Nichijou

"I once overheard Sasahara-senpai talking to someone... Our Everyday Lives may, in fact, be a series of miracles. They just may be... no, I believe they must be..."
—--Mio Naganohara

Nichijou (or My Ordinary Life) is a Japanese comedy Manga by Keiichi Arawi. The Manga began serialization in the December 2006 issue of Kadokawa Shoten's manga magazine Shōnen Ace, and received an anime adaptation by Kyoto Animation that premiered on Japanese television in April 2011.

It is a Sketch Comedy series about a group of ordinary High School students and their teachers. Except for the robot girl with a wind-up key in her back. Or the girl who keeps bringing guns to school that she procures from nowhere. Or the Principal who has a penchant for wrestling deer. Or the Science Teacher who occasionally poisons her students (and herself)......

Those living in the US can watch this anime legally at Crunchyroll.

Tropes used in Nichijou include:

A-F

  • Accidental Truth: Yuuko had no idea it actually was Nano's birthday.
  • Acme Products: Provided by the Daiku Conglomerate.
  • Actor Allusion: In the anime, Shinonome Institute's resident talking cat Sakamoto is played by Minoru Shiraishi, who, among other things, played himself as the host of Lucky Star's Lucky Channel segment. In that show, his cohost Akira (played by Hiromi Konno) sends him off on a suicide mission and replaces him with Daisuke Ono. In this show, guess who plays the crow that the Professor (played by Hiromi Konno) decides would be better to have the talking scarf than Sakamoto?
    • Another one in the same scene -- the fact that Ono plays a crow alludes to his role in AIR.
  • Agony of the Feet: Fortunately Nano's toe just comes off. Her big toe does as well : It's instantly launched like a rocket when one spins the screw on her back.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: Weboshi likes Nakanojou because she thinks he's a Delinquent due to his mohawk. This is hilariously inaccurate, and his mohawk is entirely involuntary.
  • Amusing Injuries/Slapstick Knows No Gender: Yuuko ends up on the receiving end of most of the slapstick gags in this series, especially when she decides to get competitive.
    • It knows no species either seeing all the times Sakamoto gets hurt.
  • Arm Cannon: Nano has one hidden in her right arm. It's loaded with beans, so that the Professor isn't harmed when she fires upon her.
  • Art Shift:
  • Artefact of Doom: Mio's wood cubes and Mi-chan's 'mud pie' (as revealed in Episode 21).
  • Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny: The Professor. Then again, she IS a little kid.
    • Also, Sakamoto, when his cat nature takes over and he gets distracted playing with something.
    • Mai's dog, Oguri, in episode 15.
  • Awesome Animation: Drop-dead gorgeous, even by Kyoto Animation's standards. The backgrounds are very highly detailed, seeing real-time perspective shifts in a 2D plane is not uncommon (although some Conspicuous CG is used where it would be otherwise too difficult and expensive to animate by hand, see below), the frames-per-second is remarkably high for its sort of anime.
  • Baby Talk: The Professor regresses to this from time to time, befitting her age.
  • Badass Adorable: Mio
  • Battle Aura: Often particularly Mio.
  • Berserk Button: Mio upon hearing the compliment that Yuuko's drawing is cool.
    • Or whenever someone messes with her food.
      • Or if anyone sees her Yaoi manga drawings.
      • While she is a generally nice person, she seems to have a Berserk Keyboard with all the things that make her mad.
    • Mio hits several of Yuuko's during their argument in Episode 14, signified by a switch being flipped on.
    • Don't you dare to insinuate that robots are not cute in presence of the Professor.
    • Nano frequently gets highly upset whenever the Professor installs some useless new feature in her. Later on, the Professor installs a plastic pellet machine gun in one of her arms. This turns out to be a mistake.
    • Sasahara's existence is this for Misato.
  • Bifauxnen: Ms. Nakamura is easily mistaken for a guy before you hear her voice.
  • Big Red Fire Alarm Button: Mio is tempted to push it.
  • Big Sister Bully: Mio's older sister. She even treats Nano this way when she runs into her and accidentally detaches her arm.
  • Big "What?": The NASA people in Episode 10.
    • Annaka is very prone to this; "Eeeehhh?!" is practically her Catch Phrase. She even has a sort of "Big What tennis match" with Takasaki-sensei in Episode 15.
    • She has another one with him in episode 17. Almost the exact same set up and punchline too.
    • And of course there is the occasional "DO YU KOTO?" (WHAT IS THIS?)
  • Blood From the Mouth: When the principal tries to catch a deer that wanders onto the grounds. The deer headbutts him.
  • Bloodless Carnage:
    • Nano, justifiedly - she is a robot after all.
    • Once averted with Sasahara, who bleeds a little after being shot in the head. Most of the time he just turns white from the smoke.
    • Though, considering he was shot in the forehead with a pistol, you'd think there'd be a lot more blood involved
  • Bob Haircut: Nano, Mio, Sakurai-sensei, Yuria.
  • Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Yuuko's preferred brand of humor, usually with Mai. She's not very good at it, and Mai (her preferred partner) is exceptional at being stoic...
  • Book Dumb: Yuuko. Mio has to cheer her up so she won't feel too bad about her low grades (read: 1%).
