NieA Under 7

Crazy to me that this show is rated under a 7 with 6000 views. This is a simple show with simple humor, art, and characters. It's like eating tasty food with a goofy old friend from grade school. Every episode leaves you feeling relaxed and happy to carry on your own normal life.

Watched this because I loved Serial Experiments Lain, and while in some ways this show is the absolute opposite, both shows aesthetically deliver in their own way through relate-able looks and feels. Recommended for adults who like slice of life plots displayed through subtle and relaxed art styles.

NieA 7 - 7.5/10

A diamond in the rough. For a series with such a lowly average on MAL, it's surprisingly good. It's reminiscent of Haibane Renmei because of its slow, dialogue heavy and relaxing style.

After watching the first volume, I wasn't too taken with it. It started off reasonably well, showing the struggles of a very believable young woman, Mayuko, as she tries to survive with little money and, at the same time, studies to get into college. But my interest levels dropped as soon as it was revealed that an alien, NieA, lived in Mayuko's closet, eating some of her food and causing her ... trouble. My interest continued to decrease as more cartoony aliens got involved and the usual anime silliness ensued.

Why did this bother me, you ask? Because NieA 7 didn't need an alien living in a closet and attempting to build a UFO. The highly enjoyable and realistic slice of life elements were, from my perspective, getting damaged by the random slapstick comedy elements. I can see and fully understand one of the reasons for the involvement of carefree NieA - to show the contrast between stressed Mayuko, trying her best to survive, and NieA, an alien so carefree that she comes across as thoughtless - but I feel the main reason was to take the anime away from the realm of the real. The thinking probably was that most viewers want to use anime to escape, and that if the story was too realistic it would've taken away from the enjoyment. This sort of thing is viewed as a negative by me because I like to see some anime that contain believable stories.

The good news for people like me is that after the mixed opening volume the series started to focus more and more on realism and less on anime insanity. Rather than having a UFO blow a hole through the roof and the like for giggles, the second volume had an episode where an arcade gaming competition was used for laughs, involving the staff at the bathhouse where Mayuko lives and works playing against a small army of kids. I found it funny because it wasn't over the top; because it tried to be real. In my the eyes, the best kind of comedy is the kind I can imagine happening in the land of the real - not just on some nutty planet on the other side of the galaxy.

After the first volume, there were also a lot of episodes that focused on the serious sections of the story without resorting to slapstick humour in an attempt to brighten up the mood randomly. My favourite depressing episode is probably the one where Mayuko gets invited to a 'Go-Con' (basically random group dating) and eventually decides against going because she doesn't have any nice clothes to wear and can't afford to have her hair cut. Simple, I know, but the feelings and thoughts Mayuko had during that episode are the kind many people have over the course of their lives and it was effective on an emotional level because of that. Slice of life is at its best when it allows you to go into the shoes of the characters and feel how they feel, and Niea 7 achieves this on a number of occasions.

Really, the reason Niea 7 is so endearing is because the cast, aliens aside, come across as real people. Mayuko struggles to get by and lacks a goal to work towards; the owner of the bathhouse attempts to handle two jobs in order to keep the bathhouse running, despite it bringing her debt because of her ties to the people who work there; Genzo, the shy guy with a crush on Mayuko because of her helping him when they were kids, tries to help Mayuko by bringing her rice, yet struggles to express his feelings for her...etc, etc. It's very easy to get into the heads of the cast and see things from their points if view, and that's what makes NieA 7 a fantastic series to spend time watching.

The message of NieA 7 is to live life to the full, instead of worrying about everything constantly. Life flies by very quickly and there's little joy to be had if everything is always too difficult. That's why Mayuko is envious of NieA for being so carefree, like nothing can bother her. As Mayuko lives with NieA, she understands how it feels to be 'free', and I'm sure the objective of the series when it was created was to make the viewers feel the same way as Mayuko.

Watching the series is a relaxing, occasionally depressive and mostly fun ride - a journey worth the time of any bored anime fan looking to unearth a gem. Do I recommend the series? Providing you can handle lots of talking and little in the way of action, yes. It's a charming series that fans of Haibane Renmei and its ilk will lap up.

Representing about a 60:40 ratio of contemplative slice-of-life to lighthearted comedy, all blended and dropped into a slightly sci-fi setting, my first thought about NieA Under 7 was this: It is one tough show to classify.

It's evident that, from an artistic standpoint, this is a pretty bare-bones production. Expect relatively flat backgrounds, lacking any real depth or detail. Movement is regularly stiff and unnatural looking. The character designs bear the obvious stamp of the esteemed Yoshitoshi ABe, and they're just as distinctive as anything else that he's made, but their quality fluctuates, sometimes becoming more blocky and rough-looking on a scene-to-scene basis. The closest, ... most direct comparison I can make is to Haibane Renmei; if you've seen that, expect a similar or slightly lesser degree of visual quality from this. NieA's art is never offensively bad, just decidedly shaky and awkward at times. In its defense, I'll say that we're hardly dealing with an action-packed thriller or anything that would have truly benefited from eye candy. A little more consistency in the presentation would be nice, but I personally don't see the budget-afflicted art as a significant detriment to the series. Make of it what you will; I'll leave it at that.

The bulk of the music seems to be devoted to the quieter, more contemplative moments of the series. It's slow and meditative, often consisting of a few gentle notes played on a pair of stringed instruments, or even a lone acoustic guitar. That's not to say it doesn't have a little bit of range in it to meet the interjections of comedy; some tracks are more upbeat, and an intentionally lackluster “trumpet charge” effect that plays during some of those moments adds a nice bit of sarcasm to the score. Like much of the series, it's all a little minimal, but in some spots it's a surprisingly good soundtrack, and it always consistently matches the tone of what's happening onscreen.

The aforementioned humor isn't terribly high-brow. Goofy slapstick is par for the course, and when the humor is verbal or situational, some of it isn't particularly clever. Gags centering around Niea's massive appetite or Mayuko's status as a broke student are common, and none of these represent a breakthrough in comedy. But the characters are endearing and defined well enough that it's easy to laugh along with jokes that might otherwise be labeled as disastrously typical. And, truth be told, there is a certain uncanny, understated bit of wit present in some of the goings-on; for example, an obnoxious alien's antenna accidentally picking up a radio signal from a Chinese restaurant, or Niea trying to fly away in a UFO using a cord to an electrical outlet as the power source. The best jokes in the show aren't complicated, they're just simple, well-timed, effective plays on the setting and underlying concept of the show, often laced with a bit of gentle sarcasm that some will appreciate greatly. There are plenty of hits and plenty of misses, but on average I found myself liking the lighthearted, chuckle-inducing aspects of the show. They balance nicely against its weightier side, seldom feeling out of character.

