Nichijou (Japanese: Hepburn: Nichijōu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Keiichi Arawi. The manga first appeared in the December 2006 issue of Kadokawa Shoten’s manga magazine Shnen Ace, and it was also serialised in Comptiq from March 2007 to July 2008. From July 2007 to December 2015, Kadokawa Shoten published all chapters of the series’ first run in ten tankbon volumes. Following a six-year hiatus, the manga resumed serialisation in 2021.
Nichijou, set in a typical suburban Japanese town, is populated by an ensemble cast of characters, with moments from their everyday lives that alternate between the mundane and the strange, with little emphasis on a narrative. After an earlier original video animation (OVA) release in March, 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. Nichijou: Uchuujin, a PlayStation Portable game developed by Vridge and Kadokawa Shoten, was released on July 28, 2011.
Bandai Entertainment initially licenced the manga and anime series in North America in July 2011, but both releases were cancelled due to the company’s downsizing. Vertical later licenced the manga series for English publication, with the first volume released in March 2016. On February 7, 2017, Funimation released the anime with subtitles on Blu-ray Disc and DVD in North America. An English dub was later created for the July 23, 2019 Blu-ray re-release. Madman Entertainment licenced the anime series in 2011 for distribution in Australia and New Zealand, and the DVDs were released in April and May 2013.
Western critics initially praised the anime adaptation with reservations, praising the animation quality but finding it lacking in consistent humour and substance. Retrospective reviews, on the other hand, have praised the series for its heart and surreal comedy, with one critic calling it one of the “finest anime comedies of all time.”
| Cover of volume 1 of Nichijou, published by Kadokawa Shoten | |
| 日常 (Nichijō) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Slice of life Surreal comedy |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Keiichi Arawi |
| Published by | Kadokawa Shoten |
| English publisher | JManga (former)Vertical |
| Magazine | Monthly Shōnen AceComptiq |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | December 2006 – present |
| Volumes | 10 |
| Original video animation | |
| Nichijou Episode 0 | |
| Directed by | Tatsuya Ishihara |
| Produced by | Atsushi ItōHideaki Hatta |
| Written by | Jukki Hanada |
| Music by | Yūji Nomi |
| Studio | Kyoto Animation |
| Licensed by | Madman Entertainment Crunchyroll Crunchyroll |
| Released | March 12, 2011 |
| Runtime | 24 minutes |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Tatsuya Ishihara |
| Produced by | Atsushi ItōHideaki Hatta |
| Written by | Jukki Hanada |
| Music by | Yūji Nomi |
| Studio | Kyoto Animation |
| Licensed by | Madman Entertainment Funimation Crunchyroll |
| Original network | TV Aichi, Chiba TV, adult swim, TV Saitama, TBS, KBS, Tokyo MX, MRO, FBC |
| Original run | April 3, 2011 – September 25, 2011 |
| Episodes | 26 (List of episodes) |
| Game | |
| Nichijou: Uchuujin | |
| Developer | Vridge |
| Publisher | Kadokawa Shoten |
| Genre | Visual novel |
| Platform | PlayStation Portable |
| Released | July 28, 2011 |
Plot
Nichijou follows the daily lives of various characters in the town of Tokisadame, focusing on the energetic Yko 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, among others. Random, bizarre events occur on a regular basis throughout the series, primarily through the mundane situations that each character encounters.
Nano has the most prominent story arc of any character in the anime series; the first half of Nichijou is about her desire to become a student in high school, while the second half is about her fear of being exposed as a robot at school. Vignettes, most of which are unrelated to the series’ main focus, are interspersed throughout each episode, some of which are adapted from Helvetica Standard, another manga by Arawi.
Characters
Main characters
Yūko Aioi (相生 祐子, Aioi Yūko)Voiced by: Mariko Honda (Japanese); Morgan Garrett (English)
Yko is a 16-year-old high school student with short brown hair. Yko’s main goal in life is to make every day more fun and interesting than usual, often at the expense of others or herself. Because she is frequently too lazy to do her own homework, she always copies from Mio or Mai. Although she is generally a pleasant person, her mood shifts dramatically when she is insulted. In order to make simple greetings more interesting, she frequently greets people with her catchphrase “selamat pagi” (Malay and Indonesian for “good morning”).
