clay65 - 2013-05-18 10:39:35

Back when I first watched "NieA Under 7" quite a few years ago, I thought it was a rather odd show that contained some comedy but not much else. Thinking back on it, I now realise that this show is probably better described as a slice of life. And by that I mean it's a REAL slice of life, not one of those fake ones like "Clannad" that people slap the genre label onto just because it doesn't contain mecha and it's set in a school. "NieA Under 7" contains all the telling signs of a slice of life - even though it's undoubtedly a comedy, it's not constantly cracking jokes like in "Galaxy Angel", and when they're not doing comedy, they're doing... well, nothing really. You could call it drama, but it's not very dramatic. The storyline meanders around and doesn't really get anywhere, so yeah, pretty close to your standard definition of a slice of life.The comedy side of "NieA Under 7" does not really appeal to me. It's the typical slapstick, random, over the top humour so characteristic of anime in general. The only thing I remember being amused about is the video game tournament in episode 5... and I guess that probably has something to do with the premises being appealing to me. As anyone can tell you, the key to a slice of life is the cast, so it's fortunate that the "NieA Under 7" has quite a good one that offsets the not-very-funny comedy. The characters are likeable, especially the central character Mayuko. I later found out that she's voiced by Ayako Kawasumi, who happens to be my favourite voice actress (she voiced Lafiel from "Crest of the Stars", Nodame from "Nodame Cantabile" and Fuu from "Samurai Champloo" amongst many other roles). What annoys me though, is that she has these tendencies to suddenly explode as the show goes into comedy mode, which seems very out of character as she's supposed to be a really shy girl. Other characters like the Indian guy also have these crazy sides to them that just seem to be there for comedy value, and I don't really like the fact they sacrificed good characterisation for the sake of comedy, which really isn't that funny.The ending isn't much of an ending as absolutely nothing is concluded. But then again, after watching the previous episodes, I wasn't really expecting much of an ending, and so wasn't really surprised when there was none. I noted two things about the music of the show. The first one is that the ending theme, which I quite like, suits the anime pretty perfectly - quiet, charming, with no notable features but not bland either. Second thing I noted is that the opening theme absolutely sucked. The hideous vocals made it sounded like they pulled some old tramp off the street to sing it.Overall, "NieA Under 7" is a bit boring and not very funny, but despite this, I don't feel particularly negative towards it. It's probably because the show and its characters possess a kind of quiet charm (when they're not too busy being silly) that I found appealing. The result is a show that, while not exactly engaging, is not a burden to watch either. So I feel kind of neutral towards "NieA Under 7", and in fact my feelings towards it is so neutral that I can't think of many shows that I feel more netural about.