For all of its general weirdness, ultimately the elements of NieA that work the best are its down-to-earth characters (pun, please believe me, not intended). In particular, the lead, Mayuko, is a surprisingly complicated individual, likable and relatable in the first degree. She's a top student who balances multiple jobs against crushing amounts of schoolwork, yet it isn't through any ambition of her own. She lacks real direction, and her own desires elude her. Constantly on the cusp of being penniless, she has no idea what she wants from life, so instead she does what she needs to do to survive. Her shy and humble nature hides fierce independence; it hurts to watch her take a handout of food from a friend, knowing that she's trading her innate pride for pragmatism. In short, she feels like a real human being, internally confused but trying hard to gather herself. I must admit that I had no idea what to expect from NieA Under 7, and this instance of high-caliber character writing was a wholly welcome surprise.

Niea herself doesn't receive quite the same treatment, but as a point of comparison for Mayuko, she's also a valuable character. She's simple-minded and childish, without a worry in the world beyond what her next meal will be, seemingly lacking any ambitions or grand desires. And therein lies some cleverness; part of what makes Mayuko and Niea so interesting is that they're two sides of the same coin. Both are adrift, without goals, surviving rather than flourishing, but Niea grins and clearly enjoys every minute of it with an air of freedom while Mayuko always looks like a bird in a cage. As time wears on, the series twists and plays with this relationship in increasingly strange ways; Niea, haunted by the alien mothership that floats near the town, slowly becomes more despondent and begins to act differently, further amplifying the intrigue. It'd be easy to mistake the pair as the archetypal “normal girl and weird friend,” but the saving grace of the show is that there's much more to them than that. It's always great to see something complex hiding within something that seems simple at first glance.

I can't ignore a key fault, though; specifically, the series is haunted by incompleteness in several aspects. Some key elements of the setting go largely unexplained. It's an interesting world, but one that's not put to full use. The ending feels anticlimactic and overly explanatory, but paradoxically, it resolves very little. NieA takes frequent jabs at social problems such as discrimination and class warfare, but it feels like it's scraping the surface of these themes rather than delving into them at any real level of significance. Perhaps worst of all, the series periodically hints at an additional point of comparison that could make both of the lead characters shine even more—actually a pretty elegant and potent metaphor—but it takes a step back at the last second and pulls its punch, which is a real bummer. I derived plenty of enjoyment from the series, but I also can't shake the feeling that it's essentially two-thirds of a show. It's missing some things that could have elevated it substantially.

And yet I recommend it. I don't quite know who to recommend it to, because it's in a strange no-man's-land of genres, but I'll recommend it anyway. Occasional moments of less-than-great comedy and some degree of incompleteness hurt my impression of NieA Under 7, but the show is just so darn charming and, at times, so surprisingly clever that it's impossible for me to actively discourage anyone from watching it.

NieA Under 7 tells the ebbs and flows of early adulthood in a loosely constructed slice of life comedy. Thematically down-to-earth and occasionally depressing, NieA_7 inspires young adults to be hopeful no matter their personal situation. Reputed as ‘the forgettable Yoshitoshi Abe anime’, its lukewarm critical response severely undermines how relatable, sympathetic, and empowering this series can feel.

Today’s young adults are stereotyped as socially awkward, riddled with financial problems and unsure about the future. Mayuko Chigasaki is the poster girl for these characteristics, presented as a hardworking student who is busy making ends meet by working several jobs. She lives with NieA, a rude, ... hyperactive alien who sells junk and builds faulty UFOs, much to Mayuko’s annoyance. Set in retro-future Tokyo where aliens have peacefully integrated over generations, the pair reside in a sleepy bathhouse with their friendly neighbours. With traditional bathhouses on the decline, the residents resort to drastic measures to save the business, with predictably hilarious consequences.

The first half of NieA_7 is composed of comedic slice of life adventures, where in typical Yoshitoshi Abe fashion, the eccentric is juxtaposed against the mundane. Battling carnivorous plants and surviving UFO crashes are no big deal compared to bathhouse promotion events and staying overtime at work. These early episodes illustrate Mayuko’s difficulty adjusting to living independently. Working three jobs and studying to re-take her university entrance exams leaves little time for social or personal activities, yet the bizarre adventures and amusing interactions she experiences reminds her that fun is in the eye of the beholder.

Mayuko is a stellar lead character. Her basic struggles with finance, unbearable roommates and maintaining a healthy social life are universally relatable to young adults, while her unassuming, multifaceted personality is a joy to watch. Central to her character is insecurity, which externalises as shyness to those she wants to impress (bosses, classmates, old friends) and as aggressiveness to those she looks down on (NieA and the other aliens). Her markedly varied approach to social interaction is brought to life by excellent character animation and Ayako Kawasumi’s versatile voice acting.

NieA_7 thrives in presenting realistic, likable side-characters who simply want to help each other succeed, ensuing plenty of wholesome exchanges. Mayuko’s co-worker ‘Chie’ is a remarkably mature child character who presents a realistic, endearing impression despite her limited screen time. The alien community features a diverse set of memorable personalities who primarily handle the comedic relief. Most importantly, Mayuko’s employers are dedicated and motivated individuals who unwaveringly promote their unorthodox businesses, despite lacking consumer demand. Mayuko draws enthusiasm from her employers, among others, to energise her own daily endeavours, even if it amounts to doing chores and studying for exams.

While good-natured and hard-working, Mayuko lacks the perspective and experience to place her efforts in a constructive place, instead working day to day with no clear direction. Summarising this aspect of her character are the closing moments of the early episodes, where Mayuko dwells on how motivated and driven her peers are compared to herself. Whether an artifact of her young age or her ambivalent personality, her search for direction in life becomes the encompassing facet of her character, which she must overcome despite the overwhelming stress and self-doubt she comes to face.

On the other side of the coin is NieA, the freeloading alien who spends her time trying to find things to do, sometimes causing trouble for Mayuko. She is categorised as an ‘Under 7’, the lowest social class of alien, based solely on the absence of an antennae. Under 7s are denied education, work and even citizenship, such that NieA is essentially an animal in the eyes of their society. Despite being seemingly free spirited and unbound by human rules, at heart she desires respect and a useful way to spend her time, which she struggles to achieve given the restrictions on her social class. While NieA appears to be the antithesis to Mayuko, they ultimately share the same dilemma of lacking a place to apply their efforts constructively, despite the causes of their problems being essentially opposite.

The underlying tension between NieA and Mayuko is the centrepiece to their relationship in the first half of the series. Mayuko grows irritated of NieA’s frivolous use of free time, while NieA is spiteful of Mayuko’s well-constructed, privileged occupation and connections, with both parties fundamentally wanting to live more like the other. This friction is usually dissolved in comedy routines, but as they enter deeper emotional waters, it becomes the key motivator for their relationship growth and development.

NieA_7 is an adult-contemporary comedy at heart, and as such, the humour is more audacious than typical anime standards. Jokes involving drugs, poverty and racism are plentiful, but remain light-hearted enough to avoid the dark comedy label. Ranging from elaborate and sophisticated to low brow and slapstick, the comedy will vary depending on the mood of the episode, while collectively becoming more consistent as the series progresses.

