I think he well makes us savour any humour he injects into it as Tsukihime is a game that gets serious fast. And I agree completely in that seriousness has to be earned. Whether by the characters, art, or story if they try to put too much in, it’s like getting a “loan” from the storyline further along, making it crappier the more they try to dramatise it (I think thus of Naruto which got too serious too quickly).

@ OGT: It’s a difficult ability that we all get used to but never really master. I’ve gotten into the habit of not taking things too seriously until they start to get good, which gives me pleasant surprises like Eden of the East, but that also results in lessening the impact of some “surprisingly” good stories like Toradora. (Not that it was a surprise, per se, but it took me a while to properly acknowledge it as something more than what it appeared).

@ Michael: You’ve got it. That comes down to execution as well – has the story earned the right to take itself seriously and deploy the plot devices and twists? If not, then that could be a fatal mistake.

@ zzeroparticle: That’s a good example. Like OGT said, expectations are a big part of it, and I for one only found the end of Kannagi to be a bit jarring since I expected it to be a comedy. Likewise, Akikan became even worse than it already was after the half way point, although that was also due to Michael’s point about earning the seriousness (which it certainly did not do).

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Michael | Low on Hit Pointss last blog post..Futakoi Alternative is one good argument for excellent execution trumping everything else

I find that anime is a devilishly difficult medium/genre as a whole to treat seriously, because it almost literally requires you to take it frivolously and seriously at the same time. You have to take the fact that you take anime seriously lightly, and you have to take the fact that you take anime lightly seriously.

OGTs last blog post..The Rediscovery of Haruhi Suzumiya

No one complains about the few serious moments in Lucky Star, but what if the entire second half of the series were dedicated to Konata’s family issues?

I, for one, would have adored the damn thing.

I’d challenge your assertion that it is the quantity that matters, some sort of balance between little and much. Rather, I believe it all lies in execution – if done well, any amount of humour can follow along with the grimmest, . Or so I believe. For one, look at Excel Saga, when it turned semi-serious (focus on semi), it did so well. The whole scene with Il Palazzo rising on his base and Excel finally meeting him there, with the consequences, didn’t feel “too serious”, despite it being set in a show where serious moments normally consisted of the director himself appearing at random moments as a half-god in afro and Char-expies looking like cute pseudo-rabbit-dolls wage intergalactic war.

It may not all that different, your view and mine, I imagine, since “the right amount” and “well-executed” may overlap in a large majority of cases, though. (the Excel Saga example may well be “the right amount”, considering it was not much more than a single, still slightly ridiculous, episode)