Mio Naganohara (長野原 みお, Naganohara Mio)Voiced by: Mai Aizawa (Japanese); Leah Clark (English)
Mio is a cheerful young lady with pastel blue hair pulled into pigtails and held in place by two small wooden cubes, which are her most distinguishing feature. Kojiro Sasahara is her crush. Mio, despite her ordinary appearance in comparison to her friends Yko and Mai, has a very short temper and is prone to tantrums and acts of violence in order to avoid humiliation, even assaulting a police officer to keep her yaoi manuscript from being discovered. She frequently has to amuse Yko in order to make her happy. She is a talented artist who occasionally draws homoerotic pictures of Kojiro in her notebooks and has entered several erotic manga into contests that promise serialisation to the winner under a male pseudonym. Mio finally wins one of the contests she entered near the end of the manga, though it is unknown whether she accepted the publisher’s offer due to her paranoia about her art. She is sixteen years old. According to Yko’s daydream, the cubes in her hair are allegedly magical artefacts from a Fey Kingdom zeppelin that crashed on her head.
Mai Minakami (水上 麻衣, Minakami Mai)Voiced by: Misuzu Togashi (Japanese); Brittany Lauda (English)
Mai is a quiet, intelligent young lady who wears glasses. Mai had lived in Alaska before moving to Japan for her father’s job prior to the events of the manga series. As a result, Mai is likely fascinated by Shinto shrines and will always go whenever she sees one. She is skilled in a variety of activities, including fishing, wood carving, and arm wrestling. Despite her calm and unemotional demeanor, she has an odd sense of humour and will frequently provoke Yko with a variety of gags in order to elicit a reaction from her, much to Yko’s chagrin. She has two dogs named Oguri Cap and Pyon as pets.
Nano Shinonome (東雲 なの, Shinonome Nano)Voiced by: Shizuka Furuya (Japanese); Monica Rial (English)
The Professor created Nano, an android schoolgirl. Despite being a year old, she has the height and appearance of a typical adolescent. She is concerned about hiding her identity as a robot from others, despite the fact that the large wind-up key on her back makes it quite obvious. Her limbs will occasionally fall apart, revealing items installed into her system without her knowledge, ranging from beam-firing weapons to Swiss rolls. She acts as the Professor’s caregiver, spending her days assisting her and performing all household chores. Nano’s main goal in life is to attend school, which the Professor eventually allows her to do, which leads to her befriending Yko’s group of friends. Her “birthday” is March 7, despite the fact that she was never born.
Professor (はかせ, Hakase)
Voiced by: Hiromi Konno (Japanese); Jad Saxton (English)
The Professor is an astute scientist of eight years old. She built Nano herself and frequently modifies her, but she will not remove the wind-up key on her back because she thinks it is cute. The shark is her favourite animal. She does not attend school because she has already graduated, and instead spends her days at home. Despite her intelligence, she acts most of the time like a spoiled child, throwing tantrums to get what she wants. She enjoys snacking, playing, and sharks. She also enjoys spending time with Nano’s friends, especially Yko, who approves of “cool things,” and Mai, who receives shark-themed chocolates and drawings from her. She didn’t like Mai at first because she let her dogs corner her and Sakamoto on the street, but warms up to her when Mai draws a shark for her.
Sakamoto (阪本, Sakamoto)
Voiced by: Minoru Shiraishi (Japanese); Anthony Bowling (English)
Sakamoto is a dark-colored cat. He is able to speak because he is wearing a red scarf made by the Professor. He was originally named Taisho and was Kana Nakamura’s pet until he fell out of her house window, where he was discovered by the Professor before mysteriously appearing at the Shinonome home. He chose to live with Nano and the Professor because of his relative comfort at home, as opposed to Nakamura’s constant unintentional neglect. He is 20 years old in cat years, older than both Nano and the Professor, and tries to act like the adult of the house, but he occasionally succumbs to his cat-like habits, much to his shame. A running-gag is his tendency to endure the Professor’s comically horrific physical abuse, usually in the form of a childish booby-trap or the rope noose she uses to walk him.
Teachers
Izumi Sakurai (桜井 泉, Sakurai Izumi)
Voiced by: Mami Kosuge (Japanese); Tabitha Ray (English)
Izumi Sakurai is a young, easily frightened teacher who is constantly flustered. She attempts to enforce school rules but is usually unable to achieve much due to her passivity. Even though she is often nervous and a pushover at school, she is slightly more brave when confronting her younger brother (Makoto Sakurai) about an erotic magazine discovered in his room.
Manabu Takasaki (高崎 学, Takasaki Manabu)
Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (Japanese); Shawn Gann (English)
Manabu Takasaki is a male teacher who has romantic feelings for Izumi but is too shy to tell her because he thinks too much. After Makoto bribes him with pictures of his sister, he becomes the club adviser for the go-soccer club.
Principal Shinonome (校長先生 (東雲), Kōchō-sensei (Shinonome))
Voiced by: Chō (Japanese); Francis Henry (English)
Principal Shinonome is the bald middle-aged principal of Tokisadame High, where the story is set in part. While he is well-known for his old jokes and puns, most people are unaware that he is a skilled wrestler. He is referred to as “Principal Shinonome,” which implies he is the Professor’s father or relative, but this is never revealed in the series.