  • Book Ends: The anime series begins and ends with a section about motivation, complete with a shot of Cherry Blossoms popping up spontaneously.
  • Bratty Half-Pint: Mi-chan. Also Professor and Misato's little sister.
  • Brick Joke: At the beginning of Episode 8, Nano accidentally activates a Rocket Punch. Her right hand then flies across the sky during Sasahara's segment (causing him to write a haiku about it), and comes back again later to sock Misato in the head.
    • And at the end of the episode we see Misato cooking at home, with a bump from the head injury she got earlier visible.
      • It's also the primary reason why there's no rock-paper-scissors segment that week - that's her rock-paper-scissors hand.
    • Right in the first episode there's the objects that go flying in the explosion at the start and, more significantly, the poor boy who only shows up atop a chimney at the end of the episode when you've forgotten all about him.
    • In Episode 22, Misato's little sister tries to hit Mio's big sister with a shinai, only to accidentally hit the assistant kendo instructor (who just happened to appear at the right moment), knocking him off of the bicycle he was riding. Later, when Fecchan tries to make the best of having dropped her ice cream by claiming that she can still eat it after cleaning it off, the bike (and the instructor) come by and ruin what was left of her ice cream. In Episode 25, while Ms. Nakamura is walking down the street, the bike is incredibly, still continuing its path without the rider.
    • A dorayaki Tanaka pulls out of his afro for Sakurai-sensei resurfaces in an appropriate 'Short Thoughts' segment later on.
  • Bring My Brown Pants: The Professor suffers a late night Potty Emergency, and would've held out if not for a particularly fierce bolt of lightning.
  • Butt Monkey: Nano, mostly due to the Professor's rather childlike inventions placed throughout her body.
    • Yuuko, whether she manages to accidentally set Mio off, falls for one of Mai's pranks, gets competitive, annoys her mom, or just witnesses something weird, the universe doesn't like her. In fact, Episode 23 of the anime gives us a small montage of the universe being mean to Yuuko.
    • Mio can qualify as well, since she has to deal with Yuuko, often unknowingly, pressing her Berserk Button, her own Covert Pervert tendencies landing her in a position that's far from ideal, and her Gadfly of an older sister.
    • Sakamoto. Looks like his fate is to be the pet of a well-meaning but careless Mad Scientist, no matter where he goes.
    • It turns out that almost anyone can can get hit with this. Two big contenders are Nakanojou (in addition to his complex about his hair, bad things continually happen to him) and Annaka (what with the universe almost seeming to hate her as much as Yuuko in terms of the weird stuff that gets thrown at her.).
  • Calvin Ball: 'Go-Soccer', kind of. The guy who wanted to invent it (Daiku, the club president) was never actually able to come up with any rules.
    • Turns out that there are some rules in the game, as Makoto Sakurai demonstrated in Episode 14. Though what they actually are is still a mystery. The Go-Soccer match that occurs between Makoto and one of the teachers does nothing except leave even Sekiguchi with her jaw hanging open.
  • The Cameo: The next episode previews are done by various voice actors, expressing the thoughts of inanimate objects that appeared in the show. Almost all of these voice actors are industry vets with 20-40 years of experience -- for example, Norio Wakamoto was a set of hair decs, the voice of Goku was another, etc etc.
  • Cannot Tell a Joke: The principal tells old jokes that no one gets.
    • While Yuuko's are just terrible.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: Mio with regard to her crush, Sasahara.
    • Misato appears to have this regarding Sasahara as well, with explosive results.
    • Also, Takasaki-sensei with Sakurai-sensei.
    • Apparently now Sekiguchi with Daiku (the two in the Go-Soccer Club).
  • Cast Herd: While Nano is a student of the high school in the manga, in the anime the segments with her, the Professor, and Sakamoto are kept strictly separate from antics at the school until episode 14 when Nano finally starts attending.
    • Finally, in Episode 16 Yuuko visits the Shinonome Lab and meets the Professor and Sakamoto. Hilarity Ensues.
  • Caught with Your Pants Down: Nakanojo's mother walking in on him trying to make his hair flat is played as if it were this trope.
  • Cheerful Child: Professor.
  • Cherry Blossoms: Used to great effect at the start (and end) of the show.
  • Child Prodigy: Despite being only eight years old, the Professor knows enough to build a Ridiculously Human Robot and constantly "upgrade" said robot throughout the story without her noticing.
    • In Episode 6, when she's told she can get out of the bath when she gets to ten, she says "20 log square root 10". Which is 10.
  • Coincidental Dodge: The final episode contains a scene made of these.
  • Cloudcuckooland: pretty much.
  • Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere: Yuko swears off doing punchlines the same day Mai cranks her set-ups to eleven.
  • Color Failure: Nearly everyone gets this, sometimes even combined with Blue with Shock.
    • A lesser version whenever the principal tells a joke -- the students are faded and have Dull Eyes of Unhappiness.
    • People shot by Misato tend to come out completely white as well, such as her younger sister, and especially Sasahara.
