Ah Nichijou, an anime that is held most sacred in the west. Not only is it the most sacred anime, it is also the funniest thing to ever exist. Despite this show being so sacred and supposedly hilarious, I never laughed a single time while watching it and I couldn’t have grinned more than once.
Nichijou was a complete failure in Japan only having become popular in the English speaking world. The anime revolves around a group of schoolgirls and their life and the people around them. These characters are completely obnoxious, they scream at the most mundane things. Indeed that would be the joke but that joke isn’t even funny. Most jokes in the show are completely stretched out before the punchline, then when the punchline hits it’s completely unfunny and awkward. The show also uses many Japanese puns which don't even translate over to English! How can I laugh at a joke I can’t understand? The Japanese, who could understand these jokes, didn't even find them funny. Slapstick gags are also used quite frequently, gags that were considered old in the days of silent film. All of these factors make the show a complete mess. It’s just bad joke, after bad joke, after bad joke. Just 26 episodes of failure.
The show is basically just a collection of random skits. Which there is really nothing wrong with. It’s just the fact that these skits are so poorly executed and always fall flat on their faces.
Here are a few examples of the show's most funny and glorious jokes and gags. An anime girl pulling out a gun and shooting people (who would ever expect a cute anime girl to do something so violent!?!?!), the backstory to how the main character got her hairpins (a joke that goes on for 5 minutes too long), and the professor being a brat and crying about something (easily one of the worst characters in the show). Many people would call this show cute and of course things that are cute can never, under any circumstance, be terrible. While the show may be cute at times, that doesn’t make up for every single unfunny joke and bland character. In fact the cuteness can just make the characters more annoying.
On the other hand the openings were pretty good and the animation in the show was great at times. I still didn’t like the art style though. Also I hated when the characters' mouths would appear at the side of their face.
If you want to watch an anime where a bunch of unfunny random bullshit happens then this is the anime for you. In all seriousness, don’t waste your time with Nichijou. There is a plethora of comedic schoolgirl anime and I'm positive that many are better than this. A comedy’s main job is to make you laugh and there is nothing worse than one that can’t.
