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REVIEW: Nichijou Sub.Blu-Ray + DVD


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DmonHiro





PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:06 am Reply with quote
Going to have to disagree with you here, reviewer. The humor in Nichijou, for me, fell completely flat. The problem is that most of the jokes, even the good one, are stretched out way too far. Another minus in my books is that while the exagerated reactions may seem amusing at first glance, they are repeated ad nauseam. An example being the principal fighting a deer. I don't need someone reacting to every single move one of them does (I mean LITERALLY every single move), every single time. I don't need someone explaining why a human fighting a deer is absurd, I can already see that. If you have to explain the joke, you have no joke. But Nichijou has a joke, and still explains it.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:48 am Reply with quote
DmonHiro wrote:
Going to have to disagree with you here, reviewer. The humor in Nichijou, for me, fell completely flat. The problem is that most of the jokes, even the good one, are stretched out way too far. Another minus in my books is that while the exagerated reactions may seem amusing at first glance, they are repeated ad nauseam. An example being the principal fighting a deer. I don't need someone reacting to every single move one of them does (I mean LITERALLY every single move), every single time. I don't need someone explaining why a human fighting a deer is absurd, I can already see that. If you have to explain the joke, you have no joke. But Nichijou has a joke, and still explains it.


But the principle fighting the deer isn't the joke, the joke is the audience in the scene, Yuko and her reaction to it versus us as her audience. To us, it's absurd but to her, it's Nichijou.... her everyday life...

Or my reaction to your reaction: "Ehhhh?!"

I love the show, hate the release where it's clear Funimation couldn't even be bothered to get a damn about it. Or two as the DVDs were a uniform pink and the BDs were a uniform blue. No pictures, no patterns, just a name.

Not even a number now that I look at them... wait, there it is. Wow, that's small...

In terms of sales versus marketing, I have no idea why they even bothered to release it as they seem to be kind of embarrassed by it. It sold and still is selling compared to their higher profile titles like Code Geass and Escaflowne... the idea that Amazon is listing a sub only title months after its release higher than the dubbed Code Geass is absurd in its own right... but apart from that one upcoming release notice, there was no fanfare. It was pretty funny that it was only after its initial release but still in the same week that Rightstuf thought about doing a bundle of it with the first volume of the original manga...

I have no interest in the manga, it's the animation that I love and I don't think a book could convey that somehow. But better late on the hype train than never, I suppose. I'm sure there's a story behind this release... it can't be one they fought for but rather one they had to do if they wanted "title x". Wow, can't imagine which one it could be...

Yeah, I have to get that one too as I sold my DVD/BD of it already and the boxset is looking bare without it.
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Sahmbahdeh



Joined: 05 May 2015
Posts: 712
PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 10:00 am Reply with quote
Nichijou is, for my money, the funniest thing Japan has ever made. It's also far and away my favorite series Kyoto Animation has ever made, from a visual standpoint as well. The fact that the animation is so consistently excellent for 26 episodes straight with nary a drop of quality in sight is unbelievable on its own, but add to that the variety of styles and the visual experimentation going on, and it's in a league of its own. As much as I find KyoAni works beautiful, they always feel a bit too clean and cookie cutter, almost as if they're afraid of cutting loose and experimenting with different styles of visuals. Nichijou does not have that problem at all, and I thank them for that. The endearing characters and warm moments are honestly icing on the cake.
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merr



Joined: 11 Dec 2004
Posts: 462
PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 10:45 am Reply with quote
Animegomaniac wrote:

In terms of sales versus marketing, I have no idea why they even bothered to release it as they seem to be kind of embarrassed by it. It sold and still is selling compared to their higher profile titles like Code Geass and Escaflowne... the idea that Amazon is listing a sub only title months after its release higher than the dubbed Code Geass is absurd in its own right... but apart from that one upcoming release notice, there was no fanfare.

Quote:
I'm sure there's a story behind this release... it can't be one they fought for but rather one they had to do if they wanted "title x". Wow, can't imagine which one it could be...

This whole release is a disappointment. Barebones and ugly. There's no reason Funi couldn't have dubbed it (they've handled worse cases of wordplay before; this show is not "undubbable"). Nichijou achieved cult status years ago, and it sounds like the sales are there to back it up. Six years later and the internet still loves its Nichijou reaction gifs.

It's so weird that Funi just pooped this one out when they could've treated it like a premium property. GoSick is equally as old, but for some reason they're willing to give that show a proper release.
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 11:34 am Reply with quote
I absolutely adore Nichijou, it's an amazing series and the kyoani show I respect the most and another reason why I believe that unlike most other adaptation, kyoani elevate the original work to something beyond what it originally was.

Something that wasn't mentioned in the review is how incredibly packed with jokes every episode is. The joke density is so high, a single episode most likely contains more joke than your average 12 episode comedy. Most skit have a simple premise and punchline, but every little moment is either a small joke or use amazing animation for some great physical comedy.

The cast of character is also incredibly vast and like the review mention, almost every one is multi dimensional and will come back for more than one type of joke and the connection established between character put most serious anime to shame. For example the main girls professor will be included in "Yukko is a bad student joke" but will also have joke about his crush and the fact that he was an igo-soccer player in his youth, these last two will be connected because the brother of his crush is also a current igo-soccer club member who's looking for an adviser. On top of that he has recurring gag where another student will come asking him advise on ridiculous situation and will occasionally interact with another teacher. Every character is connected to every other character trough multiple thread, and despite this the cast is very large.
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albanian



Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Posts: 133
Location: UK
PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 11:43 am Reply with quote
I seem to remember this show getting a very poor reaction from certain quarters when it first aired because 'it wasn't proper comedy'. (Where is the custard pie, or the set-up/comeback/punchline routine?) But then I'm old enough to remember that the first few episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus bombed so dramatically that the show was almost strangled at birth. (I suspect - in the US - Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In may have had the same fate, though in the UK - post-Python - it was an instant hit.)