  • Conspicuous CG: Used for a rotating shot of the entire classroom in Episode 6. The switch back to traditional animation is very smooth, however.
    • Also happens during the Dog and Pen Laser scenes regarding the laser fired due to pain. We are given a dramatic circle shot before Yuuko's laser takes out the rest of the planets because she accidentally stabbed herself with a pen.
  • Conspicuously Light Patch: In Episode 3, Sakamoto walks around under an overturned box in the distant background; the box loses its conspicuous light whenever he stops moving.
  • Continuity Nod: The stain glass windows in 1-Q, the main Homeroom. What at first looks like a throwaway gag has consistently been given the nod ever since. Even in the OPENING!
    • Episode 23: Mio and Yuuko sport bandages where Mai's dogs bit them the previous episode.
  • Cool Big Sis: Yuuko seems to have earned this with the Professor in episode sixteen.
    • After some rough patches at the beginning, Mai's relationship with the Professor becomes this.
  • Cool Bike: Super Bicycle!
  • Covert Pervert: Mio. The whole chase in Episode 2 was the result of such a moment. Also, in Episode 5, she stops what she's doing immediately upon hearing that Yuuko was going to attempt to draw a cool guy and ends up getting carried away.
    • That's nothing, she later ends up trying to turn herself in for a crime she didn't commit and bribe a police officer just to keep him from searching her bag and finding her drawings. When that fails, she beats the crap out of him, Yuuko, the "OH GENTLEMAN" guy, and Sasahara's goat.
  • Crash Into Hello: Subverted. When Nano crashes into a boy from school, it results in an Earthshattering Kaboom instead, followed by both parties landing on separate rooftops.
  • Credits Jukebox: The second half of the show has a collection of Real Song Theme Tunes, covered by Sayaka Sasaki and the primary cast.
  • Creepy Cockroach: In one segment, Nano has a cockroach trapped under a bowl, but is too terrified of it to lift the bowl to kill it (or let someone else do so).
  • Curtains Match the Window
  • Cuteness Proximity: Both Nano and the Professor instantly fall victim to this once Sakamoto sits on Nano's lap in Episode 3. Also, Mai to the Professor in Episode 23.
  • Cute Shotaro Boy: Mi-chan
  • Death as Comedy: The airship segments.
  • Denied Food as Punishment: Nano frequently threatens the professor with this, but then either forgets or just simply forgives her for whatever the professor did to cause said punishment in the first place.
  • Disaster Dominoes: When the high school trio hides out in a nearby shrine during the rain, it starts with Yuuko trying to pay a coin to the shrine, and ends with the entire place destroyed.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Mio performs disabling wrestling moves on anyone who saw or was eating the manga she was drawing in episode 16, whether it's a cop, Yuuko, or a goat.
  • Do-Anything Robot: Nano, much to her chagrin. She even has a reaction function.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: The build up to this page is Yuuko swearing off jokes, only for Mai to dial her 'boke'ness Up to Eleven. Yuuko's reaction after letting it all out is...interesting, to say the least. Even more so in the episode this skit's featured in (17).
  • Double Standard Abuse (Female on Male): Sasahara gets shot repeatedly by Misato, but the damage seems minimal, including head shots.
  • Dreadful Musician: Nano.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Ms. Nakamura is seen looking for Sakamoto in Episode 3 after the Professor and Nano adopt him. The Kendo assistant instructor turns up to offer Mio sage words of advice in Episode 18.
  • Elevator Failure: Happens to Yuuko, Mio, and Mai in Episode 8.
  • Emotionless Girl: Mai acts this way as a vehicle for her pranks.
    • Sekiguchi from the Soccer and Go Club, too.
  • Epic Fail: Jumping rope [1]. Yuuko's losing her shoes in episode 14. Mio and any non-combat sport, period. Nakamura with nearly everything. Dolph killing himself.
    • Also Annaka's over-sized red ribbon.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The Professor is known only as that.
  • Expy: Mai basically looks like a bespectacled Osaka with a dull expression on her face.
  • Evolving Credits: Episode 14's opening and closing credits changes once Nana is allowed to go to school.
  • Extreme Omni Goat: Kojirou (Sasahara's goat) is shown eating a piece of paper.
  • Eyes Always Shut: Makoto Sakurai.
  • Eye Scream: Here's a useful tip: Never tease an extremely violent Tsundere when she's got two sticks of Pocky.
  • Face Fault: All over the place. It's one of Nano's many functions, even!
    • "Let's go all the way to Okachimachi like this"
  • Failure Is the Only Option: Poor Nano.
  • Family-Friendly Firearms: While the guns Misato uses are somewhat realistically displayed, they never seem to cause more harm than slight bleeding and causing characters to emit smoke.
  • Fiery Redhead: Misato, complete with Hyperspace Arsenal.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: The four main girls at the end of the TV series. Yukko is Sanguine, Mio is choleric, Mai is melancholic, and Nano is phlegmatic.
  • Frickin' Laser Beams: This is Played for Laughs, but Yuuko and Mio can shoot them if they scream in pain loud enough.
  • The Gadfly: Mai. Almost makes you wonder why Yuuko and Mio are friends with her sometimes.
    • Also Mio's sister.

