What does "tsukkomi" mean?


Once, I read a manga with [the following
description](http://myanimelist.net/manga/65187/Seitokai_no_Himegoto):

> A perverted President who likes girls, a tsukkomi Vice-President, an over-
> zealous Treasurer and a quiet, brooding Secretary. This unlikely quartet
> form Shirayuri Girls' High School's Student Council.

What does "tsukkomi" mean? Are there any examples of tsukkomi characters
besides the one in the above-mentioned manga?




There is one particular style of traditional Japanese comedy called
[_manzai_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manzai) (漫才), which is a type of two-
man act. One man is called the
[_boke_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_owarai_terms#boke), who is
the buffoon; the jokester; the funny guy. The _boke_ will make jokes, many of
which (to American audiences at least) are groan comedy. The other member of
the pair is called the
[**_tsukkomi_**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukkomi#tsukkomi), and his job
is to react to the _boke_ 's jokes (often critically), taking on a role very
much like "the straight man" in Western comedic practice.

The usage of _tsukkomi_ in the description you quoted is derived from this. It
does not mean that the Vice President is _literally_ the straight man of a
comedy duo, but rather that the Vice President is sort of the uptight kind of
guy who doesn't laugh at jokes and always shoots down other people's jokes.
It's a sort of character archetype that translates only somewhat well into
English as "straight man", so you will sometimes see it floating around
untranslated.

The _tsukkomi_ is a very common archetype in modern anime and related media
(irritatingly common, if you ask me, especially in schlocky light novels).
Well-known examples off the top of my head include:

  * Kyon from _The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya_ (often playing off of Haruhi and sometimes Koizumi's _boke_ )
  * Koyomi from the _Monogatari_ series (playing off against most of the girls at some point or another)
  * Basically everybody in _Gintama_ (against everybody else)
  * Chiaki from _Nodame Cantabile_ (mostly against Nodame herself)

You can see more about this trope at the TVTropes entry [Boke And Tsukkomi
Routine](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine).




There is one particular style of traditional Japanese comedy called
[_manzai_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manzai) (漫才), which is a type of two-
man act. One man is called the
[_boke_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_owarai_terms#boke), who is
the buffoon; the jokester; the funny guy. The _boke_ will make jokes, many of
which (to American audiences at least) are groan comedy. The other member of
the pair is called the
[**_tsukkomi_**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukkomi#tsukkomi), and his job
is to react to the _boke_ 's jokes (often critically), taking on a role very
much like "the straight man" in Western comedic practice.

The usage of _tsukkomi_ in the description you quoted is derived from this. It
does not mean that the Vice President is _literally_ the straight man of a
comedy duo, but rather that the Vice President is sort of the uptight kind of
guy who doesn't laugh at jokes and always shoots down other people's jokes.
It's a sort of character archetype that translates only somewhat well into
English as "straight man", so you will sometimes see it floating around
untranslated.

The _tsukkomi_ is a very common archetype in modern anime and related media
(irritatingly common, if you ask me, especially in schlocky light novels).
Well-known examples off the top of my head include:

  * Kyon from _The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya_ (often playing off of Haruhi and sometimes Koizumi's _boke_ )
  * Koyomi from the _Monogatari_ series (playing off against most of the girls at some point or another)
  * Basically everybody in _Gintama_ (against everybody else)
  * Chiaki from _Nodame Cantabile_ (mostly against Nodame herself)

You can see more about this trope at the TVTropes entry [Boke And Tsukkomi
Routine](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine).

