Review of The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.

This review does NOT contain any spoiler. For an average person, psychic abilities may be considered a blessing, but it's not the case with Saiki. Gifted with ridiculously vast supernatural abilities, ranging from telepathy, teleportation, clairvoyance, and countless others, instead of a blessing, Kusuo considered those abilities, that can basically turn him into a God who can do anything, a curse. He tries to hide all his strength and tries to live a normal life, away from the spotlight of the people, but he starts to attract the attentions of all kinds of strange individuals. Aired in 2016, this psychic - SoL anime might beone of my favorite comedy show of all time. A little disclaimer before I begin, THIS SHOW IS NOT FOR EVERYONE.
This show has really fast-paced, mostly monotone dialogues, which makes it tricky and boring to read all of the subtitles, especially when two or more characters are speaking at the same time. Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan has the peculiarity of having several voices overlapping each other. A character may be speaking to another while the other one is thinking and Saiki is giving us his opinion regarding that situation. Suddenly we have 3 different subtitles covering the whole screen and we just have no idea where to start reading. This overload of dialogues is also part of the humor in Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan, so it’s not really a bad thing, it’s just not suitable for some people.
Also, the comedy isn't like most others. It's dialogue heavy. 70% of the comedy is the main character's monologues and his interactions with other characters. There's no crazy over the top hyperbole gag happening like Nichijou, or slapstick comedy and parody like Gintama. So if you're not into those, you most likely won't enjoy this.

Saiki K. (okay typing the full name is a bit bothersome now) is a ridiculously funny show. It simply has everything we are looking for in a comedy anime. Saiki K. has an interesting story with a nice development (which is rare for a 5 minute episodes show), an amazing set of characters that will make you laugh your ass off and the most original script in a very long time. The dialogues as well as Saiki’s narration and inner thoughts and the general way in which Saiki K. manages to produce humor is absolutely original and finely developed.
However paradoxical it may be, Saiki K. is filled with stereotypes and yet it is one of the most original shows of the past year.
Saiki K. parodies many of the most common stereotypes and clichés in anime. In fact, it does so to such extent that Saiki claims full responsibility for canonical features of anime like characters’ exotic hair color and characters’ ability to heal in seconds. Saiki actually explains that he used his powers to change people’s hair color and to give them the ability to heal super-fast, mocking these features present in every single anime. Saiki K. makes fun of absolutely everything and we just love that.

The dominant type of comedy in this show is Deadpan Comedy, telling a joke with emotional neutrality or no emotion, to the contrast with the ridiculousness or absurdity of the subject matter. The delivery is meant to be blunt, ironic, laconic, or apparently unintentional. The jokes are mostly told with blank expressions and no over-the-top reaction either which, for some people, makes it much funnier. Simply told, it's the "calmness" in the chaos happening that makes this show hilarious.

The next greatest thing about this show which i rate a 10/10 is the characters. The set of characters in Saiki K. is as vast and varied as it is brilliant. Saiki K. presents the craziest characters you’ve seen in a long time as well as some of the funniest stereotypes. We have the dumb guy Nendou, the energetic guy Hairo, the chuunibyou Kaidou, the popular perfect girl Teruhashi, the girl who’s constantly falling in love Yumehara, the ex-gangster Kuboyasu and countless of other ridiculous characters who come to complicate Saiki’s life in the funniest possible ways, even if they only appear for just one episode. All stereotypes are taken to the extreme, like the energetic guy is too energetic and the pretty girl is too pretty everyone who sees her instantly fall in love. On Saiki K., it’s not the main character, Saiki, who gets the spotlight but all of the supporting characters.
Even with all of his powers, Saiki appears to be the most normal character in the show, and that is because everyone else is so crazy and ridiculous. Each of these characters is quirky in their own ways and will make you laugh so hard that you won’t know what to expect whenever a new character appears.

Saiki K. also breaks the fourth wall every so often. Saiki interacts so much with the audience that you’ll feel like both you and Saiki are sitting together in your room watching the show. Most of the humor in the show arises from Saiki’s reflections about other people’s actions and thoughts. Saiki is permanently making sharp comments about what the other characters are thinking just the way that we do when we watch any anime. You just won’t feel like you’re watching this show alone.

Finally is the powers and goddamn do I love this aspect of the show. We love overpowered characters, especially when there seems to be no limit to their powers. Saiki always has a new and unique ability up his sleeve to delight us with. He can do telekinesis, astral projection, telepathy, clairvoyance, psychometry, hypnosis, pyrokinesis, and much more which I won't say since wanting to discover more of his ability is part of the fun watching this (I will say this though, there are A LOT), each of them with their own different characteristics and restrictions. Every single one of the powers constantly get brought up in different situations, so it's impossible for viewers to forget them. Saiki's powers aren't just overpowered and play an important part in the plot, they're also just so interesting and eye-catching.

There are just so many good things about Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan that I can’t help to think it’s a really underrated show. Overall I rate this show a 9/10 and I definitely recommend it to anyone that's suited with its humor.