Happy “trust nothing on the Internet” Day, everyone! In honor of the first day of April being the worst time to have a legitimate announcement, I thought I’d write up a list of ten anime moments that make me go “ha” and “ha.”
Formation B!
Series: Jujutsu Kaisen
At the end of the Jujutsu Kaisen episodes in season one is a comedic segment called “Jujutsu Stroll.” One of the later segments has Yuji alerting Nobara and Gojo about a major crisis: Megumi’s getting hit on! The three rush into action with Gojo telling them to get in “Formation B,” which leads to Nobara and Yuji clinging to Megumi and accusing him of cheating on them. Gojo puts a stop to their antics by calling ALL of them homewreckers because Megumi has violin practice with him.
In the end, it turns out Megumi wasn’t being hit on at all, but so many questions remain: why is there even a plan like this at all? How many times have they practiced it? What other formations are there?
Sailor Moon’s kitchen can’t fight evil by moonlight
Series: Sailor Moon
In the final season of Sailor Moon, there’s a moment where a monster fight takes place in Usagi’s very own kitchen. Unfortunately, her kitchen can’t handle the size of her winged bow, nor can it handle the sheer number of Sailor Senshi who are there to attempt to save the day. Usagi has to shuffle down the hallway to try and avoid knocking things over, and certain attacks can’t be done in fear of causing too much chaos.
This isn’t the first time the girls have been in cramped spaces during battle. Back in the first season, there’s an attempted fight in an alleyway that goes wrong, but that just had three scouts on deck compared to an entire kitchen.
Please, don’t take daddy away!
Series: SK8 the Infinity
It was either this or Langa’s deadpan “push me” when attempting to skate again in the second episode, but beach episodes are a time-honored tradition in anime, and SK8 has a pretty great one. Everyone “just so happens” to be going to the same place, leading to some fun in the sun on the beach. At one point, Joe does what he does best and flirts with the ladies, and Miya decides to be an absolute troll by claiming to be his son.
To double down on the gag, he points to Cherry and claims that he’s his mom, implying that Joe is stepping out on his partner and his child. The women leave, Miya looks smug, and Reki and Shadow celebrate a gag well done.
Clearly that Christmas invite is for murder
Series: Persona 4: The Golden Animation
Persona 4 is one of my favorite JRPGs of all time, but its anime attempts are very hit or miss. Golden, in particular, is a bit of a bummer because it tries to condense so much story into 12 episodes, but one thing it does do right is the Christmas episode where the girls assume that Yu’s invite to his house is some sort of date.
Except Naoto. Naoto doesn’t think it’s a date at all. Naoto, somehow, comes to the conclusion that this is an elaborate attempt to murder her. Because for some reason that makes more sense to her than the invitation being a date. She even shows up at Yu’s house in police riot gear, assuming the worst. To be fair, it DOES look like a crime scene in Yu’s kitchen thanks to all the girls making a huge mess of things.
Don’t forget the kid’s meal flag
Series: Tokyo Revengers
Tokyo Revengers is an anime series that can get pretty heavy, and, full disclosure, the manga is even worse. However, there are some moments that offer a bright spot in the heartache, like the earlier episodes where Takemichi learns that the big, bad leader of the gang he’s gone back in time to stop is an absolute child.
Takemichi follows Draken and Mikey around to try and prevent a fight that’s supposed to occur between the both of them. He thinks he’s found the source of the issue, only to discover that the yelling is because Mikey ordered a kid’s meal … but it did NOT have a flag with it. As the second in command of the gang, Draken is always prepared, so he pulls a flag out of his pocket and sticks it in Mikey’s food. Mikey squeals like a 5-year-old, eats, then promptly goes to sleep in the middle of the restaurant.
I’ve been here the whole time … except this time
Series: Kuroko’s Basketball
I was torn between this running gag and the fact that Kagami, with his big ol’ self, is terrified of the puppy the team ends up taking care of. The “there the whole time” bit won me over in the end, though, because it’s a mainstay of the series. Kuroko has perfected the fine art of being seemingly invincible on the basketball court. He’s so good at it that it feels like he’s sneaking up on everyone around him, but in reality, he’s been there the whole time. This catches both his opponents AND his teammates off guard as they often end up looking around for Kuroko, only to discover that they just … didn’t notice him.
However, there was one time when Kuroko actually wasn’t with the group. He was running late, but when he arrived he told them, “I’ve been here the whole time,” to try and make it sound like he hadn’t been tardy. Kagami notices that Kuroko’s out of breath, meaning that he ran to catch up with the team so he was not, in fact, there the whole time.
You’re a Z-Fighter who can’t drive
Series: Dragon Ball Z
Back before I realized what a filler episode was, I legitimately thought the driver’s license episode of Dragon Ball Z was a part of the regularly scheduled program. It made sense to me that the fighters would take a break before trying to fight someone as daunting as Cell, I just didn’t expect part of that break to be two of the world’s strongest warriors going to driving school.
Chi-Chi, fed up after having a long day of having to carry the groceries home and be expected to cook and clean, tells Goku and Piccolo to learn something useful, like driving a car. What unfolds is an episode of pure chaos, particularly for Piccolo, who dresses like a civilian and gets the driving instructor from hell.
I don’t know why I got swept away…
Series: My Hero Academia
Yes I did almost pic the iconic “trash, am I right” introduction to Mirio, but then I remembered the first episode of season five. The first episodes of each new season tend to work as recaps with Deku and Class 1A taking part in something random. One season had a reporter doing research on the school and another season looked like a pilot to a sports anime as the kids challenged each other in swimming.
Season five’s first episode gives the kids a training mission against hypothetical villains who end up being Nejire and Tamaki with Mirio acting like a helpless civilian in trouble. However, his acting skills are hilarious, and at one point—after the kids think he’s safe—he flings himself off a bridge and wonders how life came at him so fast.
This moment requires a fainting couch
Series: Heaven’s Design Team
Heaven’s Design Team is a quirky, educational anime that actually teaches us about different animals. The way the series does this is by having angels getting orders from God because God doesn’t feel like doing the work. The problem? The orders are vague, at best, and it can sometimes cause great stress for the design team.
Venus, who typically ends up making birds, gets an order so ridiculous that she feels the need to faint across a couch. However, there’s no couch in the work area, so she leaves the room, drags a couch back into the room, then proceeds to fall over it and complain about her work order. Since this is the last episode of the season, the viewers have seen how God’s orders aren’t detailed enough to work off of. In fact, when the team saw how things were done in hell in an earlier episode, they realized that the orders there were organized a whole lot better.
That time Excel killed the creator of her own series
Series: Excel Saga
Honestly, Excel Saga as a whole is a wild ride. If you want a comedic anime that parodies other genres and is utterly ridiculous, then Excel is your girl. If nothing else, go watch the very first episode, as it sets the tone for what you’re getting yourself into.
On top of the fact that the main character dies faster than any isekai character, she dies multiple times, only to be brought back to life because, well, the show must go on. She also, in the very first episode, is sent on a mission to murder the creator of her own series. This, of course, means the story has to be reset AGAIN, because if you kill the creator then you can’t have a story.
This is all in the first ten minutes of the first episode, by the way.
Happy April Fool’s Day, everyone! Be safe out there!
(Image: Crunchyroll/Hulu)
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