Nichijou

Nichijou is to me, one of a kind. It emphasizes what seems to be the essence of slapstick comedy, but induces your favorite lighthearted scenario all within the same episode. If you were keen of Lucky Star, Azumanga Daioh, Hidamari Sketch, or Pani Poni Dash, then you would definitely know what I'm talking about. Except, Nichijou, or "EveryDay", takes a twist and turn every now and then to let you know this is not so ordinary, and from there, you're on a wonderful ride to a pure fun and blownout comedy. Story: 7/10 Not at any point, did I criticize Nichijou for its direction of plot,because first of all, I knew what I was getting myself into, whoever reads the synopsis, or look at the cover even, can obviously expect slice of life and nothing else. It baffles me that there are still idiots (trolls) out there who complain and complain about these shows as if they expected some sort of abysmal plot (I know I might be feeding them at this very moment lol). That's besides the point, Nichijou is episodic, and it's good at it too, that's that. Art/Animation: 9/10 This. If it did not have this, such a high production value, the enjoyment to this show would be severely cut in half. From your principal wrestling a random wild deer, to chasing down your best friend to retrieve a notebook that contains indecent sketches of your crush you accidentally handed over, it is all done, with the utmost 'epic' of animations I have ever seen in a slice of life, and given that there's no plot, this is a strong and important point to my overall enjoyment. Sound: 8/10 First thing that caught my attention, wow that opening song, I didn't have to watch it a second time to know that it would become something that will eventually be like a broken replay button stuck in my own head. It's cute, catchy, fun and it captures the feel of the show perfectly. Other than the brilliant OP's, the sound effects for small things, like pouring a cup of tea, or the clear brilliance of using almost every famous and hardcore VA to voice-over an assemble of no-faced soldiers who are just a figment of Yuuko's (The airhead of our show) stupidity. No complaints. Characters: 9/10 This show is character driven, it is almost impossible to dislike any character, because he or she provides you with entertainment despite what they might be doing. This show is separated into segments for the most part, meaning within the episodes of this episodic show, its episodic within itself. You switch from the school life of Mio, Mai and Yuuko, 3 best friends who let us wander upon their lollygagging, all to just live in the moment. Then we go to the home of the Professor and her robot friend, who she created herself, and happens to be about 8 years old, where the light-hearted part of the show shines, if you can't "Awww" at least once to the Professors' charades then I think your moe button needs to be repaired immediately. There is an extreme variety of characters, so you will be entertained. Enjoyment: 10/10 An honest score, to say the least. I truly am happy I stumbled upon this show because for one, I saw the entire thing with my girlfriend, and she loved it, and now the both of us are sad that it's over, and two, there just needs to be more animes out there like this. I know, I know! It's too much to ask for more than one brilliant anime a year but come on, be real, it's what we want! Overall: 9/10 So If you want a good laugh, or more than a laugh.. If you want to "lmao", then yup, I recommend!