The most distinguishing aspect of NieA’s comedy is the Indian influence, which manifests on several levels of the production. ‘Dalgit's Tidbit of Indian Information’, the bizarre live-action segment which plays after the ending theme, features Dalgit telling a lame joke in broken Japanese for no apparent reason. In typical Bollywood style, tone shifts are instantaneous and jarring, most commonly between light and humorous to moody and depressive. Such abrupt tone changes may be unnatural to the preestablished mood of the episode but are nonetheless effective room brighteners to keep the series balanced and watchable.

The inclusion of so many Indian references feeds into the light social commentary, which is never boldly involved in the narrative, but remains a quirky and interesting sugar-coating to the production. The alien community is used to explore the dysfunctional attitudes of modern Japanese society towards increasing immigration, where some aliens adopt an identity based on the stereotypes of other cultures. Enter Chada, the Indian-impersonating alien who runs a corner shop and is desperate to share his homemade curry, and Karna, a high-class Chinese-impersonating alien who is completely insufferable and rude. It should be unsurprising that Indian and Chinese people are victims of significant discrimination in Japan in recent times, and these aliens represent the major stereotypes assigned with their respective nationalities. The alien hierarchy bares resemblance to the Indian caste system, and the metaphor between aliens and immigrants speaks for itself. While a deeper approach to the social commentary would have further supported NieA’s character development, it remains a memorable edge to the unique comedic style.

The visuals maintain a consistent, solid look which is characteristic of early 2000s anime. Produced by the same team of Serial Experiments Lain, expect similarly detailed line work, limited mechanical animation, and robust colours. The urban design shares the same fetishization of wires and clutter but does not attempt to be as absurdly detailed or abstract as its 1998 cousin. Instead, NieA_7 puts its energy into a diverse set of rural backgrounds, ranging from luscious jungles to vast open plains. The town of Enohana is drawn to be dusty, run down and isolated, which is accentuated by the hazy, bright colours and warm glaze to every scene. Evenings are showered in vivid, fiery sunsets which are accompanied by obligatory cicadas or suzumushi (depending on the season), and nights are bathed in looming shadows and lonely blues, which incidentally comprise the soundtrack for those scenes as well.

The animation is a mixed bag. Character animation is often impressive, with motions customised to each character giving an extra dimension to their personalities, especially to Mayuko’s awkward body language. Unfortunately, the framerate will drop to frankly unacceptable levels at times, with jagged movements and choppy panning shots. Complex animation sequences are rare, so this is not a major issue, but it remains a blight on the otherwise commendable visuals.

Yoshitoshi Abe’s character designs possess the instantly recognisable aesthetic balance which he is renowned for and are faithfully adapted from his manga. With such diversity in age and ethnicity, his designs are as eclectic and beautiful as ever.

Tomokazu Tokoro applies the same emotional intelligence to NieA_7 as he would late perfect with Haibane Remnei. Peppered throughout the production are transient moments of the characters quietly performing their daily duties or just chilling out, further deepening the relaxed vibe that permeates the entire series. When the characters enter more intense emotional territory, these scenes are placed more thoughtfully to focus on the silent introspection which the characters undergo. Blurry nostalgic flashbacks are scattered throughout, with increasing relevance to the characters as their personalities and histories are more extensively explored. Scene composition is superb, with expertly balanced and thought-provoking layouts and angles which punctuate the loneliest, most desolate scenes.

Yoshio Owa’s soundtrack is sublime. Nostalgic acoustic pieces provide a soft melody to the slice of life scenes, while solemn violin tracks deepen the more poignant moments. The psudo-rural setting is perfect for blues inspired songs, with winding guitar noises permeating the final moments of each episode, providing the 2000s version of low fli hip-hop for Mayuko’s evening studies. The ending theme functions almost as a dream sequence, with Maria Yamamoto’s "Venus to Chiisana Kamisama" perfectly encapsulating the peaceful countryside atmosphere with precise acoustic instrumentation, overplayed on illustrations of Mayuko’s earliest memories. The overall effect of the soundtrack is to produce a sentimental atmosphere, which is fully achieved once combined with the commendable sound design.

Spoilers from this point onwards, so enter at your own risk. Skip to the last paragraph for the verdict.

Episode 7 sees Mayuko invited by a friend to attend a mixer (contextually referred as a Go-Con, essentially a group blind date). She hesitantly agrees to attend, and subsequently informs her neighbours (who have taken the role of a pseudo-family by this point) that she will go. However, despite being pushed to enjoy the opportunity by her older neighbours, her overwhelming self-doubt results in her turning down the invitation last minute. The aftermath is an entire two episodes of saddening contemplation as she grapples with the shame of disappointing her friend, while facing her own unbearable social ineptitude. Heart-wrenching scenes of Mayuko soaking in her depressing state fill the runtime as she is battered by her painful introspection, while simultaneously dealing with her difficult routine. Tokoro’s excellent framing drives these lonely moments to even greater heights, while the more emotional pieces on the soundtrack find their moment to shine.

The eventual resolution to this arc involves Mayuko letting an old friend pass through her defensive walls, realising that she needs an external voice of reason to combat her wandering, destructive introspection. This arc is will deeply resonate with anyone who has experienced similar circumstances, who’s low self-worth also interferes with living a functional social life resulting in such depressive episodes.

As these issues subside, her narrative turns to her dealing with the sentimental attachment to her past, specifically how she must separate from these feelings to move forward in her current life. Despite being surrounded by such driven, understanding people, Enohana is little more than a steppingstone for Mayuko, as it is often contrasted against the big city of inner Tokyo, with more ambition and opportunity inferred on the other side. Whether a subconscious effort to give her life direction or a natural consequence of her life circumstances, she realises how the biggest roadblock to finding purpose is her tendency to live in the comfort of the past and the what is familiar to her, rather than advancing with confidence in herself. Flashes of Mayuko’s memories, drawn in serene, wistful strokes, are more frequently utilised to reveal her reflective, pensive state.

Running parallel to this arc is NieA’s dilemma. She receives a signal from the alien mothership, and while the contents of the message are vague, NieA comes to understand that only she, as an Under 7, can hear it. After finally feeling validated and gaining the small possibility of escaping her current life, she abandons Enohana in search of the source. Mayuko becomes worried by NieA’s absence, and upon asking others for her location, realises that her neighbours view NieA closer to a pet than a resident, and officials treat her disappearance as a non-issue. Left alone as she comprehends the terrible circumstances NieA has been dealing with, while feeling regretful for participating in such discrimination, Mayuko again enters the depressive state of just episodes prior.

Episode 12 sees these character arcs entwine, resulting in their simultaneous conclusion. Tomokazu Tokoro flexes his creative muscles by using a multimedia approach to the visual presentation, with the daunting urban setting vividly abstracted with colour inverted, high contrast photographs, a tangible insight to Mayuko’s experience of those intense moments. Imagery of lost children and pets are used metaphorically to parallel Mayuko’s newfound perspective of their friendship. Sion’s incredible insert song ‘Kage’ is used to full effect here, giving the resolute lyrical support to Mayuko’s dispirited search for NieA, perfectly contextualising her hopeless state. To fully understand the gravity to Sion’s inclusion to this series, his appeal as an artist needs to be briefly examined.

