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Gakuen Handsome follows the tale of Maeda Yoshiki, a transfer student at Baramon High School where all the students are ikemen! (Handsome men!) With so many Dorito-headed boys vying for his attention, Yoshiki has his hands full trying to get through his classes. His elementary school sister acts as his wingman and even his principal is pushing for him to find love.
Gakuen Handsome is a shining example of a parody anime. Based on the visual novel, it aims to make a joke of the BL genre in just 3 minutes per episode. Anime with episode lengths between 3-8 minutes often skip any semblance or seriousness of a plot, and instead focus on poking fun at common themes in their targeted genre. For example, in BL, the dark and brooding type will be portrayed as cool, even if he’s really just acting like a jerk. So when the silent Shiga transfers into Yoshiki’s class, their teacher announces “as you can see, he’s a cool guy.” Here’s a list of other parody anime that are short enough to watch between classes!
Similar Anime to Gakuen Handsome
1. Oruchuban Ebichu
- Episodes: 24
- Aired: Aug. 1999 – Oct. 1999
Ebichu is the sweet and caring pet hamster of Office Lady who just wants to do what she can to please her owner. Ebichu’s constantly fighting with Office Lady’s useless, cheating boyfriend, Kaishounashi, who Office Lady just can’t quit. This little hamster is determined to make up for the useless people in her master’s life, taking it upon herself to do household chores, answer embarrassing questions for her master, and refereeing Kaishounashi and Office Lady’s sex when she thinks it’s not good enough for OL. Despite getting beat up constantly, Ebichu faces each day with energy and optimism!
Both Ebichu and Gakuen Handsome take things that are supposed to be cute and instead pervert and make a mockery of them. While Ebichu definitely has more sexual content, they share in their use of violence as comedy, with characters healing quickly from their wounds. Neither of the shows uses romance or sexual innuendo in an attempt to arouse or excite the audience. When Ebichu reads an erotic novel out-loud using character voices while her master has sex, and when Sakuya asks Yoshiki out to pee together, it’s only to elicit laughs with the ridiculous scenarios.
2. Teekyuu (Teekyu)
- Episodes: 12
- Aired: Oct. 2012 – Dec. 2012
Teekyuu follows the everyday life of Yuri and her three friends in the tennis club, who are far removed from reality. She’s swept along by their antics every day despite wanting to lead a normal life abiding by the laws of physics. Kanae, Marimo and Natsuno flout decency of logic without much concern for what that means for others. Yuri doesn’t have the luxury of worrying about their lack of tennis proficiency when she has to constantly stop her three senpai from abusing their wealth, committing crimes, and engaging in reckless activities!
Yuri and Yoshiki both are the main characters and end up being somewhat of a straight man in the series. They are also both the target of gay advances by multiple characters. However, Yuri is definitely more likely than Yoshiki to give the others a hard time about their antics or refuse their advances. Both anime feature quick dialogue where almost every other line is something ridiculous or perverted. The actions and abilities of the characters far exceed human limitations which make for a lot of visual humor. Teekyuu doesn’t have quite as strong a gay romance presence as Gakuen Handsome does, but they are very similar in terms of comedy!
Teekyuu Season 5 Trailer
3. Choboraunyopomi Gekijou Ai Mai Mii
- Episodes: 13
- Aired: Jan. 2013 – March 2013
Ai, Mai, and Mii are members of the manga writing club, yet Mai and Mii care little for actually participating. Instead, they spend their days annoying Ai, who is the only one who takes activities seriously. The three girls are constantly getting into crazy, video game-like situations and often get into battles with each other, yet they'll be together again by the start of the next episode. From meeting strange creatures to encountering magic and becoming cyborgs, each day brings with it new and strange joy!
Ai and Yoshiki are very similar in that they both are slightly more serious than their schoolmates but still get into some weird antics of their own. They might not be as prone to crazy, but they have their own bizarre displays. Ai Mai Mii is another short anime with ridiculous scenarios and undetailed artwork, yet it parodies several genres and there is far less romance in this series. However, if you came for a crazy, slice of life comedy, you will not be disappointed!
Any Anime Like Gakuen Handsome?
4. Oneechan ga Kita
- Episodes: 12
- Aired: Jan. 2014 – March 2014
When Tomoya’s father remarries, Tomoya is interested to see what kind of person his new stepsister, Ichika, is. He soon finds out she is an obsessive stalker and desperately wishes to be around him at all times. She’ll even put her safety on the line just to get a few more moments with him! Ichika has no shame and will throw herself at her stepbrother in front of friends and family. Tomoya tries to maintain normal relationships with others but that’s a difficult endeavor when Ichika won’t let him be alone with anyone!
While not being potential romantic interests to the main character like in Gakuen Heaven, the supporting characters of Oneechan ga Kita are similar. We have the childhood ikemen (pretty boy) friend, the verbally abusive and intelligent student from another class, and the violent delinquent who shows favor to the main character. Aside from additional characters being introduced, there's not much progression to the plot. However, My Sister Came is a bit more of a serious attempt to show complicated romance between characters. Instead of gay love, it's sibling love, and of course, the other characters react to it like it was a weird hobby rather than a social taboo.
5. Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san
- Episodes: 12
- Aired: April 2014 – June 2014
When the cat-loving Inugami meets the dog-enthusiast Nekoyama, a mutual attraction is born when the two find the characteristics they love in each other. Inugami is quite the dog when it comes to cute girls, and she relentlessly goes after Nekoyama. Nekoyama enjoys the attention, but too much makes her run away. As more animal-like classmates enter their circle of friends, the girls might find the need to mark their territory.
Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san features an all-girl cast where multiple relationships seem possible, while Gakuen Handsome features an all-boy cast with multiple possible pairings. Right off the bat, though, we can guess who the main character will end up with in Inugami-san, while Gakuen Handsome leaves us wondering just who Yoshiki will choose sexy tea-time with. Inugami also is quite easily flustered by each new girl she encounters just as Yoshiki feels his heart beating faster with each new senpai! This show is great for animal lovers~
6. Himegoto
- Episodes: 13
- Aired: July 2014 – Sept. 2014
Arikawa Hime finds himself in serious trouble when his parents leave a huge debt in his name and then run off, leaving him to be the prey of loan sharks. After being forced into a maid outfit in order to bring in some money, the beautiful boy tries to run away, only to be hunted down. He thinks his luck is turning around when the bishoujo (beautiful girl) student council members of Shimoshina High School beat off the intruders, and offer to pay his debts. The catch? He must continue to dress as a girl, and be the dog of the student council!
While Himegoto has the added ridiculousness of forcing the main character to dress as a girl, it’s similar to Gakuen Handsome in that both main boys are showered with more attention than anyone else in the school. Both shows are also in a school setting where teachers obviously don’t do much to stem the flow of crazy from their students. The artwork certainly isn’t as laughable as Gakuen Handsome and their antics are more nonsensical than straight up impossible. However, it is definitely another fun, short, ridiculous anime to watch when you run out of GH!
Final Thoughts
While Gakuen Handsome is certainly a new and special treat for those who love poking fun at BL (probably something that can bring together both people who hate and love the genre), there are tons of older and newer anime that are as short and wacky.
We wanted to include Sexy Commando Gaiden, an anime even older than Oruchuban Ebichu, for those older, manly anime fans! It features a crazy cast of high school boys that become inspired by Masaru, master of the Sexy Commando! They start a club and devote themselves to the fighting art.
Make sure to check out a few of these shows. After all, you won’t need to devote a lot of time to trying them out!
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