Nichijou

Oh man, what a show. This is basically going to be an ode to why Nichijou is one of the best shows out there. I don't mean just in terms of comedy but as an all around great show. While there have been some great shows this year, this one just pushed all the right buttons for me. Did Nichijou have the ability to surpass my favorite comedy Pani Poni Dash? Jump the break to find out.
What is it: Following the lives of some high school students, various odd situations tend to appear during their daily lives. Acting as if these are nothing more than a minor disturbance, the students show no more than a few moments of discomposure. Based on the comedy manga by Keiichi Arawi, Kyoto Animation produced 26 episodes in 2011.

Why it's special: With the distinguished animation studio, Kyoto Animation, many were unsure what to expect with this title. KyoAni is famous for their great animation but also popularizing the moe genre. For the first time since making moe mainstream, Nichijou is the first title for them to step away from the genre. More importantly, Nichijou has to be one of the best comedies to have appeared for some time.

Plus One:
The openings: Perhaps one of the greatest things to have come out of Nichijou is that more people got exposed to the crazy Hyadain. Not only did his music fit the show perfectly but it was top quality. If you followed my twitter you would have seen just how many parodies of Nichijou's opening I posted.

The rapid pace: Originally the manga used the general four-comic style which means the punchline appears quickly. The show tended to follow that general format by having the segments be brief. In my opinion, this made the show better because scenes were not dragged out and it never got boring. The few times where scenes did drag on, the show was self aware and made it a point to exaggerate it.

The animation: Without doubt Kyoto Animation put in a lot of effort in creating Nichijou. Every scene is animated beautifully and the detail is as good as could be.

The humor: A comedy show lives and dies by its humor. Every episode of Nichijou, I was generally in pain due to laughing too much. While some shows may get me to chuckle a few times, it is rare for a show to get me to laugh consistently throughout an episode. Not only did Nichijou manage to make me laugh each episode but had me doing so for the entire 26 episodes. Had it been only 12 episodes I would have said it was a good show but not great. Keeping up the level of humor for a long period is a testament to how good they were able to pull off the timing to each joke. Without a doubt, Nichijou has made my all time favorite list of comedies.

The humor (again): Most of what makes Nichijou special is its off kilter kind of humor. It doesn't rely on generic slap-stick humor (compared to most of what Americans would find funny), instead going more surreal. I've always been a big fan of surreal humor because it involves many elements that all need to be aligned perfectly if it wants to properly succeed. As mentioned earlier, Nichijou is able to get everything right.

Weboshi: I love that name so much. I don't know why. I just do.

The plot: At first I was thinking there wasn't going to be much of a plot because it was only going to focus on the comedy but as the second cour started there was continuation between each of the skits. This was a great surprise for me because I did not expect any real development.

Reaction face: Some of the best reaction faces had to have come from Nichijou. Nearly ever punchline has a great face that one of the characters makes in response to the joke.

Minus One:
Helvetica Standard: This had to be one of the few things that I did not like from the show. Perhaps this is just a personal thing but each Helvetica Standard section really creeped me out. I can't really explain why but may be in part due to the creepy intro voice.

The plot: As mentioned earlier the first half of the show is rather plotless. This leads to the problem of not resolving things by the end of the show because the lack of proper flow. While a minor thing, there were some plots that I would have liked to seen resolved or extended.

The humor: As with Pani Poni Dash, this show is once again not for everyone. Probably Yuko puts it best:

The joke was too difficult for them.

Most people are probably not going to like Nichijou as much as I did simply because they don't appreciate surreal humor. While difficult to get I don't think it should be a knock against the show. Just because it isn't your cup of tea doesn't mean it is a bad show.

All for One:
Perhaps once again my mold for comedies has be redefined. Nichijou is just a supreme comedy because it was able to produce laughs for such a sustained period. Perhaps for me, Nichijou is the best skit based anime out there because of how well everything is done. While there are some knocks I have against the show and not every joke hit, what it did was still far above anything else out there. Nichijou is a show for a true comedy connoisseur, one who can understand not every joke is going to kill you with laughter yet still appreciate the joke or understand that not all jokes involve laughter as a response.