Nichijou: My Ordinary Life (日常) is a 2011 television anime series based on Keiichi Arawi’s manga of the same name. The anime was directed by Tatsuya Ishihara with screenplay written by Jukki Hanada and music composed by Yūji Nomi. Kyoto Animation animated the series and was first broadcast in Japan on April 2011 as part of the Spring season.
Background:
“Nichijou primarily focuses on the daily antics of a trio of childhood friends―high school girls Mio Naganohara, Yuuko Aioi and Mai Minakami―whose stories soon intertwine with the young genius Hakase Shinonome, her robot caretaker Nano, and their talking cat Sakamoto. With every passing day, the lives of these six, as well as of the many people around them, experience both the calms of normal life and the insanity of the absurd. Walking to school, being bitten by a talking crow, spending time with friends, and watching the principal suplex a deer: they are all in a day’s work in the extraordinary everyday lives of those in Nichijou.”
Plot Synopsis via Funimation UK, December 2021.
Kyoto Animation are known for producing a bunch of slice of life anime over the years, and many of them share the same character designs which makes their brand quite recognisable. Which is why Nichijou is an intriguing series because it follows the manga’s designs insead (and Dragon Maid had similar treatment also, both of which were to be far based on manga while the others were either original projects or adapted from light novels).
That being said, Nichijou is a really fun and enjoyable series. The humour is bizarre but the visuals amplify the reaction, and the cast are large but likeable. Even though it was one of the first anime that I had watched, I remember showing the series to the people at school, who were ‘non-anime viewers’, and somehow even they were entertained, such as the deer fight scene and one of the characters changing her hair style in the class.
Nichijou was originally going to be distributed by Bandai Entertainment, but the show then got caught up in licensing limbo due to the publisher discontinuing, which had also affected a few other anime like Gosick and Turn-A Gundam. Eventually Kadokawa provided a package deal with Funimation that included Nichijou as well as a few others including Gosick but also Haruhi Suzumiya, Hyouka, Lucky Star and more.
Funimation first released the series as a subtitled only set but then re-released it with an English dub. Though the UK never saw a release until Funimation rebranded Manga Entertainment as their own, and finally brought the series over.
Limited Edition Contents:
In another rare occurrence, Nichijou: My Ordinary Life also managed to get a limited edition by Funimation UK while the US branch does not. It’s weird given this is Funimation, but it’s pretty nice to see these sort of shows get another chance to have these sorts of treatment, but it also makes up for making the UK audience wait this long to own the show.
This package offers a rigid box that houses the series in an Amaray Blu-ray case and slipcover alongside a few physical items. Those physical items being a 40-page booklet, and 6 Art Cards. The booklet is brief but it includes character designs, background artwork and illustrations of the series.
The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like recent Funimation UK produced limited edition releases. Unit count isn’t specified for these sets but is probably around 1000 units for an SRP of £69.99. A standard edition Blu-ray is also available on the same day as the limited edition release.
I pre-ordered the series via retailer United Publications UK which arrived ahead of schedule, going for £39.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with Amaray packaging and clean artwork
- Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
- 40-page Booklet
- 6 Art Cards
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Funimation UK
Released: 20th December 2021
The limited edition release for Nichijou: My Ordinary Life contains all 26 episodes across four Blu-ray discs, with the encode & authoring done by Funimation’s US branch though the Manga logo is featured in the intro of the disc. The audio options available include Japanese with English subtitles and the Funimation English dub.
Episode 0, the OVA that was released a month before the Japanese broadcast of the TV series, is also included and is presented in Japanese with English subtitles and the Funimation English dub.
The white subtitles are unlockable during playback, and the regions are locked to Blu-ray players set to B.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 4 (3 BD-50s, 1 BD-25) |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 4:
- OVA – Episode 0
- Textless Openings:
- “Hyadain no Kakakata Kataomoi – C”
- “Hyadain no Jōjō Yūjō”
- Textless Closings:
- “Zzz”
- “Tsubasa o Kudasai”
- “Kikyū ni Notte Doko made mo”
- “My Ballad”
- “Kaijū no Ballad”
- “Green, Green”
- “Yasei no Uma”
- “Ano Subarashii Ai o Mō Ichido”
- “Sudachi no Uta”
- “Aogeba Tōtoshi”
- “Sora ga Konna ni Aoi to wa”
- “Yūki Hitotsu o Tomo ni Shite”
- “Let’s Search for Tomorrow”
- “Tabidachi no Hi ni”
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Nichijou: My Ordinary Life is available to order through multiple retailers in the United Kingdom & Ireland. The limited edition and standard edition are both available to order on Amazon.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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