Conventional wisdom has always taught us that more is usually better. We think that the more expensive car should have more completely unrelated features, the better ice-cream sundae should have a bigger pile of fresh fruit on top, and the better statistics report should be able to pull more numbers out of it’s arse. We compare phones by the multitude of apps it can run, our enjoyment of horror films is based on how many different ways the various victims die, and we often rate anime by how many story arcs, characters, subplots and themes it can cram into it’s 26 episode season. As themodern entertainment sector continues to emphasize excess and surplus, Nichijou is a much welcome, and frankly much needed throwback to a more old-school approach to entertainment. Nichijou’s frugal yet distinct style reminds us that something is perfect, not because there’s nothing more to add to it, but because there is nothing more to take away. Nichijou brings to us a fusion of gag, moe, slice-of-life and slapstick comedy. It’s humor is very reminiscent of Azumanga Diaoh while it’s art style borrows heavily from the distinctly colorful palette of Lucky Star. Nichijou adopts a very light-hearted approach with it’s tone; it’s jokes are played fast and loose, and while there is a constant shift of pacing throughout each episode, Nichijou never seems to take itself very seriously. Perhaps the most noteworthy thing about Nichijou is it’s production value. Frankly speaking, Nichijou is GORGEOUS to look at; it’s animation so incredibly fluid and it’s art so crisp and vivid that it actually puts other supposedly competent studios to shame. The artwork selects it’s palette very sparingly, with a result that is both vibrant yet easy on the eyes. This gentle tone is then frequently punctuated by segments of metaphorical (and in some cases literal) animation explosions, showcasing KyoAni’s talent with a huge variety of styles from gritty realism to crayon slapstick. One can’t help but wonder if KyoAni isn’t deliberately showing off their workmanship with this anime. Many originally very short panels from the manga are translated into incredibly imaginative and stunning sequences of animation that simply scream “because we can.” Show off or not, Nichijou’s cinematography is nothing short of outstanding; it’s liberal interpretation of the original source material has really allowed the creativity of director Ishihara Tatsuya and the KyoAni animators to shine through like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Special mention to Nichijou’s OP and ED songs, which are creative shorts (incredibly well sync’d I might mention) in their own right. As a fun fact, both of Nichijou’s OPs are sung by Hyadain, who is ONE guy. No female backing vocals at all, he does it all himself. Seriously I’m not joking, go look it up. The aforementioned dynamic pacing forms the basis of Nichijou’s entertainment value. Each episode tackles it’s structure with a large degree of unpredictability. You never know what’s going to happen next, be it a humorous dialogue scene, a fast paced action sequence, an amusing random still image or a hilarious but completely unrelated skit. Despite this seemingly chaotic approach, Nichijou still manages to find a good balance between all it’s various styles so that no episode feels too weighted. While such a haphazard approach may seem counter-intuitive for a slice-of-life anime, this style ends up working greatly in Nichijou’s favor, adding another layer to it’s texture of absurdity. The humor itself is very simplistic, almost to a fault, and one would normally attribute this as one of Nichijou’s flaws. That is of course until you remember that “Nichijou” translates to “My Ordinary Life” and as such, the simplicity of the jokes are a fitting homage to the show’s title and premise. Many of the jokes are simply exaggerated normal events like missing the train or a waiter forgetting your order, relying on witty dialogue delivery and clever timings to get the humor across. Some may consider this a hit-or-miss sort of comedy, which is only a fair judgement. All the same, you don’t necessarily have to laugh at jokes like these to appreciate them, which is one of the main reasons why slice-of-life can have such a widespread appeal (remember K-On?) The characters are very likable, despite the obvious utilization of moe in many of their design. If you can shed that manly exterior and look past the few excessively “cute” scenes, there’s actually an abundance of things to enjoy about Nichijou’s characters. Conventional archetypes are few and far between in this anime, and all the characters harbor their own quirky habits and flaws that you’ll quickly grow fond of. The best thing about Nichijou’s characters however, isn’t their individuality, but how they interact with each other. The personalities of various character groups clash, contrast and complement each other in extremely interesting ways; the conversations and activities of the two golden trios of Nichijou: Yuuko/Mio/Mai and Hakase/Nano/Sakamoto make up the abundance of material in each episode and just their hilarious adventures by themselves could probably carry an entire show. This is furthered by the great voice acting that the Nichijou provides; Nichijou is one of the rare shows where the seiyuus genuinely sound like they’re enjoying themselves. Dialogues are delivered with copious amounts of enthusiasm which really helps sell the spirited relationships that the various characters enjoy with each other. With all that has been said though, I would like to come back to that idea I mentioned when we began, that idiom of “less is more.” The thing I love most about Nichijou, isn’t the amazing artwork, the clever cinematography, the light-hearted humor or even the imaginative characters. What I love most about Nichijou is the fact that, behind all the technicalities and production values, lies a very simple ideal. Everything about Nichijou revolves around this central principle of being enjoyable. All that it does, every scene, every character, every line of dialogue alludes back to this principle. Because at the end of the day, all Nichijou wants you to do is one thing; it wants you to enjoy yourself. With Nichijou, there is no story, no subplots, no recurring themes, no character development, no product placement, no lessons to be learnt, no obscure references to pander to a niche audience, no obvious fan-service pandering or ploys to sell related merchandise. Fun is the only thing that matters, and it's this frugality, this ingenious simplicity, that allows everything to just click together like magic. When you finally get home after a long tiring day, the only thing Nichijou wants to do is to give you an excuse to prop your feet up after and wash that blue feeling away as it slowly puts that grin back onto your face.