Sion is a perfect for NieA_7. His borderline unbearably sore vocal performance quite literally feeds into the narrative of his songs; that he struggles to connect with others because the inherently abrasive aspects of his personality repels the attention he craves for. Borrowing from the likes of Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash, his songs ride the line between melancholy and optimism, wrapped up in excellent storytelling. He takes you down to the abyss of disparity which he is all too familiar with, and lifts you back up to feeling defiantly hopeful, using his soulful lyrics as buoyancy. Rough around the edges yet truly from a place of genuineness and solidarity, his empathic, impassioned performances of ‘Koko Made Oide’ for the opening and ‘Kage’ as the insert song, are just two hits from his exceptional discography.

NieA_7’s opening is monumentally powerful, featuring seemingly tailor made, multi-layered lyrics which smash home the most emotionally involved moments of the series, which are supported by similarly cryptic and vivid imagery. Sion’s singing evokes a feeling of brokenness, of lethargically as life is beating him down, exemplified by Mayuko’s jaded character animation as she struggles to wake up to the lyrics ‘Right next to where you’re crying, right next to where I’m blue’. To highlight just a few more great moments from this opening:

‘I can’t be close to sadness because I’m not surrounded by people’. This line fucking kills me. It speaks to anyone who is trapped in the cycle of avoiding people to avoid being hurt, but in doing so, feels the hurt from being alone. The episodes where Mayuko experiences those exact feelings are made exponentially more devastating once these lyrics match up with her depressing circumstances. Those hopelessly self-validating lines are highlighted by quickfire flashes of her childhood, to highlight her tendency to live in the security of her past rather than pushing herself to outgrow her protective shell and embrace the changes she faces.

‘I can’t change anything, so I can at least manage this’. Emotionally and physically weathered, Mayuko sits in her leaky apartment room as it rains, sheltered by the thin veil of her umbrella rather than fixing the source of the problem, while looking to the sky for hope. Even though she’s impoverished, overworked and has nothing meaningful to work towards and with few resources to change that fate, her face lights up as she understands that she’ll be okay regardless. Sion delivers his uplifting, empowering lyrics like crashing waves, as the opening reaches its climax with those very lyrics. This moment perfectly encapsulates the appeal of NieA_7: hope is always there, even if you don’t feel like you deserve it.

Returning to episode 12, and much to Mayuko’s relief, NieA returns home. With few words exchanged between them, the implication is that NieA’s life with Mayuko gives her purpose, and she is willing to persevere existence at the bottom of society if it means that she can continue that relationship. While much of their communication is obscured through fighting and backhanded compliments, Mayuko is quietly happy with this compromise.

The episode climaxes as NieA and Mayuko watch the mothership spontaneously evaporate and disappear. The dying mothership visually reminds Mayuko of a memory from her childhood, and realises that in the same way NieA is currently accepting her reality as an Under_7 who no longer has a mothership to return to, she must accept that she can no longer return to her past for security and needs move on with her own reality. Even if indirectly, Mayuko finds the resolution to that problem through her empathy towards NieA, and in turn, deepens their relationship significantly.

NieA_7 is not without its criticisms. The realistic, slice of life approach to storytelling has disappointed fans of other Abe classics like Serial Experiments Lain, especially considering that NieA_7 lacks the wealth of fascinating concepts which support his other works. The character motivations are frequently open ended and left for interpretation, which may be uneasy for viewers who prefer a more straightforward approach to character writing. The comedic elements can also appear immature or repetitive, particularly in the first half, and the aforementioned rapid tone shifts may be too sudden at times.

The biggest criticism of NieA_7 is that it lacks a clear narrative through-line, with character motivations and story arcs seldom feeding into a single message. Side characters drift in and out of the story without accomplishing a substantial arc and several questions are left without conclusions. However, the chaos of narrative elements and the lack of conformity to traditional storytelling is arguably a strength rather than a weakness, if interpreted less as a conventional story, but more as a truer depiction of reality.

NieA_7 presents the imperfect reality we live in, where things don’t happen like they do in the movies. Nothing is black or white, personal problems take years to heal rather than being solved in an instant, and drama is ephemeral, unpredictable, and usually unresolved. To highlight this with a quote: “A drama has a progressive thought, an emotional climax, and a resolution, but our lives aren’t like that. All we get day after day, are a bunch of vague anxieties that are never really resolved.” – Kaoru Yamazaki, Welcome to the NHK. Whether the narrative messiness was the intention of the creators or simply creative incompetency, is up for debate, but the overall effect is the tremendously relatable, understanding, and hopeful series which NieA_7 is.

This reasonable approach to storytelling makes NieA_7’s messages hit much closer to home. Mayuko’s eventual conclusion is that she will remain positive and approach life at her own pace, and even though there are aspects about herself and her life circumstances which may interfere with that hope, she will be optimistic, nonetheless. This broad resolution to her character arc is far from a sweeping thesis to understand her entire character, but is a specific, believable approach to handling her circumstances which suits her and the series by extension. As an archetypical young adult, Mayuko’s triumph over her lack of direction is reassurance that being unsure about your future is perfectly fine and normal, and taking things one step at a time is more constructive than beating yourself up over your perceived incompetency. If anyone needed to hear that message, it was me.

NieA_7 is an endearing, powerful series which provides countless moments of relatability, connection, and warmth to anyone who properly resonates with its realistic, multifaceted approach to storytelling and characters. Judging by its MAL score, NieA, absolutely does not deserve to be, Under 7.
10/10

Ahhhh NieA_7. If you've never heard of this anime I wouldn't blame you. As it is not one of Yoshitoshi ABe's most famous since he is one of the masterminds behind the ever talked about mindf**k that is Serial Experiments Lain. If I had to compare NieA_7 to anything that ABe has done it would be more appropriate to compare it to that of Haibane Renmei as it's not all dark and philosophical, but rather, very calming and easy to take in. This show would best be described as the crew who worked on Lain taking a little break. This show is a very light-hearted ... comedy that is honestly a joy to watch. I would say I watched it at the perfect time as I got exactly what I wanted out of it since I had watched a lot of anime recently that consist of heavy drama and very compelling storylines. (It was Fate/Zero if you were wondering)

STORY: 8/10
Some would argue that NieA_7 lacks a constat story, I would disagree. As this anime is about a world where it is the year 2000, the turn of the century, and Aliens live amongst humans. And among those aliens is a girl (an Under Alien) named NieA. She freeloads at the Enohana Bathhouse. The main protagonist of the story is a Cram School student named Mayuko Chigasaki, who works 3 jobs just to get by. She lives at the Enohana Bathhouse with NieA and must deal with NieA crazy shenanigans or just have to deal with NieA constantly complaining about being hungry. The part of the story that I really resonanated with was that it was about Mayuko really trying her hardest to get by and showing all of these overarching depressing themes that ABe throws out there. But at the end of the day, the show is a fun to watch light-hearted comedy.