G-L

Sasahara: Happy New Year.
Mio: M...me too!

    • Yuuko is prone to outbursts of gratuitous English when shocked or utterly confused.
      • GOD IS DEAD
      • Koucho (Principal) DEATH
      • When she is forced to wait a very long time for her order at a restaurant: "Goddamn!"
      • Episode 11, Super Ultra Great Delicious Wonderful Yabai ("yabai" is Japanese for "bad"). Her attempt to catch a cold Come On, Come On too, which was especially amusing as she was trying to catch a cold in order to avoid having to take an English exam.
    • Nano in Episode 6 when she's trapped a cockroach under a bowl.
      • Death or Die!
    • Mai after catching a fish:
      • Release
    • The whole rocket launch sequence.
    • Off za book
    • Episode 12 has several instances, including a segment ("Killing Time") centered around not using English words.
    • Also from Episode 12, two back-to-back "Things We Think Are Cool" segments each have multiple instances: "NICE CATCH!" followed by "Oh! Superball! and "WOW!" followed by "Oh! Slipstream!"
    • "Oh! Gentleman!" The manga expands that joke specifically quite a bit, with several pages containing no dialogue but sound effects all written in Roman letters along with such English outbursts.
    • In episode 17:

Takasaki: NO FUTURE!!!
Takasaki: Gonna Move!!

      • "SEE YOU SOON!"
    • In episode 18 we have "Trick or Treat" and:

Yukko: Nice timing, announcer!

    • Episode 19:

"Domestic violence!"
Ogi: A final rabudo!

    • Episode 21:

Takasaki: GOOD! ENOUGH!!!

    • Episode 24:

"Delicious."
Mio: RENDEZVOUS!

    • Episode 25:

Nakamura-sensei: "SHOUDLER BLOCK"

  • Gratuitous Romaji: "TORETA!!!"
    • A more classic example of Gratuitous Japanese : In the Helvetica Standard segment of episode 9, as Chirashizushi spells her name to the Tengu, each syllable is accompanied by its corresponding Japanese characters.
  • Gretzky Has the Ball: Episode 7 has the Professor and Nano playing baseball with Sakamoto officiating, but neither player has any idea how the game works.
  • Hair Decorations: Mio's hair ties are small blocks of wood.
    • With an epic story behind them. Which gets a sequel in Episode 18... When we learn about where her pigtails come from.
      • Both of which turn out to be part of a trilogy that is concluded in Nichijou (Uchuujin), the PSP Visual Novel. Maybe.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: Mio. At least she's the one whose angered most easily.
  • Ham-to-Ham Combat: The Igo-soccer match between Makoto vs Takasaki-sensei
    • Mio and Yukko often.
  • Head Pet: Yuuko and Nano in the first ED .
  • Headphones Equal Isolation: Mai is virtually shut off from her surroundings when using ear buds, as Yuuko finds out.
  • Here We Go Again: The last segment of Episode 26 is quite similar to the first one from Episode 1. It even has the same title.
  • Hereditary Hairstyle: Nakanojou and his father (the daifuku guy), as revealed in Episode 16.
  • High-Pressure Emotion: Nano literally overheats as she reads Mio's manga.
  • Honest Axe: Yoshino pulls a rather insane variation with fish sculptures.
  • Hurricane of Puns: The Professor uses this to test Nano's reaction function in Episode 15.
  • Hyperspace Arsenal: Misato.

Sakurai-sensei: U-um, you're not allowed to bring that to school!

