Mayonaka Punch isn't a classic for the ages, but it's an original anime & it understands that drawings can be funny—two things rarer than I'd like.
To expand slightly, Mayonaka Punch felt like an emanation from a kinder parallel universe where fine-not-great original anime with a sense for visual comedy are a reasonable seasonal expectation.
hmmm perhap i should watch it. i'm not too impressed with P.A. Works's other offering this season (Na Nare Hana Nare)
Am I imagining things through a haze of nostalgia, or did "original anime" and "anime that know drawings can be funny" used to be a bit less rare in eons past.
It's hard to judge, because in the past fewer anime were made full stop. Probably fair to say that the anime landscape has always leaned heavily on adaptation rather than original projects. On the other hand I think there might be a stronger case on the funny drawings point. A lot of it's hearsay but I do come across remarks like [Twitter link, I'm afraid] this one a fair bit.
You know, this somehow feels consistent with a trend I've seen of nostalgic reboots of older kid's anime (Sailor Moon, etc) having a painful dearth of good funny faces compared to the originals, even when trying to word-for-word copy a joke from the manga.
Oh yeah, definitely. A lot of these re-adaptations coming out as ONAs or airing late at night when the original adaptation aired in the morning or early evening have this more staid quality.
