Love Lab

Anime like this easily produces a smile on my face, it takes quite a bit more to actually make me laugh. This show made me chuckle at a regular rate.

I'm usually not a big fan of anime that tries to go for a laugh so directly; more often than not it misses the mark and ends up just being annoying. But this show is quite self-aware; it knows it's packed with the usual stereo-typical characters and plays around with them; it acknowledges it uses the classical setup of absurdity/stupidity with straight-man retorting. (An honourable mention to the character of treasurer Sayori here, who, with here snide comments and merciless demeanour added something extra to the high-energy antics of the others.) Everything is played out with such abandon and laid on so thickly it becomes funny, but never feeling obtrusive.

It also has a few emotional moments, but those are executed in a manner true to the spirit of the rest of show; it remains a comedy. (Avoiding the mistake, countless other comedies have made, of (unsuccessfully) forcing sensitive moments in.)

At its heart it's a slice-of-life show, but it's covered with a generous layer of absurdity. So if you're looking for some honest silliness, give this one a go.