Vice Principal Kōsuke Ōra (教頭先生 (邑楽 耕介), Kyōtō-sensei (Ōra Kōsuke))
Voiced by: Hiroshi Naka (Japanese); Charlie Campbell (English)
He despises the Principal and does not hide the cruel things he does to him. He is known for wearing glasses and a yellow tie. He was the previous principal of the school and is extremely resentful of his demotion, to the point where he began drinking heavily and sending daily death curses to Principal Shinonome. His constant drinking and stress have completely destroyed his body, and he says he is always one drink away from liver failure.
Kana Nakamura (中村 かな, Nakamura Kana)
Voiced by: Kaoru Mizuhara (Japanese); Lydia Mackay (English)
Kana Nakamura is a science teacher who is obsessed with Nano’s robotic abilities. She is constantly plotting to kidnap Nano for research purposes, but her schemes always backfire, like drinking coffee from the same tranquilizer-laced jug that Nano was drinking from. As a result, it’s a running joke that she doesn’t come to class very often because she fainted during one of her adventures, prompting many students to wonder, ‘Has Ms. Nakamura collapsed again?’
Students
Kōjirō Sasahara (笹原 幸治郎, Sasahara Kōjirō)
Voiced by: Yoshihisa Kawahara (Japanese); Seth Magill (English)
A flamboyant high school student who acts like an aristocratic lawyer when his family is actually farmers. He enjoys riding his goat Kojir Sasahara (Sasahara Kojir) to school and is frequently seen with his butler. He is very suave and, despite not having many friends, is the object of affection from the majority of the girls in the school, but he acts like any other teenage boy, which most girls willfully ignore in order to maintain their “Prince Charming” mental image of him. Kojiro used to take kendo lessons with Yoshino, Mio, and Misato, and the latter two developed feelings for him as a result.
Misato Tachibana (立花 みさと, Tachibana Misato)
Voiced by: Chika Horikawa (Japanese); Madeleine Morris (English)
A peach-haired high school girl who acts as a tsukkomi to Kojiro whenever he does something that irritates her. Misato, on the other hand, does this by shooting him with various guns and heavy weaponry that appear out of nowhere, and he survives because the weapons’ ammunition is usually rubber bullets or blanks filled with flour. Misato has feelings for Kojiro, but because of her tsundere attitude, she constantly denies them or shoots him if he annoys her.
Tsuyoshi Nakanojō (中之条 剛, Nakanojō Tsuyoshi)
Voiced by: Kazutomi Yamamoto (Japanese); Kyle Igneczi (English)
A 15-year-old student with straightforward eyes and a natural blonde mohawk that he despises. Tsuyoshi aspires to be a scientist and thus does not believe in the supernatural, but his attempts to disprove them usually result in the proof of them being “confirmed” or in embarrassing situations for him.
Haruna Annaka (安中 榛名, Annaka Haruna)
Voiced by: Kaori Sadohara (Japanese); Kristen McGuire (English)
A girl with a large ribbon on her head. She unfortunately sometimes runs into crazy individuals much to her confusion. She likes to read manga.
Kenzaburō Daiku (大工 健三郎, Daiku Kenzaburō)
Voiced by: Ryota Yoshizaki (Japanese); Stephen Fu (English)
A brown-haired boy who is the president of the go-soccer club, which he founded with no knowledge of the sport’s existence. The club eventually became a legitimate team as a result of a sudden influx of skilled players, and it has since won the prefectural tournament and was on its way to the national championships, but Kenzaburo now wonders why he even stays on the team, as the club has deviated so far from its original purpose of being a place to relax. His wealthy father is the president of Daiku Industries, which owns many of the businesses frequented by the protagonists.
Yuria Sekiguchi (関口 ユリア, Sekiguchi Yuria)
Voiced by: Ai Hirosaka (Japanese); Apphia Yu (English)
A quiet girl who is a member of the go-soccer club. She has a crush on Daiku Kenzaburo, the president of the club and stays in the club so that he won’t be lonely. Like Tsuyoshi, she also has simplistic eyes
Makoto Sakurai (桜井 誠, Sakurai Makoto)
Voiced by: Takahiro Hikami (Japanese); Dallas Reid (English)
Makoto is Izumi’s younger brother and a member of the go-soccer club. He excels at the sport and aids the club’s growth by bribing Takasaki into becoming their advisor with photos of his sister in high school.
Tanaka (田中)
Voiced by: Kota Yamaguchi (Japanese); Tyson Rinehart (English)
A boy who wears a large black afro wig. He is friends with Tsuyoshi Nakanojo.
