You won’t like him when he’s angry… and can’t find his glasses… even though he’s wearing ’em…
I still don’t know what to make of the opening to this week’s episode. And, funnily enough, the rest of it was just as weird and wonderful. In other words, less focus on developing the relationships this time, but a whole heap of gags galore…
Selective Summary:
Takuto, eat your heart out.
A brief HelvetiGAR Standard segment opens the show this week and gets the megane look; some school girls entertain themselves in the rain; there’s still nobody buying any daifuku; Mio shows us how to High-Jump via the Fish-Flop technique; there are white tigers galore at the zoo; Hakase, fearing the wrath of Nano, threatens to sacrifice Sakamoto to the Laundry Gods; a certain trio of schoolgirls try to avoid more rain by taking shelter in a temple and then completely wrecking it; and the Igo Football club hold a fabulous audition-match for a new advisor. OGI-BOSHI~!
Thoughts:
Well, Mio… who knew?!
Well, for an episode that barely featured my current favourite robot girl and her friends, this was a whole heap of laughs. Aside from two or three sequences, the episode was mainly a series of disconnected, but (thankfully all) hilarious moments. I still don’t know what to make of that Helvetica Standard sequence (or, rather, HELLVETICA STANDARD), but that, and smaller points of focus such as the rain, the Cheetah head, the Tigers, Hakase’s raincoat and the ‘in-between’ shots this week were, I thought, nice touches/ well-animated, and collectively that blend of random + mundane + funny = : D that I love about this show. In short: it was one of those episodes where there wasn’t much development of key relationships, as we’ve previously seen with Nano and the schoolgirls, but everything just seemed to roll along in fine form in terms of pace, energy and humour.
It’s probably safe to say that the High-Jump, laundry, temple and Igo Football club sequences were the main ones of note in the episode, but I thought that the first one was also interesting in its focus on Mio. Unusually (and alarmingly), we see her struggling with something to such an extent that she even requires the help of Yukko. Heaven help her… or rather, both of them, as it turns out. Yes, for once, I felt sorry for more that one of those two girls. Ouch.
And speaking of feeling sorry for people, finally, WTH was Hakase playing at in the rain-soaked laundry scene?! I’d have been genuinely annoyed at her if the whole thing hadn’t’ve been so funny. I mean, who hasn’t had to face rushing out to bring in the clothes due to sudden rain (a frequent occurrence if you live in London, I might add) while trying not to get too soaked themselves? And who would admit to taking a bit too long to do so in order to stay as dry as possible, I wonder… Anyway, I guess Hakase looked pretty cute in her waterproofs, but poor Sakamoto, eh. And poor Nano, at having to wash them all over again. Someone really didn’t deserve that portion of omurice.
- Nanooo, you are far too nice!
13 Comments
HELLVETICA STANDARD doesn’t sound as hell-licious as HELLvetica Standard.
The Igo Soccer sketch actually said something (or felt like it, to me) – in Nichijou, everything is regular, but over-the-top. You know that feeling when your friends are playing some new sport that you know nothing of? And they do a bunch of random crap? For example, looking at baseball for the first time, you see this guy hitting a ball with a bat and then running – it looks so stupid, right? Igo Soccer was probably taking that to the next level.
Personally, the sketches I found the funniest were the ones that were the most ordinary, and relate-able – for example, when they fell in the shrine with those faces while it was raining. You know when it suddenly rains and all you do the rest of the day is have that face on? Same concept.
The same things have been applied to the previous cour – everyday life, exaggerated – but I guess the segments of everyday life just weren’t as funny then.
Quite frankly, I was, like, ‘Woah…’ during those opening seconds, lol.
Well, it was about time the the Igo Footie business stepped it up. I guess the bemused onlookers were the ones we were meant to be positioned with, if it’s possible for any of those characters to be as bemused as I was, that is.
And yes, the shrine faces were fabulous. I guess, sometimes, all you need is an understated -_- face, haha!
I love how the Ichigo Soccer bit skewered sports anime so well. The high jump one pretty much did the same for American sports films (inspirational background music and all).
