This review is spoiler-free.

This review was originally written on Mar 25, 2018; rewritten on Nov 11, 2022.

What makes a joke funny? Is it a well-thought-out build-up, steadily tied up, making us want to hear the punch line established at the end of the gag? Is it the topic the joke tackles? Is it the way it is presented and conveyed to us? Is it just a matter of timing? No matter which of these reasons you choose, all of them pale in comparison to the most crystal clear aspect a pun, by definition, has to have to make an addressee laugh: the intention to be humorous. As simple as it sounds, I found it surprising that Pop Team Epic, an absurdist comedy to the bone, which I should have fallen in love with immediately, did not deliver any laughs along the way.

I am the type of guy who would die of laughter if I saw a piece of bread falling over, so, on the surface, this anime looks like a perfect fit for a person like me. That is merely not the case.

PTE seems to have a bizarre perception of references. Do not get me wrong. The show makes a lot of imaginative references to various popular movies, games, music and even anime. That is great! Nonetheless, it falsely believes that cramming as many of them within an episode is a noteworthy accomplishment, but it could not be further from the truth. By themselves, references are not hilarious. You need to forge them into something laugh-worthy. Play with them, substantially mock the source material, and poke fun at them. Merely slapping them on the screen is not going to cut it. That is not enough to be meaningful. It is nothing more than a quirky gimmick that does not enhance the joke. Well, not understanding this concept quickly took its toll, as every single reference the anime threw at me bounced off without leaving any lasting impact.

Of course, the references are not what the show is all about. At the core of the "plot" lie the absurdist gags, and they are even worse, as they are painfully unfunny. Without question, they feel random, scatterbrained and nonsensical, but that is the point. I deem them lukewarm for a specific reason... they do not pack a punch. Most of the skits progress in the same way: they start, unravel their content, and then abruptly end halfway through, leaving us without a conclusion. The inherent quality of the jokes varies from one scene to another, but they are all consistently bland and confusingly undercooked. They come and go, and all that is left is a state of utter indifference. It is comparable to waiting for a plane to take off, but it never leaves the runway. It is more than obvious that absurdist comedy is not supposed to make sense, so bringing up the usual "build-up and punchline" structure is wholly redundant. Regardless, that does not excuse creating half-assed gags that result in the idiomatic nothing burger. I cannot chuckle at something that does not contain any laugh-worthy elements. The only emotion these undercooked scenes evoke is disinterest. I am more than sure these are not the show's goals, though it seems like it does not care at all, for better or worse. That may be the show's biggest flaw, but it is not its most gruesome one.

That title belongs to two segments that work as separate entities from the usual skits: Bob Epic Team and Pop Team Cooking. Calling them a nuisance would be an understatement. The former is an unfunny abomination. Naturally, I acknowledge that its hideousness is the primary component of the "joke" and that BET exists for the sole purpose of being incomprehensible, nonsensical and horrid. However, I cannot shake off the feeling of being force-fed a spoonful of nasty mush; it looks awful, tastes even worse, and has no nutrients inside. None of the ideas in this segment is worthwhile, so it is impossible to enjoy it, ironically or not. Even the most straightforward of shitposts have some inherent value and wit; Bob Epic Team does not possess either. The latter showed a lot more promise at the beginning. Using a cooking show as a vehicle for gags is a very sound idea, and the show could have used its sterilised, commercialised nature to make me laugh out loud. That never happened. Every joke was either cut short or inherently had little to no entertainment value, which was nothing short of disappointing.

Amongst all this negativity, there is one aspect of the project about which I can say something positive: the production values. The distinctive art style and simplistic animation, mixed with live-action skits and constantly changing aesthetics, create a rather unusual and genuinely fantastic vibe and feel. I would be lying if I claimed they were some of the best the medium has to offer, but they serve their purpose extremely well. I genuinely respect their creativity, even though this wit alone is not enough to elevate the rest of the content. The same notion applies to sound. The wacky and lively voice acting, opening theme, and song parodies feel at home in such a random and senseless environment. More often than not, they allow certain scenes to be less of a hassle to get through. Clearly, without these zany audiovisuals, the show would be even harder to digest, which says a lot.

Pop Team Epic could have been a good time, but the reality ended up being way more gloomy. I expected to see a hilarious shitpost of an anime, yet what I got instead was the equivalent of eating dry bread; a lot of chewing and no fun at all. I found it immensely disappointing, but what is worse is the fact that watching it was very uneventful. I could stomach an awful show, yet I cannot find the strength to put up with one that could have been amazing had it cared one bit.