Boku no Tonari ni Ankoku Hakaishin ga Imasu is a great comedy show. The plot of the anime is nothing special: MC gets dragged along with a chuunibyou friend. This type of show has been done a bunch of times. But, why is it that something like Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai or Chuubyou Gekihatsu Boy average or even below average, and this show, very good in my eyes?
Well, I'd say that there are a lot of elements that make this show as good as it is, but let's first talk about one of the most important things about a comedy show: the characters. The main character is not your white bread japanese MC with their only personality trait being "kind." He definitely has a depth of personality that you wouldn't normally see in a comedy anime. He's childish, dumb, selfish, easily tricked, and maybe doesn't appreciate his friends enough. All of this shows through in his monologue. There's definitely a lot of shows with monologuing like Bakemonogatari or Suzimiyah Haruhi. And definitely a few comedies that do the same, like Saiki K. However, Seri's monologue showcases his personality very well, and creates a great comedic effect off of it. His reactions and comments truly makes this show a lot more fun and interesting, and the show isn't shy to showcase it a lot. Seri's monologue is one of the defining factors of this show, and also one of the funniest. However, lets move onto the other main character: Hanadori. It's true that he starts off by being one of the most overused chuunibyou archetypes of all time but after he starts to interact with Seri and Tsukimiya, that archetype becomes secondary to his personality, and this is true with all of the characters in this show. While a lot of them seem to be very boring and only have a quirk/gimmick to them, they usually get explored a lot more than just that. This is something Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai or Chuubyou Gekihatsu Boy fail to do. They just muddle about with their given quirks in uninteresting slice of life scenarios with predictable dialogue and reactions, thus making them extremely boring. Boku no Tonari has great characters, comedy, and a unique MC. Hanadori is shown to be extremely affectionate towards Seri, and you get to see him grow as a person, or at least, see him become something more than just "a guy with chuunibyou." Tsukuyima is actually one of the most unique characters right off the bat, and a necessary character for the story. He's shown to actually have mysterious powers of that like a God, and harasses Seri for no other reason than for his amusement. While he doesn't really progress as a character, you never find him boring. As for the side characters, I'll go over them real quick. Just like Hanadori, archetypal characters are generally given enough love to evolve beyond their single trait that they were given when introduced. However, I will admit. Some characters really are just what they look to be when they were introduced. It was probably the 12 episode time frame that this show was given that this had to be the case. I find that especially Mogami really got no screen time or dialogue beyond his typical lines that he always goes for. However, there is no real annoying characters, and Helius, Sumiso, etc, are all pretty good. They're also not overused that much, so the jokes about them don't get oversaturated. The author tries to keep things fresh.
Anyways, lets move on to the story. Some comedies sometimes shift their focus to more serious character development arcs, such as "why am I even hanging out with these guys," etc etc. Boku no Tonari is no different, but it's executed well. A lot of comedies fail to pass this hurdle. Boku no Tonari maintains a serious tone when needed, but also knows that it shouldn't be a show that should be taken that seriously. In the end you have well balanced character arcs where you get to know the character much more in a genuine fashion than a typical comedy show could offer without it being forced. The only other thing I wanted to comment about the story is that it focuses on comedy for the most part, while some shows love to focus heavily on the "slice of life" part for some reason. It's not even good when they do that. Boku no Tonari focuses on the comedy aspect, and thus, is not a half baked product that tries to execute both a slice of life and comedy.
Art...honestly, looking at the art objectively, it's very average, or even below average. That is, if you don't include the comedic aspects of it. What I mean are the facial expression of characters during scenes. As a comedy, having your animation blend in is very important, and Boku no Tonari gets a 10/10 on that aspect. Simple, yet effective and cute chibi figures, everything about the cat aesthetic that Seri has, and the other facial expressions and reactions are very reminiscent of a 4-koma comedy (which it obviously adapted off of), is amazing. While it may be something that you may brush off, the art and animation of these scenes definitely multiply the execution of dialogue and scenes.
All in all, It's a very good series with little to critique. I was honestly very surprised that it was at the bottom of the barrel of new airing shows, since it's probably going to be one of my favorites of the year. I hope this review makes you think about giving it a try.
