After so long, Nichijou is finally back…in the form of City the Animation. I can’t express how long I’ve been waiting for this adaptation. Since I discovered this was another manga by author Keiichi Arawi—the same author of the Nichijou series—it’s been a must-watch for me.
The cherry on top is that Kyoto Animation (KyoAni for short) is once again the studio bringing Arawi’s art to life as anime. City the Animation is their first non-sequel anime after the arson attack of 2019, a fact that hits me hard.
To be honest, I already think KyoAni is the best studio out there. One of my goals is to watch every animation they have ever made. Fair warning: I may end up praising this adaptation a lot. However, after watching the first two episodes, I’m confident City the Animation will be a solid season.
If you give it a try, you’ll agree with me.
Originally, I planned to focus solely on the anime, without reading the manga (I haven’t read the Nichijou manga). Except that I found myself enjoying the adaptation so much that, even after rewatching the first episode, I was still laughing at the same gags! I’d only experienced something similar with KonoSuba befpre. I have a hunch that no matter how many times I watch or read it, I won’t stop enjoying it. Currently, I’m reading the City manga, a few chapters ahead of the anime.
Join me on this new KyoAni adventure!
Does City the Animation have a plot?
Because I decided to do a review series without reading the manga, I expected to face a tough challenge. My experience with Nichijou was fantastic, but following a plot wasn’t one of its strongest points. At least not a plot in the traditional sense.
Luckily for me, and only after watching both the first and second episodes, there’s a main story line easier to follow. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think having a “proper plot” is relevant for a series like City the Animation.
We have a main trio composed of Nagumo, Niikura, and Izumi. If you only watch the first episode, it can be hard to tell that those three are our protagonists. As I will highlight next, the anime is full of characters, life, random events, and gags. So, I don’t think it matters who the protagonists are.
In any case, the story follows the daily lives of these three university students in CITY. Yeah, the city is called CITY. If I have to expand further, I’d say Nagumo’s search for a purpose or passion in life will be a central theme. Of course I can talk about Niikura’s photography hobby or Izumi’s weirdness.
But if I have to recount every situation in just these two episodes, I’ll never finish.
City the Animation is about…a city
The first scene perfectly sets the general tone of the series and what we should expect. It started with the story of a legendary bird that ended up turned into stone, adored by people who built a city around it, and… this story is not about that city.
Although it may look chaotic at first, it’s a masterpiece of interconnected storylines. Similar to Nichijou, there are a lot (a LOT) of characters. The story shifts from one point of view to another, and somehow their lives are all intertwined. If you pay attention, you’ll see many of them in the backgrounds of other characters’ scenes. For example, we learn in Episode 2 that the mangaka who is about to have his series cancelled lives in the same apartment building as Nagumo and Niikura.
I am personally drawn by the aerial shots of CITY. It reminds me of Where is Waldo? illustrations. There are so many background details in each scene that create a funny, endearing atmosphere.
I felt like watching an anime and playing a game at the same time!
Lovable characters in every corner
You will find it hard to pick only one favorite character. I’m still debating whether I’m more of an Izumi fan, or more into the Ecchan/Matsuri friendship. Below are my thoughts on some of them.
Midori Nagumo seems to be “the main protagonist.” For starters, she doesn’t plan to pay her rent at all, so she somehow convinced Niikura to crash at her place. In these two episodes, we learn that she was a goddess of sports in high school, but now she’s still trying to discover what she wants to do in life. One thing she’s sure about: it has to be the most fun thing to do. I know this will be relevant through the end of the season.
Niikura is voiced by Aki Tokisaki (Yui from K-on!, also a KyoAni anime), so she’s the best, period. Jokes aside, every time I listen to Aki Tokisaki talking, I’m already laughing. One thing I share with the character is the passion for photography, so I think I’ll enjoy Niikura’s future arcs. So far, we know she admired Nagumo in high school. She discovered her photography passion thanks to a photo she took of Nagumo, which helps explain why she ends up tolerating her.
Wako Izumi. Oh, Wako Izumi. She’s the star of the show so far. The list of random, quirky things we’ve seen from her is surprisingly long for just two episodes (in which she isn’t even the main focus!). What should you expect from her? Nothing, she’s a box full of surprises. That’s a lot to say in a show characterized by its surreal comedy.
Regarding other characters, I expect Tatewaku (from the Makabe restaurant) will be the subject of a lot of teasing. His sister Matsuri and her friendship with Ecchan remind me a lot of the high school moments of Nichijou. They even wrestled in a similar fashion. Did I mention this is from the same author?
I plan to talk about the rest of the characters in future reviews. Rest assured, we’ll talk about them!
KyoAni strikes back!
As I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t initially planning to read the manga. However, now that I have, I can truly appreciate the work of KyoAni. The attention they put into detail can only be explained by one fact: they want to do art. In every adaptation they have done, KyoAni applies incredible effort in aspects that people could easily miss!
For example, there’s a funny scene in which Tsurubishi, the chef of the Makabe restaurant, accidentally throws pasta into a client’s backpack. With the help of Nagumo (who works there when she has free time), they prepare a weird plan to serve the client a free meal with wine before he notices the pasta in the backpack.
The important fact is that there’s a whole scene with instrumental music in the background (no dialogues from the characters) that ends in a 3D scene with them failing again. The quality of the animation, the pertinent use of the 3D, the right pacing to deliver the gag, it’s insane! They made a great gag from the manga in a masterclass of animation.
If you are a manga reader, you may have noticed that they omit certain chapters or change the order of others. This is always hard to accept for manga readers (I know it’s for myself).
KyoAni understands what the word “adaptation” means. Long story short, they include in the first episode the best initial chapters to show the audience what City the Animation can offer. In the second episode, they structured our main protagonist trio.
Yes, they excluded many chapters I loved from the manga. Nonetheless, they made a strong presentation that combined the best gags with a good pacing in these two episodes.
What should you expect from City the Animation?
City the Animation is a refreshing comedy anime adapted by a studio that loves the story. You may find the humor a bit unusual compared to other comedy animes, and that’s a fact. Yet, you’ll find yourself laughing in every scene.
Please don’t be mistaken: I don’t think this is “silly” comedy, or just a collection of random, unconnected gags. City the Animation guides you in a subtle way. Behind the humor lies not only affection but also substantial intellectual effort.
In the end, much like Nichijou, this is about daily life. The perfect show to watch on a Monday morning before the workweek begins.
That’s exactly what I’ll do to kick off my summer season with a big smile!
City the Animation is streaming on Prime Video, where all the images are from.
©Keiichi Arawi, Kodansha/CITY THE ANIMATION Production Committee
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