Nichijou

A Beautiful Descent into Organized Madness

Let me start by saying: the writers of Nichijou are either comedic geniuses operating on a galaxy brain level we mere mortals can't comprehend… or they’ve been off their meds for a while. Possibly both. Either way, I love them.

Watching Nichijou is like getting hit in the face with a glitter cannon filled with existential absurdity. One minute you're watching a girl wrestle a deer in a school hallway like she's auditioning for National Geographic: Tokyo Drift, and the next, a robot girl is making breakfast while hiding the fact that she's literally powered by a giant wind-up key in ... her back. And don’t even get me started on the talking cat who’s somehow the most emotionally stable character in the whole show.

I honestly think the writers sat in a room, stared at a whiteboard that said “Plot?” and then collectively threw it out the window while screaming “YEAH BUT WHAT IF A GOAT WAS A SCHOOL BUS?” And I respect that.

In conclusion: Nichijou is a masterpiece of madness. I tip my hat to the creators for their bold refusal to adhere to logic, continuity, or the known laws of physics. Someone please check on them. Or don't. I’m not sure if we deserve their kind of genius.

So my experience with Nichijou was pretty lukewarm in general, so here's to a lukewarm review. In as few words as possible, I would describe it as "a mediocre comedy with incredibly high production value and some golden moments interspersed between otherwise tryhard and sometimes tedious jokes".

As this is a comedy series, the jokes and comedic timing and such are criteria by which to judge its quality. Well, on that front the thing kinda flops for me, at least. Most of the scenes are far too drawn out and rarely feature a satisfying punchline, but you mileage may vary. Nichijou does try an interesting approach ... to comedy, which is certainly not to everyones tastes (even if it is, I don't think it's executed consistently well), so to get a general feel I recommend you just watch the first episode. If it doesn't seem boring or downright annoying, you'll probably get to like it a bit more down the line. Even though there is no bigger trans-episode narrative, there is some plot development and it does get more enjoyable once you get to know the characters (even if at the cost of the jokes becoming stale and predictable). The episodes are separated into distinct bits/scenes, which do thematically reoccur across the series, some more often than others (if the Hakase/Nano/Sakamoto parts make you feel as squeamish as they made me, be aware that they feature in about one fifth of Nichijou, if not more). So really, as a bottom line, watch the first episode and trust that you'll probably get to like the comedy more, though in my experience not a lot more.

As mentioned, the production value if off the charts. If you have a specific like for consistently well drawn frames and smooth, fluid animation, this is one of those series where no expense was spared in that department (often it even feels as if the animators had too much time on their hands and just went at it). The art style is also quite unique to this series, so bonus points for that. The soundtrack is decent, though the sound design is very good.

So if you like screaming high school girls with temper tantrums drawn with extreme diligence, and have a soft spot for this particular style of Japanese comedy, you'll probably enjoy this series a lot. Otherwise, might as well watch a curated compilation of best scenes or something similar, no one should fault you for that. If you find the jokes too drawn out, I recommend Teekyuu as an antidote, it sure helped me.

I had high expectations considering I love the genre and I heard this was highly regarded. Unfortunately this steaming pile of excrement is so utterly devoid of humor or competent writing for that matter, it makes me question people’s sanity. I can count the number of times I genuinely laughed at gags on one hand. I do like randomness humor but this was so random combined with the fact that the basic writing was so poor, it makes for one of the most painful watches I’ve ever had. And it’s a shame because somewhere in here is 12 very competent episodes if they were allowed ... to shine and by shine I mean heavily re-edited and rewritten.