[Kaoru Chujo]

This is a kind of humour that I love, but many others don't even see as humour. The parodies were just window-dressing, for me. The main thing was the absurd humour throughout. Kind of like Monty Python. People are shown being silly and self-important, but proceeding with a dry confidence that is hilarious, to me.

It's an absurd world. For instance, the way Itsuki simply ignores all the beatings and sexual harassment around him, and accepts a cup of tea. If I wanted to be serious, I'd say he represents us, blithely accepting the horrors that surround us.

This kind of humour involves setting expectations and then violating them in dangerous ways that provoke laughter. To me, the whole thing conveys a feeling of compassion for human faults, and acceptance of the chaotic nature of the world. This is my kind of funny, exactly in the tradition of Ichigo Mashimaro and Seitokai no Ichizon.

I enjoyed the fanservice (and the fourth-wall-breaking when they talked about it), but a part of the viewership who might like this kind of humour, may have found the rich tapestry of fetishes off-putting. And those who might like the fetishes maybe don't like the humour. On 2channel, there are people making fun of the show, and others who say it is "funny." There seems to be more enthusiasm among the nay-sayers.

This could be the only episode I like. We'll see. But I liked it quite a bit.

The voices were interesting, too. Asumi Kana was just different enough from her Nyaruko, and did some strong work. Ise Mariya as Itsuki seemed to me to hit the right notes. New voice Nishi Asuka was fairly good, with one terrific squelchy expostulation as her character hit the floor (I think when she was being tied up). Nazuka Kaori was beyond ridiculous as the teacher. Great comedy. As the club vp, Satou Satomi plays a different kind of ojousama from her Eru in Hyouka. And it was cool to hear Tsukimiya Midori (Eucliwood Hellscythe in Zombie Desu ka?) as the wonderful soft-spoken student council president, who issued harsh commands that were easily batted aside by the club vp. More expectations violated.

Sorry for the tl;dr, but one more thing: I thought the English subs were terrific. Great inspiration to call it the Asstronomy Club. Astronomy in Japanese is tenmon. They substitute a different character for the "mon" that means worry or suffering, but is apparently some kind of code word from yaoi manga.