laugh and are thus able to laugh about everything. In that regard the humor isn’t that much different from South Park or Family Guy but at least it’s less edgy, which I appreciate. Some scenes weren’t funny some even annoying, like for example the old man in the sky who appears like every second episode or spending an entire episode on humming. I would like to talk about other aspects than the comedy as well but unfortunately there isn’t anything mentionable. The animation is very ordinary and the music is good. |
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| Option 2. I think it was episode 24, or something near that. The series suddenly took a serious vibe for a whole episode. However, I knew from the very first minute that all of that was just a long joke and that the last scene would confirm that. It happened just as expected. And the episode, as such, was a huge bore and a failure both as a joke and as a narrative experiment. The issue I have with Cromartie High School is that it relies so much and so hard on being a shock/surreal comedy that you can't expect anything but that from it. Whatever thing it brings, you know it will be, sooner or later, ridiculed for the sake of the joke. And that would probably work on some other kinds of comedies but on a shock comedy that, by definition, bases its strength on catching the audience off-guard, made scenes and ideas fall flat a little too often. The highs are very high, but there is a number of lows that isn't easy to ignore. Anyway I could say that I vote Cromartie High School as unremarkable, simply because it didn't work as well for me. It was one I certainly enjoyed throughout, and quite a lot, but as Chungking said, it ended up being a "hit and miss" type of humor, and I can't ignore the misses because the series did nothing to avoid them; that is, it felt to me as if the author had gone wild and accepted any idea that went to his mind. Honestly, and despite I still enjoy this one a lot, I think there are series that understand better the limits of their universe and the rules of absurd comedy. This one is rather simply structured and that can be effective to a point, but is also exposed to suffer from irregularity and that makes the case of this show. |
jal90Nov 17, 2013 10:24 AM
| Yesssssss. Things are heating up! |
| Unremarkable I don't tend to like judging comedy because of its hugely subjective nature. I do not wish to judge something based on its merits purely as a comedy but that's just it, I can't effectively do that because Cromartie High School is a comedy with not much else to it, no social commentary, no memorable characters, not much in the way of historical value either. Before I say anything else, I must say Cromartie High School is a comedy series that I would like to see more of, but for me. The whole show put together was actually pretty boring. To Cromartie High School's credit I did laugh on a number of occasions, usually once (possibly twice) every two or three episodes, but the in-between stuff never did it for me. Maybe it has something to do with my dislike of delinquents, but the in-between stuff was usually filled to the brim with monologuing that was kind of bland and half the time, it lead up to jokes that weren't particularly appealing or funny.Even though the jokes were usually absurd and irrational which I can appreciate to an extent, I feel that they have been done better else-where. I believe absurd humor can work well if done correctly, a good case in point would be Oh! Edo Rocket but what separates Cromartie High School from something like Oh! Edo Rocket is that the latter has a premise to work with that whilst being absurd makes a case in point to identify its limitations and quite frequently make its humor very witty. I can't say much the same for Cromartie High Schoo as whilst the humor is occasionally witty within the context that it is giving us, its quality lacks consistency. I can't say much for the animation style, but I do like the points in where Cromartie high School makes a case in point of making fun of itself as a show with its low budget, but as I mentioned before these moments of comedy lack a pervasive level of quality. And Cromartie High School being a show based purely on comedy could have been a lot funnier in the long run. I can appreciate other people liking this series, and I honestly wouldn't mind if it ended up in Enlightenment but it is a show that I simply cannot support. |
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| Option One - Enlightening I procrastinated on casting my vote for this for so long because I couldn't decide between options one and two. But after considering it for ten days (and rewatching a couple of episodes)? I think it's enlightening. Cromartie High School is easily one of the dumbest anime I have ever seen. "Random" humour is extremely hit and miss, and most surreal comedies have just as many jokes that fall flat as there are funny ones (see: Nichijou poll). But Cromartie, Cromartie absolutely nails it. The humour is so stupid, so pointless and yet you have to wonder how they came up with such brilliant material based around such inane events and happenings. It's also extremely creative, with characters such as a robot and a gorilla and FREDDIE MERCURY as high school students you know that you're in for something truly unique. I also want to point out that girly little me was worried that she would find the extreme MANLINESS of the series to be unappealing and boring. Never have I been more wrong. Girls can enjoy this anime too, it's just that funny. It's impossible to watch without busting out laughing. And finally, with one of the best English dubs I've ever seen (and easily the best dub for a comedy anime), Cromartie is even more enjoyable to watch and easily accessible/entertaining for people who are new or unfamiliar to anime. A must see! |
RarityNov 21, 2013 7:14 PM
| I have no idea what the outcome of this thread will be. :\ |
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| Option 1 - Enlightening Ah, Cromartie High School. I started the show more accidentally but to this day it remains one of the funniest things I ever had the pleasure of watching. Mission accomplished for a show whose sole purpose seems to be to make people laugh. For this end Cromartie succesfully assembles some of the uniquest (and manliest) characters ever (among them a punk robot and a gorilla, who has the dubious honor of being one of the more intelligent members of the cast) and parodies everything under the sun with a firework of jokes, always self-aware, most of the time insane and sometimes remarkably intelligent. Granted, some of the jokes fall short (some always do) but most of them hit the target hilariously. As several others noted before me, the show also offers a really excellent dub. And Freddy Mercury. |
VentrisNov 21, 2013 7:57 PM
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| Option 1 - Enlightening Oh yeah. Cromartie. I enjoyed it. It didn't make me laugh out loud compared to something like Detroit Metal City, but it did make me smile and chuckle at least once every episode. The jokes aren't wacky or over-the-top like the typical comedy anime fare we're used to, and they don't really need to be. They're as simple, random, and dumb as they get, and I get the feeling all the people who worked on this anime knew exactly what they were going to do right off the bat; the self-awareness even shows many times throughout the show. There has not been a character I disliked in Cromartie, and how some of them react and deal with the crazy situations they're in makes for a unique and entertaining ride from start to finish. It may not seem to be a comedy that can appeal to a broad audience, but I can't help but recommend it to just about anyone. So what if comedy is subjective? IMO Cromartie is one of those comedy shows that does it better than the usual stuff anime regularly puts out. It also should be recognized that it does have a good English voice cast, so there's that. Also come on, Mechazawa? Freddie Mercury? Of course this should be in the enlightenment list. |
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| With 7 votes for Enlightenment and 5 votes for Unremarkable, I draw this poll to a close. Thank you for voting. |
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