Ranked #183

Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou

What? Tadakuni didn’t appear in this episode at all? We didn’t even notice.

Now this, my friends, is the route one must take when crafting a comedy/parody series. Directed by Gintama’s Shinji Takamatsu, Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (Nichibros for short) is an adaptation of a gag manga by the same name. The plot follows a group of ordinary boys and their ordinary, everyday high school lives. Along the way they cross paths with old rivals, fall in love and ultimately find the meaning of life.

Oh who am I trying to kid?

The Nichibros could really care less about all the standard conventions found in the bulk of high school or shounen anime. Actually, they’ve made it their goal to parody and satirize the living daylight out of just about every character archetype, cliché and plot device. Running late for school while eating toast? Check. Having that fated encounter with a mysterious stranger by the riverbank? Check. Dressing up in your little sister’s underwear? Check? A lot of the series’ humour comes from poking fun at moments that are often seen in many other high school anime titles. And while this does require that the viewer has seen at least a few titles from this genre, not all of the humour is exclusive in this regard. The series integrates many other genres of humour into its numerous skits including slapstick, wit and general fourth-wall breaking. Many of the jokes are situational in the regard that they are based solely off of the character’s wacky experiences. Since each episode is broken down into a number of short skits, it becomes quite easy to understand the main joke or punchline.

However it’s not all fun and games. Part of the problem with the format of the show is that it presents a certain degree of predictability to the humour. While many of the jokes are quite amusing the first time round, they start to lose their effectiveness as the show progresses. After a while, you’ll almost be able to predict what will happen by the end of each skit and when the punchline will be made. But does this necessarily stop the show from being just as entertaining? Due to the wide variety of humour and the multitude of skits in each episode, Nichbros has enough material to remain interesting throughout its run.

Part of the show’s success stems from the numerous characters and their interactions with each other. While they may seem like your typical high school boys at first glance, each one possesses a unique quirk that differentiates him from his other pals. Tadakuni (when he’s actually around) is your straight man, Yoshitake is the general joker of the bunch and Hidenori provides the show with an abundance of general wisecracks. Heck, even if you can’t remember all their names (which the producers full well expected to happen), you’ll remember them for the wacky, sometimes exaggerated situations that they get themselves into. And what would a high school show be in this day and age without some female cast members? Despite what the name of the show would otherwise indicate, the few girls in the show are just as likeable as the guys. From the quiet and gentle literature girl to the funky trio, they’ll help to tickle your funny-bone from time to time. Many of the skits revolving around the girls are satires of how the anime industry depicts female characters nowadays. Especially in a highly otaku-centric industry, it’s nice to see a show that lays the smack-down on some of the recent trends. But I-it’s n-not like they’re acting cute and braindead for y-you or anything!

While the primary purpose of the show is comedy, Nichibros also does a very good job as a slice of life title. The ‘daily life’ aspect of the show really comes to light by watching the characters carry out their routines and interact with each other. Takamatsu really knows everything about how a high school boy should act and behave. From his general laziness to his false pride, it’s all there. And while a lot of these moments are exaggerated for comedic effect, there’s still a strikingly high level of realism in the characters and their actions. Boy, I remember back in my days my friends and I used to love throwing around our jackets like baseballs. Then after a long day at school, we’d go back to someone’s house and locate his sister’s cloth-. You know, I’m going to stop right there.

As with many comedy shows out there, the visuals are second in nature to the humour. That isn’t to say that the animation is lacking, just that sometimes simple visuals are the most effective (I’m looking at you Shaft). The soundtrack features a lot of catchy tunes that helps to convey the laidback nature of the character’s lives. Voice acting as a whole is very strong and it’s thanks to the large number of great seiyuu that all the jokes can be delivered so effectively. In particular, Sugita Tomokazu (famous for his roles as Kyon and Gintoki) deserves a special mention for his portrayal as the wisecracking Hidenori. Tomokazu is likely more than comfortable in playing comedic roles by now, and he’s a large part of what makes Hidenori into the star of the show.

While the humour can be a bit of a hit or miss at times, comedy is an incredibly subjective genre. Despite its incredibly misleading title, Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou is a great addition to the comedy and slice or life genres. With a hilarious and likeable cast, some great skits and a talented cast of voice actors, Nichibros remains an entertaining watch throughout. People that enjoy comedy and slice of life titles will undoubtedly be entertained here. For those that aren’t quite as fond of these genres but have seen a few shounen or high school titles, I’d encourage you to give the Nichibros a try. And who knows, if you were entertained by them, maybe you’ll want to check out Takamatsu’s Gintama as well? Regardless of your tastes, I’m sure you’ll find a lot more humour in Nichibros than in my lame attempt to be funny throughout this review.

