So here’s a weird thing.  After two episodes I’m not really sure if I find Uramichi Oniisan funny.  Not only that, I’m not even sure if I’m supposed to find it funny.  I mean obviously it’s a comedy and it’s supposed to make you laugh, but it’s dark in such an unsubtle way that it makes me question the intent.  I love black comedy but this isn’t even really black comedy, it’s just depressed and fucked up people who use a lot of punch lines and absurd situations with kids.

I do know this, Uramichi himself is so one-note and predictable that I find the supporting characters more interesting.  Maybe they’re just as one-note and it’s just that we haven’t seen enough of them to know that yet – that’s possible.  But take Iketeru, who also benefits from Miyano being a more nuanced comic actor than Kamiya.  His laughing at the dick jokes combined with him seeming – on some level at least – the most sincere of the main group gives him a little distinctiveness.  And of course with Utano you’ve got Mizuki’s wonderful singing, even if her characterization so far has been pretty by the book.

I’m not even really sure what would make this show click for me in a way it hasn’t so far.  Finding it funnier, obviously, but that’s trickier than it sounds.  More exploration of the interaction with the kids?  I can’t honestly say I have any urge to see that much more of this depressing mob’s personal lives, especially Uramichi himself.  What I do know is if a comedy like this has nothing redemptive about it, no trace of earnestness at its core, it has to be really damn funny to have legs.  And so far this one isn’t, at least for me.