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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?


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question
japanese-language terminology
What does "tsukkomi" mean?


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).


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answer


"Tsukkomi" has [multiple
definitions](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E7%AA%81%E3%81%A3%E8%BE%BC%E3%81%BF-5876
"Japanese dictionary entry"). In its comedic sense, which is probably the only
case where you may see it untranslated, it can mean one of two things:

  1. **The act of pointing out that something is ridiculous / very silly.**

Usually this happens between two people, who in that case are referred to as
the 'tsukkomi' (who does the tsukkomi) and the 'boke', who says or does
something funny or strange (the act of which is also called a 'boke'). The
tsukkomi then points out or otherwise reacts to the boke in some way, e.g. by
hitting the boke with a fan in some old-style / anime manzai.

A 'self-tsukkomi' is also somewhat common. Here, a person says something silly
(a 'boke') and then, after realizing their mistake, promptly corrects
himself/herself. The most common version of this is the nori-tsukkomi, where a
person agrees with a boke, only to add a tsukkomi right afterwards. For
example,

> Boke: "Could you give me access to your bank account? I need to borrow 5
> bucks."
>
> Tsukkomi (in a friendly tone): "Oh, sure, I use 2FA, let me just grab my
> phone..."
>
> Tsukkomi (angrily): "... as if!"

It is also known as a 'tsukkomi' when someone points out something absurd,
even if no actual 'boke' occurs. Such as:

> _A cloud falls from the sky, dropping in front of Tsukkomi._
>
> Tsukkomi: "... oh come on, that's just not realistic."

  2. **The person who does the tsukkomi. This is often translated as 'the straight man'.**


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