CHARACTERS: 9/10
I'll start with Mayuko Chigasaki
Mayuko is a down on her luck Cram School Student who has to work 3 jobs just to get by as she does not want to bother her parents die money. She barely makes enough to have dinner at night, much to NieA's dismay. While she doesn't make much, she is a very hardworking girl, and never complains about what is asked of her. She constantly is butting heads with NieA wanting to eat all the time or building random UFOs or other contraptions bringing junk into their room. She has another friend named Chiaki (named after Chiaki Konata) whom she hangs out with from time to time. But Mayuko is a generally socially awkward person who would rather stay at home and study than go out with friends. Mayuko came off as a very relatable character and one that I really connected with. While I am not at the same age as her, I just could really feel what she was going through. A lot of the themes presented in this anime are quite depressing and very real. All in all, Mayuko has become one of my favorite female anime characters.
Now there's NieA
NieA is an Under Alien (Under 7) who lived in the Enohana Bathhouse before Mayuko got there. She is constantly causing trouble, by gathering random junk in order to make UFOs to sell so she can pay for food that she so desperately covets. When she's not causing trouble, she can be found sleeping on the roof or just being lazy somewhere. She is a very lovable character who just wants to have fun. Her relationship with Mayuko is one that I really enjoyed watching.

ART: 7/10
The animation was done by Triangle Staff who obviously did Serial Experiments Lain. The animation is what is to be expected from an anime that was made almost 15 years ago. Though the animation can hit some really high points that are very noticeable.

SOUNDS: 8/10
The sound consists of pretty normal set of tracks with acoustic guitars in the mix. Very calming little soundtrack that fits with the show very well. The opening song features the raspy voice of SION. The OP is an acquired taste but it's up to opinion. Solid voice acting on both ends. In the Japanese dub, Mayuko is played by the same voice actress who did Saber of the Fate/ series.

I would very much recommend this anime for anyone who would like to just take a break with a good light-hearted comedy. Though it is pretty old and the age shows from time to time, if you can get past the older animation, you'll find a real gem of a series.

Obviously I watched this because of the fact that I had just watched Serial Experiments Lain and was made so emotionally vulnerable by it that I just had to go and consume every other related show that exists, and one of the few I haven't already watched was this one. I didn't even remember it existed, but I'm glad I found it. I was pretty surprised to find that it had a rating of “under 7” (on MAL, I guess that means a show is pretty much terrible, given the tendency towards rating inflation of MAL users), but of course I was going to watch ... it anyway. I thought it would be interesting how a team that had just gotten out of the creative world of SEL would ease themselves into a lighter show. Of ABe's four late-90s/early 00s anime (SEL, this, Haibane, and Texhnolyze), this is certainly the least well-known and least well-liked. And it's true that it's weaker than the masterpiece Serial Experiments Lain, and fails in a lot of the ways Haibane Renmei succeeds. Texhnolyze spirals off into a completely different direction, but for me is about on equal footing with Niea Under 7.

Niea Under 7 is no masterpiece, but it is good, and criminally underrated. It's mostly a comedy/slice-of-life deal, and the premise should be familiar to anyone who watched Gintama (hold on, was this an influence?): aliens have come to Earth, but life continues relatively unchanged (much less in this than in Gintama). The premise and the fact that both are comedies are pretty much the end of the similarities, though, as the cast, general atmosphere, and comedic style are much different in this. Niea Under 7 is slow and sleepy and imbued with all the sluggishness of a hot summer, and it's all the better for it, as this atmosphere is a major contributor to some pretty genuinely emotionally affecting moments, which I will get back to.

But first, the comedy. Of course, the central duo is comprised of Mayuko, an exaggeratedly poor college student, as the straight man, and Niea, an unemployed freeloading alien, as the funny man. It's pretty standard stuff, but certainly better than more typical incarnations. Mayu is tired, overworked, and filled with a world-weariness and cynicism that feels very real – she is as lost as any of us, a good person without any real means of applying her virtues. A particularly telling sign of her character comes in the first episode, where Niea crashes a spaceship through the roof of her apartment; Mayu simply accepts the blame without even trying to explain that she's not at fault. Niea comes with a stock defect, the absence of an antenna and a lower-class status. Neither of these are really all that convincing (I mean, we believe them, but sometimes they do seem “stock”), but I'm not sure if it really matters – the sadness that causes Niea to act out also feels genuine, regardless of whatever contrivances cause her grief.

There is a lot of humor in Niea Under 7, but it's not exactly refined or witty; the funniest bits come from the editing, the voice acting, the visual choices, the sounds. It's not situational humor, particularly, but instead based on the characters or director behaving outlandishly against the more subdued tone that otherwise pervades. However, comedy is not necessarily the defining feature of Niea Under 7; it vanishes for extended periods, and when it returns, it really possesses a kind of emotionality unto itself, a revelry in the idea of comedy itself, rather than proper comedy. In essence, the main duo isn't that funny to the viewer, necessarily - they enact comedic routines more as a materialization of their bond as friends than as entertainment for the viewer. Because of this, there's a genuine pathos that undergirds (and sometimes undercuts) many of the comedic moments, especially later in the series.

In other words, while Niea Under 7 could technically be classified as a slice-of-life comedy, it is really much better at being serious than comedic. All of the characters are deeper than they might be in an ordinary comedy; their motivations are subtle, fickle, and altogether human in a way that separates itself from the show's comedic elements (even with the “comedy relief” characters). Hell, Chie shows up in episode 4, and 5 minutes later, she's already more well-developed than most characters in the last 5 years' worth of anime history. Even Karna, who just abruptly drops out about halfway through the series, manages to have her moments of character development (where does she go, though?). The issue is, and others have pointed this out, that characters sometimes do drop out, and their presence is missed. But the characters that stick around explore facets of life that feel very authentic.

In many ways, the concepts Niea Under 7 explores are relatively basic. We all know about family, personal pride, being ashamed, finding the courage to speak, and being tired. Niea Under 7 explores those concepts without what I would call sophistication – its successor, Haibane Renmei, was more sophisticated – but it remains grounded as a result of its lack of sophistication. More importantly, the show's lessons are delivered with a remarkable gentleness. Unlike in many comedies, these characters are not idiots – they have real motivations that supply humor when they are meant to but still remain legitimate, understandable, and fresh, if not entirely organic. For the kind of show that it is, the mechanisms of it are perhaps a bit too visible. (In Serial Experiments Lain, the mechanisms were more visible, but the constructedness was always essential to those characters; in Haibane Renmei, ABe finally achieves what he didn't in Niea Under 7 as the storycrafting completely disappears into the organic cast of characters.) Occasionally, this constructedness is put to good use, when, for example, all the characters happen to gather in the same place, or whatever. And later in the series, character development happens more and more naturally, although the sense that some elements of the show are intended to drive that character development never completely vanishes. But I can forgive ABe that, since the ways that the characters react to these events are so novel and so achingly subtle. Often while watching the show, I felt like ABe and co., after contributing to one of the coldest, darkest shows of the 90s, wanted to do something that's just warm. And this one is so warm and also so bittersweet, it has so much of the bittersweetness of stasis.

