10 best parody anime of all time

Parody anime usually takes beloved franchises and tropes from popular anime and pokes fun at them with over-the-top humor and absurd plotlines. For anime fans, they can be a funhouse mirror held up to favorite shows and characters. When done right, parody anime can be absolutely hilarious.

Parody anime walks a fine line between sharp satire and loving homage to the anime medium. But the best examples feature talented creators who know their source material inside out. Their insightful commentary spots tropes hiding in plain sight that could use good-natured mocking.

This list covers 10 of the best parody anime that stand out thanks to their hilarious writing and understanding of anime culture.

10 must-watch parody anime of all time

1) Gintama

Gintama is arguably the king of parody anime. The long-running Shonen series is set in an alternate late Edo period Japan, with aliens and futuristic technology. This allows Gintama to seamlessly blend historical Japanese comedy with jabs at modern anime.

No popular franchise is safe from being parodied by Gintama’s cast of eccentric characters. From Dragon Ball to Naruto to live-action TV and politics, the show leaves no stone unturned when mocking pop culture.

After losing a major war to aliens, samurai Gintoki Sakata takes odd jobs with his friends Shinpachi and Kagura to pay the bills. But between the jobs, these three get caught up in hilarious misadventures making fun of everything in anime and beyond.

2) One Punch Man

The premise of the smash hit One Punch Man involves an average guy becoming the most overpowered superhero ever. The parody anime serves as a spot-on parody of action shonen and superhero stories.

Saitama is an unemployed young man who trained so hard to be a hero that he lost all his hair and became strong enough to defeat any foe with a single punch. However, Saitama feels empty as he can no longer find a worthy opponent.

Along with the hilarious juxtaposition of Saitama’s bland personality with his insane strength, One Punch Man nails tropes like rivals between heroes, crazy training montages, and long-winded explanations of special moves during fights.

3) Excel Saga

This absurdist comedy parody anime takes parody to whole new levels of weirdness. Excel Saga follows Excel, a girl devoted to serving the ideals of Lord Ilpalazzo and his secret organization Across. Her mission is to conquer the world in the name of their ideology.

The problem is that Excel is incredibly inept and keeps failing her missions in increasingly ridiculous ways. From getting trapped in dating sims to losing control of giant mecha suits, Excel’s misadventures are random parodies of action, sci-fi, and high school anime executed at a machine-gun pace.

The sharp contrast between Excel’s rapid-fire gags and the boring routine of her oblivious bosses pushes Excel Saga’s parody to insane heights.

4) Abenobashi

This parody anime centers around childhood friends Sasshi and Arumi. After an accident sends them to an alternate world, these two discover they can warp between surreal parallel universes parodying everything from fantasy RPGs to Hollywood noir films.

With each episode occurring in a new world with bizarre rules, Abenobashi spoofs tons of classic film and anime genres. The RPG world pokes fun at fantasy tropes and game mechanics. The space opera episode mocks sci-fi cliches. And the noir detective episode takes jabs at hard-boiled mysteries and pulp fiction.

Yet amidst the chaotic parodies, Abenobashi manages to spin a surprisingly compelling coming-of-age tale as Sasshi copes with his childhood world transforming literally and figuratively.

5) KonoSuba

The hit comedy isekai parody anime KonoSuba centers around the pathetic protagonist Kazuma Satou. After dying embarrassingly, Kazuma is given a chance to reincarnate in a video game-style realm.

He picks the goddess Aqua to accompany him, only to later realize she’s completely useless. With only Aqua and two other dysfunctional party members, Kazuma is forced to take on quests and fight monsters despite no combat ability at all.

KonoSuba proceeds to ruthlessly mock the overpowered protagonist trope common in isekai by forcing Kazuma to rely on luck and trickery to barely scrape by each encounter. This creates an isekai adventure that’s hilarious rather than epic.

6) The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. (Image via J.C.Staff)

This supernatural comedy follows the daily experiences of high schooler Kusuo Saiki, who happens to have every psychic power imaginable. He can teleport, read minds, see the future, and more. While overpowered, Saiki just wants to keep his abilities secret and live a normal life.

However, Saiki is surrounded by the most eccentric and nosy classmates imaginable. From the fiery delinquent Riki to the narcissistic pretty boy Shun, these quirky characters constantly drag Saiki into silly schemes and campus antics.

While mostly episodic, the anime loves parodying shonen tropes by presenting Saiki’s unbelievable powers in the most underwhelming ways possible for humor.

7) Space Dandy

This parody anime follows Dandy, an absent-minded and girl-crazy alien hunter who travels the galaxy looking for new species to register for rewards. Backed up by his level-headed robot assistant QT and cat-like alien Meow, Dandy frequently gets caught up in zany sci-fi misadventures while trying to make a quick buck.

While having an original premise, Space Dandy cleverly parodies countless sci-fi films and shows. The character designs parody American comics. An episode where everyone travels through time mocks franchises like Terminator. Dandy’s ridiculous hair even satirizes popular anime protagonists.

By combining an episodic monster-of-the-week format with self-aware comedy, Space Dandy manages to feel both like a loving homage and merciless parody of the sci-fi genre.

8) Pop Team Epic

Pop Team Epic (Image via KAMIKAZE DOUGA)

This parody anime features two 14-year-old girls, Popuko and Pipimi who directly address the audience with random jokes and non-sequiturs. Their bizarre conversations escalate into raunchy humor, nonsensical gags, and parody skits.

Pop Team Epic constantly alternates between different art and animation styles to keep things unpredictable. The show even replays entire skits with male voice actors instead of female ones, adding another layer of absurdity.

This rapid-fire assault of lo-fi weirdness makes the series feel like channel surfing between random anime and YouTube videos at 3 AM. While light on plot, Pop Team Epic relentlessly parodies everything in anime and otaku culture, from dating sim tropes to repetitive anime openings.

9) Mr. Osomatsu

This sequel to a classic 60s comedy manga follows the new misadventures of the sextuplets from the Matsuno household. While the original series was a gentle family comedy, Mr. Osomatsu uses the same characters to create a raunchy parody making fun of modern anime.

Each sextuplet now has an exaggerated negative trait reflecting modern otaku. Osomatsu is a NEET obsessed with idol girls. Karamatsu is an embarrassing wannabe cool guy. Choromatsu is a shut-in addicted to the internet. The show mocks modern tropes and stereotypes through its wholesome retro art style.

Whether the brothers are battling rivals through Showa-era delinquent slang or desperately chasing after girls out of their league, Mr. Osomatsu mixes slice-of-life comedy with movie references and meta-gags to bring new life to classic characters.

10) Nichijou

This parody anime follows the ordinary lives of several students, a professor, a robot, and a talking cat named Nano. However, their mundane interactions spiral into over-the-top hilarity thanks to the show’s strange sense of humor and physics.

Students will randomly get into fights involving rockets, wrestlers, or deer. Nano struggles with everyday tasks as her robot arms lead to absurd disasters. Every minor social faux pas leads to the principal screaming in terror.

By portraying completely average daily events and conversations with an escalating air of absurdity, Nichijou parodies the slice-of-life and school anime genres. The dissonance between the characters’ underreactions and the ridiculous sight gags pokes fun at a staple of anime comedy.

Conclusion

Parody anime continues to grow in popularity by affectionately roasting some of the most cliche and eccentric aspects of Japanese animation. When executed with love by talented creators, parody anime can make light of overdone tropes and introduce beloved franchises to new audiences.

These selected series stand out for their hilarious writing and insightful commentary on anime and otaku culture. So the next time you feel burned out on action shows and romances, give parody anime a try for big laughs pointing out the absurdity hiding in plain sight.