An unfunny comedy that was still an enjoyable read
Humour is such a difficult thing to translate. I don’t think I laughed at a single joke in this series. But I did enjoy learning about the craft of comedy.
Tbh, I felt like the ‘battle’ aspect of the manga was a bit forced. Maybe it was because most of the rivals were all really skilled, so it never really felt like One Way Ticket to the Top were really ‘leveling up’. Which was kinda reflected in the final chapter where the podcasters were ranking the contestants and had to add a SSR rank for them LOL.
I did appreciate the commentary on the ‘mean’ comedy, and the character story behind that was definitely unexpected.
I dunno if it’s representative of actual Japanese comedy, but there was quite a lack of female characters. At least the classmate (senpai?) was pretty cool.
All of the characters had interesting backstories/motivations to get into comedy, but in the end, I can’t say I felt that much for any of them. Even the main characters. Taiyou’s one felt a bit cliche and framing Nazutani as the asshole villain felt a bit bait and switch-y (it was unsatisfying). And Azemichi’s had a very obvious conclusion haha.
I think my favourite part was when they had to convince Azemichi’s family to let him do comedy. I felt like it was very smart. But it was pretty early on, which meant that I wasn’t really gripped by much of the rest of the series. At that point, I kinda thought this was one I would want to buy physical, since it was an edu-tainment kinda series and I do quite like those (they make for good rereading), but I’ve decided that I’m fine leaving this one at a single read through.
Categories: Manga Plus Simulpub Review
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