Time and time again people ask themselves why such a show like Nichijou didn’t get a well-deserved sequel.
When you do a simple search on Google, you’ll see 100’s or 1000’s of articles written about it.
Each and every one of them varies.
- Some say that it’s because of its overlapping retail failure
- others will tell you that it’s because it didn’t fit the standard anime viewer’s preferences.
- And others say it’s because of the show’s convoluted and chaotic set up , which is hard to disagree with .
Everyone has different opinions and I’m just here to state mine.
Let’s start with knowing the background of this show
Nichijou is a Japanese
It began serialization in the December of 2006 issue of Kadokawa Shoten’s
It was also serialized in Comptiq 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 was then directed by Tatsuya Isihawa and produced by Kyoto Animation
Also known as KyoAni.
It was broadcast 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 consists of 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.
Ranging from
- cute and endearing
- weird and strange
And without much focus on narrative as expected from an anime from the slice-of-life genre.
Nichijou was a new approach to entertainment back in its day, having the courage to go against the norm but can still be called relevant.
As MAL reviewer Ryhzuo said:
“Nichijou’s frugal yet distinct style reminds us that something is perfect not because there’s nothing more to add to it, but because there is nothing more to take away”.
As many noticed, Nichijou became the darling of the community. Especially for the Western audience.
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.
But, Nichijou isn’t as popular in Japan as it is only known to the English speaking community (as implied earlier).
It’s all thanks to the efforts of 4-chan’s community that this anime got the recognition that remains strong to this day.
Despite its popularity, it’s a fact that this show WON’T have a season 2.
Why Nichijou Won’t Have A 2nd Season:
1. Preferences
Even with its amazing art style that has a colourful pallet (similar to Lucky Star), it wasn’t enough. That’s despite the impeccable voice acting.
Nichijou just isn’t for everyone.
One 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 f*ck!”
As Nichijou is a comedy type of show, the humour is simplistic and is considered one of the show’s flaws. It’s mainly one of the reasons why the show failed (In Japan).
It wasn’t able to build a Japanese fandom. And since Japan is the only place where Nichijou is licensed most of its profit relies on the Japanese audience.
Their main profit-making audience didn’t like the show. 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 its
Azumanga with its energetic and “electric cast” and K-On! with its wonderful premise of
But Nichijou was a mess.
it’s filled with tired jokes that have been overused and with an art style that simply didn’t fit the standard anime viewer’s pallet.
All of these faults that the show represents are a big reason why it became one of the biggest failures ever made by KyoAni.
It was popular but the sales didn’t reflect in Japan (poor sales).
As ANN reviewer Martin Theron stated: “Despite the show’s ability to entertain it is absolutely not a series for everyone”.
2. Marketing
If you ask anyone why Nichijou failed, a majority say one thing: “Nichijou failed because of bad marketing.
This was even stated by animation director Shunji Suzuki.
DVD and BD sales were relatively low for many reasons. One of them being price.
The selling point of Nichijou is 7,000–8,000 Yen which is 2,000–3,000 Yen higher than the standard
It’s worth noting that similar titles from KyoAni such as Lucky Star, Haruhi Suzumiya, and K-ON! hit the market at the same price but still made a massive profit and topped sales charts.
It’s also worth taking into account the fact that KyoAni didn’t properly justify Nichijou’s price.
I believe there’s more to it than bad marketing that led to Nichijou’s demise. One idea is 2011 in Japan.
3. Nichijou released same month as 2011’s Tsunami in Japan
The economic state of Japan in 2011 was one of the most devastating natural disasters to happen in recorded history.
The Fukushima Daichi nuclear disaster and the Tōhoku tsunami and earthquake also known as the “Triple disaster” crippled Japan’s economy and the country itself.
This made the value of the Yen go down, causing inflation.
This is one of the main reasons why many people can’t afford to buy
Also at the time, Japan was setback because of the amount of deaths.
Things happen for a reason and we should be considerate of it.
We should also learn to accept the fate of this missed opportunity with Nichijou as a franchise.
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