Non Non Biyori Repeat

Episode 11

Time flies when you're doing nothing. I was admiring the fall colors in last week's episode of Non Non Biyori Repeat, and now it's already winter. Someone must have looked at the production schedule and realized that they needed to pick up the pace if they wanted to cover every season. If there were anything resembling a plot here, it'd be hurtling along at breakneck speed. We'll come back around to spring by the end of the series at this rate, so enjoy the winter while you can.

This episode features something that's rather uncommon for the show: a cell phone. Konomi rocks Komari's world by letting her handle a pink flip phone, even though the cell signal in their town is practically nonexistent. There's a spot in front of Konomi's house that provides a bar or two, but Komari isn't quite tall enough to reach it without a few mishaps. Renge sets to work making illustrations for her New Year's cards, which draws some idle curiosity from Hikage. A titanic battle ensues between an artist protecting her unfinished masterpiece and a pushy critic who wants to see the work in progress. As the new year rolls in, Hotaru does her best to convince her friends that she's not as mature as everyone says. A quick look inside her house yields all the evidence we need to verify her claim.

The hunt for a cell phone signal makes for an amusing opening scene, and it should ring a bell for anyone who's tried to make a call in the middle of nowhere. Older viewers may even be reminded of the dark days when it wasn't uncommon to have to hunt for a decent set of bars in your own home. Along with some reasonably well-timed comedy, the scene builds on the show's rural atmosphere by drawing distinctions between the characters and their more urban anime counterparts. Even the offhand remark that they'd have to take a train to get breakfast at a fast food restaurant helps to reinforce the idea that we're genuinely off the grid here. As a casual bit of worldbuilding, it works quite well.

The battle of wills between Renge and Hikage is weak compared to some of the show's previous comedic exchanges, but it does feature a few hilarious moments of martial arts action. Something about Renge defending her drawing with the violent fury of a Fist of the North Star character is funny beyond any logical explanation. That moment alone justifies the scene's existence, even if everything else falls short of the smooth delivery that often characterizes these kinds of scenes. It's not bad by any means; it's just a bit underwhelming. In a series that's typically near the top of the slice-of-life pyramid, an average scene stands out as a weak link.

While I like the premise of Hotaru's personality changing once she's inside her own home, I don't think it's amusing enough to carry the surplus of screentime that it's given. Once she spends thirty seconds lounging around and watching TV shows about kittens, the joke is more or less over. A more tightly edited script would have bounced her out into the next scene, but instead we get more of the same punch line until the excess runtime is filled up. Again, a more mediocre series can get away with this without drawing too much criticism. Because Non Non Biyori Repeat has consistently proven that it can do better, it feels like the show is phoning it in here.

There have been a handful of episodes this season where Non Non Biyori Repeat has been conspicuously light on content, and this marks another entry in that list. The magic is still there, but it's stretched too thin to elevate the material beyond its surface-level appeal. It's easy to watch and easier to forget.

Rating: B-

Non Non Biyori Repeat is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Paul Jensen is a freelance writer and editor. You can follow more of his anime-related ramblings on Twitter.