  • Ice Cream Koan: Pretty much every episode has at least one.
  • I Just Want to Be Normal: Nano, big time.
  • I Just Want to Have Friends: Nano's main reason for her wanting to be normal.
  • Imagine Spot: Yuuko's in-class dreams of the Fey Kingdom. Takasaki-sensei and Mio occasionally have these with their respective love interests. Mio once even comes up with an entire romantic scene for Nano and Sasahara when Yuuko convinces her they're dating, complete with a slight Art Shift.
  • In-Series Nickname: "Yukko" for Yuuko.
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: In one manga chapter (Episode 8 in the anime), Yukko tries to get a rise out of Mio and Mai with a series of bad Japanese puns and only gives up after they get to school with no reaction whatsoever.
    • And in episode 17, Mai seems to tried and get a reaction out of Yukko. According to the latter.
  • Informed Ability: We never actually see the Professor do any research. She seems to spend most of her day with typical activities for an eight-year-old, like reading picture books.
    • The books are sometimes vaguely science related, but it still doesn't explain much.
  • Instant Bandages: Yuuko sports some on her head in episode 24 shortly after Mio finds out that she was lying about Sasahara and Nano getting a little too friendly with each other.
  • Iron Butt Monkey: Yuuko - considering the universe that she lives, she needs to be.
  • Iwo Jima Pose: Mio imagines raising a Sasahara flag this way when she talks to him at the drinks machine in Episode 24.
  • The Jimmy Hart Version: Episode 3 features one of "Take Five".
  • Joshikousei
  • Kafka Komedy: becomes this more and more each episode, mainly with Yuuko.
  • Kendo: Mio's sister, Misato, her sister and Sasahara practice this. Mio herself used to pratice it, too.
  • Long Title: One of the remixes of the opening song is called "Hyadain no Kakakata☆Kataomoi-C 'Forbidden Cats' sakamoto playing the Orchestronica REMIX".
  • Love Hurts: Happens to Mio in episode 25. She ends up taking a very long run in the process...
  • Lucky Charms Title: The opening song is called "Hyadain no Ka-ka-kata☆Kataomoi-C".
  • Luminescent Blush: Misato, bordering on High-Pressure Emotion.

M-R

Nano: Professor, that's probably moe!

      • Hell, the Professor, full stop.
    • Nano and Sakurai-sensei together, as seen in Episode 14.
    • Misato provides the requisite Tsundere moe.
    • Most female characters qualify for this in some way or other. Even Nakamura-sensei, who was noted a few times in-universe to be cute.
  • Moe Couplet: Nano and the Professor.
  • Moment of Weakness: Inverted when Mio & Yuuko get into a serious argument. Yuuko accidentally blurts out a sincere complement and the argument ends up defusing, in a very cute way.
  • Mood Whiplash: Mio's Heroic BSOD run in Episode 25. You think this might be the show's first Tear Jerker....then Mio jumps out of the window.
  • More Dakka: Misato. As she gets more and more embarrassed, she pulls out bigger and bigger guns (getting as far as a bombard at one point).
    • Nano uses this on the professor after discovering she had a machine gun installed on her right arm. Fortunately it only shoots BB's, but that doesn't stop Nano from shooting the professor repeatedly as a result.
  • Never My Fault: Whenever Nano expresses displeasure with one of the Professor's practical jokes, it immediately becomes Sakamoto's idea.
  • No Export for You: Bandai was originally going to release this show in the US, but has since canceled it due to financial troubles.
  • No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Once in a while Sakamoto will let himself fall for one of the Professor's pranks only for said prank to be more than he bargained for.
  • No Name Given: The Professor, Misato's two friends Fecchan and Weboshi.
  • Non-Standard Character Design: All birds on this show are drawn realistically...with the exception of the crow voiced by Daisuke Ono, who could best be described as a two-framed black cone.
  • Nosebleed: Mio suffers a subtle one after having an Imagine Spot with Sasahara in it. In the next scene her nose is plugged with tissue and her friends are carrying her away.
  • Not So Above It All: Sakamoto.
  • "On the Next...": Delivered by something from the preceding episode that you wouldn't think would be able to talk (an apartment, coins, onomotopeia), voiced by a different voice actor, and amounts to little more than bemused ramblings, not about anything related to the next episode.
  • Once an Episode: There are actually several of these.
    • One is two people wearing the daifuku "costume" from chapter 16 swinging a jump rope, and one of the characters attempts to join in.
    • Then there's the Professor and Nano playing Rock-Paper-Scissors, only the Professor's modified Nano in a way that's either humiliating, or works things out in the Professor's favor.
      • Later there is the two are doing a little dance.
    • More recently, the "Things we think are cool!" segments.
    • Even more recently, the "Like Love" and "This is..." segments.
    • The Rock-Paper-Scissors segment made a comeback in Episode 26. Nano wins!
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Misato's two friends Fecchan and Weboshi.
  • Only Six Faces: There are only four or so unique faces, and even those are subject to change based on the situation. This is actually the source of a lot of stylistic parody -- the school trio and scientist trip lend themselves well to being photoshopped into other character's costumes.
  • Overly Long Gag:

Professor: Hakase da nyan!
Nano: Moe desu!
Professor: Hakase da nyan!
Nano: Moe desu!

