Would the humor of KNT be lost on English speakers?

[CatNinjaLegend]

For people who have seen much of the Japanese series, do you think the humor would translate well for a non-Japanese audience?

I'm asking this because the series' humor tends to rely a lot on word-puns and a familiarity with Japanese culture, that I'm not sure if it would resonate well with American audiences. This question comes in light of Discotek's recent acquisition of the series and their plan to release subtitled DVD sets for the US.

[KageReneko]

Although several of the jokes will get lost due to cultural references and people parodies I think most of the jokes will work here, especially because several people know better japanese stuff now due to the expansion of japanimation in the last years... Also, we have this forum where our loved house translator might explain the references in every episode like they did in the fan-subbed episodes...

[KyoZaber]

Oh, I think it'll come over just fine.
While some of the more subtle jokes may be lost in the sub, I think there'll be plenty of other material to laugh at.

It's definitely going to be a treat to see KNT in it's true form with subtitles.
We'll have a new opportunity to discuss the changes between the two shows, as well as our impressions of the original episodes.

Another good topic could end up being which one people like more, the SPC cut episode, or the KNT original episode.

[Mechadon]

The humour doesn't translate at all. If anyone ever needs to explain a joke to you, it comepletly looses it's punch. The puns and culteral references have never made me laugh. I used to pretend I thought they were funny, just because the humour is discected and explained in it's own special green subtitiles. But either you get it or you don't.

That's why I prefer good ol English made cartoons. Their puns are custom tailored for me to enjoy.

I'm still gonna buy the s*** outta that KNT box set if I can. Got the best music ever.

[Blackcat]

Well, KNT is not that bad with it's puns, but yes unless you are very immersed in Japanese culture, you wont' get the jokes. There is a reason SPC is way more popular than KNT, SPC is funnier, a lot of people agree with that.

[felineki]

The puns and references and such might not translate well, but the character humor and such should come through fine. It will be interesting to see how Discotek's subbing job turns out.

[CatNinjaLegend]

The puns and references and such might not translate well, but the character humor and such should come through fine. It will be interesting to see how Discotek's subbing job turns out.

Usually their subs are good, but they haven't before licensed a series this long that had to be translated from scratch. It will be interesting. A lot of their recent releases have prior existing translations.

[Purrcat]

Their catalog is kinda all over the place, genre-wise.. lol