On some technical aspects: there's not much music during the show, and the sound effects come straight from Hanna-Barbera's playbook in a curious reference to cartoon history – perhaps to demonstrate the poverty of the characters (even their sound effects are public domain!). It is a “domestic poor animation,” after all. The opening and closing songs, however, are both brilliant. On the OP, “Come Here,” and the subdued mood of the instrumental and creaking voice of SION himself portray a kind of weariness that persists throughout. And the ED is stunningly beautiful, especially paired with the montage of pictures from Mayuko's past; the line “Everybody will grow up and pass away eventually, but they will be born again here so it will be merry” is an emotional wellspring that tints every episode with bittersweetness, even right through the slapstick comedy. (Anybody who enjoyed the show would do well to look up the full-length song, which makes me choke up every time I listen to it.) Here the OP and ED really work with the show to build something bigger. What music is featured throughout the episodes is good at buttressing the sort of listless mood of the show overall.

The animation certainly has its issues, but it's not particularly bothersome or important: it's good enough. The character design is, characteristically for ABe, fantastic, and the sets are also well-designed to contribute to the aura of quiet decrepitness that is so important to Niea Under 7.

Some have pointed out that Niea Under 7 is perhaps too arbitrary and too incomplete, and it is so. For a show 13 episodes long, it tells a story that could've just as easily been told in maybe 7 or 8 – even less; this really could've been a feature-length film and hit all the major plot points, introduced all the major characters. So it seems bloated, right? Not exactly. Characters come in and out, and when we expect it all to build to something or to go somewhere, it stubbornly doesn't. Drama happens and it doesn't happen. Niea Under 7 imitates slow processes of life, where things don't quite happen as they do in the movies, where people take months to learn that they care about each other, where sudden tearfulness is a powerful emotional climax. More modern slice-of-life shows could learn a lot from NieA's subtlety.

Of course it never exactly goes anywhere. One could never call Yoshitoshi ABe a genius specifically for having thought of this; the incredible depth, complexity, and philosophical deftness with which the team navigated a world like Serial Experiments Lain is gone here. But as if everything has to be the work of a genius. NieA Under 7 instead demonstrates that it's the work of people who have experienced happiness and sadness, comfort and unease, who have seen the cycles of the world fold over onto themselves, that everything is here and not. It is a celebration of ephemerality that is decidedly unprofound, and proud of that fact. Is that in itself profound? No, and to think it was would be to misunderstand the point. Here we have a warm, enveloping show that reminds us that the powerful messages driven home by other, more pointed, and often better shows aren't really the basis of life. NieA is a show about the seasons changing, and about saying goodbye to the moment that is now even when another one will surely come. Everything that is said is pregnant with emotion, and yet nothing is ever said; and yet, isn't that life? And just like that, NieA Under 7 is swept away by the wind.

EDIT: Despite its technical deficiencies, I can tell this show is going to stay with me for a long, long time, so I'm going to bump it to an 8, which puts it cleanly in masterpiece territory. Yeah, you absolutely should watch this show, especially if you're a fan of ABe's. Reviewing it solely on its own merits, I'd probably keep it at a 7, but where's the fun in reviewing if you can't get emotional about it?

Story: 7 / Art: 6 / Sound: 6 / Character: 9 / Enjoyment: 8 / Overall: 8

NieA Under 7 is Yoshitoshi Abe's (other) slice of life series which I felt pretty lukewarm about and didn't fully appreciate when I first watched it.
After revisiting it however, my view of it has changed dramatically.

Not only do I think it's a great slice of life series that slowly makes you feel absorbed in its world, but I also think it's a great character study that thoroughly explores its main character's fear of growing up, social anxiety, lack of an objective in life and her daily struggles as a cram student who barely scrapes by financially.

So the series is set in a ... contemporary Japan where aliens landed with a huge mother-ship and its inhabitants started spreading across the country. But instead of being a hostile invasion they just end up integrating in to society and living as any other human and nobody seems to mind nor does this bring any significant change to Japan.
These aliens are a thinly veiled allegory to Indians (real Indians, not native Americans) since they have a class system very similar to the one used in India. There's even one alien character that has an Indian skin tone and accent. Their appearance is basically the same as humans except they have elf ears and antennas on their heads.

The main character Mayuko, is a cram student working a part time job who's kind of a loner and socially awkward. She lives in an apartment complex that is also a bathhouse run by a middle aged woman named Kotomi. She also has an alien roommate called Niea who's a deadbeat and a freeloader, constantly making Mayuko's life harder than it already is.

Mayuko's relationship with Niea is the heart and soul of this series. Both Mayuko and Niea are at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to their class in their respective societies. Niea is an "Under 7" which is the lowest class among the aliens and Mayuko is incredibly poor and living hand to mouth. So they basically find comfort in each other.

At its core this series is all about how Mayuko can't stand having Niea around but also realizing that her life is much worse without her since she's the only one she feels comfortable being herself with. We know this because when Mayuko interacts with other characters she's a lot more polite, shy and reserved. This is especially obvious when it comes to her friend from cram school whom she likes but doesn't quite feel comfortable with, even going as far as looking for excuses to not go out with her and her friends.. Only to regret doing so later. Or the landlord Kotomi whom she looks up to as kind of a mother figure and a role model since she's a hard worker who works two jobs and generally seems to have a hard life while being seemingly unphased by it.

She's also no different with her work colleagues at a restaurant, which is this middle aged man who's dependent on his cute 8 year old daughter (who's relationship clearly mirrors that of the main duo).
It's also worth mentioning that Niea is envied by both Mayuko and the landlord since she is free of responsibilities and holds nothing back (like a child) in every way they can't.
All of these things really make this cast and Mayuko in particular to feel incredibly human and relatable.

I also want to bring up some of the series' symbolism like Mayuko's watch she got from her father symbolizing her fear of losing her childhood or the apartment complex she's living in (being a place she vacationed in with her dad as a child), being a clear parallel to the alien mother-ship since the things that happen to both coincide with one another. clearly communicating that we should all say goodbye to our childhoods at some point. There's lot's of little details like that which just flew over my head in my first viewing. This is not much of a sci fi series, the sci fi ideas here are only important for how they are relevant to its characters. It's mostly indirect, but we do also get bits and pieces of information about the alien society and how they function within our own spread throughout the series.
But I don't wanna get too deep in to that. Since I want this to be a review, I'll just speak in a broader way from here on out.

Narratively, the series starts out fairly episodic comprised of little funny adventures in each episode until it gains more momentum and has more continuity in the second half until it ends with quite a satisfying conclusion. A passage of time is shown to us through the changing of seasons but there's no way to know exactly how much time is passing. Also there's not a single wasted episode, every single one gives you more information about the characters whether it be through dialogue or having their actions speak for themselves. What makes these characters feel so well defined is that each of them have at least 2 distinct relationships with two other characters in which they seem to behave differently with each, which is a good way to highlight their personalities and fully define them as characters. And the main character specifically ends up being a very deep and identifiable one mainly through her actions and interactions with other characters as well as hints we get throughout the series about her past.