    • Annaka going "Eeeeehhhh?" in episode 10.
    • The Professor's tantrum for shark sponge cake in episode 13.
    • Episode 21 features a Repeat Cut of Takasaki-sensei giving Yuuko a light smack on the head with his class binder. As in, repeated over 50 times.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Nano thinks she's fooled everyone into thinking she's a normal, human girl. She hasn't.
    • As seen with Mio's older sister.
  • Parental Abandonment: Seems to have happened to the Professor. Not that she minds.
    • The Principal seems to have a relation to the Professor, as his last name is revealed to be Shinonome.
  • Pin-Pulling Teeth: Misato Tachibana does this in one episode.
  • Poisoned Chalice Switcheroo: Nakamura inflicts this on herself in episode 15.
  • Product Placement: Snickers, in Episode 14. Credited at the end, even.
  • Promotion to Parent: Oddly enough, Nano often plays the parental role with regard to the Professor, sometimes helped (or hindered) by Sakamoto. Well, the Professor is still a little kid after all.
  • Puni Plush: Also has a bit of Azumanga Daioh influence as well.
  • Purely Aesthetic Glasses: Sasahara's glasses are "just for show". Misato, who accidentally broke them and thought he was Blind Without'Em, was not amused.
  • The Quiet One: Mai.
  • Real Song Theme Tune: In its second cour, the series started using a different Japanese pop standard for its ending theme every episode.
    • A portion of the FIFA Anthem was played during the "10-yen Soccer" segment.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Done to Yuuko by Mio in episode 20...over drawing paper.
  • Repeat Cut: Episode 21 feature a single shot repeated over fifty times.
  • Ridiculously Human Robot/Robot Girl: Guess who.
  • Rocket Punch: Nano has one. And a rocket toe. A USB rocket toe.
    • Nano seems to have no control over the timing of said Rocket Punch. It just fires when it feels like it.
  • Rule of Cool: Not only does Daiku's family own an SR-71 Blackbird, but it's also either VTOL capable or the chauffeur (or Daiku himself) is somehow capable of landing it on the school roof.
  • Rule of Three: Episodes 8 and 9 both have a "Things we think are cool!" segment, done by the schoolgirl trio. In episode 10, it's subverted -- Mai does the segment herself, in her usual manner.
  • Running Gag: Yuuko has a tendency to throw together haiku on the fly, but she consistently ends them all with "Mogami-gawa" (Mogami River).
    • Whenever in trouble, the Professor tries to convince Nano that Sakamoto told her to do it or that Sakamoto was a partner in crime.

S-Z

Yukko "MIO CHAN!" and "CHAN MIO!"

  • Scenery Porn: Just the standard for Kyoto Animation.
  • Schoolgirl Lesbians: Mai starts spouting lines that sound very much like a confession to Yuuko. But she's not serious. Probably.
    • Mio mentions that Yuuko wakes up despite not being kissed, Yuuko questions why and Mio blushes.
  • Schoolgirl Series: Despite the school being coed, the focus is on a group of girls. Averted, since on occasions it tends to shift to other males, such as Sasahara.
    • There's also the adorable boy and girl pair, Daiku and Sekiguchi, from the Go-Soccer Club.
  • Schmuck Bait: Sakamoto usually falls for these from Hakase.
  • Sensei-chan: Sakurai-sensei, who acts more like a timid schoolgirl than a teacher.
  • Serious Business: Being a daifuku mascot, to the daifuku guy.
    • Mio and drawing. Especially her Yaoi drawings/manga.
    • Go-Soccer, as seen in Episode 19.

Ogi: Someone may even die.

