D-Fragments is a comedy manga based around manzai. For those less familiar with Japanese culture, manzai is a type of stand-up comedy in Japan which revolves around two performers: a tsukkomi (straight man) and a boke (funny man). The boke creates a funny situation using misinterpretation or forgetfulness and it’s the tsukkomi’s job to butt in and correct him. Most of the jokes made are based on misunderstandings, puns and other verbal gags.
Kazama Kenji, a wannabe delinquent with ego to spare, inherits the job of tsukkomi in a world filled with boke. Yet his job becomes even harder when he is suddenly kidnapped and forced to join the game production club (temp), a club filled with the worst boke imaginable. And thus hilarity ensues. The story progress in the usual slice of life manner we’re well accustomed with (club activities, school festival, competition with other clubs, etc.) but does so with slight twists to them and combined with the manzai creates very funny situations that will keep the readers laughing every chapter. And one of the things that I really appreciate about this manga is that it is faithful to Kenji’s background, dedicating more than a few chapters to his attempts to leave the club and make a name for himself as a delinquent. Something worth mentioning is that this manga is a harem in the strictest sense of the term, with multiple female characters vying for Kenji’s affection (MC joins a club filled with only beautiful girls, check). Yet with the vast amount of female characters, only a couple are actually trying to become romantically involved with Kenji and this manga isn’t chockfull of harem clichés, making it an enjoyable type of harem. And even if you are completely averse to harem romances, the romance plays a minor role in the manga and most of the time it’s used as a way to enhance the comedy rather than being a focus in itself.
As always, the focus of a harem shifts towards the female cast, and here we see more than a few archetypes that we are familiar with: eccentric yet cute female lead, tsundere love interest, cool student council president, little sister character, the ACTUAL little sister and many more. Yet while they are somewhat annoying in a more serious setting, archetypes greatly enhances ones enjoyment in comedies because you can simply laugh at them while also becoming attached to them if you’re a fan of a certain archetype. And having a big number of characters helps in this regard as readers can find their favourite archetype without it seemingly be forced on a certain character. The main character himself is a breath of fresh air as he isn’t lacking in personality like most male leads and doesn’t always succeed in what he attempts to do, becoming a damsel in distress himself more than once. The Kazama family as a whole is probably my favorite set of characters in this manga without even including their tsukkomis. Yes, Kazama Kenji isn’t the tsukkomi simply because he’s the male lead, but because his family is descended from an ancient lineage of tsukkomi…or something (personal speculation section ends here). Thus his family is able to take over for Kenji when he becomes incapacitated enough to be unable to tsukkomi.
The art in D-Frag is great. For the most part it is simple as to enable the readers to focus on the dialogues and jokes made but manage to be detailed as the situation requires. From character expressions to scene appropriate chibis, the art serves as support for the comedy and enhances the jokes, perfect for a fast paced type of comedy such as manzai. Fan service is minimal and as with the romance, is only there to support the comedy rather than being a focus in itself.
Overall, D-Frag is definitely one of the better comedy manga I’ve had the pleasure to come across and it is a definite recommendation to anyone looking for something funny to read. With the recent announcement of an anime, readers will have something to look forward to once they finally caught up to the latest chapter of this amazing manga, which is all the more reason to start reading D-Frag.