If I had to sum up all of Nichijou in one word, it would be "beautiful." As a slice of life, this anime can't be for everyone, as most people like to have a story that is actually driven by the plot. But even if you aren't into slice of life anime, there is something in Nichijou for everyone to enjoy. Story: Every episode is a series of semi-random "moments" in each of the characters' lives. As far as an actual storyline goes, there is no distinct beginning or end to Nichijou. No goal, no real conflict - as to be expected of a slice of life,"storyless." However, at about the halfway point, I started to question whether all of Nichijou somewhat revolves around Nano and her dreams of leading a normal, everyday life (which is what "nichijou" roughly translates to). There are some really beautiful moments that do advance the plot, which is part of what makes Nichijou so special as a slice of life. Art: Stunning. Characters are distinct, cute, and thoroughly enjoyable to look at. Animation has very fluid movements, and the "camera" work, especially during the funny scenes, is just brilliant. One thing that I particularly adore about this anime is the fact that, as opposed to some anime like Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, in which the art style becomes overly-simplistic during moments of comedy, Nichijou's art style becomes vastly more serious and dramatic for almost all of the hilarious moments. Without losing an ounce of fluidity, Nichijou will abruptly switch from cute and colorful to intense, fast-paced action with over-the-top explosions and yelling. Everything about the art in this anime is something to behold. Sound: Hats off to Hyadain, as he did both of the OP songs and one of the ED songs, which are fun and upbeat, as expected of him. The background music is also very well-done, it's unobtrusive and mellow, allowing the characters themselves to set the mood more so than the music. Character: This is the glue that holds the entire thing together. The characters make up for the lack of a concrete story and then some - this anime is definitely NOT just something pretty to look at. During the few times that the plot progresses, so do the characters. They learn and grow, they have problems and they help each other. I found myself growing attached to all of the characters, I don't think there is a bad one in the bunch. Overall, I love this anime. It is certainly beautiful in more ways than one, and it stands above many other anime in terms of being a slice of life and a comedy. If you like Lucky Star and Gintama, I can almost assure you that you'll have a blast with this anime. I know I sure did!

Great animation won't save this slice of life comedy from absolute failure. -- Overall: If you are looking for the fast-paced, pop cultured infused humor of Lucky Star, the strangeness of Azumanga Daioh or the cuteness of K-On, look elsewhere. Nichijou features obnoxious characters, jokes that drag on and a uneventful setting. -- Story: There is no real story to Nichijou. Minor events that happen before are acknowledged later on, but don't have any impact. -- Characters: The characters fall flat on their faces. Obnoxious, their "character traits" are over-exposed and take away from the almost-jokes the series try to tell. -- Comedy: Most jokes drag on for too long and lacka proper punchline. Random jokes are just dreams or imagination from a character with no fantastic element. Unfunny running jokes. Fail everywhere, everytime, hard. There are a few interesting scenes and funny moments, such as an principal suplexing a deer, but that's a one second scene in a 5 minute joke. Watching a 25 episode for 10 seconds of almost-laughter is just not worth it. Watch something better -- Art: The only praise I can give to Nichijou. The animation is fluid and contributes to the (few) funny jokes, and the character design is quite nice. However, without proper content, it's not enough to call Nichijou a decent anime.

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