    • Mio and food. In episode 14, Yuuko bought her yakisaba by mistake instead of the yakisoba she wanted, and she flipped the fuck out.
  • Shiritori: Mio and Yuuko play a picture version while passing notes in class. It quickly goes downhill.
  • Shout-Out:
    • To Super Mario Bros.. here. The anime version shows up in Episode 15.
    • In Episode 2 of the anime, Sasahara can be seen playing with a Game Boy, and later with a Virtual Boy.
    • Episode 4: After putting up the Laying Buddha pose, Mai points her finger up and touches the finger of an alien arm drawn on the blackboard above her.
    • In Episode 5, Nakanojo tries to disprove the spiritualist by asking him to summon soap. When the medium does so, he fearfully thought "Is there a person named Soap?" This could be a possible shout out to Soap MacTavish of Modern Warfare, since, for one, both characters sport mohawks.
    • In Episode 6 of the anime, a car and married couple from the Game of Life appear.
    • Also in Episode 6, Mio delivers Rei's line from Fist of the North Star: "What color is your blood?!"
    • When the Deer hits the principal, it lands a Street Fighter IV-style Focus Attack.
    • Episode 8 references Tron, albeit with an actual bicycle.
    • In Episode 14 Yuuko kicks her shoe off on top off a car.
    • In Episode 16 Mai has a Specialman eraser. In the same episode, during her Unstoppable Rage Mio does Akuma's signature shadow step "Ashura Senkuu" before pulling off a Dragon Screw on Sasahara's Goat.
    • The incantation of resurrection that Mai used during the stair climbing game is a password for the first Japanese Dragon Quest (although Mai remembered it wrongly. as evidenced by her failure to start her save game later.)
    • In Episode 21 Misato and Weboshi each hit Fecchan with a Double Lariat.
  • Show Within a Show: Helvetica Standard, which is just as weird as the main show.
    • The Grim Reaper is a recurring character. A bit of a klutzy reaper, though.
  • Shrinking Violet: Sakurai-sensei. Except around her little brother.
    • The Coffee Shop girl.
  • "Silly Me" Gesture: The Professor often do this when questioned by Nano about the latest weird device she has installed on her.
  • Sistine Steal: Mai pulls this off on episode 4, in the middle of an exam, by touching a drawn hand on a chalkboard. The manga attributes this as an homage to ET the Extraterrestrial.
  • Slapstick
  • Something Completely Different: The sketches involving the Fey Kingdom zeppelin. They're actually unusually long and elaborate Imagine Spots of Yuuko about Mio's wooden hair ties.
  • Silence Is Golden: Episode 17. Card Pyramid.
  • Spanner in the Works: Yukko in "My Ordinary life 111" complete with Convenient Dodges.
  • Spoiler Opening: It's difficult for such a wacky and episodic series to really have such a thing as a spoiler, but both openings lift scenes directly from stories that appear later in the show.
  • Springtime for Hitler: Yuuko's attempt to catch a cold would in real life have given her hypothermia. Of course, she wakes up completely healthy.
  • Standing in the Hall: Yuuko ends up like this quite often.
  • Status Quo Is God
    • Semi-averted for Nano in episode 13 - the Professor allows her to go to school, which was the status quo in the manga from the start... Although outside of two gags early on, all of Nano's scenes in the manga involve the laboratory in some way.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Sakurai-sensei and her little brother, all the way down to the hyperhidrosis.
  • Stuff Blowing Up: Oh so much.
  • Super Window Jump: See your crush arm-in-arm with someone else? Jump out the window and keep running.
  • Surprisingly Good Malay/Indonesian: Yuuko and Mai were greeting each other in Malay/Indonesian in episode 1. Not only what they are saying is correct (including Yuuko correcting Mai that she should have replied "Selamat Pagi"(Good Morning) just like what she said earlier, not "Selamat Malam"(Good Night)) but their pronunciation was good as well.
    • "Selamat tinggal" also. Meaning Farewell
    • There is speculation about more surprisingly good Malay/Indonesian. It's the Kuma (bear) joke. When Mio's sister takes the money from Mio, she says "Aru toki wa kuma, soshite aru toki mo ku-ma", which means "Sometimes I'm a bear, sometimes I'm a be-ar". In Malay/Indonesian, kuma (bear) is translated "beruang". It could be separated into ber-uang (ku-ma), which means "has money". If it's intentional, the author speaks surprisingly good Malay/Indonesian, to the point that he can make Malay/Indonesian puns that possibly no Japanese person will understand.
    • There few "Gamelan" poster which is Indonesian & Malaysian traditional instrument
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial: "It's not like turning it will turn my thumbs into USB ports like a robot or anything..."
    • Misato, each and every time Sasahara is mentioned.

Misato: Why do I have to marry him?!