The series' tone might be hard to digest at first (an issue I had in my first viewing) since it ranges from wacky comedy hijinks to relaxing and meditative to even becoming quite depressing and somber depending on the characters' mood. Most of the wacky comedy comes from Niea who's loud, hyperactive and generally just a useless pest. One thing I'd say in defense of this, is that the show is much heavier on comedy in its first half where it switches from a relaxing tone to a wacky comedic one, but it rarely interrupts the depressing atmosphere that it gains in the second half since it really highlights what's truly important in this series.
Another important thing is that the comedy is effective in creating a strong contrast and a sense of nostalgia or appreciation for this lighthearted tone in the later episodes (the same way the main character comes to appreciate it). In all respects, the series simply wouldn't be the same without it.

This really works too since the series is excellent in terms of atmosphere and it knows how to make you feel exactly how it wants you to feel whether it's happy, depressed or relaxed. It's all done with great patience.

Comedy might be subjective but I do think it is well handled here, both in terms of delivery and timing. Very often jokes seem to be set up way ahead of time (and often are an important part of the story) have a clear pay off point and don't overstay their welcome. Even to the point where the editor cuts away seconds before is acceptable making the jokes hit harder as well. I didn't think it was always funny but the show does have very sharp dialogue both comedic and otherwise so some of the jokes were able to land and catch me by surprise.

Visually the show might have a cheap look at first glance since the characters can look a little wonky and off model on occasion and nothing looks particularly detailed. But the reason for this is because the characters have very elaborate motions and expressions quite often. This show goes for a kinetic or movement based style of animation. Although the more the series goes on, and the more depressing it becomes the show does tend to linger on shots more often giving us nicer single images (usually wide shots of empty spaces to convey the main character's loneliness).
Also the series has Yoshitoshi Abe's distinct character designs, a bright color pallet with lot's of greens and blues, as well as good attention to detail when it comes to the changing of seasons.

In terms of voice acting, everyone sounds like they're giving it their all. As I've said the dialogue in this series is very sharp and character defining and the actors did a good job of selling that.
Much of the series is quiet and without any music, especially the later half which I quite appreciate. But what music there is are these soft acoustic guitar pieces or pianos. At most you have some wacky comedic music in places and cartoonish sound effects (also there's one insert song by the singer of the OP).
The OP and ED both seem to fit the series in terms of their lyrics. But the OP just sounds weird and the ED is actually very nice.

Overall this series is brilliant and I feel stupid for not appreciating it when I first watched it only a few short years ago. The characters have real depth, the atmosphere is great, the directing is incredibly efficient and good at telling you exactly what you need to know at any moment without overdoing it.
It's a little odd and not for everybody, but those who like slice of life should definitely give it a shot.

Hello again guys for another review. The first thing that is unique about this, and why many will probably pick up this otherwise generic looking slice-of-life is that it's from the person that bought us Serial Experiments Lain. Yeah, this is NOTHING LIKE Serial Experiment at all. But it has a very unique charm, enough to give it an 8. And with the scoring out in the open for people just scanning to see, let's get to the meet of the review.

OK, I'm not great with names, so I'm just gonna be describing characters - set in a rural town in present time (though the ... rural setting certainly gives it a 60s/70s/80s syle), the main female is a poor cram student who earns just enough by working for the local bathhouse (where she also resides) to put a roof over her head and travel to Tokyo to study. However, she lives with an unusual roomate... An alien. Known as an under-seven, who are the scum of the alien hierarchy (more on this in a min), she just sponges off the female lead for food and shelter, and is definitely more trouble than she's worth.

While I will talk about the characters soon, Nea (god knows why she's only the one I know the name of.... Suppose it's cuz the shows named after her) is SO annoying. I was constantly turning down the volume because of her whiny voice complaining she was hungry all the time, and the moments she's quite are some of the best moments of the show.
Which leads to my next and last major complaint - the alien sub-plot. Firstly, humans and aliens are just OK with another. Just "hey, there's a person with an antenna on their head, oh you're an alien, sure, you don't have lazers or anything"... Like, what? Also, and this just a sliiiiight complaint - THIS SUBPLOT DID NOT NEED TO EXIST! Seriously, there was no point - all it added was Nea, two men who had no lines, and old man who had no lines, an indian man (who, admittedly, was hilarious) and a chinese women who was a rival to Nea but just as annoying. I seriously could have enjoyed the show just as much, if not more (well, providing the indian dude was still in), without the alien subplot. OK, onto the massive draw of the show:-

CHARM. BUCKETS AND BUCKETS OF CHARM. The lead female is a really genuine character just trying to earn an education, the engineer who fixes up the bath-house and female leads roof (because Nea, the idiot, smashed it with a UFO she made cuz, aliens) is just a really nice guy, there's an old woman who's your stereotypical wise woman who, in a brilliant twist, thrashes everyone when the owner of the bath-house holds a retro videogame tournament, and the owner herself is a genuine, hardworking, independent woman. The only other three characters of mention is the chef of a little shop who lead female also works for, again just genuine nice guy, his daughter who's mature for her age, in a good way, and again, the indian. He's brilliant. If you do nothing else, search up this guy, sure there's gotta be clips on youtube, he's hilarious.

Sound and animation were nothing special, animation was very similar to that of Serial Experiments, if you liked that style you won't mind this, I wasn't a massive fan, and there's hardly any music to talk of, and the opening and ending are also nothing worth mentioning.

So this is really just a charming country-style SoL that I found so enjoyable just.... I really think it was just the charm. The setting, the lead females quest to scratch up enough money each month, the citizens of this rural town... I don't know, I just love it. Certainly deserving of a 9, but Nea and aliens ruins it enough to peg it down to 8. Definitely a recommended show for those who don't need mind-screws or massive battles or an epic tale, just those looking for some relatable characters and a good setting.

NieA_7 is hidden gem. Too bad most people watch it solely for the comedy parts and get disappointed.
It's a slice of life/comedy/drama anime. Please note the drama part, even I was able to feel their despair at some scenes. I wouldn't recommend it to people who just wants to laugh.

-Story 8/10
The only flaw of the show. It introduces too many elements and abandons some without explaining much. This can be justified since it's only 13 episodes long. It starts as comedy and slowly builds up a serious existentalist tone, which was a suprise for me.

-Art 9/10
I took lots of screenshots. Think it as a ... happier Lain. Much more aesthetically pleasing compared to current anime generation.

-Sound 10/10
NieA_7 has the best voice acting I've heard. Everyone's voice fits their character perfectly. They either got lucky at choosing seiyuus or a genius chose them.
OP is bad as a song but it fits the show perfectly, gave me "I can't do anything and my life is going worse every day but I'll try my best anyway" vibes. ED is pretty pleasant and hopeful.

-Character 10/10
ABe knows how to design them, one of the most unforgettable cast I've seen. Every character is missing different things in their lives and some have problems about them. "imperfect people" is the main theme of the anime (for me).

-Enjoyment 10/10
I watched 13 episodes in one sitting. Comedy parts were funny and drama parts were properly done & realistic.

