Normally, for a girl as tall as Odagiri, shooting hoops would not be a problem, but she somehow can’t manage to net a single ball. When she tries to slam dunk, she clips the rim and the basketball rebounds over to Aoyama, who is cleaning a nearby basketball hoop while he is on a ladder. Almost casually, he kicks the ball back toward Odagiri’s hoop and scores, no doubt due to his amazing soccer skills.

What makes this scene so funny is the reaction from the rest of the students in the gym when Odagiri fails the slam dunk. They watch in disbelief as she struggles to overcome what can only be some sort of supernatural curse, voodoo magic, or surplus of very bad luck that is preventing her from scoring in any conceivable way.

Gotou joins in soccer practice while the team is at the beach for a training retreat. As she dribbles the ball down the pitch, she is confronted by Sakai, and being the gentleman that he is, he secretly decides to take it easy on her because she is a girl. He finds out the hard way that Gotou doesn’t need a handicap! As Sakai moves in to block her, Gotou performs an incredible move which Ishikawa describes as “a Neymar-esqe sombrero flick.” She effortlessly maneuvers around Sakai without breaking a sweat or even losing momentum! Next, she plows through Jin and Taichi and is fast approaching the goal when Kaoru catches up with her. He is keeping pace with her and has almost formulated a plan of attack when Gotou’s body hits the sand, hard, in a semi-convincing feint.

This scene is funny because it reveals an entirely new side to Moka Gotou, who is normally the sweet and shy stalker chick. For her to employ such a dirty trick and then hide an evil grin is a total curveball for anyone familiar with her character.

Akira Takechi loves to show off his abdominal muscles. And it seems like no amount of protest from the other people around him will help his shirt do its job of properly covering up his torso. At seemingly random moments in Cleanliness Boy! Aoyama-kun, Takechi will enthusiastically show you the obnoxious ab flexing technique passed down the Takechi line for generations! Oh, sorry, wrong anime.

This scene is funny because Akira is obviously fishing for compliments by showing off his (admittedly well-defined) abs wherever he goes. The guys around him find it annoying, and amusingly enough, so do the women!

Doesn’t Aoyama seem to have a more or less supernatural gift for playing soccer? Almost as if he holds favor with some sort of Soccer God? Sakai has noticed this too, and endeavors to become just like Aoyama. He begins to model his lifestyle to reflect that of Aoyama’s, starting with changing with his hairstyle. Sakai finds out that even such a small alteration like a haircut makes all the difference; already he has a fan club, several love-struck admirers, a potential promotion, and more self-confidence now that he’s joined “Team Handsome.” He also becomes hysterically arrogant, reading narcissistic poetry and acting like a male idol. However, Sakai forgets that he is supposed to be imitating Aoyama and he changes his hairstyle once again. Without hair to obscure his face, the (debatably metaphorical) God of Soccer notices that he has mistakenly endorsed Sakai instead of Aoyama and he leaves, taking his power with him. Sakai’s new life crumbles before his eyes as he desperately tries to cling to his former proclivities of being a high school sports star.

This scene is funny because of Sakai’s behavior whenever he starts to get really full of himself. This occurs just after he changes his hairstyle. He begins to pose, wink, and flick his hair as if he is some sort of a caricature of a highly romanticized male idol from a poorly written shoujo manga.

Kaoru, Sakai, Taichi and Jin decide to secretly tail Aoyama on his bike route home. They are curious about where he lives, since he never really talks much about his personal life. Taichi theorizes that Aoyama lives in a high-rise apartment, while Jin thinks that Aoyama is most likely living a life of luxury residing in a decked out mansion, complete with his own butler. Furthermore, Jin goes on to say that Aoyama probably gazes at a photo of his father and sister before saying goodnight and going to sleep. Mishearing Jin’s hypothesis about Aoyama, Kaoru, the resident Daddy’s Boy and Rich Kid of the group, exclaims, “Are you guys talking about my place?! How the hell do you even know that?!” Once the mistake is cleared up, Kaoru’s face turns red and, embarrassed, he quickly tries to change the subject.

This scene is funny because Jin’s guess is totally dead on but applies to Kaoru, not Aoyama. The Daddy’s Boy and Rich Kid jokes are a bit of a running gag throughout the show and are used as Kaoru’s comical stigma.

Kaoru is sitting alone in the locker room thinking about how dumb it is for people to go crazy over smelling Aoyama’s sweat towel; it can’t be worth all that hype and he won’t take part in it. Just as Kaoru reaffirms to himself that he is not some sort of towel pervert, the open window in the locker room emits a sizeable gust of wind which just so happens to blow Aoyama’s towel off of its resting place. Being the considerate friend that he is, Kaoru heroically dives after the towel, snatching it mere inches before it touches the ground. And so, there they were… Kaoru and the towel, the towel and Kaoru; together, without even so much as a certain someone’s nail-studded bat to judge them. In the act of saving the towel from falling on the floor, Kaoru has accidently caught a whiff of what it smells like. The heavenly aroma floods his nostrils and works its way straight into his brain; the fragrance is so intoxicating that Kaoru feels compelled to inhale through the towel, using it like an air filter. Kaoru’s olfactory ecstasy is then interrupted by the sound of an opening door and Aoyama can be seen staring blankly at the pervert making grunting noises as he attempts to breathe through the newly defiled fabric. Kaoru, thoroughly embarrassed, makes a desperate effort to explain himself to Aoyama.

