Anime Review: Non Non Biyori

Non Non Biyori is probably the only slice of life comedy genre anime that I will watch this season. The main story is about Hotaru Ichijou who just got transfered into a countryside and she is now enrolling in the only school available in the village. Since it is the only school in the village, the school only has 1 class and 5 students where each of them is in different grade from one another. Kinda like Higurashi’s school if you aren’t sure what I’m talking about.

So, the story revolves around the students of the school which are Hotaru Ichijou, Natsumi Koshigaya, Komari Koshigaya, and Renge Miyauchi. Probably by now you are asking “Hey you said there are 5 students in the class so where is the other one?”. Well, that one student is actually the elder brother of Natsumi Koshigaya and Komari Koshigaya, Suguru Koshigaya, but he doesn’t get any voice in this anime and all his appearance time has been that of a cameo. Anyway, what’s so interesting about this anime? Well, let’s break it down shall we?

First thing that makes this anime interesting is the culture shock factor. Hotaru Ichijou originally lived in Tokyo which makes her a city girl. Oh by the way, don’t get fooled by the size of her boobs, she is actually in the 5th grade. Because of her inadequate knowledge of the countryside’s people culture, we could get a glimpse of how different the city from the village. And that kind of culture shock resulted in the most hilarious moment you can watch. I particularly like the “House Key” scene where Hotaru brings her key to the school and everybody asked why she brought a key. When Hotaru asked what they usually do with the key, they answer casually for opening a food can since they never use the key for locking up the doors to their house when they live. So yeah, since probably most of us who watch this anime come from the city, it’s quite funny to see something that is unusual like that.

Second, I think what makes this anime interesting is Renge Miyauchi. You know, in this kind of anime you always have that over-the-top moe girl character doing moe things. For example: Lucky Star has Konata, Azumanga Daioh has Ayumu, and therefore Non Non Biyori has Renge. She is the youngest of the group which makes her an innocent child. It’s not rare that Renge Miyauchi takes Natsumi Koshigaya’s joke seriously which resulted in a hilarious scene. And the way that she greets everyone by uttering “Nyanpatsu!” is just cute and also she always brings her flute and play while she is walking. Damn, she is one package of a moe girl.

Lastly, the sad story. Yes, although this is a comedy genre anime, it has a fair share of sad moments. I won’t disclose it since it will spoil your enjoyment watching this series but I would say that this anime nails it with the sad story. Could you ever imagine an innocent girl like Renge Miyauchi has a sad story in this anime? Yeah I wasn’t expecting that either but it happened. I cried a little for Renge during that particular scene and believe it or not I was trying to wipe Renge’s tear that is coming out from her eyes with my hands. The character just begged to be hugged and that’s why Non Non Biyori should be in your watchlist.