The Still Disastrous Life of Saiki K. 2

• Genre : Comedy, Slice of Life, Supernatural, Sci Fi
• Episodes: 24
• Studio: J.C.Staff

 

It’s surprisingly difficult to be average. At least it is when you’re a super powered genius psychic and you just want to blend in and enjoy a nice quiet high school life. Take my word for it, it can actually be a real pain. You constantly have to actively tone down your talents, every cute girl in school eventually falls for you no matter how much you avoid them, and your small but loyal bunch of misfit friends constantly want to be with you and have your best interest in mind so you can never relax. At least you can be yourself around your family. But their a bunch of weirdos so that’s not much solace. Trust me when I say this, life can be downright disastrous for a powerful psychic. But it’s fun to watch.

I saw the first season of The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. some time ago on Crunchyroll and was avidly waiting for them to add further seasons to their catalogue. I started to wonder if there were further seasons. Google seemed to say that at least one more was out there. So I waited. I considered petitioning Crunchy. I really liked season 1. Mind you, all this time I have Netflix. I had it before I got Crunchyroll. Point is Netflix bought up the distribution rights to Saiki K quite some time ago and currently has 3 seasons of the series plus the Netflix original Reawakened. Basically I was desperately looking for this series, considering purchasing physical copies, and I had it all along… Yup, sounds like me.

Saiki K is a pretty popular series of anime and I think a lot of people know about it but for those of you unfamiliar here’s the bottom line. It’s a slice of life about a high school boy with pink hair, psychic powers and deadpan delivery. It’s also a straight up comedy. As in comedy is by far the dominant if not only genre at play. Although episodes are the regular length, (25 or so minutes), each episode is in fact a collection of 4 or 5 short and often unrelated vignettes so it feels like a short program.

Maybe it’s just in my experience but I find that pure anime comedies have a certain look to them. For instance bright but flat colours. Not much gradients or contrast. Simple designs. There’s a certain bluntness to the visuals to goes along with the quick pacing and deliberate acting.

I don’t know if I described it well. It’s not that the production is in any way lacking, to the contrary every element works fantastically together. But there’s a specific style to it. And I put a ton of pics in this. Why am I trying so hard to describe it badly.

For reference, production wise (animation, art, voice acting ect…) Is a perfect extension of season 1. Admittedly I watched it a few years ago but I couldn’t notice any difference which in itself is sort of impressive.

In my notes I described The Disastrous Life of Saiki K 2 as *if someone wanted to turn Mob Psycho 100 into a stand-up act* I could have said the same thing about season 1 as well but I hadn’t seen Mob Psycho at the time. Once again there’s a distinctive quick fire style to the series. Everyone in this show talks really fast and a lot. To the point that there’s a single silent episode towards the end of the season that I found downright unsettling to watch since I had gotten so used to being bombarded with constant non stop chartering.

In some ways The Disastrous Life of Saiki K is all about quantity. It packs every comedic archetype it can find and throws non stop jokes at you in a wide array of comedic styles and sees what sticks. When you’re getting 12 jokes a minute, one of them is bound to make you giggle. On the other hand some people may find that a bit annoying or exhausting. I’m guessing. I liked it a lot and the only other person I know who’s watched it also loves the show. (Hi Alex,I know you don’t read my blog so I won’t put you on the spot and mention this next time we see each other but just in case you actually come across it..hmmm…I hope you have a nice day. I got lost in my own sentence.)

As I mentioned this series, and I would say season 2 even more so than season 1, is a lot like watching a stand up show.

As such, the narrative is constructed differently. Both plot (what there is of it) and characters are in service of the humour not the other way around. Every element is a set up for a punchline, including development. Don’t get me wrong there is in fact character growth and a few genuinely touching moments for Saiki but it’s not how we usually see development. It’s in bursts and sporadic.

It’s the type of series you put on at the end of a long day to get a smile on your face and if you forgot everything that happened, it’s fine. That won’t stop you from enjoying the next episode whenever you get to it. It’s also the type of series you can easily split up. Watching a few episodes here and there, without really loosing much if anything.

All in all I would warmly recommend Saiki season 2 to comedy fans. To everyone else, well there’s really not that much left if you take out the comedy…

Favourite character : Aiyura

If you don’t drink, how will your friends know you love them at 2 a.m.?

Suggested drink: Psychic Venom

• Every time the 4th wall breaks – take a sip
• Every time Teruhashi sparkles – gasp
• Every time Saiki enjoys some sweets – get a snack
  
• Every time someone misshears something – take a sip
  
• Every time Saiki does something nice for someone – pinch yourself
  
• Every time Saiki says yare yare – take a sip
• Every time Saiki goes cross-eyed – giggle
• Every time a girl falls for Teruhashi – blush
• Every time there’s time travel – cheer
  
• Every time Saiki tries to avoid a social situation – nod in understanding
• Every time anyone falls in love with Saiki – take a sip
• Every time we see a cute little animal – take a sip
• Every time we see Makoto Terahushi – clap
  
• Every time Saiki is afraid of a bug – take a sip

You know the drill,tons of pics on Pinterest…