It’s true: the main characters in Nijiiro Days are without a care in the world. Despite having talents in sports and academia, they choose to waste time together to completely goof off. Thankfully, their attitude towards life are largely why the show works. The spontaneity of the main characters adds diversity to the comedic timing within each episode. Its episodic structure feeds a curious audience that wants to find out more about Natsuki and how he manages to get a negative score on a test…
There’s something strangely engrossing in the way the main characters interact with one other. From the first episode, Natsuki sees threatening foreigners approaching a girl he has a crush on, Anna. His friends egg him on to protect her, and as Natsuki clumsily flails his arms in an attempt to intimidate, he realizes the foreigners were simply asking for directions. The next day, Natsuki’s friends reenact the scene in front of him, completely embarrassing him in the process. Scenes like this one vividly portray relatable pranks one would pull on their friends: the familiar feeling of lightly caricaturing and laughing at their blunders. And as the audience is reminded of the times something similar happened, they sing along to the tunes of Nijiiro Days’ comedy with a smile or, perhaps, a chuckle.
Not only balanced in its comedic delivery, Nijiiro Days also provides satisfying character development for its side characters. In particular, Mari is known to have quite a notorious personality. Indeed, she not only sports dangerous cat woman claws, but also earns the nickname “Spit Woman” from having spat on someone. While this embodiment highlights her comedic importance to the show, there are vulnerable moments that give a glimpse to how she developed such a crude personality. In addition, Anna is a kind and generous girl who usually keeps to herself. In the latter parts of the show, bits and pieces of her own echoing questions convey her mental journey: one of confronting a new feeling in her adolescence. And for the most part, this is done with pace and elegance. Comedy remains the primary focus, while individual characters confront their growing pains.
Occasionally, Nijiiro Days’ characters do lose their glamour. Whenever Mari or Natsuki shout at the top of their lungs, they make my eardrums spasm. To their antithesis, Anna is at times quite bland in her actions and response. These inherent character traits, in spite of character developments, remain a large part of who these individuals are. And it can be quite valid to say “one of these personalities do not click with me.”
Accordingly, a flaw for Nijiiro Days stems from where the show ends. Because each episode is essentially an adaptation of each chapter of the source material, Nijiiro Days really should have aired 57 episodes. Unfortunately, this wasn’t possible logistically because the manga hadn’t finished as Nijiiro Days was airing. Where Nijiiro Days ends, then, becomes a bit awkward: as episode/chapter 24 is where we are teased of a main romantic pairing coming to fruition, but not quite, the ending leaves much of the audience in suspense.
On the other hand, the animation in the show appears fluid, polished, and well-done. The character designs are colorful, with details in their facial expressions adding to the comedic value. Moreover, the voice acting accurately portrays each character and the music befits the lighthearted mood of the show.
Nijiiro Days goes by fast. Each episode packaged with fun happenings between a group of mischiefs, it’s perfect for a binge.
