Asobi Asobase is a gag anime that follows three girls that do not have personalities that fit their appearances at all. They decide to form a school club which focuses on pastimes. What do they mean by pastimes and what are the purpose of the club? It is vague just like the very idea of what a pastime is; a hobby? a game? random things to do when one is bored? And that is exactly what the three girls do in this pastime club which they are the only members of. How the hell did their nonsense concept for a club get approved by the school? It did not get approved, they are acting unofficially in an unused classroom. Its all for the comedy, don't worry about it.
The characters have no depth to them, do not expect a character driven heartfelt comedy series such as Kaguya Love is War or something. And that is totally fine as I will explain later that their comedy really slaps. Their characters never look their part and its a common theme for the entire cast. Ostensibly dumb characters both in appearance and actions somehow ends up the the most competent, vice versa or characters that look like their suppose to be this archetype is totally something else.
A joke usually is not funny the second time it is heard or at the very least not as funny as the first time it was heard. Memorable jokes are usually those that are exceptionally smart and have a lot of nuance or heart to them. The jokes in Asobi Asobase are not smart, in fact in the comedy scene these sort of gags that do not seem to have much depth to them are labelled as 'hacks' The type of jokes that are akin to memes on your social media timeline made by a friend or someone shitposting which at most elicit a smile or a puff of exhalation out your nose. But sometimes even the most mediocre jokes if told by an individual that has the charisma and skill can be funnier than it actually seems. That is why stand up comedy is a skill, that is why some comedians seem to be funnier than others regardless of how smart the substance of their jokes are.
The comedy in Asobi Asobase really sells because of how they nail their delivery. The series is not afraid to drastically change its art style to fit their gags and these really drastic changes in mood really can catch someone off guard with its absurdity. How they really treat mundane silly conversations and mishaps like a horror film can really make for good laugh out loud moments.
This series is pure comedy all the way so do not expect character driven tropey moments such as going out shopping to shop for a birthday gift to plan a surprise for one of the friends or whatever like that. This means the gags just keep coming and the art style will always change in order to sell the gags as best as they can.
Just like how drastic the art can get to sell the comedy the voice actors really go all out in the same way. I am really impressed with the twin tailed girl Hanako as she is able to display a diverse set of emotions and execute each of them to perfection. The other voice actors too are really good and the only reason they do not stand out as much as Hanako is because they were not given as many chances to do so.
In conclusion there is nothing memorable about the characters or the story or how intricate their jokes are constructed. I look back fondly on this Anime purely based upon how I enjoy and laughed and the delivery of many of the jokes are presented. By the end of the series the direction of these gag situations really plunge into insanity and it feels like the writer ran out of ideas so I think its fitting to end this series at 12 episodes before the series gets stale. A solid comedy anime that ends on a good note, definitely recommend.