A show like Nichijou needs time to work its magic and will not immediately be appreciated by everyone for the innovative series it always was. I'm glad to see that it is now fully reaping the praise it deserves for breaking ground and moving beyond its 'cult status' reputation and taking anime comedy on to new heights.
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MrTerrorist



Joined: 20 Oct 2010
Posts: 1348
PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 11:44 am Reply with quote
I love Nichijou. Glad to know it's now out on DVD.
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Spastic Minnow
Bargain Hunter
Exempt from Grammar Rules


Joined: 02 May 2006
Posts: 4595
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 11:53 am Reply with quote
Hey, look everybody! I wrote an anime review!
Oh, wait.... no... That,s Nick. Well, he clearly plagiarized the thoughts from my head with his telepathic powers.

Well, here's something no one else would just causally blurt out...

DOMESTIC VIO-LENCE-SU!
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 25 Oct 2003
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Location: Wales
PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 11:58 am Reply with quote
DmonHiro wrote:
The problem is that most of the jokes, even the good one, are stretched out way too far.

That's the inherent problem with adapting a 4-koma and not ending up with a series of 30 second skits. I feel on the whole that Nichijou managed the pacing better than Azumanga Daioh.
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Fronzel



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1906
PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 11:59 am Reply with quote
I like how this series tweaks the usual character types in an anime comedy; Mio is the straightman but she's way more irascible than most and Yuko isn't as stupid as most goof-types; instead she's deliberately trying to mess with people but usually fails and the joke is more often about her making a fool of herself.

Regarding the weird little coincidences my favorite is how someone unexpectedly meets Yuko on the street and from the clothes she's wearing you can tell she's there to buy ink for Mio as occurred in a sketch in a whole different episode. There's not really any reason to provide a specific explanation for her presence and doesn't draw any attention to it but there it is.

And then there's something that isn't strange at all but is completely unseen in anime; Mio regularly takes a newspaper to school and reads it before class starts.

I also like to imagine that Nichijou takes place in the future from Dokuro-chan where women take immortality treatments and stop aging because even that one nervous teacher looks like an eight year-old.
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Merxamers



Joined: 09 Dec 2013
Posts: 720
PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 12:22 pm Reply with quote
I'm a few episodes into this show, and while i found many of the more slapstick or "physical" sequences amusing (Yuko trying to save a piece of food she dropped, the deer wrestling scene), many of the other scenes make my head hurt trying to figure out why it's meant to be funny. As in, i understand that there's a punchline there, and i'm desperately trying to figure out what it is. (example; the extended scene where Yuko is trying to make bad puns to Mio, or when the robot finds the snowman in the grocery store).

I bought so i'm obligated to finish it; maybe the continuing character chemistry will develop enough for me to find it funnier.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 1:07 pm Reply with quote
Merxamers wrote:
example; the extended scene where Yuko is trying to make bad puns to Mio, or when the robot finds the snowman in the grocery store.


Sorry but I can't resist... explaining the joke!

1) I'm not quite sure which one you mean. Ever try to flap the unflappable or break the unbreakable? But that's the point of the pun scenes between Yuko and Mai. In the scenes between Mio and Yuko, there's no trying because it's always bad puns. My favorite of favorites is the extended paper chase. No, not that one, the second one. The one that somehow has Mio doing a rhyming rant while Yuko pontificates and procrastinates.

2) This one's unique. I take it you never once bought something just because it was on sale? It got normal when they turned it into snow cones though.

Ok, one I didn't get was the Helvetica Standard segment when the woman was nostalgic about a particular book she read and that moment when she found the book, opened it up and spoiler[pulled out a gun because the book was fake.].

This is in tvtropes funniest moments but really, what's up with it?
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 2:06 pm Reply with quote
Merxamers wrote:
example; the extended scene where Yuko is trying to make bad puns to Mio, or when the robot finds the snowman in the grocery store


This one? : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_-jGUgrqTI

The joke is clearly about the deadpan reaction Yuko get despite trying her hardest with a big helping of physical joke with her overreaction and the face that Mio and May makes.

As for the snowman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8hq__WUpz0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPi0fo3ydLc)

These are part of the larger gag of Hakase asking Nano to buy stuff and throwing a tantrum every time until she gets it (for another example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WWv8oKdb58).

Also the fact that plenty of people want the snowman right after Nano see it despite it being a random item). You can see in the beginning of the second one that Hakase did end up getting Nano to buy the sweets, and also that despite going specificly to buy food for Sakamoto they end up not buying anything for him despite buying something for both Hakase and Nano.
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Fronzel



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1906
PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 2:07 pm Reply with quote
Animegomaniac wrote:
Ever try to flap the unflappable or break the unbreakable?

ROW ROW

Quote:
Ok, one I didn't get was the Helvetica Standard segment when the woman was nostalgic about a particular book she read and that moment when she found the book, opened it up and spoiler[pulled out a gun because the book was fake.].

This is in tvtropes funniest moments but really, what's up with it?

She doesn't get to read her book because someone did the hollowed-out book trick with it, which is an old murder-mystery cliche to hide a weapon in a seemingly innocuous location. The extremely sentimental segment ends with the woman being chagrined yet again and by a cliche from a totally different genre of fiction.
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njprogfan
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Joined: 08 Feb 2007
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 2:15 pm Reply with quote
I knew nothing about this, but after reading this review I'm looking forward to watching this after picking it up during a Kyoto Animation buying spree.
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