Nichijou
Nichijou is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Keiichi Arawi. The manga began serialization in the December 2006 issue of Kadokawa Shoten's manga magazine Shōnen Ace, and was also serialized in Comptiq between the March 2007 and July 2008 issues. Kadokawa Shoten later published all chapters of the series' initial run in ten volumes from July 2007 to December 2015. After a six-year hiatus, the manga began serialization again in 2021.
Set in Gunma Prefecture, Nichijou is populated by an ensemble set of characters, featuring moments from their everyday lives which alternate between the mundane and the strange, without strong focus on a narrative. A 26-episode anime television series directed by Tatsuya Ishihara and produced by Kyoto Animation was broadcast on independent television stations from April 3 to September 21, 2011, after an earlier original video animation was released in March. The series became known in English as My Ordinary Life. A PlayStation Portable game by Vridge and Kadokawa Shoten was released on July 28, 2011, entitled Nichijou: Uchuujin.
The manga and anime series were initially licensed in North America by Bandai Entertainment in July 2011, but both releases were cancelled due to the company's downsizing. The manga series was later licensed for publication in English by Vertical, with the first volume released in March 2016. Funimation released the anime in North America with subtitles on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on February 7, 2017. An English dub was later created for the Blu-ray re-release on July 23, 2019. Madman Entertainment licensed the anime series in 2011 for Australian and New Zealand distribution, releasing the DVDs in April and May 2013.
The anime adaptation initially received reserved praise from Western critics, who commended the animation quality but found it lacking in consistent humor and substance. Retrospective reviews, however, have since given the series high critical acclaim for its heart and surreal comedy, with critic Nick Creamer deeming it among the "finest anime comedies of all time".
Plot
Nichijou follows the everyday lives of various people in the town of Tokisadame, Gunma, centering on the energetic Yūko Aioi, the bright and cheerful Mio Naganohara, the quiet and deadpan Mai Minakami, the anxious android Nano Shinonome, her young creator, the Professor, and a talking black cat named Sakamoto, along with an ensemble cast of characters. Random, outlandish events regularly occur throughout the series, mainly through the mundane situations each character goes through.In the anime series, Nano receives the most prominent story arc out of all the characters; the first half of Nichijou involves her desire to become a student in high school, while the second half deals with her fear of being exposed as a robot while at school. Vignettes which are mostly unrelated to the main focus of the series are placed throughout each episode, some of them adapted from Helvetica Standard, another manga by Arawi.
Characters
Main characters
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Teachers
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Students
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Media
Manga
Nichijou began as a manga series written and illustrated by Keiichi Arawi. It uses a combination of normal comic format and four-panel comic strips. Originally, the manga was meant to be a short, stand-alone series which was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Shōnen Ace magazine between the May and October 2006 issues. Starting with the December 2006 issue, the manga began regular serialization in Shōnen Ace, and was also serialized in Kadokawa's Comptiq magazine between the March 2007 and July 2008 issues. The first volume was released in Japan on July 26, 2007. The manga series ended with its tenth volume, which was released on December 10, 2015, along with a limited edition commemorating the tenth anniversary of the series, which included a 120-page companion book. On October 20, 2021, Arawi announced Nichijou would be serializing again in Monthly Shōnen Ace from October 26, 2021, and an eleventh volume of the manga was released on December 26, 2022. As of October 25, 2024, twelve volumes have been released.Bandai Entertainment initially licensed the manga in July 2011, but later cancelled its release by October due to downsizing of the company. JManga, an American digital manga platform, was able to release the first four volumes of the manga through its website before shutting down in May 2013. The manga series was later licensed for publication in English by Vertical, which released ten volumes in 2016 and 2017. Kodansha USA released subsequent volumes, starting with volume eleven in August 2023. Beginning in January 2012, the manga has been released in Finland by Punainen jättiläinen under the name Arki, which is Finnish for "weekday". It was translated into Finnish by Antti Kokkonen. It is also published in Germany by Egmont Manga and France by Noeve Grafx, both starting in 2023.
