Pani Poni Dash!
マホ少女ひめこ☆ナニカ
Shaft has been one of my favorite studios, and for as long as I've known them, it was either Hidamari Sketch (arty, but quiet and contemplative) or what Pani Poni formed the basis of. Zetsubou Sensei and the second Negima series (which I actually kind of like) all are spiritual successors to this show, but I've never finished it until now. I think it's because the openings were so bizarre that my mind hadn't fully settled into the Shaft groove.
The thing about comedy is that the characters can be allowed to be broad, as long as the things happening around them are of note. Compared to Zetsubou Sensei, I noticed here that almost all of the references the show makes are buried in the background - the actual comedic throughlines of the episodes are pretty simple. Things like makeup tests or Becky losing her meal ticket.
And Becky, oh Becky. Chiwa Saito is Shaft's star player, and so much of this series is carried by her performance. She can be cute, sassy, angry, a whole range of emotions. Even a few heartfelt ones. The rest of the cast is pretty good, too. A few names who never rose to stardom, and many who are still big to this day. Miyako's not what I think of for Yui Horie characters with her perpetual anger, but it's not that far removed from Koko's... Kokoness.
My favorite characters of the main six were probably Himeko - energetic types have always tickled my fancy and No. 6. She's the adorable of the year. I do like that the show had multiple classes and teachers, and didn't solely confine all of its weirdoes to one classroom. Akane Serizawa was probably my favorite in this tier. A real tour de force for Miyukichi.
The aliens and Mesousa's recurring subplots were both fairly amusing, with the alien stuff calling to mind the later instance of the Professor and Nano in Nichijou, with unusual characters in mundane situations. The jokes didn't overstay their welcome, either. There were some standbys, but things were never repeated so often that they became stale.
And I can't mention Pani Poni without bringing up Ichijou. Ichijou is the best. She was never predictable, but always seemed to be starring in her own series with her own logic that was clearly not meant for us mortal humans. The way she exacerbated the situation twice was hilarious. I could also go on about Behoimi and her fall from magical girldom, or the giant salamander. There's so much going on in the background of every episode (including a few toku references, and Shaft getting meta on themselves in the OVA) that I was never bored.
For the openings, "Roulette☆Roulette" was my favorite, and both endings were pretty good. "Pani Poni X" was an amazing piece of insert music, too. The Edo episode came out of nowhere, and was the one weak link in the series, but I'm aware I lack the cultural context for it, no matter how many times I see Edo in Japanese media. Plus it was still called back to for a few jokes a few episodes later.
Final Thoughts: Maho-velous! The Shaft comedy of the year! I've been wanting a more traditional Shaft comedy as their style continues to evolve in the present, and so the best way to do that was going back to the past. Pani Poni clearly set a template for many years to come, and it still holds up today. The references may become dated, but the character stuff is pretty good, what I'd expect from Japanese comedy, tempered by a good voice cast and Shinbo's signature style.