Weboshī (ウェボシー)
Voiced by: Yoko Tamaoki (Japanese); Kathryn Taylor Rose (English)
Weboshī is Misato’s green-haired classmate, who has a ponytail. Her real name is unknown.
Fe (フェっちゃん)
Voiced by: Yumi Higuchi (Japanese); Kara Edwards (English)
Fe is Misato’s classmate. She ends her sentences with “fe”. Her real name is unknown.
Mihoshi Tachibana (立花 みほし, Tachibana Mihoshi)
Voiced by: Manami Honda (Japanese); Emily Neves (English)
Mihoshi is Misato’s younger sister and a kendo student. She envies her senior, Yoshino (Mio’s older sister), for being extremely talented while rarely practicing.
Yoshino Naganohara (長野原 よしの, Naganohara Yoshino)
Voiced by: Motoko Kobayashi (Japanese); Maxey Whitehead (English)
Yoshino is Mio’s easy going elder sister who goes to college. She likes to wear costumes and often plays pranks on others. She is also Misato and Mihoshi’s senior in kendo, a sport she is naturally talented at, but does not practice at the dojo very often.
Media
Manga
Keiichi Arawi wrote and illustrated the manga series Nichijou. It employs both standard comic format and four-panel comic strips. The manga was originally intended to be a short, stand-alone series that would be serialised in Kadokawa Shoten’s Shnen Ace magazine between the May and October 2006 issues. The manga began regular serialisation in Shnen Ace with the December 2006 issue, and it was also serialised in Kadokawa’s Comptiq magazine between the March 2007 and July 2008 issues. On July 26, 2007, the first tankbon volume was released in Japan. The tenth volume of the manga series was released on December 10, 2015, along with a limited edition commemorating the series’ tenth anniversary, which included a 120-page companion book. On October 20, 2021, Arawi announced that Nichijou would resume serialisation in Monthly Shnen Ace beginning October 26, 2021.
Bandai Entertainment licenced the manga in July 2011, but cancelled its release by October due to company downsizing. Before shutting down in May 2013, JManga, an American digital manga platform, was able to release the first four volumes of the manga through its website. Vertical later licenced the manga series for English publication, releasing all ten volumes in 2016 and 2017. Beginning in January 2012, Punainen jättiläinen published the manga under the title Arki, which is Finnish for “weekday.” Antti Kokkonen translated it into Finnish.
Anime
The Nichijou manga was adapted by Kyoto Animation into a 26-episode anime television series and an original video animation (OVA) episode. On May 22, 2010, the anime adaptation was first announced in the July issue of Shnen Ace magazine. The OVA, titled Nichijou Episode 0, was directed by Kazuya Sakamoto and released on March 12, 2011 as a DVD extra with volume six of the manga series. The score was orchestrated in Hungary by series composer Yji Nomi. From April 3 to September 25, 2011, the anime series aired on TV Aichi in Japan, with the final episode written by Arawi, the creator of the original manga. Crunchyroll also aired it under the title My Ordinary Life. In January 2012, the series was re-edited into twelve episodes for broadcast on NHK Educational TV. Arawi’s other manga, Helvetica Standard (Herubechika Sutanddo), which is published in Kadokawa Shoten’s Newtype magazine, is also featured in the series. The anime was originally licenced by Bandai Entertainment, but its release was later cancelled. Madman Entertainment, on the other hand, was able to release the series in Australia and New Zealand with only subtitles. It was released in two parts, each containing 13 episodes. The first instalment was released on April 11, 2013, and the second instalment was released on May 9, 2013. Funimation later licenced the series in North America and released it with subtitles on February 7, 2017. On July 23, 2019, Funimation re-released the series with a dub. Funimation announced two Blu-ray releases for the United Kingdom and Ireland on October 7, 2021; a standard edition and a limited edition, which includes a rigid box, a 40-page art book, and six art cards. The series’ English dub, produced by Funimation, became available on the Crunchyroll service in 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 (of Lantis)
- Photography director: Kazuya Takao
- Editor: Kengo Shigemura (of Studio Gong)
- Sound director: Yota Tsuruoka
- Sound effects: Eiko Morikawa
- Series writing cooperation: Keiichi Arawi
Video game
A PlayStation Portable video game titled Nichijou: Uchuujin (日常（宇宙人）, lit. Everyday: Alien) developed by Vridge and published by Kadokawa Shoten was released solely in Japan on July 28, 2011. In the game, the player takes the role of a producer from “Galaxy TV” running the anime adaptation of the manga, whose objective is to keep the ratings high by correctly deciding on what unusual situation to insert in the show. The Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu gave the game a score of 27 out of 40 based on four individual reviews.
source- Wikipedia