What started out as a troll (the slow paced OVA) and then "Lucky Star on Crack" ends up as Azumanga Daioh on KyoAni (as in remake Azumanga Daioh with KyoAni animation, you get Nichijou quality with the same level of humor).
Does it top Azumanga? That is a hard question after about ten years. Is it even meant to do so? No it wasn't, since it was mostly comedy, but yet is does in places. Nichijou has more moments than Azumanga does, and more characters for sure.
No one in Nichijou out cutes Chiyo-chan.
Tomo is more annoying than anyone in Nichijou even though Yuuko does carry the touch for hyper.
No one in Nichijou is drawn in a sexy fashion, so there is no chance to compare anyone there with Sakaki or Yomi's bodies (or the teachers for that matter), though Sakurai-sensei pegs the sexy-cute meter.
And while no one is quite as funny as Osaka, the weirdness of Nichijou equals or surpasses her weirdness. It is almost like Nichijou is Osaka's imagination.
However, Nichijou gives us Nano, Mai, Mio, Sakamoto, Yuuko, and the Professor. At the start they seem like they would fit as Azumanga types...but in the end...they are their own types and make this show their show. The voice work makes it even more amazing, especially from Mio and Yuuko. They have a good range within their characters. And they have been given dramatic animations to go with these ranges.
So is Nichijou better than Azumanga Daioh? Maybe. When I watched Azumanga I had to stop about two-thirds into is because I got tired. I pickup up the rest the next time around. I don't think that would happen with Nichijou because I would be too busy laughing to get tired. But Azumanga was slice of life first, comedy second. There always was a sort of plot progression in Azumanga that took the girls and their teachers through three years of high school in a diliberate fashion. There is a beginning and an ending. Nichijou is a comedy first, and mostly. Slice of life come a bit after that. It was first just a sketch comedy that get a story later on....so it was meant to be funny and funny alone...at first. But when it got to the slice of life parts, it does it very well with the various little plots going around. It works.
Would I watch one over the other? Depends on mood. That and I still have a thing for Yomi due to her voice. And Osaka is still reall silly. But Nichijou is a very funny show. There is I think only one anime comedy I would still call better because of its timing, use of sound effects, and the silliness of it in total....FMP? Fumoffu....oddly another KyoAni project (in with several other studios as well).
Last edited by Ithekro; 2011-09-26 at 00:20.
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