[Review] Nichijou

From left: Yukko, Mai, Mio

Now, this is one of the few anime I keep looking forward to: Nichijou (日常). For the first 12 weeks as part of the Spring 2011 lineup, it was aired together with A-Channel, which is also a slice-of-life anime based on a manga of the same name. It's not fair for me to compare the difference between the two, since they are completely different and have nothing in common except the categories both fall under. What I'm glad about is that Nichijou did not have mention or exaggerated on girl's bodies, or have episodes heading to the beach/pool that most anime that seems very predictable. In fact, the time of the year things happen is not mentioned, but clothes people wear, and the plants in the background gives a not-so-obvious hint.

Misato's friend, though doesn't appear much

Each Nichijou episode is divided into several skits instead of a story that spans the whole series, though the skits are in chronological order. It features several characters that, may not know another character featured, and their friends too. Of course, the main characters (Mio, Mai, Yukko, Nano, Misato, Sasahara) are the more frequently shown characters.

As the episodes go by, I noticed that certain main characters don't see, or even know each other, even though the two have a mutual friend in common. Example: We didn't see Mio meeting up with Misato even though both knew Sasahara and Mio's older sister.

If you are looking for an anime that takes a break from action, fantasy, the typicality of other high school-based anime, or are busy and just want to watch without worrying who's who, what happened previously, this might be the one just right for you.