What makes this scene so funny is the sudden escalation of the events and the implication of what Kaoru was doing to the towel from Aoyama’s perspective. Kaoru goes from refusing to smell the towel, to practically huffing it in the span of a couple of minutes. The irony adds another layer of humor to the situation: Kaoru, the only teammate who wouldn’t sniff Aoyama’s towel ends up being the only one caught doing it, in what can probably be passed off as an easily misinterpreted situation of extenuating circumstance.

Whenever Aoyama scores the last point of the match, his teammates try to hug him in celebration of their victory. Aoyama’s avoidance of the victorious embrace is part of his strict, no touching policy. This prohibition includes but is not limited to: high fives, fist bumps, kissing, hitting, and yes, hugging. Every time his teammates throw themselves at him, Aoyama gracefully dodges out of the way with ease, resulting in a lot of faceplants from his teammates.

This scene is funny because, as a running gag, it appears a few times throughout the show but no matter what team Aoyama is on, not a single person can catch him in their grasp. The victorious embrace is a winning ritual in sports, and is especially prominent in soccer. But don’t even try to hug a germaphobe like Aoyama; you’ll get him dirty with all of your blood, sweat, and tears.

Neurotic cleaning. Playing soccer. Speaking in a monotone voice. These are a few of the things that Aoyama-kun excels at. Acting as an advisor on dating and relationship problems? Absolutely not. Aoyama’s heart is in the right place when he decides to help his good friend Seigo Ibuki make up with his girlfriend, Kozue Kurata, but unfortunately for Seigo and Aoyama, neither of them really understand why she was angry in the first place. Following Aoyama’s wacky advice, Seigo shows up for a date in a cat costume, and later, insults her cooking skills with a slightly offensive (but well intended) gift. It all works out in the end, though, when Aoyama has them reconnect through what united them in the first place: their love of soccer.

What makes this scene funny is the thought process displayed by Aoyama when giving advice to Seigo. The differential between Point A and Point B is so bizarre that you can’t help but laugh at the sheer strangeness. Cats help to heal people; therefore, you should meet your girlfriend for an apology date while dressed up like a cat. Your girlfriend’s cooking is slightly bland but still nutritious; therefore, you should buy her a beginner’s cookbook.

After a long session of soccer practice, Aoyama and Kaoru decide to call it quits for the day. Kaoru tells Aoyama to put away all of the spread out soccer balls littering the practice area. Being highly germaphobic, Aoyama refuses to pick them up, and instead resorts to using his feet. Kaoru stares in amazement as Aoyama kicks each soccer ball off the field, flawlessly sending them into the designated storage bin. The last two soccer balls are kicked in rapid succession. Kaoru distractedly watches as the first ball flies over his head and past the bin, so he doesn’t even have time to process the second ball before it smashes him squarely in the face! Despite hitting an obstacle, the ball bounces right off of Kaoru’s face and lands exactly where it is supposed to go: in the storage bin! In his usual monotone, Aoyama congratulates Kaoru on a nice header, which, ironically enough, is the only soccer move that Kaoru has any real talent for performing! After sailing over Kaoru, the first soccer ball which is still in motion, hits a nearby building, bounces off, and slams into the back of Kaoru’s head just a few moments after the second soccer ball had become acquainted with his face. After ricocheting from Kaoru’s head, it neatly plops into the adjacent storage bin. Even though he has a nose bleed, Kaoru is amused and impressed with Aoyama’s delayed trick shot.

What makes this scene so funny is the unexpected timing of when Kaoru is hit with the soccer balls, and how they still land in the bin afterward. The first impact is completely surprising because the approaching ball is so obvious and yet it hits Kaoru square in the face! And if you happened to laugh from watching the first hit, you might not even see the last soccer ball until it’s already too late.

Aoyama and the team must endure a Test of Courage by walking through a fake haunted house set up by Karin Zaizen, little sister of Kaoru. While they are walking through the haunted house, it becomes increasingly obvious that Kaoru is kind of a wimp when it comes to scary stuff. He tries his best to put up a brave front but soon flees all the way to the exit, where he spies a figure that has their back turned toward him. Thinking that it’s his sister, Karin, Kaoru breathes a sigh of relief and calls out to her. “Onii-sama,” says the figure in a phony, high pitched voice as they turn around and as the person is revealed, their voice pitch changes, too. “I’ve been waiting for you,” says the fully grown man standing there dressed in women’s clothes, his deep, masculine voice contrasting his prior vocalization.

This is one of the funniest scenes in the whole show because of the contrast of expectation between Karin and, well, what we actually got: a creepy dude dressed like Karin. The unexpected twist was perfect and the comedic timing was executed impeccably. Plus, Kaoru’s evolution of hyperbolic facial expressions were fun to watch; at one point, he goes from having a look of absolute terror to something more akin to an Edvard Munch painting (Google it).