Tropes Made Fun of in Saiki K
We all know it's a comedic gag (and a lot of the time I wish it wasn't), but I don't ever think I've seen anyone actually talk about the sheer amount of anime tropes that are being made fun of or why characters act the way they do. Like it's genuinely amazing the series got away with being a parody of so many anime archetypes; and Saiki is literally telling us it's all ridiculous.
Kusuo lists some of them right at the beginning that he made happen with his powers:
unnatural, colorful hair and eyes
people ignoring weird features like his antennas
the crotch and boobs being always covered when the rest of the clothes are blown away
surviving serious injuries
Saiki Kusuo - The overpowered protagonist; the fantasy of being all powerful (it's an inconvenience, he told you so).
Saiki Kurumi - The impossibly kind mother (even powerful psychics struggle against her sincerity).
Saiki Kuniharu - The pathetic father (well at least he's present), and the man obsessed with his wife.
Saiki Kusuke - The Genius/Rival sibling. *sigh* He is also the bro-con (brother complex).
Iridatsu Yuuta - The special kid; the child chosen by destiny. Children are often used to perceive things adults cannot and Saiki literally exposes himself with no problem to him. His powers are just explained away by child imagination.
Nendou Riki - The idiot best friend; he's the lovable moronic sidekick and his idiocy is almost like superpower because Saiki can't read him. He accepts Saiki completely, has seen him use his powers, and somehow he still doesn't know about them.
Nendou Midori - The single hard working mom
Takeuchi Riki - The absent father/ dead parent. Funny, even with no memory he actually isn't absent and helps his son sometimes.
Uryoku Chouno - The fraud magician; the mysterious occult masters, the wise mentors, the stage magicians that secretly know real magic. He is a complete fraud and the irony is he's associated with the most powerful psychic on Earth. And he started down this path because he lost his office job and his wife (Midori) left him.
Kaidou Shun - The chunnibyou hero; teenagers who believe they're protagonists in supernatural stories; the would-be isekai victim. He acts like he's battling against dark forces while everyone else is just living in a slice of life comedy. He is normal and his little brother has surpassed him in every way. If Kaidou had his own anime, he would be Saiki without all the avoidance.
Mrs. Kaidou - the control freak mother that just wants the best
Kuboyasu Aren - The reformed delinquent; the scary looking (middle/ high schooler) guy/ former gang member that is secretly nice and actually has a heart of gold. His attempts at being normal are sort of more terrifying than if he just acted like a delinquent; he has absurd superhuman strength.
Kuboyasu Rean - scary looking father; gang member/ yakuza family member
Teruhashi Kokomi - The perfect girl/ idol; the Mary Sue heroine. Saiki is the only person that doesn't react to her beauty; romance anime would have this be the start of a love story, but she develops an obsession trying to get a reaction out of him.
Teruhashi Makoto - The freaking sis-con (sister complex).
Rifuta Imu - The rival love interest who suddenly appears to challenge the main heroine. A character like her would normally be a serious threat, but instead Teruhashi utterly destroys her confidence just by existing and then she falls in love with her and starts to hate Saiki.
Hairo Kineshi - The passionate sports hero; the fiery protagonist and the guy who solves everything with effort. His intensity is absurd and inappropriate for ordinary situations.
Yumehara Chiyo - The shojo heroine; girls who constantly imagine elaborate romantic fantasies. These girls are portrayed as small and cute and concerned about their appearance. She wishes to be that but she's a normal teenager and ends up getting excited when she sees food. Her real behavior clashes with the romanticized version of herself.
Mera Chisato - The perpetually poor character; poor but cheerful, hardworking student supporting family, and the hungry girl gag character. The joke is that her poverty was turned into a personality trait.
Aiura Mikoto - The psychic/ destiny girl; the mystical fortune teller and the fated soulmate character. The twist is, she actually isn't wrong; the fortune teller is usually a fraud character but her powers are real and Saiki still isn't interested.
Toritsuka Reita - The perverted spiritual monk; the spiritual hero and the guy blessed with a supernatural ability. He'd be portrayed as someone wise and noble whose advances would be used as comic relief in some other anime.
Akechi Touma - The super detective genius/ hyper observant prodigy; also the childhood best friend of the protagonist
Saiko Metori - The rich rival; the absurdly wealthy heir and the elite who thinks money solves everything
Hii Suzumiya - The walking disaster; she is the whumpee character that if something tragic is going to happen, it's always going to happen to this specific character and to anyone associated with them. The twist is that she's completely fine and brushes it off like that's just how life is.
Satou Hiroshi - The ultimate background character; anime have this habit of introducing characters as this normal person and then you find out like two episodes later that they are the chosen one or something. Saiki is obsessed with him because he is actually a normal Japanese guy, not "anime" normal.
Chosen One - protagonists discover they're special; Saiki is special and hates it.
Romantic Destiny - fate repeatedly tries to push Saiki into romance and he spends his energy trying to escape it. Anime usually rely on romance to bring characters together.
Sports Festival/ Tournament Arcs - Everyone becomes weirdly intense because most school anime treat sports like a life or death battle. Characters love proving themselves, but Saiki knows he would win; it's pointless and he has a secret to keep.
Friendship Power Ups - Some anime solve problems with the power of friendship. Saiki acts like it's a complication, but he ends up better off for it.
Love Triangles - Rom/coms thrive on misunderstandings. The misunderstandings are happening entirely in people's heads and Saiki is just trying to go home and avoid it all.
I'm sure I'm forgetting some things. There's just so many things packed in there.