Volumes
Anime
adapted the Nichijou manga into a 26-episode anime television series and an original video animation episode. The anime adaptation was first announced on May 22, 2010, through the July issue of Shōnen Ace magazine. The OVA, titled Nichijou Episode 0, was directed by Kazuya Sakamoto and bundled as a DVD extra with volume six of the manga series on March 12, 2011. Series composer Yūji Nomi orchestrated the score in Hungary. The anime series aired in Japan on TV Aichi from April 3 to September 25, 2011, with the final episode written by Arawi, the creator of the original manga. It was also simulcast by Crunchyroll under the name My Ordinary Life. The series was re-edited into twelve episodes for broadcast on NHK Educational TV in January 2012. The series also incorporates skits from Arawi's other manga, Helvetica Standard, which is published in Kadokawa Shoten's Newtype magazine. Bandai Entertainment had originally licensed the anime, but its release was later cancelled. However, Madman Entertainment managed to release the series in Australia and New Zealand with subtitles only. It was released as a two-part collection containing 13 episodes each. The first part was released on April 11, 2013, while the second part was released on May 9, 2013. Funimation later licensed the series in North America and released it on February 7, 2017, with subtitles. Funimation re-released the series with a dub on July 23, 2019. On December 13, 2021, Funimation released two Blu-ray editions of the Nichijou anime for the United Kingdom and Ireland; a standard edition, and a limited edition which includes a rigid box, a 36-page art book, and six art cards. The Funimation-produced English dub of the series became available on the Crunchyroll service from March 2022.Production credits
- Series director: Tatsuya Ishihara
- Series writer: Jukki Hanada
- Producer: Atsushi Itō
- Producer: Hideaki Hatta
- Production supervisor: Takeshi Yasuda
- Character design: Futoshi Nishiya
- Art director: Joji Unoguchi
- Composer: Yūji Nomi
- Music producer: Shigeru Saitō
- Photography director: Kazuya Takao
- Editor: Kengo Shigemura
- Sound director: Yota Tsuruoka
- Sound effects: Eiko Morikawa
- Series writing cooperation: Keiichi Arawi
Theme songs
- "Hyadain no Kakakata Kataomoi - C" by Hyadain
- "Hyadain no Jōjō Yūjō" by Hyadain
; Insert songs:
- "Earthly Stars, written and performed by Miyuki Nakajima
Video game
Sales and reception
The Nichijou manga series sold 1,005,300 tankōbon volumes in 2011, reaching 49th place in the year's best-selling manga series chart released by Oricon. The manga has continued to see success following its six-year hiatus, with its 11th volume, released on December 26, 2022, ranking 8th on the weekly Oricon manga sales chart for the week of its release.Despite the manga's success, the Nichijou anime adaptation reportedly had low BD and DVD sales, with animation director Shunji Suzuki noting that it did not come close to meeting the break-even-line. The first DVD volume sold 924 copies in its first week of sales, while the second and fourth BD volumes sold over 2,000 copies each in their first week.
Anime News Network reviewer Carl Kimlinger gave the series' first seven episodes a B, stating that the anime is a "slice-of-life comedy with a penchant for lunacy and a taste for huggable cuteness...", giving praise especially to Kyoto Animation's lively animation of the series: "a rare chance to see talented animators fully indulging their love of the art." Fellow ANN reviewer Theron Martin stated in his review of "Nichijou Episode 1" that despite the series' ability to entertain, it is "absolutely not a series for everyone". Chris Beveridge of the now defunct Mania.com reviewed the first four episodes, giving each succeeding episode a lower grade. Beveridge stated in his review of episode 4 that " so full of fluff and pointlessness that it's hard to get enthused about."
After the North American Blu-ray release of Nichijou in February 2017, Nick Creamer of ANN gave a highly positive review for the series, considering it "one of the finest anime comedies of all time", in contrast to the reserved praise previously given by other reviewers. Creamer stated that "As a tumultuous collection of madcap skits, Nichijou is an unparalleled success.... Blessed by some of the most beautiful animation in recent memory, nearly every gag is elevated to some kind of surrealist beauty. Beyond that, the show's sense of heart is nearly as strong as its sense of humor." Beveridge would also revise his negative opinion of the series by 2017, giving it a grade of A+. He stated that " is that rare cult series that has such high end values to it and so many layers and richness that people will overlook because it's a comedy that I cannot recommend it enough."
Crunchyroll's editorial team chose Nichijou as one of the twenty-five best anime of the 2010s decade and writer Kara Dennison commented it is "a relatable slice-of-life series" whose characters and "charming art-style, makes it impossible to look away".