Joshiraku

Man always strives for a challenge. Climbing Mt. Everest, landing on the Moon, and finishing Joshiraku are some of the arduous accomplishments ever achieved.

The show is mislabeled as a "comedy". If puns and cultural jokes are all you have to lean on; hire a writer. Don't be so proud that you can't dismiss your own faults. The only thing more revolting than the jokes are the dorks that pretend this is funny because they want to be weeb level 1 million. I understood a couple of the puns in Japanese and they weren't good. I pretty much have a PhD in Dad Humor. Timing and ... delivery is everything in these types of jokes. The words themselves don't make it funny.

I think this is a type of "going outside simulator". This is appealing to people who are incredibly bored and are not happy with life because they choose to do nothing with it. This is saying a lot because nothing happened; EVER! This may be used as a way to waste time. There was an ever looping joke(?) that was a screenshot to tell us that "This anime is full of ordinary dialogues so the spectator can really enjoy how the girls are cute". There is enough source material to make a second season; do you know why they didn't make one? Because it is poorly constructed and it wasn't well received in Japan because the Japanese didn't even find their own cultural jokes funny.

This show is a 2 because of 3 reasons. Kigu is a palatable character and she made me smile a couple times. I like how she is borderline clinically insane. The dark thoughts and rock jokes got old, but that is par for this show anyways. The music was decent. I like the opening and closing songs quite a bit. I downloaded them and I blast them at the gym. The last reason this isn't rated at a 1 , even though the first word I would use to describe it is "appalling", is because I hate Girls und Panzer and I wish for that to be my only 1 and dropped series. Hooray victory by default!

The floating bare ass in space is symbolic for what this show is.

I recommend this show to people who want to cut themselves, but are aware that cutting is socially unacceptable. Dear contemplating cutters, now you can hurt yourself equally while no one will be none the wiser.

Watch the first two episodes which are quite funny and leave it at that. Don't even consider finishing or going forward with the show cause there is literally nothing to watch.

Joshiraku is about the random conversations and outings of 5 young female Rakugo performers, whose performances we never get to see (except for the measly one in the first episode; that too of only Tetora!). And it really is about CONVERSATIONS ONLY! While such a premise presents an unique opportunity to explore the characters and their personalities, issues, concerns etc. through real-life convos, the show completely squanders its potential to be a classic by ... resorting to the same cheap theatrics, overused stereotypes, exaggerated comedy tropes and the plain over-the-top weirdness that Anime as a whole is famous (and infamous) for. The argument in the 2nd episode regarding the lottery ticket is one of the finest realistic comedy scenes in Anime history. Yet the show is sparsely populated with such narrative treats and after waiting till the 7th episode for more of those I decided to give up, mainly due to the sheer repetitiveness. The unrealistic and exaggerated events and convos keep us from actually getting into the characters or relating to them. Joshiraku could easily have been one of the greats had it not traded in depth/complexity for petty gags. And the creators' repeated proclamations (read justifications) of how boring the show is doesn't make it any less boring.

A Japanese viewer might enjoy it much more so it won't be right to call Joshiraku trash. It, after all, is made primarily for Japanese viewers, which is probably why the show doesn't bother providing any background information into Rakugo or the innumerable references. Either way, this show is not for everyone (coming from someone who boasts his ability to watch shows "that are not for everyone"). I highly recommend you at least watch the ED (available on Youtube), which is nothing like anything you have ever seen, not to mention superbly fun and addictive.