During 2018, Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu was simply one of many series to center around an otaku's accidental teleportation to an alternate reality based on an MMORPG. While Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken contains moments of levity and Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria frequently slips into "so bad it’s hilarious" territory, How Not to Summon a Demon Lord was the genre's genuine comedy of the year. Fortunately, one proved to be more than enough!

In the real world, Takuma Sakamoto is a shut-in gamer with virtually no social skills. For all intents and purposes, the protagonist is a hikikomori. Takuma's days are spent leveling up Diablo, a powerful evil character in an MMORPG called Cross Reverie. Materializing as his fictional persona, Takuma is abruptly summoned to a parallel universe by an elf and a catgirl who seek to enslave and harness the Demon King's power. Due to Diablo's impenetrable defenses, Takuma inadvertently reverses their spell and accidentally captures the girls.

How Not to Summon a Demon Lord is the ultimate fish out of water storyline. Takuma's social inadequacies constantly force the protagonist to put on a front by pretending to be the obnoxious Diablo, a facade that produces dozens of hilarious encounters! While the anime contains a handful of earnest moments, How Not to Summon a Demon Lord shines the brightest whenever endeavoring to make audiences laugh.

Chio's School Road's premise is almost too simple. A gamer girl who tends to pull all-nighters, Chio Miyamo constantly finds herself racing against the clock to avoid arriving late to school. Sorted into numerous skits, each segment follows the teenager during her morning walk. That's it! For the most part, Chio's School Road resists the urge to deviate from its basic formula; thankfully, this is one routine that never gets old!

Along with a likable main character, Chio's School Road has an awesome roster of silly troublemakers who appear to exist solely to throw the protagonist off her game. Mayuta Andou is a gang leader who ends up developing a crush on Chio, while Madoka Kushitori loves playing kabaddi and will use any excuse to stage a game.

Chio's mutually parasitic friendship with Manana Nonomura is easily the anime's highlight! Despite being best friends, both girls are more than willing to throw the other under the bus to further their own social status!

What could be more anime than adorable anthropomorphic animals? While they do not ordinarily earn English translations, anime tailor-made for children are understandably popular in Japan. Similar to Western shows, many of these educational cartoons revolve around cute mascots engaging in relaxing storylines.

On the surface, Aggressive Retsuko may seem like a show targeting youngsters, but Fanworks' slice of life juxtapositions its childish animation with a mature comedy style. Stuck in a dreadful office job, Retsuko spends her days dealing with two vindictive bosses and a slew of passive aggressive coworkers. In order to avoid going absolutely insane, the red panda turns to death metal karaoke as a stress reliever.

Putting aside the charming art style, Aggressive Retsuko is a straightforward office comedy, although the humor does have a slight edge to it.

As one of the year's more baffling releases, Madhouse greenlit a Kaiji spin-off revolving around Yukio Tonegawa's everyday struggles at Teiai Corporation. Unlike its intense parent series, Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa opts for a far lighter tone. Parodying Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor's tendency for melodrama, Tonegawa is repeatedly dragged into cerebral battles over the dumbest of things!

Prior knowledge of the franchise is recommended to truly appreciate Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues' brilliance; however, the spin-off avoids being too over-reliant on a viewer's familiarity with Kaiji. Tasked with creating a "game of death" for Teiai's sinister owner, Tonegawa is assigned a team of men in black, who amount to little more than henchmen in Kaiji's two seasons. Along with poking fun at their indistinguishable designs, the spin-off injects an inkling of humanity to these otherwise nothing characters.

Tonegawa may work for an evil corporation, but Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues' protagonist faces challenges that should be relatable to anyone with a professional background. As a parody of psychological or gambling anime, Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues consistently rolls a perfect six!

Asobi Asobase accomplished for "cute girls doing cute things" anime what Puella Magi Madoka Magica achieved for magic girls series. At an initial glance, Lerche's comedy seems like a relatively normal slice of life about a school club's three girls. Echoed by a cutesy opening song and a simplistic but charming art style, Asobi Asobase lures viewers into a false sense of security, before a seemingly harmless game of "look over here" ends with Kasumi nearly divorcing Olivia's nose from her face!

Asobi Asobase borders on psychotic! In the space of a second, Lerche's series transforms from an easygoing slice of life to a surreal and borderline horrifying black comedy. During these moments, the animation drops its facade and morphs the girls into beings more suited for a Japanese horror film than a "cute girls doing cute things" anime. While Asobi Asobase's main girls are unlikely to feature among anyone's favorite waifus, they are among the year's most unforgettable trios!

Asobi Asobase is unique. No other anime compares to it. Equally capable of subtlety or outlandish slapstick, the humor successfully blends a wide range of styles. Unapologetically absurd, Asobi Asobase revels in its madness!

