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.
