I was playing Yakuza 5 Remastered recently and came upon a substory (the Yakuza version of side-quests) where the character I was playing had to perform several impromptu comedy scenes. The comedy itself took the form of a two man show where my comedy partner would tell a story while I would simply respond with in the affirmative until he said something goofy at which point my character would deliver a smack to his head while telling him off. This style of comedy is something that I think most people who experience Japanese media will recognise but many of whom would probably be unable to place a name on. Therefore, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the form of Japanese comedy called “Manzai”.
In many ways, manzai resembles a Western double act with a straight man and a funny man, here referred to as tsukkomi and boke respectively. The most notable difference though is the interaction between the tsukkomi and the boke. The two hold a conversation, usually on a strange subject, and the boke tells jokes and a story while the tsukkomi follows along until the boke makes an error at which point the tsukkomi reprimands them both verbally and with a dope slap delivered via either their hand or a paper fan. The error in question is usually a misunderstanding based on wordplay or a revelation that paints the story in a less flattering light for the boke.
This physicality is a major component of manzai that sets it apart from other forms of comedy but it’s also important to look at the wordplay itself. As I mentioned before when I spoke about comedy in manga, Japanese humour is very heavily based off of slapstick and wordplay, the two major components of manzai, but this is where we get into the intricacies of translating humour. Slapstick, being a visual action, translates easily throughout the world and I’m sure you can think of plenty of examples from anime, manga, video games etc. which feature a character saying something stupid and receiving a slap to the back of their head.
In contrast, wordplay relies on puns, double-meanings, misinterpretations etc., something which proves difficult if not impossible to translate into another language without making significant changes. To give an example from TV Tropes, the anime K-On! has a section where two girls do manzai comedy. The boke talks about how she “wanted to sing enka, so we practised using kobushi.” to which the tsukkomi responds by smacking her head with a paper fan and saying “Th-That’s the wrong ‘kobushi’.” Utterly incomprehensible to non-Japanese speakers, the key thing to note is that kobushi can refer to both a form of enka singing and a specific Japanese pop group. This example shows the difficulty that comes with translating manzai acts to other languages as the topics typically cover specific Japanese concepts which are then misinterpreted due to wordplay.
One benefit to this heavy reliance on wordplay and slapstick is the focus on simple storytelling and non-judgmental humour in contrast to many Western acts. Western comedy, particularly stand-up, quite often delves into political issues and controversial subjects while manzai tends to be safer and less politically incorrect. That’s not to say that Western comedy doesn’t have its place but, given all the controversies we hear about comedians upsetting certain sectors of society, comedy that’s more pure and lighthearted serves as a refreshing contrast.
Forming a major component of Japanese comedy culture, it’s understandable that manzai has found its way into various forms of Japanese media and popular culture. Therefore, even a basic understanding can serve surprisingly well to enhance our appreciation of anime, manga, video games and any other products produced by Japan. Let me know your thoughts on the form of Japanese comedy called manzai, whether you had ever heard of the term before, any other similarities or differences you’ve picked up on between manzai and other forms of comedy, examples of manzai that you’ve come across and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk and amazon.com for all of your needs!