What makes an ordinary life fun and exciting? That is the premise of Nichijou: My Ordinary Life, a comedy that makes the ordinary and mundane seem fun, exciting and wild. My Ordinary Life is base on the manga by the same name by Keiichi Arawi and adapted by Kyoto Animation. The later most known for their Adaptations of Clannad and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya back in the day. Nowadays they are known for there anime being the best looking and having the best work condition. Some say My Ordinary Life can be seen as a spiritual successor to Azumanga Daioh. I remember watching My Ordinary Life years ago and fell in love with it with its over the top humor and almost outright watch it twice back to back. My rewatching of it only reaffirms my love for this anime with a few minor gripes.
There is not much of a plot here. Despite that, there are character that have their moments of development. Most noticeably is Nano acceptances of who she is and that it does not matter thanks to Yuuko and her friends. There is Daiku, the president of the Igo-Soccer club who did not know it was real by mistake and try’s to adapt to it. These are just two examples of character changes through out its 26 episode runtime. Also despite the fact there not much in the way of plot, with the anime at least. It is still fairly clear that Yuuko Aioi and Nano Shinonome are suppose to be seen at the protagonists. Well at least the first ending and second opening gives that feeling. A lot of the gags involve Yuuko being the focus in one way or another. Nano feels like she has an arc through out the whole anime. The manga maybe does a better job of it feeling like an assemble of characters
Many of the gags hilarious. You have people behaving in a over the top manner in things that supposedly mundane. Their are strange things in this universe such an eight year who suppose to be a genius that made a very human like robot we know as Nano and able to make scarfs to make animals speak our language. There is also Helvetica Standard, a sort of series within a series. My favorite gags to name a few has to be Yuuko trying to order coffee in a place with seemly complex ordering. Mio raging and beating everyone up to avoid people seeing her drawings is also great. These two with my surprise when rewatching this were in the same episode. The skits with the scammer were pretty as well. These are just few examples My Ordinary Life has to offer.
While being funny, My Ordinary Life has its share of wholesome and cute moments. Love-Like whole concept is this. Yuuko despite not being the brightest person has her moment with her friends. If anything she is the one that merge the two groups together or her ability to stay friends with Mio and Mai despite their antics. The rock-paper-scissors game which serves as pre-commercial break skits are very cute and funny that ends on a wholesome note. It is kind of a shame it is completely dropped in the later half of the series. The few times they do replace it is something pretty forgettable.
As mention early on Kyoto Animation is known for on how good their anime looks and animated. Cannot say I like everything they have produced. If anything they been more miss than anything if you ask me. But I will not deny their anime do look really good and animate well. The animation in Nichijou really know on how to convey its more chaotic energy when the scenes are being tense to its more calmer moments. The art style also lends it self well with its tone.
If I had to give a complains is that few of the gags can out stay their welcome. The most notable being the teacher crushing on his co-worker. They tend to last longer than they should. Also the girl with the missiles and the guy who rides a goat also drag on after a while. It starts out funny without a doubt and it still was at the end. The gag really does not change much till the very end. It is very likely to be subtle when it stops fairly quick.
My Ordinary Life was a fantastic comedy I did not regret rewatching and still highly recommend it if your looking for a pure comedy. It a show that tells even the mundane can be exciting if you find joy in it. It gave many laugh out loud moments with me. I feel satisfied with it despite there is like three to four volumes left and plus other things the anime cut. Feel no need for a second season or go ready the manga despite the what they might of wanted me to do in the later. My Ordinary Life is something I am surely going to watch again someday and will still remember some of its more wilder moments.
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