Time and time again people ask themselves why such a magnanimous show like Nichijou didn’t get a well-deserved sequel. When you do a simple search on Google you’ll see hundred if not thousands of articles and blog posts written about it and each and every one of them varies, some say that it’s because of it’s overlapping retail failure, others will tell you that it’s because it didn’t fir the standard anime viewer’s preferences and for others its because of the show’s convoluted and chaotic set up — which is hard to disagree with — that led to its demise. Everyone has different opinions and i’m just here to state mine even if i’m 8 years late.
Let’s start with knowing the background of this show.
Nichijou is a Japanese manga series made and illustrated by Arawa Keichii. it began serialization in the December of 2006 issue of Kadokawa Shoten’s manga magazine Shōnen Ace and was also serialized in Comptiq in between March 2007 and July 2008 issues. Kadokawa Shoten later published all chapters of the series in ten Tankōbon volumes from July 2007 and December 2015. Meanwhile, a 26-episode anime adaptation directed by Tatsuya Isihawa and produced by Kyoto Animation is also known as KyoAni. It was broadcasted in Japan between April 2011 and September 2011, after an Original Video Adaptation(OVA) was released in March.
This show focuses on the Golden Trio of Mai Minakami, Mio Naganohara and Yukko Aioi and the holy trinity of this show consisting Hakase (“The professor”), Nano and the MAN who endured a thousand scars, Sakamoto. Set in a Suburban Japanese town Nichijou’s cast is created by an ensemble set of characters featuring moments from their everyday lives that range from cute and endearing to weird and strange, without much focus on narrative as expected from an anime from the slice-of-life genre. Nichijou is a new approach to entertainment back in its day , having the courage to go against the norm but can still be called relevant to this day as it is a good throwback to a more old-school approach to entertainment, as MALO reviewer Ryhzuo said “Nichijou’s frugal yet distinct style reminds us that something is perfect no because there’s nothing more to add to it but because there is nothing more to take away”.
As many notice Nichijou became the darling of the community especially for the western audience, you want proof? Just go to youtube and watch ONE Nichijou clip and look at the comments, I assure you that all you’re gonna see is praises and nothing more. However, Nicijou isn’t as popular in Japan as it is only known to the English speaking community (As mention earlier) it’s all thanks to the efforts of 4-chan’s community that this anime got the recognition that remains strong till this day. But despite its popularity, it’s a fact that this show WON’T have a season 2 and there are 2 reasons as to why.
Preference:
Even with it’s amazing art style that has a colorful pallet that is somewhat reminiscent to Lucky Star that perfectly fits the show’s fluidity and it’s impeccable voice acting that is nothing short of outstanding however this show is definitely not for everyone as MAL reviewer literaturenerd said “It is the combination of bland characters, linguistic humor lost in translation, tired gags and horrible comedic timing that all came together to make this how and unwatchable cluster fuck!”.
As Nichijou is a comedy type of show that humor itself is very simplistic and is considered as one of the show’s flaws mainly one of the reason as to why the show failed (In Japan) considering the fact that it wasn’t able to build a Japanese fandom and since Japan is the only place where Nichijou is licensed and sold most of its profit relied on the Japanese audience. But the thing is their only profit-making audience didn’t even like the show all because back at the time of its release 4-panel comic adaptations are far from fresh and needs some sort of gimmick to differentiate itself from the pack, for example, Lucky Star , it used countless parodies, playful mockery and over the top jokes and it’s beautiful and colorful animation that adds to it’s already upbeat and energetic aesthetic, Azumanga with it’s energetic and “electric cast” and K-On! with its wonderful premise of cute girls doing cute things, meanwhile Nichijou was a mess, it’s filled without treaded jokes that have either been overused or tiring for the get-go and with an art style that simply doesn’t fit the standard anime viewer’s pallet. All of these faults that the show represents is a big reason as to why it became one of the biggest failures ever made by KyoAni. Well if it’s so popular why is it considered as a failure? I hear you ask well it’s true that the show is popular however that only applies to the western audience, as ANN reviewer Martin Theron stated: “Despite the show’s ability to entertain it is absolutely not a series for everyone”.
Marketing:
If you ask anyone why Nichijou failed a majority of them would say one thing in common and that is “Nichijou failed because of bad marketing” in which I’m in complete agreement, as stated by animation director Shunji Suzuki, DVD and BD sales were relatively low for many reasons one of them is the price. The selling point of Nichijou is 7,000–8,000 Yen which is 2,000–3,000 Yen higher than the standard DVD and BD price, however, it is worth noting that similar titles from KyoAni such as Lucky Star, Haruhi Suzumiya, and K-ON! hit the market at the same price and not only made a massive profit but also topped sales charts. It’s also worth taking into account the fact that KyoAni didn’t properly justify the said price.
But I believe that it’s something more than bad marketing that led to the show’s demise but the entire economic state of Japan at the time of its release in 2011. As you ought to know in 2011 one of the greatest and most devastating natural disaster that ever occurred in recorded history happened. The Fukushima Daichii nuclear disaster and the Tōhoku tsunami and earthquake also known as the “Triple disaster” crippled the entirety of Japan’s economy and the country itself, making the value of the Yen go down resulting to Infaltion, one of the main reasons why many people can’t afford buying DVD and BD’s that are higher than the standard price also it is worth noting that at this time Japan was at a setback because of the amount of human loss.
As everything happens for a reason we should understand the considerate answer to one of the most proficient questions in the entire comminity and we should learn to accept the fate of this “Wasted Opportunity"
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