Nichijou - My Ordinary Life

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!

Overview: This is an anime that I went into with high expectations. I was told OVER and OVER online that this was one of the funniest anime series to ever exist! I don't think I laughed once. I'm not just saying that I didn't get any sidesplitting laughs out of this, I don't think this series made me smile more than 2 times! Nichijou is certainly a series with an outstanding online reputation, but in this case I don't feel that the reputation was well deserved. Background: Nichijou was actually a bit of a flop in Japan and wasn't able to build a large Japanese fandom. However,it became a massive hit on the English speaking internet after 4chan latched onto it. For the last 3 years, Nichijou fans have been to /a/ what the bronies are to /b/! They are an absolutely devoted cult that recycle the same tired image macros OVER and OVER and team up the attack anyone that doesn't worship this piece of shit. Much like the Bronies, it is very difficult to tell how many actually like the show and how many embrace it entirely out of irony. Considering Nichijou is a comedy that is less funny than dropping a hammer on your big toe, I would say the latter is likely. Most of the humor consists of Japanese language puns and wordplay that doesn't translate well to a non-Japanese audience and even Japanese audiences didn't like it! This places Nichijou in a similar humor category as Vampire Holmes, which I also hated. The rest of the humor is "uber moe UGUUU" BULLSHIT, and tired slapstick gags that were old when Charlie Chaplin used them in the 1920s. Story and Characters: The story is simply the everyday life of a group of schoolgirls. Nichijou seems to borrow elements from both Azumanga Daioh and Cromartie High School without ever coming CLOSE to achieving the same level of humor and charm. A portion of this was that Azumanga and Cromartie had hilarious characters, while Nichijou just has really obnoxious characters. If I had to compare Nichijou to another anime it would be Lucky Star, but a version of Lucky Star that toned down all the anime and gaming references, leaving only the most mundane topics like finding a skirt that fits. Each of the characters fits into a well established archetype, but that alone doesn't explain why it's so bad. The Italian "commedia dell'arte" plays recycled the same stock characters and still won over audiences with their farcical humor. It is the combination of bland characters, linguistic humor lost in translation, tired gags, and horrible comedic timing that all come together to make this show a nearly un-watchable clusterfuck. If the show told a purposely bad joke and stretched it out until it became awkward for the audience, that would actually get a few laughs. When used right even "dead air" can be a useful comedic tool. Consider the opening of the famous comedy movie "Spaceballs". The joke is that the ripoff Star Destroyer is absurdly long in comparison to the ones in Star Wars, but that alone wouldn't be funny. It becomes funny because it just keeps going...and going...and going until the audience laughs because they don't know how to react. Nichijou just hits the audience with one bad joke after another in rapid succession like a machine gun of FAIL. Animation and sound: Here is where Nichijou got its points from. The opening theme is at least kind of catchy and the animation has moments where it shines. Having said that, I fucking HATE the art style of this series for taking even "moe" to a new rock bottom. Overall: If you want to tell other people online that Nichijou is great in order to fit in, go for it! However, I warn you to NOT actually bother watching Nichijou yourself because it is a massive waste of time. There are few experiences more annoying that watching a horrible comedy with no laughs. Avoid this anime like the plague!

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!

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.