-Overall 9/10
One of the best slice of life anime you can watch. I deducted one point just because they didn't had time for more worldbuilding/explanation, it's a 10/10 if you don't care about these things and just want to have a good time.

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.

Man, this show is an odd one. How do I even begin to classify it? Is it a Sci-Fi? Drama? Slice of Life? Comedy? I don’t really know, and to be honest, I don’t think the show does either.

Niea_7 is an anime based on the doujinshi, and with character designs by, Yoshitoshi ABe. You might know him from his involvement in Serial Experiments Lain, Texchnolyze, and Haibane Renmei. It’s thought the people who made Lain made this show to cool down after it, as it has a fair amount of similar people who worked on both.

The story, put in the most basic terms possible, is ... that in a world where aliens have arrived and become commonplace and nobody really seems to care, Mayuko, a poor student living in a bathhouse is living with a freeloading under alien known as Niea. This base actually provides a very enjoyable setup. The setting and all it’s oddities are intriguing, I really wanted to learn more about how the aliens came and what exactly is going on. The world and atmosphere has a lot of depth, and feels surprisingly realistic. Along with that, pretty much every character in this show is enjoyable and unique. Even characters I was skeptical of I came to love as the show went on.

We’ve got Niea, who’s ridiculous and over-the-top, yet whom we begin to see is a lot deeper than we think, and Mayuko, from whom most of the show’s perspective is oriented, with a fair amount of inner monologue from her. She’s incredibly relatable, and just all around a really human and grounded character, whose dynamic with the people around her is brilliant. Even some of the weaker characters, like Genzo and Chiaki, are still very enjoyable overall, and I loved Chie’s dynamic with her father and Kotomi’s with the bathhouse staff. These great characters make the few bits of drama that are in the show work incredibly well. When there was some character conflict in the later episodes, in most series’ I would’ve thought it forced and poor, but in the way it was presented, and in the context of the show and it’s characters, it worked really well.

The soundtrack is perfectly simplistic and calming, and it does well to contribute to the setting. I even really enjoyed the ED as well, though I can’t say the same for the Opening, which makes my throat hurt just listening to it. As well as that the dub is really good. If a dub’s enjoyable enough I’ll watch it that way, and I found the voices for almost all the characters to be perfectly fitting.

This show, however, is far from perfect. You’ve likely heard the phrase “Jack of all trades, master of none” and I feel it’s pretty applicable here. There’s a clear lack of focus, which leads to a very anticlimactic ending, tons of unanswered questions, along with unresolved character conflicts. The ending message of the show just seems to be “Life moves on” which is a rather tired, cliche, and lazy way of writing yourself out of a corner. The Main Character seems, much like everyone else, not to really care for figuring out what’s going on by the end, but after all this buildup you’re just left sitting there thinking “That’s all?”

The comedy as well is also very hit and miss, leaning towards the latter half of that. Particularly earlier in the series the humor just completely bombs. I haven’t even watched that much anime with this old style of humor, but it still feels tired and overused. It’s as generic as comedy gets. There are some jokes that work, like I found the Indian cosplaying alien to be completely hilarious, and towards the later parts of the show the quality of the jokes improved, though it never got that amazing, and generally at most got a chuckle or two out of me.Along with that, the focus on humor is honestly kind of disappointing, considering we have this super interesting setting and characters, with so much mystery begging for exploration, and the focus of the show is comedy?! Really?! It lightly touches on issues such as class and racism, but it never really fully explores them, and just seems to skim the surface of it.

The animation isn’t much of improvement either. It’s pretty obviously low budget. I mean it did air 2000, but that isn’t much of an excuse considering how Trigun, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Serial Experiments Lain all came out two years prior and they look miles better. It’s oddly inconsistent. Sometimes it looks nice, sometimes it doesn’t, and the level of detail fluctuates wildly. It isn’t particularly smooth or detailed, and while the character designs bear Yoshitoshi ABe’s signature unique style, I’d say they’re far from his best work. I do harbor a particular liking towards the background designs. While they’re simplistic, it suits the show, and they have this nice pastel-like atmospheric look to them, that really added to the enjoyableness of the world.

Overall I give Niea_7 a 7/10 (quite fitting might I add). It’s a well-done show with an interesting setting, compelling characters, and lots of heart. However, the poor humor, inconsistent animation, wasted potential, and oh so many unanswered questions holds it back from being as brilliant as it could’ve been. It’s a unique show for certain, and I don’t regret picking it up.

(Originally Written November 9th, 2014)

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NieA_7 (NieA under Seven) is a 13 episode comedy/slice of life TV anime produced by studio Triangle Staff. The main director for the series was Tomokazu Tokoro (Haibane Renmei), and it aired from Apr 26 2000 to Jul 19 2000. NieA is an adaptation of a doujin manga with the same name, created by Yoshitoshi ABe. The manga would later go on to be published by Kadokawa Shoten on their monthly Shounen magazine Monthly Ace Next.

The story goes something like this. Aliens have come and invaded the earth. But rather than taking over, they have decided to live among the humans, as their mother ship ... has broken down and they can not leave the planet. We follow the dirt-poor student Chigasaki Mayuko who finds herself living with one of these aliens named NieA. NieA is what is called an Under Seven alien who does nothing buy laze around, eat lots of food, and builds space ships. While Mayuko is trying to go to cram school to get into college, as well as earn enough money for herself to be able to eat everyday, which proves very difficult with NieA around.

This show is mostly a comedy slice of life type of story, but it's also got a lot of themes of class difference and discrimination. This makes the show not just a fun watch, but also makes it interesting to see what will become of a girl living by herself and an alien who officially doesn't even legally exist.

The most important characters in this show is obviously Mayuko and NieA. Mayuko is a dilligent student and a hard worker, who's just doing her best to survive, and NieA is a lazy freeloading slob who won't do anything. But other than them you've also got some minor characters like Chiaki Komatsu. She goes to the same cram school as Mayuko and is a total geek for aliens. She ends up becoming Mayuko's friend. You've also got Kotomi Hiyama who runs the bathhouse that Mayuko stays at. She is a hard worker who is doing everything she can to keep the bathhouse from closing, even though it seems like an impossible task. She's also a character that Mayuko can turn to and vent her frustrations or just get advice from.

The animation in this show is nothing to write home about. It moves, but it can be very clunky at times. Kind of annoying since there isn't so much movement to animate. That said though, a lot of the animation is pull and stretch techniques to try make situations more funny.

Overall I enjoyed this show. Going into it I didn't really know much about this show, so at first I thought this was just gonna be a straight comedy. The comedy was funny, but when the themes of discrimination and class difference started to appear, as well as Mayuko's very real struggles of trying to make ends meet financially in an unstable economy, as well as the lonliness she feels being away from her family, and with no really close friends to speak of, seeing her find a home in the Enohama bathhouse, as well as make friends was a lot more heartwarming than I was expecting from this show. I would honestly recommend you to check out this show if you are at all curious, but if you're not into random comedy or very slow paced shows you might just want to give this show a miss.