Now for an anime I really wanted to like, this is Nichijou.
Nichijou refers to the tagline "My Ordinary Life" so we have a comedy slice of life in the vain of Lucky Star, Pani Poni Dash and the fantastic Azumanga Daioh, so hardly an original anime but hopefully it will deliver. The main focus is often around the household of eight year old scientist Hakase and her really realistic robot girl Nano along with a cat named Sakamoto who just do normal things while on the other side of the main character scale we have the three friends Yuko, Mio and Mai as they go through their own lives. Around them several smaller characters get their own scenes of randomness, some more random than others which gives off the same aura as the rest of the series.
The humor is based on the ridiculous moments of overreaction that often reaches surreal levels when you consider that this show should have some grounding in reality yet it almost breaks itself several times in an attempt to push it's only real strength and that's where it's downfall lies.
Japanese humor can be very difficult to digest if your from a western speaking nation, the majority of the interactions between Yuko and her friends relies heavily on typical Japanese play on word jokes that don't make a lot of sense translated into English regardless of sub or dub and that can be the difference between success and failure, the other three shows mentioned at the beginning of this review all share a common strength in letting the audience digest the gags, while Nichijou either can take a joke and run with it until it gets stale and unfunny or switch to a completely different scene altogether. The best moments are Hakase's scenes with Sakamoto and Nano, as the chemistry between them works to the strengths of their characters while the other cast members, the trio of Yuko, Mio and Mai included, have problems keeping a scene together especially if the joke outstays it's welcome not made any easier by the whole Helvetica Standard segment which doesn't make any sense, nor does the Igo Soccer Club or the Daifuku salesman.
I really tried to like this show and a good portion of it is good but it's cluttered and spoiled by it's own sense of humor, I get this is meant to be like it's older siblings of the same genre but it just doesn't work.
There is no dub which is just as well as it's hard enough subtitled.
Final Verdict: The only way you can really enjoy this series is if you have the right sense of humor, otherwise don't waste your time.
