Sunday 1 May 2011

Nichijou - Episode 5

Last week I threatened to ditch Nichijou if it failed to make me laugh once again - now episode five is here and it's time to put it to the test.  Dance for me Kyoto Animation... dance!!

Well, whaddya know, this episode did made me giggle a few times after all (maybe they were listening to me?  Perhaps this 'blog doubles as a hotline to KyoAni?  Maybe I've becoming horribly deluded from watching too much of this show?).  It certainly wasn't wall to wall funny by any stretch - at times it fell back upon being random for the sake of it, which remains as unfunny as ever, while perhaps the more major problem for the series as a whole is that its humour and attempts at comedy feel so forced.  Compare this to the likes of Azumanga Daioh and its ilk, where the jokes flow in a pleasing way even when the narrative is chopped up, and Nichijou simply can't match up to it.


Still, as I just mentioned, I did smile or even laugh a few times here - as per usual, Sakamoto's input leads the way courtesy of his inherently feline antics as they pertain to making someone else screw something up badly and then hiding while that individuals takes the flak; you know, deep down, that your own cat would do exactly this given the chance.  The Mio, Mai and Yuuko triangle of friends was also put to much, much better use than it has been previously, with Yuuko in particular opening the path for both another slickly animated set piece on a par with the "three second rule" sketch earlier in the series, more of her game-playing with Mai where the latter's sullen exasperation worked well, and what rapidly turns into a drawing contest between Mio and Yuuko with snigger-worthy consequences.

Ultimately then, Nichijou has reprieved itself for now (and possibly for the rest of its run, I'm a sucker for not dropping shows once I hit the five/six episode mark) - its still an inherently disappointing comedy that falls flat on its face more often than it succeeds, but to some extent I can forgive that as long as it's funny at least some of the time.  Certainly, if anyone is looking for quotes from me for the show's DVD and Blu-Ray release, may I suggest "occasionally slightly funny".

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