Those are good connections – re: the high jump, guess we should’ve known that all that determination/ comradeship would end in something hilariously bizarre, hehe.
Oh man that first part with the missing glasses was so good! And random, I really do love that about this series so far just how crazy things can get. And of course all the rain scenes! It has been raining a lot around my area so I got some laughs on that, and agreed Hakase looked really cute this week haha and Sakamoto! Damn Hakase wanted to sacrifice him poor guy T__T
They had some amazing music through out this whole episode! Even with Mio’s failed high jump and that soccer scene, pure win
MEGANE!
Lol about the rain! (Hope you didn’t get too soaked if you were out and about in it, Foshi!) At least, as you emphasize, it gave us another cute Hakase moment to add to the list – er, up until the cat-sacrifice comments, of course!
Oh man, the music in this show has been great throughout, hasn’t it?
(Check out the OST if you haven’t done so already – in particular, I LOVE ‘O Namida Choudai’.) Yes, it was used very well in the failed high jump scene in particular.
For the first time I really started to appreciate Mio this ep. It was all those I_I expressions during the fish flop scenes. Must… resist… urge… to… hug… screen!
Also, imo Hakase committed a cardinal sin. Coming from the rainiest county in England, ruining one of the few occasions to dry clothes outside is a crime punishable by being cast out! It was a lovely frog suit though.
Took you long enough, fb! (I started to adore her as soon as she was nice to Nano, esp. when she was doing so at the expense of Yukko, muhaha.)
LOL – a cute frog suit can almost forgive everything, I guess!
You mention how you love it when Nichijou manages to present different elements (random + mundane + funny) in order to come away with such an enjoyable finished project. Another side effect of this is that it makes the few poignant scenes stand out that much more, making them a lot more emotionally touching. For example, the scene with the well-wishing placards at the temple, or in previous episodes, the baseball player giving the manager a cap, or the older man playing with his grandson.
Such fun and poignant stuff!
Ooh, that’s a good point re: the more subtle, ‘poignant’ scenes, and they probably also stand out simply ‘cos there aren’t many of them to begin with. It’s an odd sense of poignancy, too, given that scenes, like the ones involving the grandpa, often end in such a ridiculous fashion (e.g. when he almost died after eating the mud-chocos). It’s like we’re being told not to feel too sorry for him, because he’s just a clown-like figure, rather than someone we should empathize with too much. In contrast, the few moments where we see Nano genuinely connecting with Hakase also stand out in a similar way, but for different reasons, I guess…
…well, until we see Hakase plotting something else!!
I loved this episode pretty much entirely for the high jump scene. Mio’s fist-pump of accomplishment was just way too hilarious and cute, and from there it sets off into more ridiculous sequences with the jump pit.
On the emotionally touching bit that AJtheFourth mentioned: I think a lot of this comes from the art/animation of KyoAni, and I feel many of these warm moments are fairly plain on the surface, but the background/setting (maybe the angles and “cinematography”) give us an interesting view at a skit or event. We might see the back of a character off in another room or only a portion of their face, and I believe there is a pretty good reliance on hinting, such that we aren’t given a comprehensive close-up of the scene (like in most comedy scenes), but we see the right portion of what’s necessary for our mind to flesh it out upstairs. Whether or not the stuff is inherently emotion might be another question, but I believe a number of the shots let us soak it up in sentiment.
…now who’s going to screen cap some examples ^ ^;
…you are going to, of course! (Do eeet.)
The angles (and colours/ lack of them), probably do have a lot to do with it. Again, I’m not sure if there are many genuinely touching/ poignant moments in this show, but I like the way they can also ‘cleanse the pallette’ (as someone else once put it, I think) and/ or further highlight the comedy. I’m thinking mainly of those ‘in-between’ sequences, I guess, as well as the shorts involving the peripheral or one-off characters. However, such moments between Nano and Hakase (and Yukko, at the end of the epi where she visits the laboratory) are certainly important, and I look forward to seeing these used more, esp. in light of what AJtF and you have said…
I think (hope) AJtF is going to generate a post, but maybe I should reflect on some of these episode and bounce some ideas of sentiment off the writer. I’m not sure.