YMMV / The Laughing Salesman

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Is Moguro a nearly remorseless Humanoid Abomination who delights in causing pain and suffering to others while being incredibly polite about it? Or is he an odd fellow who genuinely does want to make life better for others and, when he gets spurned or betrayed, simply takes his revenge to ridiculous extremes? Or are his motivations simply beyond the understanding of mere humans? There's enough evidence that any or even all three are true.
  • The bartender that works or owns the "Demon's Nest". Moguro always goes there when he has a drink and usually does his business with his customers there. The bartender is just in the background while Moguro talks with his customers, with the bartender only occasionally observing them. In the original, when one customer asks him if he knew anything about Moguro, the bartender simply points to a small statue of the "Three Wise Monkeys", indicating that he rather not get involved. Does the bartender know the true nature of Moguro and doesn't want to get involved with his business to avoid the same fate of Moguro's past customer? Does he know that even if he tries to warn or help Moguro's customers nothing will change and they're already doomed from the moment they met him? Or did Moguro already do something to the bartender? Or, is he Moguro's only customer who hasn't messed up yet?
  • Many of Moguro's deals involve a third party, often either a company/club to which he so kindly brings his latest "client" or someone that the "client" takes a romantic interest in. Are they also in it mostly for fun, are they just there to earn wages or a profit, or are they totally oblivious to Moguro's nature and the details of the deal? For most (though not all) of them, it's also unclear whether they're mortals, magical entities similar to Moguro, or illusions/constructs he somehow created for the purposes of that particular scheme.
• Anvilicious: The entire series is full of cautionary tales and moral lessons aimed at adults as opposed to children. And Moguro's clients have learned these lessons the hard way.
  • Gamble only with spare change and never borrow gambling money from anyone.
  • Never be unfaithful to your spouse or significant other. They will find out one way or another.
  • Always drink in moderation.
  • Release pent up feelings in a healthy and productive way.
  • Relationships in a business or service, especially where a person is dependent on you, must be platonic and professional.
  • You can't live in the past; you have to learn to move on and adapt with the times.
  • Sometimes additives in food and drink are there for a very good reason.
  • Always stay true to your word.
  • Everything in life has a price.
• Fan Nickname: The fake moustache that Moguro gave to Yowagoshi in NEW's episode 8B is quickly referred to by fans as Waluigi moustache, especially when it starts turning v-shaped the more Yowagoshi uses it and the more aggressive he becomes.
• Inferred Holocaust: Invoked. Many episodes end right at the moment things start to go sour, leaving it to the viewer's imagination as to just how bad things are going to get for the client.
• Misaimed Merchandising: Because of how iconic the series is in Japan, Moguro inevitably found himself on a bevy of products and advertisements, including his own brand of liquor and a series of Digital Piracy Is Evil PSAs. While the latter could be taken as metaphor, is someone like Moguro really someone you want shilling your product?
• Nausea Fuel: Episode 41's client gets so obsessed with a gourmet restaurant's food that he starts eating out of their garbage.
• Paranoia Fuel: You'll never know when Moguro is watching you, stalking you, and learning everything about you. You'll be even more surprised when he shows up out of nowhere.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: Some people are put off by the premise. The only way clients can escape punishment is by following Moguro's conditions to the letter, which they inevitably fail to do. Even rejecting his services in the first place isn't an option.
• Unintentional Period Piece: The 80's-90's anime (and presumably the manga) is an interesting case, as it hails from a time when people aged much worse than they do now thanks to unhealthy lifestyle choices such as smoking and drinking to excess being more acceptable as well as medicine being less advanced. Nowadays, seeing people talking about putting up with a 65-year-old man because he'll die soon, or seeing a 58-year-old needing a cane to get around and worrying about what's going to happen after he and his wife die comes off as a bit peculiar.
• Values Dissonance:
  • One episode of the 1989 series featured Moguro getting a woman's boss, who has been sexually harassing her, fired, under the condition that she never dates another man again. The episode's conflation of sexual harassment and consensual relationships as well as the woman's punishment comes across much harsher to a modern audience.
  • The 1989 series' final episode, "The Way of the Husband and Wife", has Moguro encounter a man called Kaji Daisuke and his wife; Kaji wants to be able to help out around the house more because both of them are employed, so Moguro gives him lessons on how to be better at housework, with the warning that he mustn't forget that he's only supposed to be doing his share of the chores, not doing all of the housework for her. When he decides to quit his job and focus on the housework after his wife gets a higher-paying promotion, Moguro DON's him by making him pregnant with the child they wanted to have. In an era where stay-at-home househusbands have been normalized, this punishment feels rather unwarranted. It admittedly loses some of its sting because both Kaji and his wife seem to be perfectly happy even despite the oddness of their situation.

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