NieA Under 7

This show is a mess, chaotic and multi-directional, but with hidden purpose that waits a little to reveal itself. Niea Under Seven has an extremely untypical format that may not be for everyone, so beware before entering!
When the series starts off, it establishes itself in ways that are deceiving, which is why probably many who would have liked it ended up dropping it too early to find out what they were missing, or people that wanted what it promoted itself as were disappointed by the end. You may think you’re in for a generic slice of life comedy, but don’t get it wrong- it slowly ... culminates into an almost-existential-like-drama before taking a hard left down sentimentality-to-the-maximum lane. The pacing changes at the drop of a hat in the most jarring and weirdest ways possible, it has an incredible amount of random joke breaks in the middle of semi-important sequences creating completely disoriented moods, and overall, the show is just so disjointed that it’s hard to enjoy any of its genres to the fullest capacity if you’re not used to its antics- However, in any case, it is hard to ignore that Niea Under 7 has many many subtle but well-done aspects that are almost too faint to sense upon your first look at the series. It expects you to want to get familiar with it before it reveals its true purpose and emotional themes, so hang on a while- we’re not done yet.
Its is not as shallow as it portrays itself. It dabbles in emotionally-heavy and bleak topics such as finding a purpose in life, using its spontaneous humor and lighthearted tones to bring about profound messages about the meaning and the sentimentality of the small things in life in an unexpectedly unique and refreshing fashion. It also addresses an individual's impending and unavoidable responsibility for themselves and life, as well as topics of the value of familial connections- more than just by blood, but friendships as well. In that way, it’s sweet, homey, and relaxing, yet its bit of comedy that exaggeratedly proclaim themselves at the start would never make you think it could be so. The humorous way Niea Under 7 delves into the themes of discrimination some may find as tasteless humor, but its true intentions behind such acts require patience, in which it later reveals its underlying message that all people- and aliens- are equal in a non-generic, humanistic tone that applies for much more than fiction. Honestly, I hate to admit how profound and great it develops such themes, and it's a darn shame if you only take it surface level upon a glance. This series runs much more deep than that and is shockingly complex.
In stating all of these points, it still has its flaws, which some may find harder to ignore than others. It takes no effort to accommodate anyone, and many people may take this boldness to offense. You’ll see that Niea Under 7 finds its footing over time and proves to become flawed in progression. I think that anyone will be able to discern its true intentions by episode 7, so try to hang on until that point. Its subtleness makes it great, and the way that each character develops in such realistic and relatable ways is superb. Its worldbuilding of the alien society is very subtle yet realistically done in that you don’t know everything about it, but it's enough for you to understand the story and feel the impact of certain events. It’s extremely personal in that way, and the show feels like a friend who won’t leave your side that you need to observe and understand before you can appreciate who they are. The themes it tackles are engaging and worthwhile, and enriching beyond almost any anime I’ve seen. It’s so unique that I doubt you’ll come out from watching it with the thought that you’ve witnessed everything it offered before. I just wished it wasn’t bogged down by so many tedious acts of criminally drastic changes in pace, mood-killing jokes, and unnecessary genre switches or supposedly ‘filler content’ that downplays its amazingly done plethora of qualities severely.

In short, Niea Under Seven’s a great show buried in flaws and misconducted introduction- mostly because it purposely subverts you for greater impact later. Everyone will probably have a different opinion of it, so try to enjoy it in your own ways and take time to understand it and appreciate it for what it is. I’m sure you won’t regret it.

NieA_7 is, surprisingly, a mixed bag. It isn't mediocre the whole way through, far from it, but instead it has stellar highs and irritating lows. To summarise: I found the human side of the story (ie Mayuko's) extremely compelling - if the entire show were simply devoted to that, I would be willing to recommend it much more readily. The alien side (Niea's), however, I have little praise for.

Mayuko is a deeply relatable character and navigates the common stressors of life with a certain elegance. I felt her story delivered lacklustre answers to her questions at times, such as what she wants to do with ... her life, or how to deal with student-derived poverty, which I actually consider a strength. These problems are commonly discussed because they have no definitive answer. Maybe you're approaching 30 and still have no savings, or sometimes you enter university or the workforce with an ambivalent heart whilst your peers may have had lifelong career goals that they are now pursuing. Dispassion is not a bad thing, and I'm glad NieA_7 doesn't seem to present it like it is, the mundane nature of life is quite enough. The bathhouse is shown to provide a valuable community service, and when its situation develops (no spoilers!), you have an investment in the standing of this business, care for its well-being, and those reliant upon it. I enjoyed Mayuko's story from start to finish, and on its own I would give it as high as an 8-9/10. On the other hand, all of Niea's scenes, and those involving aliens in general, are consistently just awful. None of the jokes land, and Chada's characterisation frequently enters racist territory. The hierarchy of the alien society is never expanded or commentated upon in any meaningful way, and I felt it presented it as a force of nature rather than anything socially constructed. I understand that it can seem that way on an individual scale, and Niea does at times appear to try and make peace with it, but again, there isn't any substance to it. I would give Niea's story a 2-3/10.

Is NieA_7 a bad anime? Not at all, there's gems of beautiful sentiment woven into it. Is it a good anime? Only just, Mayuko, Kotomi, Nenji, the Karitas, and perhaps Genzo do the heavy lifting, the rest are just dead weight. Be prepared to find the show boring at times, especially in comparison to ABe's other works (to me, it doesn't hold a candle to the magnificent Haibane Renmei), which was how I discovered it. 6/10.

It's...a big mess.

This show has so many fluctuating episodes with different atmospheres, it's as if they're not part of the same story. You first think you're watching a light-hearted comedy, then a seinen, sometimes sci-fi, but wait a second, it's a comedy again. It's like this show doesn't have an identity, and it suffers tremendously.
You'd think that since one of the main characters is a discriminated, "unique" sort of alien, the plot would involve something about that identity. In the earlier episodes, Niea is clearly discriminated against, and I would suppose that her being an "under seven" would have some sort of meaning. Well, ... you're absolutely wrong.
Instead, the first 7 episodes or so is just comedy, not so good, not so bad, whatever. Then, the last 6 episodes is where it takes a huge nosedive. The plot tries to redirect itself to being coming of age, seinen, sort of plot focused, almost no comedy involved. It's pretty slowpaced, and nothing really happens. It mainly focuses on Mayuko's development as a character, and the revolving circumstances that surround her. It's kind of just very mediocre.
Niea makes little to no appearances, and when she does, it actually makes the story seem interesting since its about her hearing things about the mothership. It makes you wonder if the latter half of the show wouldn't be garbage if it just focused on Niea more. Instead, you get this half assed run of the mill coming of age plot about Mayuko. Great.
Characters are also divided in between "serious" characters and comic relief characters. There are characters in the first half of the story that serve as comic relief that never come to show again because the latter half is coming of age, and so they served their purpose. The "serious" characters are the more "mature" characters that help Mayuko come to terms with everything and help her move forward. As if there really are two different plotlines in two different stories.

Typical of a 2000's anime, this show's art, while aged somewhat badly, probably was pretty normal at its time.

Conclusion: If an anime is pretty damn old and isn't really recognizable, it probably faded to obscurity for a reason. This anime is one of them. It tries to experiment with too many things, and because of it, this anime is a jack of all trades and a master of none. It tries to be serious, it tries to be funny, but it just fails at both. The first few episodes were actually pretty decent, but it's too bad that the anime had a lack of focus, and as a result, fell short of every expectation.