Nichijou review

Episode Reviewed In: Episode 99

Alternate Titles: My Ordinary Life

Original Japanese Release Date: Apr 2011

Episode Length/Run-time: 24 Episodes (with Specials)

Summary:

Random things happen in a seemingly “normal” school setting through a series of vignettes.

Review:

A quote from Jim Rome comes to mind about this anime, “I get it, it’s just not funny.”

The whole premise of Nichijou relies on the random nature of its absurdities.  Don’t look for any kind of plot or development here, you won’t find it.  One moment they’ll be in class, the next they pull out an AK47 and start shooting.  People are depicted randomly with cat ears, there is a robot, and odd tangents that serve as little than extended “jokes” run rampant.  Like having a whole 30 seconds devoted to finding a gun in a book, then moving on and never mentioning it again.  And I get it that some of these are representational of relationships with people, emotions, or the nature of the person.  That it is supposed to be a humorous representation.  But, that being said, just because I get it I didn’t get any amusement out of it.

All the jokes fell so flat I was extraordinarily bored through the whole show.  I did find it better than shows like A-Channel, simply because the cast was broader and flushed out better with more amusing relationships and personalities.  But it was only slightly better and nowhere near the level of shows like Azumanga Daioh which really illustrate how to do this genre and do it well.  And sure, I get it, humor is subjective, but just for fun I looked around the web and the sea of “blah” opinions of the show says a lot.

One praise I can give it is that for its random spells the creators do a good job of shifting the art style, character designs, and music in a way that fits the antics but still seems to go with the overall theme of the show.  I liked the regular style of the show a lot too, I will admit.  It’s animated with a surprising amount of detail in a deceptively simple pastel style.

Overall, I think anime in this random genre people should just give up.  It’s way too easy to fall flat.  Sure there were some amusing moments but out of 12 hours of content I’d sure hope there would be, statically speaking.   It’d be a talent to be almost that awful.  I feel this anime would’ve been much better suited as just 12 episodes, or, even better, an OVA.  Pack the good ones in with the awesome animation and leave it at that.