There are a lot of limitations that manga as a medium has to overcome to get its stories across. The lack of sound and movement, for example, can make it difficult for tone of voice, delivery, and timing to come across clearly.
This is partially why creating a good comedy manga is no small feat. Managing to create situations, characters, and jokes that don’t lose their impact in a 2D plane is a heavy task, but many series manage to pull it off every year. 2022 is no different and has brought quite a few series to publication that are sure to trigger their share of laughs.
7 Kono Gomi wo Nanto Yobu (What Do You Call This Trash)
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Comedy, like all entertainment, is extremely subjective. What one person finds hilarious might be completely unamusing or even upsetting to someone else. Because of this, Kono Gomi’s premise might not land for everyone.
The story centers on the disastrous dynamic between Yuu, his older brother, and his brother’s ex-girlfriend. Struck with an unfortunate crush on said ex, Yuu agrees to feed her obsession with his brother in order to get close to her. The ensuing hijinks are often painful to watch, but there is a sizable amount of delight to be gotten from watching these characters live their messy, messy lives.
6 Sugoi Smartphone (Super Smartphone)
Super Smartphone is, in an odd way, quite reminiscent of Death Note. They both star intelligent high school boys who are somewhat bored of their current lives before receiving a mysterious and powerful item.
In Kyuu "Q" Sagurada’s case, his item of note is a ‘Googugu’ phone, which boasts the ability to search for any information that exists on earth, including classified documents and hand-written diary entries. While the comedy in this series is more low-key, Q’s interactions with his new phone are often quite cheeky, and the potential for their joint detective work is promising.
5 Dungeon no Osananajimi (Dungeon’s Childhood Friend)
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Mostly through the efforts of the ‘isekai’ genre, traditional fantasy settings in anime/manga have been parodied to no end. This manga takes its own crack at parody, positioning the young adventurer protagonist Van as the best friend of the dragon lord waiting at the end of the dungeon.
It’s delightfully funny how easily Van busts through the dungeon on every visit and equally sweet how genuine his relationship with the Dragon Queen is. Add in a quartet of enthusiastic, match-making dungeon minions, and the basis for a strong romantic comedy is set.
4 BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita (We Star in a BL Drama)
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Live-action adaptations of popular properties are a constant occurrence these days and constantly receive harsh criticism from fans of said property. Having to star in one such adaptation is hard enough for Hajime Aoyanagi, but it’s only made worse by his co-star and on-screen love interest hating his guts.
Secretly though, that co-star, Yuuichiro Akafuji, only comes off as stand-offish and rude because he’s utterly obsessed with Aoyanagi. The premise itself is hilarious, but the awkward lengths Akafuji goes to keep himself somewhat composed make for a very entertaining rom-com story.
3 Among Us
Believe it or not, the hit multiplayer detective game responsible for a million memes and plushies has received a manga adaptation. While the popularity of Among Us is hard to avoid in the English-speaking world, some of that fame seems to have filtered over into Japan as well.
Sadly, this manga is only a one-shot for the time being. In the short time it has, though, the Among Us manga manages to capture much of the inevitable hilarity of playing the actual game. Its art is simple and neat, its characters are cleverly distinct, and the sleuthing process is just as infuriating as an actual match with friends.
2 Ruri Dragon
While a lot of comedy anime and manga is going for big, echoing laughter, some series choose to be more deadpan in their delivery, finding humor in the simple things. Ruri Dragon excels at this style of comedy, managing to drag out smiles and chuckles without ever getting too loud.
The series sees Ruri Aoki dealing with the sudden revelation that she is part dragon and now developing draconic abilities. Her classmates end up treating this as little more than a fun new thing to chat about though, and the new attention gives her the opportunity to start slowly growing out of her shell and bonding with those around her.
1 Share House Nile
Anime and manga are no strangers to covering the lives of historical figures. The Fate series famously adapts many notable names from history, as do series like Drifters and Netflix’s Yasuke.
Share House Nile is a house within which the likes of Pablo Picasso and Marie Antoinette are trying to get by in a strange, modern world. Marie specifically is the source of many jokes as an uptight and spoilt aristocrat. When their new roommate, Che Guevara, arrives on the scene, anyone familiar with his revolutionary tendencies can quickly anticipate just how easily he will push Marie’s buttons and drive her into hilarious fits of frustration.