  • Take a Third Option: Episode 4: You've forgotten to buy your cat food because you bought a snowman on a whim and were then blackmailed by your creator into buying her snacks, so what do you do? Feed him shaved ice.
  • Talking Animal: Sakamoto, the Professor's pet cat, thanks to a scarf she made for him.
    • Which she then "borrows" to put on a crow in episode 17. Sakamoto gets it back later.
  • Tempting Fate: "I should be happy that I wasn't hit by any raw foods." Not even five seconds later...
    • Mio in Episode 5: "I can't believe I drew that picture. Even though I lost control, it could have been worse." Cue naughty picture being used as part of a quiz.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Mio occasionally gets so mad at Yuuko that she rants about the stupid things the latter has done. Yuuko does it to her once in a while as well, usually in an epic, Ham-to-Ham Combat style.
  • The Scapegoat: Hakase is almost always quick to blame Sakamoto for any misfortunes, or at the very least, try to make him a guilty party to it, such as when she knocked down the laundry line while it was raining, then trying to claim he told her to drop the clothes in the mud. Nano however, hardly ever finds him guilty of those incidents, and instead punishes the professor instead. Or not...
  • Third Line, Some Waiting: The anime is currently divided between two main plotlines and multiple minor plotlines. The stories around Mio, Yuuko, and Mai and the story at Shinonome Laboratories are presented in equal measure. The running plot about the Go-Soccer Club is presented less than a minute at a time. The teachers' romance and Misato / Sasahara also get their day, but infrequently.
    • Meanwhile in the manga, there's a bit more overlap between Mio and Nano, as Nano starts out as a student in the manga -- everyone knows she's a robot, but are too polite to tell her they figured it out. This was changed for the anime in order to more decidedly separate the Shinonome Laboratory skits.
  • Third Person Person: The Professor.
    • Justified by her age -- referring to yourself in third person is markedly childlike in Japanese.
  • This Is A Corkscrew: How Mio punishes her older sister.
  • Throw the Dog a Bone: Yuuko is sent to stand in the hallway after forgetting her homework at home- the homework she remembered to do all by herself, for once- and a dog appears standing next to her. It puts its left paw on her shoulder. A universe out to get her, yet a small dog is ironically the one to throw her a bone!
    • Later in that episode she get an 80 on a test.
    • Buddy (that's the name of the dog) does it again in Episode 14. Pet the Human?
      • Buddy also makes an appearance as early as episode 6 on the girls' camping trip and in episode 8 when Yuuko tells her awful jokes, where he can't reach her.
      • Looks like Buddy is a recurring character now. He even shows up in the new opening!
      • He has a smaller companion that serves the same function for Mio. His name? Kobuddy (little buddy).
      • Both of them show up after Yuuko and Mio get trolled by Mai's dogs. Unfortunately, being dogs they still scare off Sakamoto and the Professor.
    • Nano gets one when the Professor lets her go to school.
      • And a really big one when Yuuko basically tells her she doesn't mind about her being a robot.
      • Episode 26 is basically one big bone for Nano.
  • Title Drop: Several times
    • Sasahara, in Episode 4, in his typical overdramatic fashion. With bombastic background music.
    • Nano, in Episode 26, when she's remembering her life with her key.
    • Episode 25, from the page quote
"I once overheard Sasahara-senpai talking to someone... Our everyday lives may, in fact, be a series of miracles. They just may be... no, I believe they must be..."
—--Naganohara Mio
  • Trademark Favorite Food: The Professor loves omelet rice and strawberry juice. She also loves Sharks, including "Shark Cake".
  • Troll: Mai, of course. She even trolls Hyadain in her character song, by inviting him to sing the male parts before letting her time cut out in the middle of one of his lyrics.
  • Tsundere: Misato is a Type A taken to ridiculous proportions.
    • You could even call her a gundere.
    • Nakamura has a bit of this, given her flustered reactions whenever someone calls her cute.
  • Two-Teacher School: Averted. There are lots of teachers who get the appropriate amount of attention.
  • Uncatty Resemblance: Mai's puppy seems to be as big a troll as she is.
  • Unsound Effect: GASCOIGNE!
  • Unstoppable Rage: In episode 16, Mio lays waste to all who sees her Yaoi drawing.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: A girl with a big key in her back? Who lands on a roof? Huge explosions obliterating cars? Nobody in the town seems to care.
    • Misato's guns and Sasahara smoking head and charred clothing because of said guns.
    • Often Sakurai-sensei subverts this and does notice, with rather odd results.
  • Upper Class Twit: Sasahara, though given his actual background it may be more Upper Class Twit Wannabe.
  • Wacky Homeroom
  • Wave Motion Gun: Mio's and Yūko's screams of pain are capable of destroying roofs, skyscrapers, and planets. "Aaaah," indeed.
  • Wham! Episode: Ep 13. Nano will go to school. Definitely worthy of a Dynamic Entry.
  • What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Everything, ever.
  • When She Smiles: Mai with her usual dull, emotionless expression, becomes rather adorable the few times she smiles, or even laughs.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Nano is absolutely terrified of cockroaches and lightning.
    • The Professor can't handle dogs, she even mentions it in both of her character singles.
  • Widget Series
  • Wiki Walk: One of the school faculty members manages a good one in episode 11.
  • Wise Beyond Their Years: Subverted. The Professor might be able to build robots that can eat and feel emotion, but she's still a little kid emotionally.
  • With Friends Like These...: Yuuko, Mio and Mai all get on each others' nerves at different points. But, beneath it all, they're Vitriolic Best Buds.
  • Word Salad Title: Helvetica Standard, which incidentally is the font that the English component of Nichijou's logo is typeset in.
  • World of Ham: Admit it.
  • Wrestler in All of Us: The principal finishes off the deer in the schoolyard with a suplex after completely missing it with a moonsault.
    • Mio hits Yuuko with a Dragon Screw and later a crossbody when she chokes and coughs into the food.
    • Yuuko's mom performs what appears to be a modified Japanese arm drag on Yuuko during her fit in Episode 10.
    • Makoto Sakurai performs a german suplex on himself in Episode 14.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: Nano. Well, almost.
  • Yaoi Fangirl: Mio is caught a few times doodling Yaoi characters. She's also a rather big fan of drawing pretty boys in general.
    • Judging by her reaction to Mio's manga, maybe Nano.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Mio, her sister, Yoshino and Nakamura for the trope specifically, and pretty much every other color in the known universe throughout the rest of the cast.
  1. ↑ Except for Mai
This article is issued from Allthetropes. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.