And then some crew comes along with a clear labor of love like Non Non Biyori, and we're reminded just why we were drawn to the SOL genre in the first place.
In the absence of a single driving plot, the key to slice-of-life is atmosphere and character. The girls here are mostly unremarkable as far as anime characters go but relateable, behaving in manners appropriate to their ages (7-14), barring some plot-relevant foibles. Despite city-mouse Hotaru, who's just moved to the countryside from Tokyo, setting the plot in motion with her arrival (and occasionally narrating), the character who will likely leave the biggest impact on audiences is 1st grader Renge and her optimistic yet naïve (and rather bizarre) view on the world. (And while she largely seems to be a relatively satisfied little girl, we still see some evidence of loneliness in her being the youngest in her group, with no friends her own age.) Renge is not the first quirky dark-horse favorite in anime by far, but her deadpan expression and malapropism "Nyanpassu" stand out in this past anime season. That said, I also greatly enjoyed Kaori Nazuka's sleepy, carefree delivery as the girls' slacker teacher.
But where NNB truly shines (literally at times) is in its artwork and sound. The show makes no secret in broadcasting the glories of the Japanese countryside, especially toward the nation's cramped urban dwellers. I have always admired the color palettes of the background artwork in Japanese animation, and it seems like Silver Link spared no expense here. The producers also take wonderful advantage of the rural setting through numerous reflective pauses in the action for the sleepy leitmotifs of the BGM, and occasionally for appropriate sound effects. This is what I mean when I talk about atmosphere.
Speaking of atmosphere, while there obviously is not a real overreaching plot in this show, despite its general good feeling, there is perhaps a small undercurrent of sadness here. This is a real back-of-beyond area, and of course these four girls (and a comic-relief brother) are the only students left in their all-grade school. Japan, like many developed countries, has seen drastic, ongoing population decrease in its rural areas...and of course our heroines only seem to have each other. Now remember what I said about Renge earlier... I'm probably reading a bit too much into things here (I majored in creative writing, after all), but it's just one thing about this show that I wouldn't have crossed my mind with the more standard city-based schoolgirl show.
Now some may denounce these strongest traits as superficial eye and ear candy. Does NNB "deserve" to be put on a pedestal alongside Evangelion or Akira, regarded as one of Japan's best ever animated productions? On some level it doesn't quite; it's obviously not the most ambitious show, but with its lush colors, beautiful music and sound, and reflective, sentimental pace, NNB brings some grace back to the somewhat maligned SOL genre. And if you enjoyed it, as I did, that's all the justification you need for however you rated it right now, even if you won't remember it a year from now (or eventually wonder why you rated it so high).
