Kyouran Kazoku Nikki

If I could summarize this series in one word, it would be: inconsistent. The bright style, hectic OP, and bizarre premise make this seem like this will be an absurd comedy. Ok, there is a lot of that there, I won't deny it. However, there are certain episodes, especially the ones that delve into the characters' pasts that are downright depressing. The switch is rather jarring at times, especially when they do it multiple times in a single episode.

Also, the series tends to take itself too seriously at times. It's as if half the staff thought they were still in serious mode, when everyone else ... had already moved onto a comedy scene. Take this one episode for example (I don't remember the number, but it shouldn't really matter). It starts with the family on vacation, on a tropical island, and one of the children gets kidnapped by albino monkeys with jetpacks. Ok, silly. Next we meet the midget professor who created the monkeys. Still silly. Finally, he goes into a sob story about how he wants to play god. In another context, one could take this seriously and sympathize with him. However, I couldn't get past the fact that there were albino monkeys with jetpacks.

So should you watch this series. Sure, give at least the first episode a shot. If you don't like what you see, don't expect it to get much better. On the flip side, if you like it, you should enjoy the rest of it. This series is consistent almost to the point of it being a flaw. Yuko Goto shows up later as a sweets loving butterfly girl for fans of her out there. But there are better shows with her out there. I personally don't know if I like it or not. It's fun enough to motivate me to watch another episode, but not enough to care about what is going on. So all of its high and low points average it out to a mediocre 5 across the board. Sound gets a bump up for a cute OP and the interesting idea of having different EDs sung by the different characters.

Story: The show wasnt as random as I thought it would be. It keeps on switching between drama and comedy, which is very confusing. There are way too many serious parts, and too few funny parts. If you liked the randomness of the first episode, and want to watch something similar, dont bother watching the rest. With the cast of characters, I feel that the show could have been done a lot better.

Art: The art is awesome, no com...plaints there.

Sound: I think that having different ending songs each sang by a different member of the family is a good idea for their part. The OP ... is also very catchy and perfect for the show.

Character: While they included a very weird returning cast: an electric butterfly, a biological weapon, a talking lion, a floating jellyfish, and a shinigami, they failed to make them funny. Most of the characters just get a few seconds screen time each episode, with no real impact on the story. They also failed to show the story of the homo son, Ouka and Kyouka. Even though Ouka and Kyouka are the 2 characters who came out the most, you know almost nothing about them in the end. The shinigami, who I thought was one of the more enjoyable characters only came out in 1-2 episodes as a major character as well. None of the characters are interesting nor memorable.

Enjoyment: to be frank, I didnt find this anime funny at all. There is no conversational humor like in Minami-ke or Lucky Star, very few randomness like in excel saga, no circumstantial humor, nor any other type of humor at all. Sure, there is a lot of absurdity, but they failed to make them funny. The few jokes and lines they have, are already overused in the first 1/4 of the series. In the end, this show is more like a normal anime story with a weird cast (who still act like normal characters anyway). It had a potential to be a great anime, but fail to deliver.

Overall: If you have time, and nothing else to watch, go ahead. I like the OP the most about the anime. I recommend the following episodes: 1, 8-10, 21.

This was a very odd comedy to me. It had a plot but it was hidden amongst some of the random adventures that didn't advance the plot but made for a pretty good episode and laugh.

To me this was an ok anime for it had lots of comedy that made me laugh but at the same time it had some comedy in it that was band and didn't really hit the funny bone unless you had the mind 2 year old. Then there are the times when it gets all serious then they try to pull something funny out but you are already in serious ... mode and you can't laugh but you knew it was funny.

The Romance in this anime was kinda hidden but there was a feeling it was there. I would say this was more of an adventure genre than a romance since there just was not that much romance in it.

Characters in this anime kept things interesting since they were all different in their own respect. They all had different back grounds but all of them did have one overlapping tone to their past.

In the end the plot all pulls together and things start to make sense a bit more. If you have enough time, I would say watch this anime since it does hold some good value in my books.

If you are looking for something that will amaze you, you're wasting your time.
I rate this anime a 5 because it is a very average anime. You won't regret watching this; for an episodic comedy anime with some serious elements, it isn't bad by any means.
This is an episodic comedy anime about a group of people who've lost their family/had no family to start out with learn to live, love, and accept each other as true siblings.
However, Gintama fits the exact same "episodic comedy anime with some serious elements," has hundreds of episodes, and has many people scrambling over how good it is.
The ... other main theme of this anime, family bonds, is again done better in different anime. My Roommate Is a Cat is an objectively better anime featuring a cuter cat as the main heroine with the same family-oriented theme. Summer Pockets (will get an anime soon) also focuses on family bonds in a supernatural modern setting, but it's actually a very good visual novel and not just a mediocre anime.
Again, this is an average anime that is neither bad nor good, though there were some aspects that were better than others.
The story is what you'd expect from an episodic comedy anime; not very present. What else would you expect? Nobody watches Gintama for the plot either. However, I did actually enjoy most of the episode/arc plots. The ending was often surprisingly touching or surprisingly funny.
The art is pretty standard for its time period. I have no comments on it.
The OP and most of the EDs are not to my taste, but you can just skip them. I actually liked the soundtrack, the actual music you can't skip, and I think that's the most important part. Keep in mind that "like" does not mean "Yuki Kajiura level." It's good, but not that good.
The comedy was average. I laughed sometimes. It makes use of a lot of randomness, which I guess I laugh to.
The characters, while unique, I felt weren't given enough attention. It is the anime adaption of a light novel, which probably cut out most of the interpersonal interactions that really define a character. I felt that many of the characters were either sidelined or fall into simple tropes when not in their own character arcs, including the main characters. This is quite common in anime, movie, and comic adaptions of novels, so I can't fault the anime too much here. There's just too little time to spread around eight different characters.
And now we get to the setting, which I feel is too ridiculous for most people. I agree, the setting is stupid if you think about it. The answer is to not think about it. Gintama's setting is stupid. Through the Looking-Glass' (the novel) setting is stupid. Frankenstein's (the novel) setting is also stupid. The setting literally does not affect the enjoyment of this anime whatsoever.
And thus ends my review. This is an average anime, but you could do so much worse.