It isn’t about whether the main character is absent from half of the skits, but how enjoyable the entire package is. read more

"Everybody's youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness." F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Oh youth and the epic journey called growing up. Most people tend to, in a way or another, be deeply defined by their teenage years. High school is a fond memory to some and a painful one to others, but I think everyone can agree that it is a unique and special period of our lives, one that has no equal. Most people quickly relate the words High School with friendship, as the friends you make in that period of time seem to leave a permanent mark in your memories and so does the time you spend with them, most of which is filled talking about something random or even stupid, laughing at simple and normal things, sharing mutual interests and hobbies, talking about the opposite gender in a playful or perverted way and worrying about the weirdest things. Yes, those years you spend in High School are special in a simple and silly way and it is that way that Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (DKN) tries and successfully manages to recreate in a hilarious manner.

[Story] - 8 - Daily Lives of High School Boys. That's basically it. It is a standard slice of life type of story, but one that works amazingly well. The episodes are divided into segments and focus on a big number of characters, each of them with his own peculiarities, as he endures daily tasks. To portray something so simple in an amusing way is not easy at all and I think most animes that actually try this end up filled up with dull boring moments that just kill the mood. DKN avoids that in almost every single scene which is quite amazing and even in its worse episode you'll still laugh out loud quite some times. Most segments are short which gives the comedic tone light, random and fast paced giving it a tremendous enjoyability. To sum things up, it isn't an amazing and complex storyline since it is a slice of life, but the setting and the execution of the comedy match and fit each other so well that you just can't care about how simple the story is.

[Art] - 8 - Not much to point out here. The art was acceptably good. It didn't need to be better anyway. The character design was adequate with a pretty good worn on some characters' expressions.
The animation was good enough for it. It didn't particularly shine, but I never felt like it needed to be better, so I guess they did a good job with it.

[Sound] - 9 - Alright, so I had to give the 9 here for two specific reasons. First of all the soundtrack was very fitting and comedic. The Literature Girl Song cracked me up every single time, it was absolutely perfect for those moments and just hearing the song alone will make you laugh so that's a great job there. Then the second reason lies in the voice actors. Since I'm not an experiences anime reviewer I wasn't sure about where I should talk about this, so I'm just including it within the sound for obvious reasons. Yeah I have to admit I'm a Gintama Fan, so having Sugita (probably my favorite voice actor) and Suzumura playing two of the main characters made the anime that much better. Sugita's voice fit Hidenori too well and his natural ability of making everything he says funny was perfect here. Other than them I also have to positively mention other very fitting voices like Motoharu's (Daisuke Namikawa), Ringo's (Aoi Yuuki) and Yanagi's (Yuu Kobayashi). Indeed a great selection of voice actors.

[Characters] - 9 - Probably one of its strongest points, since most times the punchlines rely completely on the characters as the humor is very character-driven on most scenes. Something very good about this series is the fact that the main character doesn't monopolize every scene, in fact it's just the opposite - he doesn't even show up in two or three episodes at all. The secondary characters are hilarious, each of them playing right into a character stereotype but adding a sort of twist to it. Motoharu, the delinquent who's supposedly badass and mature, but still get's manipulated by older girls and is strangely deep and introspective, also having an above the average sensitivity and fragile spirit. Literature Girl, the mysterious silent girl who stands by the riverside staring into the horizon lost in thought, but she's actually just a naive wannabe novel author looking for an ideal encounter with a guy by the riverside. Among many others.

[Enjoyment] - 9.5 - Maybe I'm exaggerating here but I feel that the 10 is appropriate. Most episodes went by extremely fast and I laughed like a mad man at most scenes from beginning to end. If a comedy that achieves that doesn't deserve the 10 in enjoyment then few animes do. I really enjoyed this very much and agree with people that relate its sense of humor to Gintama and Nichijou - which I also liked quite a lot. It really surprised me, since I didn't watch any trailers. I just saw a new anime called Daily Lives of High School Boys and thought "well I have 20 minutes free so why not? It'll probably be filled with female-targetted fanservice though...". Then the first episode blew me away. It's actually very easy to tell if you'll like this series or not - just watch the first episode. If you dislike the first episode you don't need to see more as you most likely won't like it at all.

[Overall] - 9 - Overall a solid comedy anime that any comedy fan should check out. Get some friends together one afternoon and watch a couple of episodes, it'll probably feel even better!

I hope you decide to give it a shot and thank you for reading! read more