Hozuki's Coolheadedness presents hell as a bureaucracy. How can such a premise be anything other than hilarious? Following the second season's first cour, Studio Deen's supernatural comedy returned for another enjoyable 13 episodes during 2018. By this point, Hozuki's Coolheadedness' stories adhere to a certain rhythm, with the characters seldom showing any significant development. Hozuki's Coolheadedness is not a slice of life comedy, therefore, hell essentially resets after each segment. Consequently, anyone who enjoyed the previous seasons should adore the latest batch of episodes!

Armed with a spiked metal club, Hoozuki serves as King Enma's second in command, although the deputy basically runs Japan's underworld! Seldom letting any situation get the best of him, Hoozuki's stoic nature compliments hell's sadistic practices, with the protagonist often relishing the opportunity to reprimand his subordinates.

Hozuki's Coolheadedness sticks to its strengths, which chiefly revolve around Hoozuki dealing with several recurring characters. Along with highlighting Japanese mythology, Hozuki's Coolheadedness makes hell seem like a fun place to work!

Based on a highly-rated ongoing manga released in 2014, Grand Blue entered the scene burdened with great expectations. It is safe to say that Zero-G's adaptation mostly lives up to the hype! Now, in all fairness, the anime occasionally struggles to replicate the manga's expressive art style, with hardly any of the adaptation's scenes surpassing the source material. Even if the manga is superior, the anime is nevertheless worth a watch!

Moving to a seaside town and staying at his uncle's scuba diving shop, Iori hopes to lead a normal but fun college existence. Unfortunately, the scuba diving club needs members and Iori seems like a perfect fit! Sure, the dude never learned to swim, but such facts are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things!

Grand Blue's humor can be divided into two parts: Misunderstandings and overreactions. Typically, scenarios involve the scuba diving club dragging Iori into a drunken party, leading to the student embarrassing himself in front of his cousin. More often than not, Iori also happens to be naked!

Romantic relationships are often founded on common interests, but finding someone who shares your passion can be an arduous task! A closet yaoi fangirl, Narumi Momose generally avoids dating other otaku, but a series of failed romances motivate the woman to try a different route. At her new office job, Narumi runs into Hirotaka Nifuji, a childhood friend who happens to be a massive gamer. Out of nowhere, Hirotaka asks out his fellow otaku and the two begin a unique relationship!

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku explores three romances in various stages of development. As the established couple with a firm understanding of each other, Hanako and Tarou's greatest enemy is complacency. Narumi's romance is undoubtedly still in its infancy, while the anime hints at a potential third relationship involving Hirotaka's brother.

Even though Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku does not completely circumvent all traces of melodrama, the anime primarily concentrates on comedy. The two established couples play off each other like seasoned pros, while Narumi deserves to be mentioned among the funniest characters of 2018! Packed with anime references and fantastic facial expressions, Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku should not be missed!

Hinamatsuri asks, what would happen if a yakuza suddenly found himself taking care of an esper girl from an unknown civilization? One random evening, a strange capsule bearing the face of a girl spontaneously appears in Yoshifumi Nitta's apartment. The aforementioned face belongs to Hina, a pre-teen girl with telekinetic powers. Deciding Nitta's residence should make for a nice home, Hina convinces the gangster to invite her to stay by threatening to blow up the building!

Admittedly, the duo's friendship gets off to a somewhat rocky start, but Nitta gradually begins to appreciate Hina's company. Conversely, Hina genuinely aspires to grow more familiar with human etiquette, although her efforts tend to frequently backfire. Creating an immediately witty duo, Hina's deadpan delivery juxtapositions seamlessly with Nitta's expressive nature!

Hina's name may be in the title, but there is more to Hinamatsuri than just the protagonist. Introduced as the idolized class representative, Hitomi Mishima's journey sees the pre-teen inadvertently dragged into the business world as a bartender. Sent to capture Hina, Anzu tends to make an appearance whenever the anime feels like pulling at the viewer's heartstrings!

The sequel to 2016's The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. renews the psychic Kusuo Saiki's daily struggle to keep his powers a secret. Unfortunately, the protagonist seems to attract nothing but weirdos! The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. 2 can essentially be summarized as a parody of supernatural-themed shounen series, with each episode being split into numerous skits.

While primarily maintaining the same structure as its predecessor, the sequel's willingness to stretch stories beyond just five-minute segments permits for more ambitious storylines and jokes. At the end of the day, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. 2's cast is the main reason to watch the anime, and they only improve with each passing episode! Saiki's stoic nature excellently compliments the rest of the cast's quirky personalities.

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. 2 is a well-oiled machine. Every component has a part to play, and nobody is ever caught slacking! Backed by a flawless soundtrack featuring unique themes for the most important characters, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. is a laugh-a-minute anime!