Human Bug Daigaku

This is 100% a hidden gem. It certainly took me by surprise how much I ended up enjoying this one since the art initially was a turn-off. But I got used to the art and actually ended up appreciating it, especially as a fan of the Archer series -- the animation is similar and the main character even resembles Archer, although their personalities are totally different.

I found myself looking forward to every episode to find out where the story amd characters would go next. I'm not entirely sure if the tidbits of information dropped every episode is actually legit, but it was certainly entertaining. ... The characters were also interesting and I grew to really enjoy them over the 12 episodes, which made following their shenanigans a worthy investment.

I know the art is weird -- but give it a shot. This anime is a wacky but fun ride.

First a summary of the plot: Satake Hirofumi is sentenced to death. He is accused of killing his fiance and another man because he thought she cheated on him. He then lost all his memories of the past. After that he even survives the execution. The police isn´t sure what to do now so he is left alive as an interim solution. He now tries to get back his memories and quickly realizes that he already survived many unusual situations.

When you watch the first episode you´ll definitely notice that the animation is awful. At first it kinda bothered me but I quickly got used ... to it and accepted it as the shows own style.

The story isn´t deep but this anime doesn´t really need it to be. At first it´s a pretty episodic series but later on the plot becomes more coherent. In every episode they tell a funfact that is pretty well implemented into the story. It´s not supposed to be some deep, dramatic story (or at least I hope so because otherwise it completely fails).

The characters also aren´t that complicated. They just have one trait that is usually pretty cool and unique (one guy is absolutely crazy about trying out all different kinds of food and local specialties) but that´s it. There´s no big development of them throughout the show but just like with the story they don´t need to be deep or anything.

Apparently the original web manga was published on youtube (the manga panels and a voiceover) and that doesn´t surprise me because this show feels more like a youtuber project than a TV anime.

If you expect just that this anime definetly won´t disappoint you. Otherwise even the first episode will be a absolute pain to sit through.

Crazy Boring University.

Crazily enough I was slightly looking forward to “The Human Crazy University”. From what had been shown through promotional material this would be a fun, absurdist comedy told through a 1960s, minimalist animation style about a death row inmate surviving his death sentence and recovering his memories. And it is that… minus the comedy… and the absurdity… and any reason to continue watching it….

The biggest problem this show has is how seriously it takes itself despite its goofy premise. The first episode is told completely straight-faced from start to finish, setting a strangely sombre tone that overstays its welcome. Even the introduction of ... the Professor halfway through the first episode feels very underwhelmingly sane for a character with a mad scientist vibe.
That’s not to say the show doesn’t have its moments where a chuckled at some of the character quirks, and the mystery around Satake Hirofumi's circumstances is well told and somewhat interesting, but there's nothing that will immediately grab you as a viewer and hook you into watching more (expect the ED, that song slaps).

I think the show would benefit from a shorter episode run time instead of the standard 20-22 minutes to speed up the pacing and make each episode more engaging. Series like “Pop Team Epic” and “The Way of the House Husband” which also used minimal animation benefited greatly from this approach and their episodes felt more like fast-paced comedies rather than drawn out and full of exposition with a few gags thrown in. It is hard to watch literal static, wooden characters talk for 20 minutes about things when most of the time there's nothing to focus on.

Overstaying its welcome is the overall impression I get from “The Human Crazy University”. It doesn’t take advantage of its art style, its pacing is sluggish and although I do think it has an interesting narrative it’s just not all that funny for a comedy. Now I know comedy is different for different people, but… should this be labelled a comedy MAL?

3/10 Wasted Potential.